《Rise》


 1 - Formation

    Chapter 1 - Formation


    ¨C Sundia, Nimath 1, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Where is she¡­?¡±


    A young man stood in a small tool shack, holding the door open just enough to peer into the world outside. Several hundred meters to the east was a long line of cliffs that dropped off to a sprawling city and the coast, while to the west and south, mountains towered over a series of conservatively decorated buildings, painted to blend in to the grass- and tree-covered mountainside ¡ª which presented a stark contrast to the military vehicles parked all around the complex. The man regarded the vehicles with annoyance, but then he glanced down at his black boots, slacks, and black, white, and gray dress jacket: the uniform of a Tekdec¨¦nian Transfer Captain. Can¡¯t very well complain about tanks on a military base, he thought to himself, ¡­but I can complain about how long I¡¯ve been waiting. Where is she? Seriously¡­ He distracted himself by dusting off his uniform before glancing at his reflection in the shack¡¯s window; a pale face with narrow brown eyes, bounded by short black hair on top, a rounded chin on bottom, and glasses in front, stared back at him. He stood just over five and a half feet tall and his build was decidedly average for the 21-year-old man that he was, rounding out his rather unremarkable appearance.


    ¡°Too bad I¡¯m not a shape-shifter,¡± he muttered to himself, just before the sound of footfalls on grass reached his ears. He snapped his attention back to the shack¡¯s door and scanned his immediate surroundings, soon laying eyes on a passing young woman with olive skin, brown eyes covered by glasses, and long, wavy black hair. Her uniform shared the black boots and slacks of the man hiding in the shack, but the rest of her outfit was a significant departure: a blue waist-cloak draped from her belt, while she wore a white shirt over a long-sleeved cuffed blue shirt, and a blue shawl around her neck and shoulders. But aside from her outfit, her short stature stood out the most, as the top of her head wasn¡¯t even five feet above the ground.


    ¡°There she is¡­ finally!¡± The man in the shack smirked to himself as he watched the woman cross the grounds unawares. ¡°Alright, Kaon¨¦¡­ I¡¯ve got you this time!¡±


    He took a deep breath, rubbed his gloved hands together, and then¡­


    BANG!


    ¡°Hah!!¡±


    The shack¡¯s door slammed open and a blast of fire rushed outside, rolling over the surrounding ground before rising up into the air and fading away. The man leaped through the doorway and quickly inspected the smoldering terrain around him, his eyes coming to rest on a small rocky mound to his side just as the ground beneath him exploded upward, nailing him in the chin and knocking him over backwards. As soon as he hit the ground, the dirt jumped up and grabbed his wrists and ankles before transforming into steel and binding him to the ground. He immediately began struggling and only looked up when the rocky mound he spotted earlier rose out of the ground and disintegrated, revealing the short woman from before.


    ¡°¡­Damn it!¡± The Pyrotechnic scowled. ¡°I almost had you this time!¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin!¡± the woman protested, ¡°you almost killed me!¡±


    ¡°Oh please, you would¡¯ve been fine,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°You¡¯re a Materiatechnic! You¡¯re practically invincible!¡±


    ¡°Controlling matter doesn¡¯t really make me invincible¡­¡±


    ¡°Come on, Kaon¨¦. I wouldn¡¯t have killed you. I couldn¡¯t have killed you! I¡¯ve never even been able to scratch you before!¡±


    ¡°Fire doesn¡¯t scratch.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Kev¨¦rin tugged at his bounds meekly before glancing up at Kaon¨¦. ¡°Uh¡­ mind letting me go?¡±


    She sighed in annoyance. A moment later, the steel bindings disintegrated and Kev¨¦rin clumsily pulled himself up into a standing position. He stretched for a couple seconds before turning to face Kaon¨¦ and smirking. Pointing at her waist-cloak, he quipped, ¡°on second thought...¡±


    She glanced down at the singed article of clothing and sighed again. ¡°What would your CO say if he heard you attacked a Nimaliakian?¡±


    ¡°Tch, that was more of a test, not an attack,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted, watching out the corner of his eye as Kaon¨¦¡¯s uniform seemingly repaired itself. ¡°We¡¯ve been stationed here for weeks. Months? I forget which. I¡¯m just trying to make sure we don¡¯t get soft.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. You don¡¯t have to attack me without warning, though.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise attack if I warned you.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t surprise attack me.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± Kev¨¦rin idly glanced around at his surroundings as he considered the difference in power between himself and Kaon¨¦. Both of them were known as ¡°Chaotics,¡± a term for people who possess some kind of supernatural ability ¡ª and all Chaotics were dependent on Chaos Energy, a mysterious resource that pervades the galaxy and allows for all kinds of physics-defying feats. Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ at least had that in common, but their actual powers as Chaotics set them in different leagues. Kev¨¦rin could control flames and heat, but Kaon¨¦ could control and alter all matter itself. The Pyrotechnic sighed in irritation; it would take more than a mere ambush to make up for the gulf of power between him and his friend.


    As he continued to muse about his situation, Kev¨¦rin¡¯s gaze turned to the cliffs overlooking the sprawling city below, and then up to the mountains that occupied the entire southern horizon. ¡°You know,¡± he eventually remarked, ¡°as beautiful as this place is, I¡¯m starting to miss Tekdec¨¦¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably go back soon. Things have calmed down since that one incident with the Interstellar Gate,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated, ¡°Tekdec¨¦ doesn¡¯t have a lot of reason to keep soldiers in Nimaliaka. I¡¯m surprised you¡¯ve stayed this long, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Probably the stupid conflict between the Drakkars and the CSA. Never know when they might attack each other again, and we¡¯ll have to hop through the Gate and put our lives on the line for some galactic federation that doesn¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about us.¡±


    ¡°The Core SpaceAllianceisn¡¯t a federation.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re correcting me a lot today.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being wrong a lot today.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°¡­We should probably go back to our quarters now.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Kaon¨¦ glanced at the western horizon, where the sun was rapidly descending toward the mountaintops. ¡°Yeah¡­ in fact, that¡¯s where I was heading before you jumped out of that shack and ambushed me!¡±


    The Pyrotechnic grinned sheepishly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ grinned back. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Just don¡¯t be surprised if the ground starts tripping you a lot.¡±


    ¡°Oh boy¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin groaned before turning around, just in time for another soldier to round the corner.


    She suddenly stiffened and saluted. ¡°Sir! Ma¡¯am!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin saluted back. ¡°What is it?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Sorry about the timing.¡± The soldier glanced at the sunset. ¡°Commander Nik¨¦yin would like to see you.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°More fetch quests, I bet.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin,¡± Kaon¨¦ reprimanded as she elbowed his side.


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± He rubbed his side tenderly before looking back to the soldier and nodding. ¡°You can go now. Tell the Commander we¡¯re on our way.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Come in!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ slowly opened the large door to the Commander¡¯s office. She then stepped inside and let go of the door, leaving Kev¨¦rin to awkwardly catch the doorknob before it could nail him in the stomach. He glared at the Materiatechnic as he stepped through the door and stood next to her, but she pretended not to notice. Then he snapped his attention forward as soon as the chair on the other side of the desk swiveled around, revealing an olive-skinned woman with shoulder-length black hair and a ponytail. Her uniform was the same as Kaon¨¦¡¯s, with the exception of golden decor sewn into her waist-cloak to demonstrate her high rank. On her face were the folds of age which, when paired with her glasses and her hardened ¡ª yet serene ¡ª resting expression, confirmed the many years of experience that her uniform claimed as she turned her attention to the two guests in her office.


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin both saluted. ¡°Commander!¡±


    Commander Nik¨¦yin stood and saluted back. ¡°Lieutenant Densalin.¡± She nodded toward Kaon¨¦, and then glanced at Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Transfer Captain Tyrion.¡± She sat back down and bade for the two Chaotics to do the same, though they had only stools themselves.


    Nik¨¦yin eyed the two as they fidgeted in their seats. ¡°Slow times, hmm?¡±


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted.


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad though,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented. ¡°I¡¯d rather be bored than have to fight.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin sighed. ¡°If only things were always so easy¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin¡¯s eyes widened with interest. ¡°Does that mean we have an actual mission?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be fighting anyone, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    ¡°Aw¡­ Why do we have to stick around the base? We¡¯re literally the only non-rookie Chaotics in the entire region! Everyone else is off helping on the Drakkar or Riaxen fronts!¡±


    ¡°Do you want to be shipped to the war fronts?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I hate having nothing to do!¡±


    ¡°Maybe if you¡¯d stop complaining, you¡¯d learn of what I want you to do?¡± Nik¨¦yin smirked as the Captain¡¯s face fell. ¡°Wipe that frown off your face. You may not be seeing action, but I think you¡¯ll still be pleased with your assignment.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin glanced at each other in confusion. ¡°¡­What is it?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start by briefly explaining the background,¡± the Commander stated, and then looked over at Kev¨¦rin. ¡°You¡¯re from the Tekdec¨¦nian military. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of the movement to place all of Nimalia¡¯s extrasolar military activities in the hands of a non-national entity.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°I¡¯m not against the idea, but it wouldn¡¯t be fair to take the space fleets from Tekdec¨¦ and the RPF if Nimaliaka gets to keep the Interstellar Gate.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s been considered. The Interstellar Gate won¡¯t be moved, but the facility it inhabits will be established as one of the first non-national grounds.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re talking like this is already happening,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented slowly.


    ¡°That¡¯s because it is.¡± The Commander smiled broadly. ¡°Nimaliaka, Tekdec¨¦, and Riverana are coming together to form the Nimalian Systems Defense ¡ª the NSD. A non-national organization that will take control of all extrasolar activities. Well¡­ at a later date, at least. The NSD hasn¡¯t been officially established yet.¡±


    ¡°Alright, so this is cool and all¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°But if it hasn¡¯t been established yet, then why are we here?¡±


    ¡°Just because it hasn¡¯t beenofficiallyestablished doesn¡¯t mean that it hasn¡¯t beeneffectively established,¡± Nik¨¦yin declared. ¡°While we work through the politics and bureaucracy to make the organization official, I still have a useful task for you two ¨C oh, I suppose I should mention that I¡¯ll be the NSD¡¯s Commander.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations!¡± Kaon¨¦ smiled warmly.


    ¡°So¡­ what are we supposed to do?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Form the NSD¡¯s first Chaotic squad, recruit further members, and then investigate the cause of the Chaos Energy Quake.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin whistled. ¡°That¡¯s a tall order.¡±


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t the Quake already been investigated by countless organizations?¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out, ¡°I don¡¯t know what we could find that hasn¡¯t already been discovered¡­¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± Nik¨¦yin admitted, ¡°but I¡¯m sure the two of you are aware of your relation to the Quake.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin briefly thought back to the event that occurred over twenty years ago. One day with no warning, all of the Chaos Energy in the galaxy became inexplicably erratic, frying Chaos Energy-based technology all across the galaxy and sending countless Chaotics berserk. And then ¡ª just as suddenly ¡ª Chaos Energy became completely unusable, rendering all of the technology that had survived useless and making faster than light travel and communication practically impossible. The galaxy was thrown into disarray until Chaos Energy mysteriously became usable again a year later. The civilizations of the galaxy have since largely recovered. However, aside from disabling all manner of advanced technology, the Chaos Energy Quake had a second lasting effect: the birthrate of Chaotics during the year-long period plummeted to almost zero. The galactic birthrate itself remained relatively constant, but of the millions of children born on the Nimalian Homeworld during that year, only seven went on to develop supernatural abilities ¡ª to become Chaotics. Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin were two of those seven.


    Kaon¨¦ frowned, failing to understand the Commander¡¯s implication. ¡°Our ¡®relation¡¯ to the Quake won¡¯t really help us figure out what caused it, though¡­¡±


    ¡°The two of you are two of the only Chaotics on this planet to have been born during that entire year,¡± Nik¨¦yin refuted. ¡°Normally, several thousand of the newborns on Nimalia in any given year go on to develop Chaotic ability. It would be understandable ifnoChaotics were born during the Quake, but that the seven of you were ¡ª it¡¯s confounding.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how we can help with this, but if it means actually doing something that isn¡¯t standing around here, I¡¯m sold!¡± Kev¨¦rin leaned forward in anticipation. ¡°Where do we start?¡±


    ¡°Ultimately, that will be up to you,¡± the Commander stated before pulling up a roster on her glasses¡¯ AR display and sending it to the two Chaotics. ¡°But to start with, your task is to recruit more members. I¡¯ve already spoken with your respective superiors; they know to leave you be. You just need to get the people on that list to join up.¡±


    ¡°¡­So thisisa fetch quest,¡± Kev¨¦rin drawled.


    ¡°Oh shush,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied as she looked over the roster Nik¨¦yin had sent to her. ¡°¡­Wait, I recognize some of these names.¡±


    ¡°I would hope so,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied, ¡°they¡¯re the other five Chaotics born on Nimalia during the Quake.¡±


    His interest piqued, Kev¨¦rin began looking through the list himself. He then scowled, and began to complain. ¡°These guys are all over the place! And a Tres¨¦dian? Really? You want us to recruit someone from that backwards place?¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax is one of Tres¨¦d¡¯s best Velocitechnics,¡± the Commander asserted. ¡°Everyone on that list has significant skill as a Chaotic, in fact. You¡¯d do well to not underestimate them.¡±


    ¡°Why do only Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on and Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n have contact information?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, ¡°how are we supposed to find these people if we can¡¯t even contact them?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to visit them in person,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded, ¡°it¡¯s probably the only way most of them will even consider joining you, anyway.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°I knew this was a fetch quest¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really representing your home nation well.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can start by calling up Siyuak¨¦n and Christean¨¦¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ mused, ¡°once we hear from them, we can decide who to ask next¡­¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re developing a plan already! I knew I could count on Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°Hero¡­ Machina?¡± Kev¨¦rin echoed slowly, and then grimaced. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s our¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Call sign? Actually, it is.¡± Nik¨¦yin smirked again when Kev¨¦rin let out an exasperated sigh. ¡°It¡¯s really not that bad.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered. ¡°¡­I almost want to go back to just standing around.¡±


    ¡°Too late for that,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied as she stood up, prompting Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin to hastily stand as well. ¡°You understand the task you¡¯ve been given, correct?¡±


    The two Chaotics nodded in response.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll leave you to it. Meanwhile, I have some other things to attend to.¡± The Commander saluted. ¡°Dismissed!¡±

 2 - The Electrotechnics Connection

    Chapter 2 - The Electrotechnic''s Connection


    ¡°So¡­ this is Rel¨¦diaka.¡±


    ¡°I had heard that the trees were big here, but¡ª wow! You can barely see the ground from the tops!¡±


    ¡°Well of course you can¡¯t see the ground. We¡¯re stuck in an office,¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled.


    Kaon¨¦ silently glanced over at the Pyrotechnic, who was sitting slouched in a chair, sulking.


    About a day had passed since the two were inducted into the NSD. They had attempted to contact as many of the five other Chaotics as they could the morning after speaking with Commander Nik¨¦yin, but they succeeded only in reaching Christean¨¦, who claimed that he would meet with the two of them once he finished ¡°urgent business.¡± Unable to directly contact the others, Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin decided to visit the capitals of the other continent-nations where they would be able to ask the local military headquarters for the locations of the Chaotics in that nation. This quest lead to them boarding the next inter-capital flight out of Nimaliaka Central, which happened to be directly to the Rel¨¦diakian capital of L¨¦dia; three hours later they arrived in the famous ¡°Capital in the Trees,¡± so-called for its position in the literal treetops of Rel¨¦diaka¡¯s massive forest. The trees grew to be hundreds of meters tall and well over fifty meters thick, providing a solid foundation for constructing tree-bound buildings and pathways ¡ª which the Rel¨¦diakians had done for millennia. L¨¦dia was far from the only city built into the forest canopy, but it was certainly the oldest and largest, sprawling across hundreds of treetops and forming a dense urban mesh that nearly plunged the forest floor into darkness. Tourists could often be found wandering the outskirts of the city, marveling at the height of the urban neighborhoods over the actual surface of the planet.


    But Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin had to content themselves with flipping through tourist brochures ¡ª as soon as they arrived, they were met by a Rel¨¦diakian soldier who led them to the nation¡¯s military headquarters. There, they found the office of Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on, one of the Chaotics they were searching for. On the door to her office was a sign that read ¡°out; be back soon,¡± so Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ decided to wait for her in the reception area.


    That had been three hours ago.


    ¡°Why the hell are we still here?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, glaring at the blank far wall.


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for Siyuak¨¦n. She should be with us soon¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they said an hour ago. They also said that two hours ago. Oh, and three hours ago, too.¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°I wonder what¡¯s taking so long.¡±


    ¡°We could have gone to Riverana and back in this time. Who was in Riverana? Some¡­ Kiev¡­¡±


    ¡°Kievkenalis Yumach,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated after pulling up a digital version of the roster on her glasses. ¡°¡­He¡¯s a Chaostechnic.¡±


    ¡°A Chaostechnic!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°well why didn¡¯t we go get him first?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who barged onto the first inter-capital transport you saw, not me.¡±


    ¡°¡­Touch¨¦.¡± He glanced at the personnel listing on the wall next to him for the tenth time that hour. ¡°Why do we have to wait for Siyuak¨¦n?¡± he complained again, ¡°she¡¯s the same age as us, right? Like, around 21 or 22, right? There¡¯s no way she¡¯s so far ahead in the ranks that we have to wait this long for her.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a Lieutenant,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, with a pleased smile across her face. ¡°Like me!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kev¨¦rin jumped to his feet in indignation. ¡°What are we waiting for a Lieutenant for? I¡¯m a Transfer Captain! I¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Outrank Lieutenants in any military, I know.¡± Kaon¨¦ rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve only told me that at least twice a week since we met.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin gave Kaon¨¦ an unamused look.


    ¡°Why are you complaining so much all of a sudden, anyways?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin grunted and sat back down. ¡°I¡¯m just bored. There¡¯s nothing to do.¡± He glanced over at Kaon¨¦. ¡°Aren¡¯t you bored?¡±


    ¡°Sorta,¡± she replied, and then tapped her glasses. ¡°I downloaded a couple AR games, though. That helps.¡±


    ¡°¡­What games?¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of Dessert Destruction?¡±


    ¡°Sounds familiar¡ª¡±


    Kev¨¦rin stopped mid-sentence as he locked eyes with a pale-skinned young woman who had just stepped into the reception area. Her black hair was cut short, not even shoulder-length aside from thin strips of hair over her ears. Her brown eyes weren¡¯t hidden behind glasses as was the case with most of society, and her height was a near-match for Kev¨¦rin¡¯s. She wore a pair of brown boots, caked in old mud; white pants and green chaps that tucked into the boots; a brown cloth tied around her waist under her belt; a collared green shirt with short white sleeves; and a series of straps around her torso and arms that were attached to two metallic prisms, one on each of her forearms ¡ª forearms that were largely obscured by the large box of files and folders that she held in her hands.


    The woman paused uneasily when she noticed Kev¨¦rin¡¯s presence, at which point she glanced between him, Kaon¨¦, and then over at the door beside them with the nameplate that read ¡°Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ caught the glance. ¡°Are you Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Lieutenant Wanl¨¦on, yes¡­¡± She looked between Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ again, this time with a level of confusion in her expression. ¡°¡­Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Figures no one told her we were waiting for her. Of course, I should¡¯ve known,¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled under his breath.


    Ignoring his undignified muttering, Kaon¨¦ took it upon herself to do the introductions. ¡°I¡¯m Lieutenant Kaon¨¦ Densalin, from Nimaliaka.¡± She then gestured toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°And this is Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion, from Tekdec¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she stepped forward and held her palm up to a metal plate by the office door. A second later something clicked and the door swung open. She stepped inside, gesturing for Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin to do the same. ¡°So¡­ what brings you here?¡± she asked as she set the box of files and folders on her desk and began rifling through it.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t know to expect us, you might not believe what we have to say,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± Siyuak¨¦n shrugged. ¡°I won¡¯t know until you tell me.¡±


    ¡°Alright. So¡­ it¡¯s not official yet,¡± Kev¨¦rin started, ¡°but Nimaliaka, Tekdec¨¦, and the Riveranian Protection Force are cooperating to form the Nimalian Systems Defense, a non-national organization that¡¯ll handle all extrasolar matters.¡±


    ¡°My CO actually just mentioned that to me,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented. ¡°¡­Oh, so the two of you are who he was talking about.¡±


    ¡°So you know that we came to ask you to join Hazardous Memento?¡±


    ¡°Huh? That¡¯s not our name.¡± Kaon¨¦ threw Kev¨¦rin an unamused glance.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s better than Hero Machina,¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that...¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied.


    ¡°¡­So, are you in?¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re not expecting me to just drop everything and say ¡®yes.¡¯¡±


    ¡°No, but it¡¯d definitely be easier for us.¡± Kev¨¦rin then glanced between Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n, both of whom stared back at him disapprovingly. ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°We know it isn¡¯t that simple,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated as she turned back to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°I¡¯ll admit that neither of us even knew about any of this before yesterday.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°So the two of you did just drop everything and say yes?¡±


    ¡°Whatever we¡¯ll be doing as ¡®Hero Machina¡¯ has to be more exciting than sitting around on stand-by,¡± Kev¨¦rin claimed, ¡°I know we weren¡¯t busy at all. What are you doing that¡¯s so important?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed and gestured for Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin to take a seat. She then crossed her office, closed the door, and walked around her desk across from her two guests before sitting down in her chair.


    ¡°¡­That serious?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned uneasily.


    ¡°Pretty much¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, ¡°I¡¯m going to guess that the two of you are looking for my friend, Rebehka, as well?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ checked her roster quickly before asking, ¡°Rebehka¡­ Tchir¨¦on?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded. ¡°That¡¯s her. She and I have been working on a classified project for the past few years¡ª¡±


    ¡°Whoa, wait, classified?¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted, ¡°can you really just up and tell us about it then?¡±


    ¡°Sure it¡¯s classified, but my CO said it was fine to share this with you,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°The two of you, me, Rebehka ¡ª it¡¯s not hard to tell that you¡¯re looking to recruit the Chaotics born during the Chaos Energy Quake.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin glanced at each other warily. ¡°I guess that is pretty obvious, huh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ admitted.


    ¡°I suppose now is a good time to point out that Hero Machina¡¯s ¡®official¡¯ task is to investigate the Quake,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated.


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know. That increases my chances of joining you.¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed warily. ¡°The project ¡ª well, the situation Rebehka and I are investigating, we believe it could be related to the Quake.¡±


    ¡°Wow. We¡¯re making progress already!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°As far as we know, it all started about ten years ago,¡± Siyuak¨¦n began, ¡°animals with metallic body parts have been showing up the world over. But it doesn¡¯t look as though the metallic parts grew with the animal, or as if they were surgically inserted in place of the original body part. It looks more like an infection, almost. Like giant rashes. Giant metallic rashes¡­ yeah, that¡¯s probably the best way to put it.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin grimaced. ¡°That sounds, uh¡­ pretty gross.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t even imagine¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed again. ¡°The poor things look like they¡¯re in so much pain¡­ but any animal infected with the metallic rash seems to go mad. They become extremely hostile and attack everything in sight. Even normally docile creatures will go crazy. It¡¯s far from easy to subdue them, and there¡¯s no known way to cure them, so usually¡­ we have to put them down.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned.


    ¡°That¡¯s sad¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded slowly. ¡°But¡­ if these animals have been appearing all over the world, why haven¡¯t we heard of them?¡±


    ¡°Because the governments don¡¯t want a panic.¡± Siyuak¨¦n snorted in derision. ¡°They¡¯ve tried their damnedest to make sure the public doesn¡¯t learn about it. It¡¯s not hard, either. On any other continent-nation the infected animals are easily spotted and put down by local teams, and nothing is heard from them. Here in Rel¨¦diaka, though, there are massive forests to hide in. The infection is a bigger problem here since we can¡¯t find the infected animals quickly enough to put them down and stop whatever this ¡®disease¡¯ is from spreading. But most of the towns are tree-borne, so people rarely see the animals anyways¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d heard stories, but I never imagined that the forest floor is actually that dangerous!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty nasty down there, I¡¯ll admit. Only Chaotics are allowed on the forest floor, and never alone,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated. ¡°General policy is to put down any infected animals on sight, but Rebehka and I are part of a group that tries to capture and study them to see what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    ¡°Why you two?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m an Electrotechnic, and she¡¯s a Cryotechnic. Our powers allow us to more easily subdue animals.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°By shocking or freezing them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got to be better than¡­ er¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n paused for a moment. ¡°¡­What kind of Chaotics are you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Pyrotechnic, and I¡¯m a Materiatechnic,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s definitely better than burning them,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted before looking over at Kaon¨¦. ¡°Wait¡­ you¡¯re a Materiatechnic? Like, actually?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t lie,¡± Kaon¨¦ huffed.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n mused, ¡°¡­how good are you?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Like, how finely can you control matter?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Instead of a verbal response, Kaon¨¦ held up her right hand. Her sleeve cuff detached from her sleeve, rotated 360 degrees, and then reattached itself seamlessly.


    ¡°¡­Wow,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she inspected the sleeve, ¡°¡­no seam. You¡¯d never even know you pulled off the cuff¡­¡±


    ¡°It took a lot of practice to be able to do that,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ¡°and, even then¡­ I¡¯ve got a long way to go, as a Materiatechnic.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted.


    Ignoring him, Siyuak¨¦n asked, ¡°how well can you use your power on moving objects? Living things?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like where this is going¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ responded uneasily.


    ¡°But, just think about it!¡± Siyuak¨¦n urged, ¡°we¡¯ve never had a Materiatechnic help us before. Your power could be key to getting rid of the metallic infection!¡±


    ¡°And what if I kill the animal on accident?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what would have happened anyways.¡±


    ¡°I hope you aren¡¯t ¡®putting them down¡¯ so gruesomely as removing matter from a random part of their body!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n drew away from Kaon¨¦ in surprise. ¡°¡­Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly apologized, ¡°I just¡­ ¡­I won¡¯t do it.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin pursed his lips as he glanced between the two women who were now sitting in awkward silence. Choosing to break said silence, he questioned, ¡°so what does this ¡®metal infection¡¯ have to do with the Chaos Energy Quake?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a little harder to answer.¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned to address Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Our ¡®evidence¡¯ is pretty qualitative. This infection thing has only been a Nimalian issue ¡ª that we know of ¡ª for the past decade, but we¡¯ve received reports of similar infections on planets in CSA space. Those reports go back as far as twenty years¡­ but no farther.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not exactly a solid connection.¡±


    ¡°Which is why I¡¯m considering joining you guys. If you¡¯re going to investigate the Quake, you may discover some things about this infection, and you might be able to establish an actual connection. If nothing else, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d get a chance to check out the non-Nimalian infection reports. Hmm¡­¡± She paused for a moment before suddenly standing up.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned as she briskly walked around her desk and to her office door, ¡°after all that, you¡¯re not just dropping everything and joining, are you?¡±


    ¡°No, not just yet, at least,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she opened the door and gestured for the other two to follow. ¡°An Electrotechnic, a Pyrotechnic, and a Materiatechnic¡­ we should be safe enough.¡±


    ¡°¡­You want to show us one of the infected animals, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°So that you¡¯ll at least know what to look for, whether I join your squad or not.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned warily. ¡°I don¡¯t feel too good about this¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°¡­As much as I don¡¯t want to, if it comes down to, it I¡¯m sure I can stop anything that decides to attack you. I¡¯m sure you can help too, uh¡­ Transfer Captain.¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°Right. So, are the two of you with me?¡±


    ¡°¡­Will you join us if we go with you?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin glanced at each other uneasily. Kev¨¦rin followed the glance with a shrug and turned back to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Sure. We¡¯re in.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± she exclaimed, ¡°let¡¯s go!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Er¡­ the ground didn¡¯t look quite so far away when we flew in¡­¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she readied the lift to the forest floor, ¡°this lift may not see much use, but it¡¯s still reliable.¡±


    ¡°How often do you go down there?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Probably once a week or so,¡± Siyuak¨¦n answered, ¡°but Rel¨¦diakians don¡¯t use the lift. The lift is for foreigners like you who don¡¯t know how to use swinging gear.¡±


    ¡°Use what?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n held up her arms, forearms forward, showing off a metal prism strapped to each forearm. At the end of each prism closest to the elbow was a cylindrical canister, mounted with its bases parallel to the sides of her arms; the other end of the prism was sloped away from her hand, and a single spike appeared to be mounted within.


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what those are¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°¡­Wait, how do you swing with those?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced at the lift control panel to see how much longer they had until it arrived. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, she held her right arm out toward the dense treetops, away from the city behind them. There was a small spark and the spike shot out, revealing that it was attached to the prism by a cord. Then, almost as soon as it had shot out, it retracted, snapping back into its mounted position.


    ¡°So it¡¯s like a grappling hook?¡±


    ¡°It is a grappling hook. Once it extends out a certain distance, hooks open outward, out of the spike.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin whistled. ¡°Not bad. How do you power something so small, though¡ª?¡±


    ¡°KRAAAAAAAWWWW!!¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª!?¡± Kaon¨¦ jumped, startled.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Siyuak¨¦n glared into the distance, scanning the treetops for the source of the cry. ¡°I just had to go and wake up a dragonbird, didn¡¯t I¡ª?!¡± She froze as a massive bird-like creature dived out of the leaves some distance away and began rocketing toward the three Chaotics. Then she scowled.


    Kev¨¦rin caught the expression. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s infected!¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°¡­the infection¡¯s reached the birds, too? Damn¡ª hold on!¡± She stretched her arm toward the bird. ¡°Avert your eyes!¡± she exclaimed just before a bright bolt of lightning jumped from her fingertips to the dragonbird. It immediately seized up, all of its muscles contracted; however, while its wings were no longer flapping, it still maintained its forward momentum.


    ¡°It¡¯s coming this way!!¡± Kev¨¦rin yelped.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted, grabbing both Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin by their shoulders and pulling them to the side. She succeeded in keeping all three of them out of direct harms way, but she wasn¡¯t quite fast enough to keep the giant bird from scraping against Kaon¨¦, who stumbled over, unprepared for the animal¡¯s surprisingly large mass.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Kaon¨¦! Get¡ª shit!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, quickly reaching out for the Materiatechnic. But he was too late; she tripped on the walkway and toppled over the low railing, falling straight down to the ground below. However, as a Materiatechnic, she had nothing much to fear ¡ª when she judged she was within a couple seconds of hitting the ground, she quickly liquefied the dirt and made it reach out to her, disabling all surface tension as she fell into the liquid-like blob. As soon as her downward speed slowed to nil she ejected herself from the dirt blob, allowing it to re-solidify as she hastily removed the leftover dirt splotches on her body.


    ¡°Eugh¡­¡± she groaned. ¡°Disgusting¡ª¡±


    ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWW!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still coming?!¡± She whipped around just in time to see the dragonbird throw itself at her. She quickly dove to the side before rolling over and jumping back to her feet, unconsciously reaching her hand toward the bird. No, wait, no¡ª! she panicked, no, don¡¯t kill¡­ it?... Her panic turned part-way into confusion as she noticed the dragonbird stomp the ground and turn back to face her. Wait, just now¡­ she thought to herself uneasily, my¡­ power¡­


    It didn¡¯t work!

 3 - Start of Unknown: Infection

    Chapter 3 - Start of Unknown: Infection


    My power didn¡¯t work¡ª?!


    The dragonbird screeched again, shaking Kaon¨¦ from her thoughts. The beast lowered its head and charged at the Materiatechnic, who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled. When the bird slammed into a tree while trying to brake, Kaon¨¦ quickly ripped some dirt from the ground and flung it at the creature, transforming the dirt into solid rock around the dragonbird¡¯s neck and ankles and binding it against the tree. She then stared at the now bound and struggling bird for a couple moments before realizing that she was panting heavily. ¡­At least¡­ I can still control other matter¡ª


    ¡°Lieutenant!¡±


    She glanced upward to see Siyuak¨¦n swing down from the upper branches. The Electrotechnic then withdrew her grappling hooks, allowing the cords to reel in rapidly. As soon as they snapped back into place, she fired off one of the hooks again, snagging it in a low branch. She swung around the respective tree before reeling in the hook and hitting the ground with a roll. Leaping out of the roll as smoothly as she entered it, she jogged over to Kaon¨¦ and then glanced up at the bound dragonbird.


    ¡°¡­Impressive,¡± she commented, ¡°but you should get it away from the tree, quickly.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, nonetheless obliging. She disconnected the rock bounds from the tree and then added more rock to the bounds so that they completely surrounded the dragonbird¡¯s neck and ankles. After doing so she carefully levitated the animal through the air before depositing it on the ground away from the tree, creating a section of metal flooring to which she attached the rock bounds.


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded approvingly before explaining, ¡°we still don¡¯t know what causes the infection, or how it spreads. We don¡¯t know if it can affect plants, but I don¡¯t want to risk having the forest itself get infected. Who knows what would happen if¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ glanced over at the Electrotechnic as she trailed off. ¡°What is¡­? Oh.¡± She then turned around fully to face in the same direction of Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Uh oh¡­¡±


    Moving through the forest toward the two Chaotics was not one, not two, but at least a dozen horribly deformed creatures. Some of them seemed to amble aimlessly through the forest, while others had their eyes dead set on the two women as they marched steadily through the underbrush, ignoring any and all plants that happened to be in their way.


    ¡°Oh no¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n gasped. ¡°This¡ª what is this? How did it get so bad so quickly?!¡±


    ¡°Can¡­ can you take them?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned uneasily.


    ¡°Probably¡­¡± The Electrotechnic adopted a battle-ready stance. ¡°But if you aren¡¯t going to help, then stand back. I don¡¯t want to accidentally hurt you.¡±


    ¡°Ye¡­yeah,¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered, stepping back¡ª


    ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª!?¡± The Materiatechnic stumbled, surprised by the dragonbird¡¯s sudden cry. Siyuak¨¦n turned to see what was wrong, but the moment she did, several of the approaching animals began to charge.


    ¡°Damn it, we don¡¯t have time for this!¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she dashed back toward Kaon¨¦ and grabbed her around the waist with one arm. She then aimed her other arm at a branch and was about to fire one of her grappling hooks when a sudden blast of fire filled the small clearing on the forest floor. Startled, Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n watched in stunned silence as Kev¨¦rin jumped down, using periodic fire blasts to slow his descent while also shooting fireballs at the animals below. The moment he landed on the ground he jumped forward and created a massive firewall before blasting it outward, burning all of the closest animals and scaring off the rest. He then quickly extinguished the flames that had ignited on the nearby trees as Kaon¨¦ took the opportunity to raise a solid rock wall all around the clearing, preventing any of the infected creatures from entering.


    Kev¨¦rin casually blew on both his hands before rubbing them together and turning around with a triumphant grin on his face. ¡°And that is the power of Hell¡¯s Math!!¡±


    A moment of silence passed. Then Siyuak¨¦n held a hand to her mouth and turned away as Kaon¨¦ gave Kev¨¦rin the best glare a short pacifist could muster.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± the Pyrotechnic asked cluelessly as he looked over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Is she okay?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s laughing,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded, deadpan.


    ¡°¡­Well at least I¡¯m trying!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°I don¡¯t see you trying to come up with a better team name.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need a better team name.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you think.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n again. ¡°How long is she gonna be like this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª ha¡­ I think, heh, I think I¡¯m fine now,¡± she replied, shaking herself off and turning back to face Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin. When she made eye contact with Kev¨¦rin she snickered again, but quickly stopped herself. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then donned a more serious expression. ¡°This is a bad situation.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say. I¡¯m trying to take initiative here, but the two of you¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, seriously,¡± Siyuak¨¦n interrupted, ¡°I¡¯m talking about the animals.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced between Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n uneasily. ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯re safe now, right? Shouldn¡¯t we just go back up to the city?¡±


    ¡°No, we need to deal with this now,¡± the Electrotechnic refuted. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen so many infected animals in one place before. And it¡¯s even reached the higher elevations, somehow¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°If only Rebehka were here. This would be so much easier¡­¡±


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°With a research team up north, on the Continental Glacier,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°It¡¯s cold enough up there that she doesn¡¯t have to put in much effort to keep the animals in cryogenic stasis.¡±


    ¡°There exist cryogenic stasis machines,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out.


    ¡°They¡¯re not as reliable as a skilled Cryotechnic. They have a higher failure rate,¡± Siyuak¨¦n immediately countered. ¡°But that isn¡¯t the point. If she were here, she could easily clear the way with her ice and have the situation under control.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°I can do the same with fire.¡±


    ¡°And risk burning down the whole forest?¡±


    ¡°I can put fires out too! Didn¡¯t you see me do that earlier? I put out the fires that were on the trees!¡±


    ¡°What if you miss one? I¡¯ll admit your pyrotechnics can be useful, but we can¡¯t afford to have you blasting fire around like a madman! There¡¯s a reason most Rel¨¦diakian-born Pyrotechnics are sent to East Nimaliaka or Tekdec¨¦.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled, but didn¡¯t argue the point further.


    ¡°So how do we deal with this?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°¡­I wish I knew.¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned as she held a hand up to her chin in thought. ¡°I hate to say it, but step one would be euthanizing all of the infected animals and disposing of the bodies¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s gotta be a source, right?¡± Kev¨¦rin suggested, ¡°something like this ¡®metal infection¡¯ can¡¯t be natural. If we can find the source, then we can find a way to stop the infection!¡±


    ¡°What do you think we¡¯ve been trying to do for the past five years?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, ¡°we haven¡¯t just been sitting on our asses all day. I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    ¡°S¡­ sorry.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ no, I¡¯m sorry.¡± The Electrotechnic sighed wearily. ¡°¡­I hate to ask you this, but we can¡¯t afford to dawdle. Can the two of you handle the infected animals? I¡¯ll rush back to headquarters and get a full recon team down here to make sure there are no more signs of the infection within a few kilometers. That shouldn¡¯t take longer than half an hour.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to kill them, if you can secure them like you did with the dragonbird.¡± Siyuak¨¦n passed Kaon¨¦ a wary glance. ¡°¡­Though it might be better if you did. We can¡¯t take in all of these animals, and as much as it may hurt you to kill them, I¡¯m sure the infection is hurting them much more.¡± She turned to look up at some of the denser branch areas. ¡°Will you help?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll do what we can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°¡­After this, I¡¯ll have a few things to take care of, but then we can go track down whoever it is you want to recruit next.¡±


    ¡°You mean, you¡¯ll join us?¡± Kev¨¦rin asked gleefully, but didn¡¯t get an answer. Siyuak¨¦n had already taken off, grappling up into the higher branches.


    The Pyrotechnic sighed and turned to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Well, you heard her. Let¡¯s get started. You¡¯ll have to lower the rock wall first, though.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± the Materiatechnic replied slowly before moving forward to lower the rock wall. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with¡­¡±


    <hr>


    The Next Morning


    ¡°Gah, what¡¯re you making us wake up so early for¡­¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one who wanted to sleep in, but one of us has to be professional.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled; Siyuak¨¦n smirked in response. She then stepped up to her office door and opened it, allowing Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin to enter before she closed the door and moved to sit behind her desk.


    ¡°First of all,¡± she started, ¡°thanks for helping yesterday.¡±


    ¡°The recon team didn¡¯t seem to think so,¡± Kev¨¦rin huffed, ¡°as soon as they arrived, they basically told us to shove it and run back to town.¡±


    ¡°This is a serious matter,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated. ¡°They may have seemed rude, but they were really just looking out for your own well-being. Historically, groups smaller than three or four don¡¯t last long on the forest floor¡­ especially not when that group includes foreigners.¡±


    ¡°We were doing just fine,¡± Kev¨¦rin protested.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you think,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, ¡°the recon team found at least thirty other infected animals within a kilometer of L¨¦dia, and twenty more within five. I doubt you could have handled yourselves against that many.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just animals,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted.


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at Kaon¨¦, who had been silent ever since entering the room. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°¡­I think it¡¯s probably best that we stayed out of their way,¡± the Materiatechnic replied slowly.


    ¡°Mm hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what did they do with the animals that I trapped?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed. ¡°I actually don¡¯t know. They haven¡¯t informed me. I suspect it may have something to do with me bringing you down to the forest floor without explicit permission¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ sorry?¡± Kev¨¦rin apologized confusedly.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. This leads to what I actually wanted to speak with the two of you about, though. This, uh¡­ Hell¡¯s Math group of yours¡­¡±


    ¡°The actual name is Hero Machina,¡± Kaon¨¦ corrected before giving Kev¨¦rin an annoyed glance. He pretended not to notice.


    Siyuak¨¦n smirked. ¡°Right. Well, if I understand you correctly, you¡¯re the first Chaotic squad in the soon-to-be-formed ¡®Nimalian Systems Defense,¡¯ which will take over Nimalia¡¯s space fleets and Interstellar Gate network from Tekdec¨¦, Nimaliaka, and the RPF?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And for now, you¡¯ll be investigating the Chaos Energy Quake.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the idea.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ Count me in.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, and then paused. ¡°Wait, just like that?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say this is ¡®just like that,¡¯¡± Siyuak¨¦n refuted, ¡°I mean, as coincidental as it was, it¡¯s thanks to the two of you that we discovered how alarmingly wide-spread the infection has become ¡ª and with that in mind, I think it¡¯s even better that I join you and try to figure out if the infection really is related to the Quake, and if so, how. Besides¡­ I get the feeling I was about to get sent off to the Drakkar front. Best to jump ship while I still can¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you were part of a research group or something?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re still a part of the Rel¨¦diakian military,¡± Siyuak¨¦n corrected with a hint of irritation. ¡°I know I said earlier that both Rebehka and I can easily subdue the infected animals, but really, Rebehka¡¯s the only one who can reliably capture them. It¡¯s a lot easier to just freeze something through than it is to differentiate between stunning and killing voltages, which aren¡¯t the same for every animal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°Do you know when Rebehka will be back?¡±


    ¡°I think within the next week or two. We never know for sure with those expeditions, and there¡¯s no easy way to contact her.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of contact ¡ª why couldn¡¯t we contact you from Nimaliaka? The roster even shows your contact info!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°why didn¡¯t you answer?¡±


    ¡°When did you call?¡±


    ¡°Two days ago.¡±


    ¡°And when did you come straight here to talk to me?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yesterday.¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t really wait for me to respond, now did you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted, ¡°¡­but Christean¨¦ responded immediately!¡±


    ¡°Christean¨¦? Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n, from East Nimaliaka?¡± Siyuak¨¦n snorted. ¡°Of course he responded immediately. He always responds immediately. That way he can tell people to go away as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°But he said he¡¯d join us in Nimaliaka¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned.


    ¡°And he probably will, but did he say when?¡±


    ¡°When he finished with ¡®urgent business¡¯¡­¡±


    ¡°Which is just one of his excuses.¡± Siyuak¨¦n leaned back in her chair, a mixture of annoyance and amusement showing in her expression. ¡°I¡¯ve worked with him before, and this sounds exactly like him. I wouldn¡¯t expect to see him for a while yet.¡±


    ¡°It would figure.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°How about we pay him a visit next, then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up, ¡°we can at least contact him, so we don¡¯t have to visit him just yet. We should look into visiting someone who we can¡¯t contact.¡±


    ¡°Who would that be?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax, from Tres¨¦d, and¡­ Kievkenalis Yumach, from Riverana.¡±


    ¡°Wow, a Tres¨¦dian made the list?¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, surprised.


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡±


    ¡°He must be pretty good, if he¡¯s on the international radar,¡± Siyuak¨¦n mused. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s just hope he¡¯s not one of the thugs the continent is known for.¡±


    ¡°Apparently he¡¯s a Velocitechnic,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°¡­Oh. A speedster. I was expecting him to be a Chaostechnic or something¡­¡±


    ¡°Kievkenalis is, though,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the roster says,¡± Kaon¨¦ affirmed.


    ¡°So we should definitely go get him first, right?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Maybe, but then again, maybe not,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered. ¡°Riverana has nice weather year round, but Tres¨¦d is harsh almost all the time. It¡¯s usually most comfortable around the equinoxes ¡ª which is about now.¡±


    ¡°¡­So you¡¯re saying we should go get Dav¨ªdrius first?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned.


    ¡°Unless you want to suffer through the worst of Tres¨¦d¡¯s climate, yes, we should.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin glanced at each other. Eventually Kev¨¦rin looked away with a sigh. ¡°Alright. Tres¨¦d¡¯s next, then.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°if you give me a day or two to wrap up a couple things here, then I can go with you. In the meantime you can take a look around L¨¦dia, since it seems like neither of you have ever been here before.¡±


    ¡°Alright, sounds like a plan!¡± Kev¨¦rin stood up and turned toward the door. ¡°We¡¯ll meet you in a couple days. C¡¯mon, Kaon¨¦! It¡¯s time to introduce Rel¨¦diaka to the Hazard Makers!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ watched in wordless silence as Kev¨¦rin barged out of the office and down the hall. She then turned back to Siyuak¨¦n in exasperation. ¡°Can I¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Heh, of course you can help.¡± The Electrotechnic smirked, and then gestured for Kaon¨¦ to come around the desk. ¡°Let¡¯s see, what should we start with¡­¡±

 4 - Chaotic Introduction

    Chapter 4 - Chaotic Introduction


    3 Days Later


    ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied irately, ¡°we¡¯re in the middle of the desert, Kev¨¦rin. You¡¯ll know when we¡¯re there.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t have to pay attention to that,¡± the Pyrotechnic retorted, his attention primarily drawn to the AR game he was playing. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to just ask you.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Siyuak¨¦n deadpanned, her grip tightening on the vehicle¡¯s steering device.


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ sighed warily. ¡°Can¡¯t you at least switch with Siyuak¨¦n every hour or two? She¡¯s been driving for four hours¡­¡±


    ¡°And I was driving before that.¡±


    ¡°For only two,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated.


    ¡°Hey, I got us out of Nock,¡± Kev¨¦rin protested. ¡°That place was a clusterfuck. I had no idea Tres¨¦d was so bad¡­¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s probably time for you to switch back,¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced over at her. ¡°¡­Why can¡¯t you drive?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    ¡°What kind of Lieutenant doesn¡¯t know how to drive?¡±


    ¡°One who¡¯s used to automatic transportation.¡±


    ¡°¡­Right,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied slowly. ¡°Another reason to hate Tres¨¦d: we actually have to drive our own damn cars.¡± He then returned his attention to his game while asking cheekily, ¡°are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°If you ask that question again I¡¯ll make you drive the rest of the way.¡±


    ¡°How far away is it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a more reasonable question,¡± the Electrotechnic commented. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t really know. Tres¨¦dian compounds do their best to keep their location secret, in order to avoid drawing attention from all the bandits and gangs. It was hard enough trying to figure out what direction to drive in to reach this Velocitechnic you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated, ¡°his name is Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to remember that,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded flatly. ¡°But really, Tres¨¦d is a bitch of a nation to navigate. The whole damn place is desert wasteland, the vehicles are outdated and don¡¯t have built-in GPS or any kind of automation, and there¡¯s no satellite receptors anywhere so neither of you can get GPS to your glasses!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of glasses, why don¡¯t you have any?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned. ¡°Practically everyone wears them now.¡±


    ¡°Too much trouble. I¡¯ve accidentally fried every pair of glasses I¡¯ve owned within a week of getting them¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well that¡¯s really too bad,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied nonchalantly, ¡°there¡¯s tons of great things you can do with glasses. Like play AR games!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at Kev¨¦rin for a moment before returning her attention to the road. ¡°I¡¯ll pass. I¡¯ve never been one for gaming.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re missing out.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± He then looked over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Hey, are we there yet?¡±


    <hr>


    5 Minutes Later


    ¡°Me, a Transfer Captain, getting bullied around by two Lieutenants. It¡¯s ridiculous. How am I supposed to know where we are? I was just sitting there, trying not to annoy everyone with my boredom, and now¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n tuned out Kev¨¦rin¡¯s mumblings as he grasped the steering device. She then turned to look at Kaon¨¦ in the back seat, who seemed to be preoccupied with staring at the surrounding desert. ¡°Bored?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced over at the Electrotechnic.


    ¡°I asked if you were bored.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, yeah¡­ there¡¯s nothing to do.¡±


    ¡°Why not play Dessert Destruction?¡± Kev¨¦rin suggested, ¡°hell, you introduced it to me!¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n passed Kev¨¦rin an incredulous glance. ¡°That sounds like a¡ª¡±


    ¡°Awesome game,¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted.


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded patronizingly. ¡°¡­Yes. That¡¯s totally what I was about to say. ...Shouldn¡¯t you be paying attention to the road?¡±


    The Pyrotechnic began grumbling again, but nevertheless turned away from the conversation.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you bored?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, ¡°you don¡¯t even have glasses. You couldn¡¯t distract yourself if you wanted to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never needed to,¡± the Electrotechnic replied, ¡°I don¡¯t go on road trips. A lot of travel I did back in Rel¨¦diaka was through the trees, anyway ¡ª you shouldn¡¯t be ¡®distracting yourself¡¯ when swinging through the forest.¡±


    ¡°True.¡±


    There was a moment of silence as the vehicle quietly zoomed through the sandy wastelands.


    ¡°Hey, Kaon¨¦¡­ can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Is there¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n glanced at Kev¨¦rin and then frowned. ¡°¡­Never mind. I¡¯ll ask later.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin looked over at her suspiciously. ¡°What, you got a problem with me?¡±


    ¡°Shush. You should pay attention to where you¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°I am paying attention to where we¡¯re going. Where we¡¯re going is a straight line. There¡¯s not a lot to pay attention to.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ are we there yet?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked cheekily.


    ¡°Actually¡­ we might be.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± She turned to stare out at the horizon. She could see a faint speck in the distance, but as time passed, it seemed to grow. ¡°¡­Well, I see something,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°but how do you know it¡¯s Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s compound?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°What else could it be in the middle of nowhere?¡±


    ¡°Unless you¡¯re certain, we should approach carefully. Even if you aren¡¯t certain, we should approach carefully¡­¡±


    ¡°Carefully? What for? We¡¯re in the middle of a wasteland! I don¡¯t see any potential traps or ambushes.¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be traps or ambushes if you could see them.¡±


    ¡°My point is that there¡¯s nowhere to hide in a wasteland.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you think, but Tres¨¦dians are born and raised in this environment. They¡¯re bound to have some sort of trap or ambush tactic that works especially well in the wastelands. Especially on unsuspecting outsiders like us¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll be more careful.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded as he slowed the vehicle to a more manageable speed. ¡°It¡¯ll take longer, but we should still be there soon.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded back, and turned to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Make sure to keep watch for traps¡ª¡±


    BAM! BANG!


    ¡°Gah¡ª!¡± Kev¨¦rin yelped as the vehicle flipped over due to some unseen explosive. But before it came crashing down to the ground, Kaon¨¦ seized control of its constituent matter, froze the vehicle in midair, spun it around upright, and then deposited it back on the ground.


    ¡°Uagh¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n doubled over in her seat, the sudden motions of the vehicle catching her by utter surprise. ¡°Ah¡­ Kaon¨¦, you¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh, guys¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at Kev¨¦rin before slowly looking around themselves. No less than five levitating autoturrets had their guns trained on the three Chaotics, and standing some distance away was alarge humanoid robot,just over 8 meters tall, staring down at the vehicle as if it were an impassable sentry.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What the hell is a Tekdec¨¦nian Recon Mech doing here?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed.


    ¡°Looks like you were right about the trap thing¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ admitted quietly.


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed in irritation. ¡°Of course I am¡­¡±


    Any further conversation was cut short as the mech¡¯s loudspeakers flipped on. ¡°What¡¯re you doin¡¯ here?¡±


    ¡°Wow, his voice is really deep,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented in response to the pilot¡¯s question.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know we¡¯re Chaotics,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°well ¡ª he could know one of us is, since you righted the vehicle so easily. But ¡ª Siyuak¨¦n, how quickly would you be able to take out the autoturrets?¡±


    ¡°You want to fight? Already?¡± the Electrotechnic hissed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to, but if it comes down to it, better to have a plan than not. Can you?¡±


    ¡°¡­I could probably fry all five before they open fire. I don¡¯t know if that mech has anything in store, though¡ª¡±


    The hushed conversation was cut short as the mech¡¯s loudspeakers sounded again. ¡°I asked, what are you doing here?¡±


    The three Chaotics looked up at the mech as it removed a large gun from its back and trained it on their vehicle.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what should we say?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked hurriedly.


    ¡°¡­Might as well go for the truth,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented. ¡°If things go bad, you two know what to do.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced between the two Chaotics uneasily. ¡°Wait, we do¡ª?¡±


    By the time she asked, however, Kev¨¦rin had already jumped out of the vehicle, his hands in the air. ¡°We didn¡¯t come here to attack you!¡± he shouted, ¡°we¡¯re just looking for someone. Do you know, um¡­ Dav¨ªdrius¡­ Wrikax?¡±


    A moment of silence passed before the mech pilot responded, ¡°I might. Usually only bandits and thieves lookin¡¯ for that guy though.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t thieves!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed indignantly.


    ¡°¡­All of y¡¯all, out of the vehicle,¡± the pilot demanded. Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n quickly complied, getting out and standing next to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Now¡­¡± the pilot continued, ¡°¡­what do you want with Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not something we can tell just anyone,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°we have an offer for him, sort of.¡±


    ¡°You ain¡¯t the first to¡¯ve said that. Every other time the dealers turned out to be Bleeders.¡±


    ¡°Bleeders?¡± Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n snickered.


    ¡°The Bleeder gang ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ to laugh about,¡± the pilot declared, ¡°but of course y¡¯all wouldn¡¯t know that. Foreigners think Tres¨¦d¡¯s just a joke, why should they be concerned with how actually dangerous the national gangs are so long as they stay on this shithole continent, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n and Kaon¨¦ uneasily. They both shrugged in response. Turning back toward the mech, he asked, ¡°by any chance, um¡­ are you Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    ¡°¡­And if I was?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not doing a very good job of hiding it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented.


    Immediately each of the autoturrets began whirring. ¡°I still don¡¯t know who y¡¯all are, and I¡¯m startin¡¯ to think that you really ain¡¯t worth my time. You¡¯ve got ten seconds to come up with a good reason for why I should listen to y¡¯all before you become just another random group of intruders that I caught on a bad day!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to listen to us¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered with a frown.


    ¡°Time to show him we mean business, then,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared, ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, take out the autoturrets. Kaon¨¦, seize the mech. Three, two, one, now!¡±


    Before the mech pilot had a chance to say anything else, Siyuak¨¦n raised her arm into the air and simultaneously zapped all five autoturrets, frying and permanently shutting them down. Kev¨¦rin then set to incinerating their remains as Kaon¨¦ obliterated the mech¡¯s gun before forcing it to stand stock still.


    ¡°Do you want to listen to us now?¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted triumphantly.


    The pilot didn¡¯t respond. Instead, the members of Hero Machina heard a distant clanging noise, and then saw a metal plate fall to the ground behind the mech, followed by what appeared to be the pilot. After rolling to a stop on the ground, he stood up, turned around to stare at the Chaotics¡­ and then disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of dust.


    ¡°Wait, he¡¯s¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, but was unable to finish her sentence. All three Chaotics were unable to properly respond before a virtually unseen force bashed them all along the back of their heads, knocking them unconscious.


    <hr>


    ¡°Oooooh¡­ my head¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ slowly and painfully pulled herself up into a sitting position. She rubbed her head tenderly as she began looking around at her surroundings: a small cell, partitioned off from a slightly larger room by several metal bars. With her in the cell were Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n, both of whom appeared to be coming to as well¡­ and sitting on a bench outside the cell, next to a solid metal door, was a young man with a slim build and a dark complexion. His coarse, long black hair was both held back by a headband and tied back near the base of his head in a puffy ponytail, but even then, much of it escaped over his headband to frame his glasses and brown eyes. His chin was hidden behind a short beard, accompanied by a tuft of hair just below his bottom lip and a mustache. His outfit consisted of a pair of heavy-duty brown boots that extended halfway up his thighs, white pants and desert-tan chaps, a white shirt, and a thick desert-tan jacket with a breast pocket on both sides. On top of that was a dirty old scarf on the verge of turning threadbare, yet still wrapped securely around his neck. And at his sides were two large metal boxes with two handles extending out the front. The boxes seemed to be attached to him through a series of straps and buckles, like a hilt that was designed to hold multiple different swords.


    Eventually the man noticed the three Chaotics coming to, at which point he stood up, causing the two metal boxes strapped to his sides to rattle and then bang on the bench. He stopped momentarily to glare at the boxes before placing his hands cautiously on the handles extending out them, and then turning to face the cell ¡ª where he nearly seemed to tower over the three Chaotics at an easy six feet tall.


    ¡°¡­Dav¨ªdrius?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s me, aye,¡± he eventually responded.


    ¡°Pretty short-sighted, just throwing us in here without any bounds, even while knowing we¡¯re Chaotics,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated.


    ¡°I assume you ain¡¯t actually tried usin¡¯ your powers,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°¡­He¡¯s right,¡± Siyuak¨¦n admitted. ¡°I can¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ shit.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled as he attempted to create a fireball in his palm but failed. He turned back to glare at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Is this a CENT field? How the hell did you get your hands on negation tech?!¡±


    Their captor crossed his arms and smirked condescendingly. ¡°It¡¯s just one of the pieces of ¡®junk¡¯ that you Tekdec¨¦nians decided to dump off the coast somewhere. One of the Bleeders picked it up, and then I... acquired it from them.¡±


    ¡°What?...¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°But¡­ Tekdec¨¦ doesn¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hah! As if you know what you¡¯re talkin¡¯ about. You¡¯re from Tekdec¨¦ yourself, ain¡¯t you, Transfer Captain.¡±


    ¡°You know who we are?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked uneasily.


    ¡°No, but I can recognize your uniforms and rank symbols,¡± Dav¨ªdrius stated. ¡°The two of you are Lieutenants. He outranks y¡¯all, so I¡¯m guessin¡¯ he¡¯s the leader of whatever retarded little troupe y¡¯all are runnin¡¯.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n glanced at each other. ¡°It¡¯s debatable whether or not he¡¯s actually leading us¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ignoring the quick glare Kev¨¦rin threw in her direction.


    ¡°Well ain¡¯t this just grand. Three Chaotics, each from a different nation, travellin¡¯ in the middle of Tres¨¦d, and the guy who¡¯s the highest rank by international military law ain¡¯t even leadin¡¯? What, are y¡¯all AWOL or somethin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I was getting the idea you didn¡¯t like Tekdec¨¦nians. Now you¡¯re complaining that I¡¯m not in charge?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Which is it?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius turned toward Kev¨¦rin, his face stoically condescending¡­ until he broke into a self-amused smirk. ¡°Aw, I¡¯m just screwin¡¯ with you, keheheh.¡± Then he frowned. ¡°Well, sort of. I do have issues with Tekdec¨¦, but I¡¯d assume mister Transfer Captain here is too green behind the ears to be a part of that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all the same age here¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mean shit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°I¡¯ll bet the three of you have lived nice, sheltered li¡¯l lives. Well, try growin¡¯ up in Tres¨¦d. This place don¡¯t give a shit how old you are. I was hittin¡¯ Mach 2 and practicin¡¯ with Sword Boxes ¡®fore the lot of you had even hit puberty, ¡®cause I had to. You laugh at the damned Bleeders, but to Tres¨¦dians, they¡¯re an actual threat. What¡¯s more, is they¡¯re only a threat ¡®cause the rest of Nimalia just doesn¡¯t give a shit about this hellhole of a continent.¡±


    ¡°¡­Sounds¡­ pretty bad,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied.


    Dav¨ªdrius glared at her. ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me.¡± He then took a deep breath and exhaled wearily before turning back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°¡­Aight, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let¡¯s start from the top. I¡¯m Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax. Y¡¯all are¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­Kev¨¦rin Tyrion.¡±


    ¡°Kaon¨¦ Densalin.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡­ Kaon¨¦¡­ Siyuak¨¦n¡­ ¡®k. Alright then. What was this ¡®deal¡¯ you wanted to offer me?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°We¡¯re still behind bars¡­¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ll stay there until I¡¯ve decided that you aren¡¯t actually Bleeders or crazies,¡± Dav¨ªdrius asserted.


    ¡°You¡¯re still not sure?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled again. ¡°You sounded certain that we were from the continent-nations before!¡±


    ¡°You¡ª just shut up and tell me about this deal of yours.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m beginning to wonder if it¡¯s still open to you.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin,¡± Kaon¨¦ cut in, ¡°maybe if we explain who we are and what we¡¯re doing, he¡¯ll change his mind.¡±


    ¡°Now there¡¯s an idea.¡± Dav¨ªdrius nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m a Velocitechnic. I don¡¯t got much patience.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced over at Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n before sighing. ¡°Alright, fine. So, we¡¯re part of a group called Hipster Memorandum¡ª¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin.¡± Kaon¨¦ glared at him.


    ¡°¡ªHero Machina,¡± he corrected himself before throwing the two women a quick glare. ¡°Anyways, Nimaliaka and Tekdec¨¦ are joining together to form the Nimalian Systems Defense, a non-national organization that will take over all extrasolar activity.¡±


    ¡°And you want me to join to be your token little Tres¨¦dian, is that it?¡±


    ¡°You really do have a chip on your shoulder, don¡¯t you,¡± Siyuak¨¦n deadpanned.


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled and crossed his arms. ¡°Y¡¯all ain¡¯t doin¡¯ a very good job of convincin¡¯ me to join you.¡±


    ¡°The NSD is only just getting off the ground!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°just think ¡ª if you join us, you could say you¡¯ve been around since its inception!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna join your little circus show if the only reason I¡¯m wanted is so I can be trotted in front of the galactic community as an ¡®example¡¯ of how non-discriminatory the NSD is.¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Give me a real reason and I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Our mission is to investigate the Chaos Energy Quake,¡± Kaon¨¦ offered.


    ¡°¡­See, now that¡¯s interestin¡¯, you could¡¯ve just said that.¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced at Kev¨¦rin; when the Pyrotechnic turned away in annoyance, the Tres¨¦dian simply turned back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°I guess that¡¯s why you came to look for me, then, huh.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it exactly,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied.


    ¡°So the three of you were born during the Quake, too?¡±


    They all nodded in response.


    ¡°Hmm, not bad¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius mused. ¡°Your Chaotic types ain¡¯t too shabby either¡­ Pyrotechnic¡­ Electrotechnic¡­ Manipulator Psychotechnic.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a Materiatechnic,¡± Kaon¨¦ corrected.


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at her, dumbfounded. ¡°¡­No way. Really? Why the hell¡¯d you let someone like me get the drop on you, then¡ª?¡±


    He was interrupted as a man stormed into the room. He immediately turned his attention to Dav¨ªdrius, exclaiming, ¡°the Bleeders are outside!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± The Velocitechnic spun on his heel to face the man in the doorway. ¡°Is Str¨¦n leading them?¡±


    ¡°He is.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped his fingers in frustration. ¡°¡­Alright. I¡¯ll be up there in a bit. Head up the defenses, make sure everything¡¯s primed and everyone who ain¡¯t a fighter stays inside.¡±


    The three imprisoned members of Hero Machina watched as the man dashed out as quickly as he had entered, leaving Dav¨ªdrius to begin rummaging around in his pocket.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s it sound like?¡± the Velocitechnic retorted, ¡°the Bleeders have shown up. They¡¯re led by the most dangerous Chaotic on this shithole continent. Barring myself, of course.¡±


    ¡°¡­So you¡¯re letting us go?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as Dav¨ªdrius stepped up to the cell door and unlocked it with the keys he just found.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m bringin¡¯ you to help out,¡± he corrected. ¡°If y¡¯all can help push back the Bleeders, maybe even follow ¡®em back to their base and crush ¡®em once and for all, I¡¯ll consider joinin¡¯ you. Otherwise, I got a compound to protect, and as interestin¡¯ as this Quake investigation sounds, my home takes priority.¡± He then stopped to glance back at the three Chaotics. ¡°Y¡¯all gonna help?¡±


    ¡°No¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut Kev¨¦rin off, ¡°¡­we¡¯ll help. For now.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Dav¨ªdrius adopted an impatient expression and cracked his knuckles. ¡°Follow me. Let¡¯s see what the bastard spouts out this time¡­¡±

 5 - Until Dusk

    Chapter 5 - Until Dusk


    ¡°Well, if it ain¡¯t the crusty old bastard again.¡±


    ¡°Hah! You talk big, but talk ain¡¯t nothin¡¯. You know what I¡¯m here for. Talkin¡¯ll just getcha killed!¡±


    ¡°Tch,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted, glaring at the opposite side of the conversation in the distance. ¡°Go home, Str¨¦n!¡± he growled into his handheld communicator, ¡°you know what I¡¯ve done to the rest of the Bleeder gang leaders in the area. I¡¯ll do exactly the same to you!¡±


    ¡°Puahahahaha!¡± The Velocitechnic reflexively drew away from the communicator as its speakers exploded with laughter. ¡°Looks like li¡¯l Mister Protector¡¯s ego has grown too big for his compound! Well it ain¡¯t too late, if you apologize now an¡¯ hand over the supplies, we¡¯ll leave you and your purty little village intact.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius looked up and then glanced over at a cannon mounted on the wall. He jerked his head forward before turning back to face the intruders ¡ª just in time for the cannon to spark and then fire a high-speed projectile. It zoomed toward the large man standing closest to the compound, but it was instantly obliterated as a large boulder popped out of the ground directly in its way.


    ¡°Hah! Cute,¡± Str¨¦n responded, ¡°but, boy, you sure don¡¯t know what you just got yourself into. Come sunrise tomorrow an¡¯ I¡¯ll be standin¡¯ over your dead carcass!¡±


    ¡°Damn right you¡¯ll be standing over my ¡®dead carcass.¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius sneered. ¡°You¡¯ll have to kill me twice ¡®fore you lay a hand on these walls!¡±


    The gang leader didn¡¯t respond. Instead, Dav¨ªdrius could barely make out some hand motions before a high-speed projectile suddenly screamed straight toward his position ¡ª and was stopped by an invisible force parallel to the tall wall. Dav¨ªdrius smirked as he watched the air shimmer slightly and then glanced around as a constant hail of projectiles began impacting the energy shield protecting the compound. He quickly switched the channel of his communicator and held it back up to his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t bother firin¡¯ back ¡®til the shields have dropped to forty percent. Let¡¯s see how much ammo we can get the bastards to waste.¡± He then stuffed the communicator into his jacket pocket before back-flipping off of the wall and to the ground below, where the three members of Hero Machina were standing.


    ¡°You have a shield generator too?¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed.


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how much shit your little nation dumps on our coasts.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°Listen, Captain Pyro, I don¡¯t care for your excuses. I¡¯ve seen with my own damn eyes that Tekdec¨¦nian ships dump shit on the coast. Bugger if I know if it¡¯s your government or some stupid corporation, but it¡¯s Tekdec¨¦nian, and that¡¯s all I care.¡±


    ¡°Sooo¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n spoke up, cutting short the brewing argument, ¡°what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced back at her, his expression blank.


    ¡°¡­The plan?¡± she responded in exasperation, ¡°you didn¡¯t just provoke the leader of a gang to lay siege to your compound without a plan, did you?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yeah, of course. The plan¡¯s to attack after dusk.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really? That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it.¡± The Velocitechnic accompanied his response with a patronizing nod. ¡°That¡¯s all it takes against these stupid bastards. Provoke ¡®em into wastin¡¯ all their artillery on the shields and then when they ain¡¯t got any real back-up, rush in and kill ¡®em all.¡±


    ¡°Kill?...¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned.


    ¡°Yeah, kill,¡± Dav¨ªdrius repeated as though it were only natural to say. ¡°Tch. Don¡¯t tell me y¡¯all are still rookies.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not rookies,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted, ¡°I¡¯m a Transfer Captain¡ª¡±


    ¡°Rank don¡¯t mean shit if you don¡¯t got any experience,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in. ¡°¡­Oi, oi, what do the world¡¯s militaries do if their Chaotics just sit and twiddle their thumbs all day?¡±


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re not in the military,¡± Siyuak¨¦n deadpanned.


    ¡°Hell no. There ain¡¯t even a proper military for me to join.¡± He snorted in derision. ¡°This place can¡¯t afford for me to leave, anyway. Not now. ¡®Til the three of you pranced up, Str¨¦n and I were the only Chaotics in the whole damn region. I¡¯ve been knockin¡¯ out as many of their camps as I can, but they keep poppin¡¯ back up in different places. And I can¡¯t beat Str¨¦n in a straight-up fight, he¡¯s one of those lucky double Chaotics. Rocks and super strength. But now that the three of you are here¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms, irritated. ¡°You want to use us as your own brute squad?¡±


    ¡°Oi, I ain¡¯t a fuckin¡¯ Bleeder,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°You ain¡¯t seen the shit they¡¯ve pulled. The stuff they stole. They people they killed. The people they stole. You can¡¯t tell me whether it¡¯s right or wrong to fight fire with fire if you¡¯ve never even sat in front of a smolderin¡¯ wood chip!¡±


    The other three Chaotics responded with uneasy silence.


    ¡°¡­This is my only demand for joinin¡¯ your li¡¯l troupe,¡± he continued, his voice lowered, ¡°I dunno how bad you want me. I¡¯ll admit I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all if you decided to waltz right on out after this siege lets up. But if you decide whether or not to help take down the Bleeders without actually thinkin¡¯ about it, without talkin¡¯ to anyone who lives in this compound¡­¡± He gestured at the small walled-in town behind him. ¡°If you make this decision based on your sheltered little upbringin¡¯s alone, then I¡¯ll gut you where you stand, ¡®cause I¡¯ve got no time for ignorant foreigners to be tellin¡¯ me what I should do.¡± He then exhaled deeply and turned around so that his back was to the other three. ¡°¡­I¡¯ve got some stuff to check on before sunset. If you wanna talk to me ¡®fore then, well, try to find me. Otherwise, I¡¯ll meet you back here at twilight to hear your answers.¡± He then sped off, disappearing just faster than the other Chaotics could process the last of his words.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°¡­I knew a Tres¨¦dian would be no good.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s so violent¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ whimpered.


    ¡°But he¡¯s not entirely wrong¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented quietly.


    The Pyro and Materiatechnic snapped their heads toward her. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Tres¨¦d really is the worst continent on Nimalia,¡± she responded, ¡°you two probably don¡¯t see it as much, since Tekdec¨¦ and Nimaliaka are both always so busy with the space fleets or the Interstellar Gate. But, being from Rel¨¦diaka ¡ª well, we get more refugees from Tres¨¦d than any other nation. It¡¯s hard to ignore what it¡¯s like here. Yet, somehow, people still do¡­¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t give him an excuse to just kill everyone!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed.


    ¡°Maybe, but is this really worse than if we were sent off to the Drakkar or Riaxen space fronts?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, ¡°at least he¡¯s actually defending his home. We¡¯d just be stuck in the fallout of political bullshit.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again before turning away. Kev¨¦rin simply scowled irately.


    ¡°We should probably take his advice, and talk to at least a couple of the people here,¡± the Electrotechnic suggested.


    ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Kev¨¦rin eventually admitted. ¡°...Talk to people. Tch. As if that¡¯s ever changed anyone¡¯s mind¡­¡±


    <hr>


    4 Hours Later


    Kaon¨¦ wearily sat down on a nearby bench and leaned against the wall behind her. She sighed and closed her eyes, tired and exhausted ¡ª both physically and mentally. Siyuak¨¦n was right about the Tres¨¦dian climate being more comfortable around the equinoxes, but that didn¡¯t mean the weather was actually pleasant. The air felt remarkably warm, especially in Kaon¨¦¡¯s thick Nimaliakian uniform. Sand was no issue ¡ª she could easily keep herself clean of the small grains ¡ª but she had little ability to control climate as a Materiatechnic. And these physical elements of exhaustion weren¡¯t even taking into account all of the things she had heard over the past four hours, all of the people she had talked to, all of the stories she had heard ¡ª stories ranging from petty acts of theft and vandalism, to simple wanton death and destruction, to the heartless kidnappings under the dark of night ¡ª and the needlessly cruel open enslavement of individuals of all ages right in front of their families. And that wasn¡¯t even the worst she had heard¡­You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Hey, Kaon¨¦.¡±


    She glanced to her left to see Siyuak¨¦n approaching. She waved; the Electrotechnic waved back before taking a seat on the bench as well.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­ wasn¡¯t wrong.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed wearily. ¡°That, or he got everyone here to lie to us. I doubt he¡¯s charismatic enough to pull that off, though.¡±


    ¡°The Bleeders¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered, ¡°¡­I¡¯ve barely ever heard of them before. But they¡¯ve been here for decades, doing all these¡­ awful things. I think every single person here has lost a relative to the Bleeders somehow, either through murder or kidnapping, or¡­¡± She shuddered. ¡°This is just¡­ how doesn¡¯t this make the news?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just like Dav¨ªdrius said ¡ª hardly anyone outside of Tres¨¦d cares about what goes on here. And the Bleeders keep to Tres¨¦d, so¡­ yeah. But still¡­ that hardly excuses anyone from ignoring what¡¯s going on here.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess this means we should help Dav¨ªdrius, then¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n looked over at the Materiatechnic. ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I want to do something,¡± she replied, ¡°I know the Bleeders need to be stopped, but¡ª ¡­there has to be a better way than just killing them. ¡­Right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. But Dav¨ªdrius probably won¡¯t be willing to do anything else. And¡­ I¡¯m not sure I would be, either.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ snapped her attention to Siyuak¨¦n and stared at her in surprise. ¡°Wha-what? Why?!¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a long story, and not one that I¡¯m entirely willing to tell right now,¡± the Electrotechnic responded uneasily. ¡°But while we¡¯re on this topic ¡ª I¡¯ll be honest, Kaon¨¦. Given what I¡¯ve seen so far, I don¡¯t think killing alone is where you draw the line.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the most pacifistic person I¡¯ve met to date,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated bluntly. ¡°Yet, you¡¯re a Materiatechnic. With that kind of ability, why are you so averse to fighting?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t have to have a reason to not like fighting¡­ and it worries me that you think I have to¡­¡±


    ¡°It would be one thing if you were a civilian. But you¡¯re not. You¡¯re in the military ¡ª and you¡¯re a Lieutenant at that, so you¡¯ve obviously put some effort into it.¡±


    ¡°¡­Nimaliakian Chaotics are conscripted as Lieutenants.¡± Kaon¨¦ looked down, averting her gaze from Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t have a choice.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at the Materiatechnic before standing up slowly. She looked down at her hand, watching it spark momentarily before clenching her fist. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to just let the Bleeders get away with what they¡¯ve done. In this kind of situation, against these kinds of people ¡ª doing nothing is almost the same as killing.¡±


    ¡°But killing itself isn¡¯t necessary!¡± Kaon¨¦ refuted adamantly.


    ¡°Maybe not. We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get there. Though I have a feeling Dav¨ªdrius will end up forcing our hand¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll help him tonight. After that¡­ I don¡¯t know. We¡¯ll have to see.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ responded with silence as the Electrotechnic walked away. She then closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, hoping to rest until twilight.


    <hr>


    ¡°Gah¡ª! Tch¡ª augh!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius quickly withdrew from the machinery in front of him, waving his hand frantically in pain. ¡°Ow!¡± he exclaimed through gritted teeth, ¡°¡­damn Chaos Engine, ¡®course it¡¯d have to break right when I need it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a Chaos Engine.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius whipped around and then narrowed his eyes when he spotted Kev¨¦rin standing in the entrance to the machine shop. ¡°How¡¯d you find me?¡±


    ¡°Your Sword Boxes were outside,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated flatly.


    ¡°Wow, you can recognize Sword Boxes,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned, ¡°you¡¯re smarter than I thought.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want any help¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi, lighten up. I don¡¯t actually have anythin¡¯ against you, I¡¯m just a little irritated with your country. ¡­And I guess you by extension, ¡®cause you¡¯re in their military.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s this about not being a Chaos Engine?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for Chaos Engines to be this small,¡± Kev¨¦rin explained, ¡°they¡¯re only used in spacecraft. Whatever¡¯s powering your mech has to be something else.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you know this was from the mech?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s right there.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced to where Kev¨¦rin was pointing: a humanoid mech, about 8 meters tall, standing in a hangar-like space to the left of the machine shop. The machine was old and worn, its sun-bleached armor faded with age and scarred from use. There was an opening slightly larger than the engine in the mech¡¯s lower chest, as well as a forklift-like vehicle parked to the left of the engine.


    ¡°¡­That doesn¡¯t mean anything,¡± the Velocitechnic replied defensively.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it doesn¡¯t,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned. ¡°¡­Do you want help with that?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius eyed the Pyrotechnic suspiciously. ¡°What d¡¯ya know about fixin¡¯ machines?¡±


    ¡°I learned my fair share when training back in Tekdec¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what you were doin¡¯ instead of learnin¡¯ how to fight.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin turned around and began walking toward the exit.


    ¡°Hey hey hey, alright, I¡¯ll¡ª I¡¯ll shut up,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quickly back-pedaled, ¡°if you can fix this real quick, man, that¡¯d be great.¡±


    ¡°No guarantees, but I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stepped aside as Kev¨¦rin approached the engine and then crouched down, looking it over. The Velocitechnic looked on curiously, though tried his best to appear disinterested whenever the Pyrotechnic glanced backward.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a rookie, you know. None of us are.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius cocked his head in mild confusion. ¡°¡­Oh. ¡­Look, I¡¯m sure y¡¯all are great Chaotics. There¡¯s gotta be a reason you¡¯ve been chosen for this, er, Hipster business.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s officially Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s kinda cool. You don¡¯t like it?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin stared at Dav¨ªdrius, unamused, before returning his attention to the engine.


    ¡°Oi, oi, you¡¯re a lot stiffer than Siyuak¨¦n made you out to be.¡±


    ¡°You talked to Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°A li¡¯l, yeah, before I shooed her off so I could work on the Chaos Engine. Well, this engine.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d she say?¡±


    ¡°About you?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Well, that you¡¯re the least serious of the lot of you, mostly.¡±


    ¡°Tch, of course she¡¯d say that,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered. ¡°I¡¯m technically her CO now, too. Where¡¯s my respect¡­¡±


    ¡°Respect¡¯s somethin¡¯ you gotta earn,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared, ¡°can¡¯t have it by default. Part of why I don¡¯t understand you military types. I¡¯m not gonna respect some schmuck just ¡®cause he has a bunch of stars on his jacket and a fancy title.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced over at the Velocitechnic. ¡°¡­How was it, growing up here?¡±


    ¡°Not worth talkin¡¯ about,¡± Dav¨ªdrius answered irately. ¡°My childhood can be summed up by sayin¡¯ that Tres¨¦d is a shithole. ¡®Cause it is. Sooner I¡¯m out of here, the better.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you forcing us to help you take out the Bleeders?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not forcin¡¯ you to do anythin¡¯.¡± He smirked when Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°Though I understand what you¡¯re askin¡¯. See, much as I¡¯d like to leave, I¡¯m pretty much the sole active protector of this entire region. If I leave, the Bleeders¡¯d have their way with everythin¡¯ and, well, I¡¯ll be damned if I let that happen.¡±


    ¡°So you just want to kill them all?¡±


    ¡°You got a better idea?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d almost be satisfied if the rest of Nimalia had a sudden ¡®bout of caring, swooped in, arrested the entire gang and locked ¡®em up for forever an¡¯ a half. But I¡¯ve seen too much shit to settle for that. I¡¯ll take ¡®em all out myself if I have to. Even if it¡¯s just Str¨¦n, at least the compound¡¯ll have a chance against the rest.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t expect y¡¯all to understand my grudge. But you¡¯re soldiers. If you don¡¯t get used to killin¡¯ now, well, I¡¯d hate to think what¡¯d happen to you when whatever the next war is crops up on Nimalian territory.¡±


    ¡°Heh, it almost sounds like you care about us.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­You know what¡¯s up with the engine yet?¡±


    ¡°I fixed it a bit ago.¡± Kev¨¦rin stood up and wiped his hands against each other.


    ¡°¡­You¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked in spite of himself. ¡°¡­You used the damn engine as an excuse to keep me talkin¡¯. Looks like I¡¯m not givin¡¯ you enough credit.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Kev¨¦rin half-smiled back. ¡°You¡¯d better not underestimate us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see just how much I¡¯m underestimatin¡¯ y¡¯all tonight.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure thing.¡± The Pyrotechnic turned toward the exit. ¡°See you in a couple hours.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± The Velocitechnic nodded as he watched Kev¨¦rin leave. He then glanced back at the engine before frowning and rushing after the Transfer Captain. ¡°Hey, wait, you never actually said what was wrong with the engine!¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°I see y¡¯all made it back.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied quietly, her focus turned upward at the rapidly dimming sky.


    ¡°The artillery barrage has stopped,¡± Siyuak¨¦n observed.


    Dav¨ªdrius nodded. ¡°Aye. I had our guns fire back for a couple hours. Probably discouraged Str¨¦n a bit. Even if they haven¡¯t run themselves outta ammo like I¡¯d hoped, artillery won¡¯t do much good against a Chaotic raid¡­ which brings us to why we¡¯re here.¡± The Velocitechnic looked each of the other three Chaotics in the eye. ¡°You don¡¯t hafta say yes, if you don¡¯t wanna go I¡¯ll stick to my word and leave you alone. I¡¯d really appreciate the help though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded.


    ¡°I will, too,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll at least tag along and make sure you don¡¯t get caught in deep shit.¡±


    ¡°Nice to have ya lookin¡¯ after me,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied with a snort, and then glanced down at Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t want to kill anyone,¡± she stated.


    The Velocitechnic frowned, and then shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re a Materiatechnic. I guess you won¡¯t have as much trouble stunnin¡¯ instead of killin¡¯¡­ but don¡¯t expect me to hold back. In the very least, Str¨¦n¡¯s gotta be good and dead ¡®fore I leave this continent. I ain¡¯t askin¡¯ you to kill for me, I¡¯m just askin¡¯ you to watch my back.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it the same¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to talk about what counts as killin¡¯ or not. Are you in or out?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ glanced over at Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n, who looked back expectantly. She then turned her attention to the ground before replying quietly, ¡°I¡¯ll at least go with you¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright.¡± Dav¨ªdrius nodded in acknowledgment, and glanced up at the darkened sky. He then spun around and approached a touch pad in the wall. After quickly typing in a code, a lever appeared; he pulled the lever, and a small door, just large enough for a single person, opened in the wall. The Velocitechnic gestured for the other three Chaotics to follow him as he passed through the wall and emerged outside the compound, where he stopped to stare across the sandy plains at the Bleeder encampment a few hundred meters away.


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty far¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered.


    ¡°Yeah, but not too far.¡± Dav¨ªdrius reached down to the handles of his sword boxes and drew two sabers, brandishing them in anticipation. ¡°I¡¯m sure y¡¯all can at least protect yourselves from incomin¡¯ fire. ...Well, you shouldn¡¯t have to. I¡¯ll draw their attention first. Try to get close enough to do damage ¡®fore you draw any attention to yourself. Got it?¡± When the other three Chaotics nodded, he crouched into a running stance. ¡°Alright!¡± He smirked and then dashed forward. ¡°Time to kick some Bleeder ass!!¡±

 6 - Bleeding Rage

    Chapter 6 - Bleeding Rage


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°Where is he?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius slammed to a stop immediately after slashing two Bleeder gang members and looked around, scowling, before whipping around and dashing off again, ignoring the chaos and carnage trailing behind him.


    ¡°Where is he?!¡±


    He dove underneath a fireball and then leaped up just in time to rebound off of a Bleeder artillery piece, knocking it over and flattening its two operators in the process. The Velocitechnic then leaped on top of the machine and launched his rapiers at two other Bleeders before glancing around irately.


    ¡°He¡¯s not fucking here!!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡ª?¡±


    ¡°What is it?!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ stumbled backwards, bewildered by Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s furious outburst. Immediately Siyuak¨¦n jumped over and stepped in between the two of them. ¡°Calm down!¡± she demanded as she stared up at the Velocitechnic. ¡°Keep this up and you¡¯ll go berserk!¡±


    ¡°Go berserk¡­ tch,¡± he snarled. ¡°If going berserk is what it takes to draw Str¨¦n out and murder his ass, then I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n narrowed her eyes, her fingers beginning to spark ¡ª but before she could offer a response to Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s claim, a quiet and horrified sob caught all of their attention. Snapping his eyes down to the source, the Velocitechnic slapped his Sword Boxes to reel in his rapiers, caught both by their hilts, and then jumped down to the injured Bleeder before holding one of the rapiers to his neck. ¡°Where. Is. Str¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°He¡ª he¡ª he w-went b-b-back to the, to the base!¡± the Bleeder squeaked.


    ¡°Why the hell did he do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡ª I don¡¯t know! I-I-I¡¯m just a soldier!¡±


    ¡°Soldier? Ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius drove one of his rapiers into the injured man¡¯s thigh, ignoring his pained yelp. ¡°You¡¯re a gang member! You ain¡¯t even close to the level of a soldier¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­!¡±


    He glared back at Kaon¨¦, who was looking on in distress. His focus then shifted over to Siyuak¨¦n, who had crossed her arms as she watched with disapproval. ¡°Tch¡­!¡± He growled before yanking his rapier out and stepping back. Kaon¨¦ immediately rushed forward to tend to the injured man¡¯s wounds; Dav¨ªdrius watched her out the corner of his eye, scowling deeply, before suddenly slamming his rapiers back into his Sword Boxes and turning his back on the scene. ¡°¡­We¡¯re goin¡¯ after him.¡±


    ¡°You want to attack their base?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked incredulously.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one thing to attack a bunch of soldiers in open desert, but to go after them in their own base¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Str¨¦n¡¯s there,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°I already told you ¡ª I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to kill that bastard.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten minutes to bring around the vehicle y¡¯all came with. If you¡¯re not at the compound exit within ten minutes, then I¡¯ll assume y¡¯all don¡¯t want to come and leave on my own.¡± He then dashed off without waiting for a response from either Kaon¨¦ or Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°¡­We shouldn¡¯t go,¡± Kaon¨¦ whimpered, ¡°he¡¯s too dangerous¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Which is exactly why we should go,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, glancing around at the devastation the Velocitechnic had caused on the desert plain during his fury-fueled search for Str¨¦n. She then turned toward the compound and began jogging toward it, gesturing for Kaon¨¦ to follow. ¡°Given all this, someone has to look out for him¡­¡±


    <hr>


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°This is their base?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded incredulously, glancing between the two short buildings poking out of the sand.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Dav¨ªdrius nodded as he jumped out of the vehicle. ¡°What you¡¯re lookin¡¯ at are entrances. The actual base is all underground.¡±


    ¡°Underground? In sand¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Str¨¦n¡¯s a Geotechnic, sand don¡¯t mean shit to him.¡± The Velocitechnic glanced back as Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n jumped out of the vehicle as well. He then looked up at Kaon¨¦. ¡°You comin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll just stay here and¡­ keep a look out,¡± she answered meekly.


    ¡°¡­Sure thing.¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned back to the buildings and approached one of them. Before moving to open the door, he turned back to address Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°The base ain¡¯t that advanced. There shouldn¡¯t be any alarms, not any base-wide ones at least. Not the last time I checked.¡±


    ¡°Well now that you said it there¡¯s definitely going to be base-wide alarms,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t change what we came here to do,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, ¡°we go in, find Str¨¦n, and kill the bastard. Even if there¡¯s alarms we shouldn¡¯t have trouble, since we¡¯re Chaotics. I made sure to destroy any Negation Tech they had the last time I was here, too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve attacked the base before? Solo?!¡±


    ¡°I was bein¡¯ stealthy then,¡± he stated, and then immediately slashed through the door with his sabers, shattering one of the blades in the process. He kicked the door down and discarded the broken saber before finishing, ¡°this time, we¡¯re takin¡¯ ¡®em head-on. No quarter¡­ no mercy.¡± He then dashed through the door, leaving the Pyro and Electrotechnic to follow in his wake. They glanced at each other warily before entering themselves and jumping down the stairwell Dav¨ªdrius had broken through ¡ª only to find themselves trapped between six autoturrets.


    ¡°What the¡ª!?¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she quickly dispatched the turrets with a blast of lightning. ¡°He said the base wasn¡¯t advanced!¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d he even go?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced around.


    ¡°Probably just ran past¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°you saw his saber break against the door. He¡¯s not equipped to fight synthetic targets.¡±


    ¡°But we are,¡± Kev¨¦rin added. ¡°¡­At least it¡¯ll be easier fighting robots instead of people.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed uneasily. ¡°Let¡¯s just¡­ let¡¯s get going.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Haaaah!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius rammed into a gang-member head-long, bowling her over and toppling the other two Bleeders standing in the hallway. The Velocitechnic then stabbed each of them in the legs before jumping into cover to evade machine-gun fire from further down the hall. After taking a quick breath he drew his remaining saber and charged out into the line of fire, easily deflecting each and every bullet with the sword. Before he could even progress ten meters, however, the blade broke; he immediately threw himself to the side and then dashed forward, generating a sonic boom that reached the machine gunners shortly after he had smashed through their barricade and brought the gun toppling down on top of them. He paused for a moment, stunned from the impact, but recovered quickly and began storming down the now resistance-less hallway as he hastily checked each adjacent room.


    ¡°Tch,¡± he grunted as he grasped his aching right shoulder. ¡°Where is that bastard¡­¡± he muttered through gritted teeth as he burst into another room. Seeing that it was empty, he turned around, scowling.


    ¡°Chaos Cannon!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius thrust himself to the side, just in time to avoid a Chaos Energy projectile as it slammed into the doorway and obliterated the entire wall. Drawing his rapiers, the Velocitechnic leaped through the resultant debris cloud and dashed toward the source of the attack call, blindly thrusting his blades forward ¡ª only for them to be deflected. As soon as he felt the contact he threw himself to the ground, waiting a moment for the debris to clear before leaping back up into a defensive stance.


    ¡°Woooow, you¡¯re pretty good~!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius narrowed his eyes as a short woman stepped out of the debris cloud. Between her short brown hair and simple off-white dress, nothing about her stood out ¡ª aside from the fact that she had just used a Chaos attack. ¡°¡­Who are you?¡± the Velocitechnic questioned warily.


    ¡°Aw, you should know that,¡± the woman responded, her tone filled with disappointment. ¡°I¡¯m a Chaostechnic!¡±


    ¡°I meant your name.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh~? You¡¯ve never heard of me before?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never met a Chaostechnic before. If you don¡¯t tell me who you are, I¡¯ll just have to knock you out.¡±


    ¡°How cute, thinking you can take me on!¡±


    ¡°I may¡¯ve never fought a Chaostechnic before, but I know how your attacks work. I only have to hit you before you can finish callin¡¯ ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°Can you really do that though~?¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, irritated by the woman¡¯s light-hearted manner of speaking. ¡°I¡¯m a Velocitechnic. The type of Chaotic best suited for taking on your kind.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you think~.¡±


    The Velocitechnic responded with silence as he quickly considered his options. He wasn¡¯t fooled by her playful demeanor; she was a member of the Bleeders, after all. And on top of that, she was a Chaostechnic ¡ª one of the most powerful types of Chaotics. All Chaotics use Chaos Energy as a medium to facilitate their supernatural abilities, but only Chaostechnics interact with Chaos Energy directly, freely using and shaping it to their will. Doing so requires the use of verbal keywords, unlike other Chaotic types, so Chaostechnics are generally slow to attack and highly predictable. But when they do attack, they can cause mass devastation with relative ease, and can pierce through even the most durable of defenses.


    Dav¨ªdrius had never faced a Chaostechnic in battle before, but he at least knew that his best strategy was to attack his opponent before she could finish declaring any keywords ¡ª and his super speed was uniquely suited to accomplish just that. He adjusted his stance to prepare for combat and then leaped forward, but she reacted in the same split-second he used to change his posture.


    ¡°Chaos Explosion!¡±


    A burst of Chaos Energy behind Dav¨ªdrius threw him forward. The woman quickly called ¡°Chaos Blade¡± and thrust the newly-created sword of Chaos Energy toward the off-balance Velocitechnic, but he managed to parry the blade away from his stomach. He then allowed himself to drop to the ground before swinging his feet around in an arc, knocking the Chaostechnic off of hers. Immediately he jumped up and moved to stab her but she reacted quickly enough to roll over and call out ¡°Chaos Strike!¡± This being his first encounter with a Chaostechnic, Dav¨ªdrius had no way of preparing himself against the incoming bolt of Chaos Energy that stunned him and threw him backwards. As he tumbled along the ground, the woman pulled herself back to a standing stance before muttering ¡°Chaos Strike¡± several more times in quick succession. With the attack name muttered instead of outright called, the resulting bolts were less powerful, but they were still fast enough to keep Dav¨ªdrius on his toes and unable to approach without harm.


    ¡°Oooh, you¡¯re actually pretty bad for a Velocitechnic,¡± the woman commented, ¡°I wonder, how did Str¨¦n ever have trouble with you¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius didn¡¯t reply. Instead, he dashed forward at supersonic speeds, reaching the Chaostechnic and roundhouse-kicking her in the stomach before she could even perceive his movements. The force of the kick knocked her all the way down the hallway and into the far wall; the Velocitechnic immediately blasted off after her, prepared to run her through with his rapiers.


    ¡°Chaos Arrow! Chaos Arrow!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius dodged to the left to avoid the first arrow of Chaos Energy, and ducked to avoid the second. He then gasped as something pierced his right arm; the sudden pain caused him to lose focus and stumble into the wall, his rapiers dragging behind him as he clutched his arm.


    ¡°That was too easy~!¡±


    ¡°How did you survive that¡­?!¡± The Velocitechnic turned to glare at the woman standing some distance away. ¡°What did you do?!¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you really have never fought a Chaostechnic before, have you?¡± she responded, ¡°you¡¯re right that Velocitechnics are the best Chaotics to take us down, but, wow, you¡¯re really bad at this. You could¡¯ve had me once, if you had used your swords instead of kicking me. But you didn¡¯t! So now I¡¯m here, and I¡¯ve won~!¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ yet!¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared, crouching before taking off again. He almost immediately stumbled over again, though, as a gash opened up across his chest right as he passed by the woman. ¡°Guaghh¡ª!¡± he spluttered, quickly attempting to stand up as he turned around to face the Chaostechnic ¡ª who was once again wielding a sword of Chaos Energy. He scowled. ¡°When did you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to hear me call the attack for it to work,¡± the woman responded, grinning. She then lunged for the Velocitechnic who reflexively moved to block her attack only to misjudge his remaining strength, stumble over, and drop his rapier on the floor. He quickly scrambled back to his feet and backed away, not even bothering to reel in his blades as they dragged along the ground in front of him.


    Damn it, he thought angrily, to be brought down like this¡­! He took a deep breath and finally reeled in his rapiers, catching each by the hilt.


    ¡°You can still fight?¡± The Chaostechnic cocked her head inquisitively. ¡°You¡¯re all over the place! First I thought you were good, then I thought you were bad. Looks like I was wrong again, you¡¯re pretty persistent! Oh well. Time to stop playing around~!¡±


    What¡¯s she¡­ shit. Dav¨ªdrius squinted as his vision blurred momentarily. Damn. Need to¡­ take her out¡­ in one go. Just one dash! C¡¯mon, you can do this¡ª!


    ¡°Chaos¡­!¡±


    Here we go!


    ¡°Bla¡ªack!?¡±


    Both combatants were interrupted as the wall to their side spontaneously blasted inward, followed by a gigantic plume of fire. Dav¨ªdrius immediately reversed his dash to retreat from the heat but soon collapsed from fatigue. He glanced toward the Chaostechnic just in time to see Siyuak¨¦n vault over the metal scrap and begin vigorously attacking the woman as Kev¨¦rin rushed to help the Velocitechnic.


    ¡°Wha¡­at?¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered in confusion, watching Siyuak¨¦n chase the unknown woman down the hallway and around a corner.


    ¡°That was us saving your ass,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared as he looked Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s injured body up and down. ¡°And not a moment too late, too. You really took a beating!¡±


    The Velocitechnic growled. ¡°Don¡¯t mock me¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Get over yourself!¡± the Pyrotechnic snapped. When Dav¨ªdrius responded with a dumbfounded look, Kev¨¦rin continued, ¡°look, you¡¯re not the hotshot you seem to think you are. You¡¯re just one guy, with no actual training. I watched you ¡®fight¡¯ back on the desert and it¡¯s pretty clear that no one taught you how to use a sword. On top of that, those Sword Boxes of yours really hamper your ability to move. Your entire move set involves dashing at people and cutting them with your swords on the way past. You can¡¯t even do the typical Velocitechnic acrobatics with those things on. I guess this base was actually kinda conductive to your straight-forward attacks, but it¡¯s no wonder you had trouble trying to fight another Chaotic in these hallways. You can¡¯t even alter the terrain!¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, and then smirked despite himself. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know which is worse, that you pissed me off, or that you proved my opinion of you wrong. You actually ain¡¯t half bad.¡±


    ¡°I told you, we aren¡¯t rookies.¡±


    ¡°I guess I have to give ya that much¡­¡± the Velocitechnic replied, and then began getting back to his feet. ¡°Good thing y¡¯all came along. Now, time to find Str¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, hold it!¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly stepped in front of Dav¨ªdrius, blocking the way further down the hallway. ¡°You aren¡¯t going anywhere except back outside.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glowered at Kev¨¦rin. ¡°¡­If you take that back right now, I¡¯ll pretend you never said it.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. With your body like that you¡¯ll just get yourself killed! Look ¡ª you¡¯re bleeding all over the place!¡±


    The Velocitechnic glanced down at his lacerated torso, and then at his right arm, which he realized he had been clutching tightly with his left hand. Sure enough, in both locations the white under cloth had been turned a damp red ¨C furthermore, part of the left side of his Sword Box harness had been sliced, leaving the left box to hang precariously from his belt alone. ¡°O¡­ oh¡­¡± he muttered, dumbfounded.


    ¡°Damn, you¡¯re ¡ª tch. Hold out your arm.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°At this rate you¡¯ll bleed to death if you don¡¯t do something about the gashes. If you let me cauterize them they shouldn¡¯t be an issue so long as you get actual medical help within the next few hours.¡±


    ¡°¡­You can do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a Pyrotechnic, of course I can do that. ¡­Though, only under one condition.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed irately. ¡°You want me to go back.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°If you try to fight anyone as you are now, it¡¯d just be suicide. There¡¯s no way you¡¯d even be able to beat that Str¨¦n guy, especially not when he¡¯s waiting for you.¡±


    The Velocitechnic looked down and scowled again. ¡°Tch¡­ fucking¡­ damn it!¡± He then looked back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll go back, but only if you can promise me something¡ª¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n and I will take care of Str¨¦n. I give our word as the Hopeless Maniacs!¡±


    ¡°Keh, you can bet your ass y¡¯all are hopeless.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh, that¡¯s not what I meant¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sure it¡¯s not. Now fix my damn wounds already!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Chaos Strike! Chaos Arrow!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n easily absorbed the Strike attack, taking advantage of its similarity to electricity to simply redirect the Chaos Energy back at the incoming Arrow, thus diverting the second attack. She continued chasing after the Chaostechnic, who had been attempting to shake Siyuak¨¦n off for the past five minutes as they weaved through hallways and down stairwells. Siyuak¨¦n had no idea exactly how far into the base she was, but as she rounded another corner and then jumped down another stairwell, she reckoned that she was at least seven levels below ground. This won¡¯t be good if they decide to bring everything down on top of us¡­ she thought warily, the desert sand will fill in any holes faster than we could possibly hope to escape¡­


    She then threw herself to the side to evade a Mach-speed Chaos Energy projectile. Her forward momentum lost, she quickly thrust her arm out and fired her grappling hook, latching it into the wall at the far end of the hallway. She then rapidly reeled in the cord, yanking her forward and giving her a boost to continue chasing after the unknown woman. Unfortunately, the Chaostechnic was already out of sight around the next corner; scowling, Siyuak¨¦n pounded the metal walls with her palm and let loose a massive electric pulse that rushed through the entire hallway. Hoping to have at least stunned the woman, Siyuak¨¦n rounded the next corner with haste, ready to lay on the full-powered attacks¡ª


    ¡ªonly to drop into a gigantic pit.


    ¡°What?!¡± she exclaimed, but wasted little time reacting. She fired both of her grappling hooks at opposite walls, but one of them failed to pierce the metal; as a result she soon found herself slamming painfully into the side of the metal pit. Ooooh¡­ at least I¡¯m not falling anymore¡­


    ¡°Chaos Arrow!¡±


    Immediately Siyuak¨¦n jumped away from the wall, reeling in her grappling hook and then firing the other at a lower spot in the wall just fast enough to evade the Chaos Energy projectile. Upon realizing just how close to the floor she was, she deftly swung down and then released the hooks, sailing through the air until she landed on the ground below with a roll. As soon as she slowed down she leaped up into a standing position and looked around warily. She was now standing in a large circular room with flooring and walls covered by stone, but constructed of metal. The ceiling, in which there was a hole ¡ª the hole she had fallen though ¡ª was built of metal as well, and also partially covered by stone. The walls were mostly homogeneous except for two doors across the room from each other; Siyuak¨¦n would have quickly made her way toward one of the doors if a certain duo weren¡¯t standing in her way.


    ¡°Heheheh¡­ puahahahahah! You done well, Ind!¡± Str¨¦n guffawed. ¡°Takin¡¯ out that brat and leadin¡¯ ¡®is new buddies into the Destruction Room!¡±


    ¡°The what?...¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled, backing into a defensive stance as she glanced between Str¨¦n and the Chaostechnic, whose name appeared to be Ind.


    ¡°Eh, well, it really wasn¡¯t all that hard.¡± Ind shrugged casually. ¡°He wasn¡¯t nearly as hard to deal with as you said he would be.¡±


    ¡°Keheheh,¡± Str¨¦n chuckled. ¡°Thas¡¯ mah girl.¡± He then turned to address Siyuak¨¦n directly as he slammed his fists together in murderous glee. ¡°You¡¯ll regret the day you decided to try an¡¯ fight the Bleeders!¡±


    ¡°Oh really¡­?¡± The Electrotechnic smirked despite her poor odds. ¡°I don¡¯t think you know what you¡¯re getting yourself into. Well, it probably won¡¯t be a bad thing for one of Hero Machina¡¯s first accomplishments to be taking down dangerous gang leaders¡­¡±


    Str¨¦n and Ind glanced at each other in amusement. ¡°What¡¯re you talkin¡¯ about?¡± The large man snorted. ¡°Ha! You think you actually got a chance?¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to see,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted as her hands and arms began sparking dangerously. ¡°Come at me!!¡±

 7 - Technically Chaos

    Chapter 7 - Technically Chaos


    ¡°Come at me!!¡±


    Str¨¦n wasted no time at all ¡ª as soon as the words left Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s mouth he pounded the ground with his fists, shattering the rock and throwing up a thick debris cloud. Siyuak¨¦n immediately launched two lightning bolts into the debris cloud but was caught off-guard as Ind leaped out at her, a Chaos Sword in each hand. The Electrotechnic quickly blocked the incoming sword slashes by crossing her arms in front of her, allowing her swinging gear to absorb the attacks; by the time Ind was bringing her hand down for another slice Siyuak¨¦n had fired a grappling hook and was rocketing through the air to the left. Just as she reeled in the line, the stone beneath her exploded upwards, launching her into the air where her forward momentum slammed her into the wall. Stunned, she fell for half a second before managing to recover just in time to knock away an incoming block of rock and then catch herself on the ground below, where she immediately dived to the right as the stone beneath her exploded again.


    Of course I¡¯d be fighting a Geotechnic in a rock arena¡­ Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she dodged several Chaos attacks from Ind. She glanced at the upper half of the room momentarily before using her grappling hooks to snag and deflect incoming rocks. Looks like there¡¯s metal behind all the rock. If I can just get to that¡ª?!


    Her thoughts were interrupted as Str¨¦n sprang forward, dashing toward the Electrotechnic at surprising speeds. As he charged he raised several rocks into the air and then pounded them with his fists, sending them rocketing toward Siyuak¨¦n and forcing her to constantly evade until he was nearly on top of her. Without breaking his charge he swept his fists downward in a bid to smash Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s skull ¡ª and then stumbled over as his muscles contracted involuntarily. ¡°What?!¡± he growled, realizing that he had just been shocked.


    ¡°Ha¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n began to taunt, but was forced to shut up as several arrows of Chaos Energy flew in her direction. She flipped out of the way before launching a grappling hook toward the upper wall and using it to swing away. She then reeled in the hook and launched the other at the wall across the room, using her momentum to swing around in a half circle before reeling in that hook and re-firing the first hook at the far wall again. By the time she swung back around to her initial position she had picked up significant speed and used it to launch a flying kick at Ind, who took it straight to the face ¡ª but not without slashing Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s leg with her Chaos Sword. Both women collapsed to the ground in pain, but the Electrotechnic was forced to ignore her wound and throw herself to the right as Str¨¦n¡¯s fist smashed into her former location. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and clumsily retreated, attempting to put distance between herself and Str¨¦n as the two Chaotics traded lightning strikes and boulders.


    Noticing that the Geotechnic had recovered surprisingly quickly from her stunning electric attack, Siyuak¨¦n elected for a slight change in tactics. Just as Str¨¦n launched another rock her way, she dived to the left and then used her good leg to anchor herself to the ground as she snagged the rock with a grappling hook and swung it around herself, using her swinging gear as a tether. When the boulder had arced around her she prepared to release it, sling-shotting it at Str¨¦n ¡ª only for the stone to suddenly change directions and rocket straight back toward her, nailing her in the stomach and smashing her into the wall behind her.


    Str¨¦n guffawed as the Electrotechnic collapsed. ¡°Puahahahahahah!! Didja really think that¡¯d work? You ain¡¯t the first tree hopper I¡¯ve crushed to a pulp!¡± He stepped closer as he surrounded Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s wrists and ankles with stone and lifted her into the air. Before she was too high off the ground, however, she applied a massive electric shock to herself, shattering her rocky bounds and allowing herself to drop to the floor. She stumbled as she attempted to stand back up, but she managed nonetheless and turned to glare at Str¨¦n.


    ¡°You¡¯re not bad,¡± Ind remarked, ¡°it¡¯s really obvious that you¡¯ve never been in actual combat though! Especially not against Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°Ind, we ain¡¯t here ta teach the enemy how ta fight,¡± Str¨¦n reprimanded the Chaostechnic, and then grinned as he turned back toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°We ain¡¯t here ta play fair ¡ª we¡¯re here ta have fun!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± the Electrotechnic exclaimed as she was surrounded by a rapidly rising circle of stone. In a bid to remain free she fired a grappling hook upwards and reeled it in, quickly raising her into the air past the rising stone barriers ¡ª just in time to see a large stone slab flying her way. Before it hit her, though, a blast of fire half-melted it and slammed it downward, where it splattered on the ground and forced both Bleeders to dive backwards in order to not be burned.


    ¡°Looks like I got here just in time!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed in relief as she hung in the air next to Kev¨¦rin, who had landed on the rock pillar. ¡°What took you so long?¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius was being a big baby about closing his wounds,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, and then looked down at the two Bleeders. ¡°So, what do we have? A Geotechnic and¡­ a Chaostechnic, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The Geotechnic¡¯s been doing most of the fighting though. I¡¯m not sure what types the woman is, I¡¯ve only seen her use Directed- and Weapon-type attacks.¡±


    ¡°Well then, time to find out!¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked. ¡°Time to show them why you don¡¯t mess with¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Siyuak¨¦n interrupted warningly.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± the Pyrotechnic responded innocently, ¡°I was going to say Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°Sure you were.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop being ridiculous¡ª!?¡± Kev¨¦rin suddenly fell off of the pillar as it spontaneously disintegrated. He quickly righted himself with several fire blasts before lowering himself to ground level with a jet stream of combustion.


    ¡°Oooh, a Pyrotechnic!¡± Ind exclaimed, ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve fought a Pyrotechnic before! This¡¯ll be fun~!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only one of the most common Chaotic types¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°but if you¡¯ve never fought one before, allow me to show you why we¡¯re so dangerous!¡± As soon as the words left his mouth a column of fire erupted out around him, turning all of the stone within two meters to molten rock.


    ¡°Hehehehehe~!¡± Ind giggled in response, ¡°maybe it¡¯s time I started being serious, then!¡±


    ¡°Tch!¡± Kev¨¦rin immediately launched several fireballs at the Chaostechnic before dodging a stray stone flying through the air towards him. He threw a wave of fire toward Str¨¦n before turning back toward Ind ¡ª just in time for Siyuak¨¦n to land on the ground to his side.


    ¡°You take care of Str¨¦n,¡± she ordered, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with her!¡±


    ¡°There you go, ordering me around again!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°I¡¯m the CO here¡ª!?¡±


    ¡°Quit your talkin¡¯ an¡¯ focus on the battle, whelp!¡± Str¨¦n demanded as he launched the Pyrotechnic into the air with a rock slab. Kev¨¦rin immediately flipped himself around midair and slammed his fist into the slab, causing a blast of fire at the moment of impact that shattered the stone and rained molten debris down on Str¨¦n, who quickly shielded himself with more stone. Kev¨¦rin then propelled himself downward, slamming into Str¨¦n¡¯s cover with a fire-enveloped fist just as the Bleeder Chaotic punched the cover with great force, reversing the Pyrotechnics¡¯s course and sending him flying into the far wall. Kev¨¦rin rapidly heated the wall as he approached, making it just soft enough so that he wasn¡¯t stunned when he hit it. He then jumped away from the wall and blasted it, incinerating the stone that had been covering it before turning back toward Str¨¦n just in time to deflect a hail of rocks.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Across the room, Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at Kev¨¦rin¡¯s actions just long enough to lose her advantage on Ind. The Chaostechnic ducked away from the Electrotechnic and then dove to the side, shouting, ¡°Chaos Impact!¡± A second later, a blunt force impacted Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s stomach and knocked her over, giving Ind leeway to begin pelting her with Chaos Strike and Arrow attacks. The Electrotechnic quickly recovered and rolled over to evade the attacks, doing so just in time to evade a Chaos Arrow ¡ª but not in time to evade a Chaos Strike. Gritting her teeth in pain, she reflexively fired a grappling hook at Ind; the Chaostechnic side-stepped the hook, but the moment it passed her Siyuak¨¦n forced an enormous amount of electricity down the cord, enough to cause the electricity to arc to Ind and seriously burn her left arm. Distracted by the pain, the Chaostechnic failed to notice Siyuak¨¦n preparing to unleash a particularly painful shock ¡ª until the stone beneath the Electrotechnic¡¯s feet suddenly launched her into the air. Startled, Siyuak¨¦n barely had time to stabilize herself and jump backward to avoid being crushed under Str¨¦n¡¯s fist.


    ¡°Hey, get back here!¡± Kev¨¦rin demanded, rocketing forward and attempting to slam a flame-enveloped fist into the Geotechnic¡¯s back, only to miss and go flying past. Str¨¦n reached over and grabbed the Pyrotechnic by the back of his shirt, hoisting him into the air and then throwing him at Siyuak¨¦n. The two Chaotics collided and tumbled to the ground as Ind stepped forward gleefully.


    ¡°Chaos Explosion!¡±


    The ground underneath Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n erupted upward, tossing the two of them aside and spewing forth metal and rocky debris. They were little able to shield themselves as they scrambled away from the debris and stood opposite the room from the Bleeders.


    ¡°¡­They¡¯re playing with us.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°There¡¯s no reason she couldn¡¯t have just used Explosion on us instead of the ground.¡±


    ¡°Then we should end this now,¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared. ¡°¡­I have an idea¡ª¡± she was interrupted as a stone brushed by her head, followed closely by three Chaos Arrows. ¡°Just, try to clear out a lot of the stone in the middle! Expose the metal floor!¡±


    ¡°What? Why¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin attempted to ask but was forced to evade a Chaos Strike. He then began pushing back with several flame blasts, haphazardly sweeping the room with fire while being careful to not hit Siyuak¨¦n. Despite this, Str¨¦n managed to close the distance between the two and began assaulting the Pyrotechnic with a seemingly unending barrage of stone, forcing Kev¨¦rin to focus his attacks and leave Ind to Siyuak¨¦n once more.


    This time, the Electrotechnic offered Ind no quarter. The moment she had a chance, she fired off several lightning bolts, nailing the Chaostechnic in the back and arm. Yelping in pain, Ind quickly whirled around and began launching attacks of her own, most of which Siyuak¨¦n deflected with her grappling hooks. The Electrotechnic then reeled in the hooks and fired one at the ceiling before reeling in the cord, drawing her closer to the ceiling in a wide swinging arc that swept past Ind. The Chaostechnic muttered ¡°Chaos Dual Blades¡± and brandished the resulting weapons in her hands, preparing to slash at Siyuak¨¦n when she flew past ¡ª however, the Electrotechnic was prepared. She released the grappling hook as she held a hand toward Ind and then produced an electric arc to the woman¡¯s Chaos Swords. The weapons didn¡¯t conduct the shock to Ind¡¯s body, but it did produce sufficient force to knock her over sideways and require Str¨¦n to momentarily break his offense against Kev¨¦rin to raise the stone around Ind and protect her from further electric assault.


    The lull allowed the Pyrotechnic to push forward, assailing Str¨¦n with fire from nearly all directions until the Bleeder eventually just reached over and grabbed Kev¨¦rin by his collar. With a short yelp, the Pyrotechnic was hoisted into the air and then thrown up and over Str¨¦n¡¯s shoulder, who quickly turned around and began firing stones at Kev¨¦rin with similar rapidity to a machine gun. Kev¨¦rin quickly produced a shield of fire to incinerate the incoming stones before they could hit him ¡ª and then realized that he was almost directly over the center of the floor. Remembering Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s suggestion, he enveloped both of his fists in flame, superheated them, and then propelled himself downward with a fire blast, slamming both of his fists into the ground as he landed. The impact created a great explosion of fire that blew Str¨¦n away, incinerated the rock for meters around, and heated the metal underneath to red-hot temperatures. Kev¨¦rin quickly began siphoning the excess heat out of the metal and using it to fuel his continued fire barrage against Str¨¦n until he was certain that the metal had returned to room temperature. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡±


    ¡°On it¡ª!¡± she started, but a Chaos Arrow flying by her face interrupted her response. She ducked, whirled around, and launched a lightning blast in Ind¡¯s direction just in time to deflect the next two Arrows headed her way. The Electrotechnic then fired her grappling hooks at the far wall and reeled herself in just in time to evade a Chaos Explosion. Then she fired her other grappling hook at the far ceiling, releasing the first hook and swinging back to the center of the room before releasing the second hook and landing in the center with a roll. As she fired her grappling hook at the ceiling again, she shouted to Kev¨¦rin, ¡°get in the air!!¡±


    ¡°What? Uh, okay!¡± the Pyrotechnic uneasily responded, ducking away from Str¨¦n¡¯s fist and jumping into the air, where he hovered via continued combustion underfoot. He used this method to fly halfway up the room before glancing down at Siyuak¨¦n, who had just crouched to place her hand on the floor ¡ª and was about to be attacked simultaneously by Ind and Str¨¦n. Scowling, Kev¨¦rin prepared to draw the Bleeders¡¯ attention away ¡ª and then his hair began to stand on end. ¡°What¡ª?¡±


    The entire room suddenly flashed brilliantly as a deafening shock and shattering sound reverberated through the walls. All of the stone in the room exploded away from the walls and floor as both Ind and Str¨¦n suffered immense electric shocks and crumpled to the floor, becoming half-buried with stone debris as the rocks began raining back down to the ground.


    ¡°Ho¡­ ly¡­ shit¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin whistled in admiration as he gradually lowered himself to the floor beside Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I forced a¡­ a whole lot of current¡­ through the walls¡­ and floor¡­¡± the Electrotechnic panted.


    ¡°¡¯A whole lot¡¯? You probably could¡¯ve powered a small town for two hours with what you just did¡ª! Siyuak¨¦n?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed as she collapsed to the floor as well. He quickly crouched next to her and took her pulse. ¡°¡­She¡¯s still alive. Just unconscious. Phew¡­¡± He stood up again and surveyed the damage to the room. Damn¡­ he thought to himself, ¡­I had no idea she could do this. Sure, she knocked herself out, but, wow. I really need to step up my game. He then realized the consequences of being the only person still conscious in the room. Damn it. Now I have to carry her ass all the way back. Hmph¡­ guess I¡¯ll go check whether or not the Bleeders are dead, first¡­ he moved on to perform the tasks, grumbling the entire time.


    <hr>


    3 Days Later


    ¡°Well¡­ looks like y¡¯all are better than I thought.¡±


    ¡°I told you we weren¡¯t rookies,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied confidently.


    ¡°Keh, well, I see that now.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Takin¡¯ on both Str¨¦n and that woman, and takin¡¯ ¡®em both out¡­ I¡¯ll admit, in hindsight, I¡¯m not sure I could¡¯ve done it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not sure you could¡¯ve done it?¡± Siyuak¨¦n echoed, glancing incredulously at the Velocitechnic¡¯s many bandages.


    ¡°¡­Shut up,¡± he growled. ¡°You got injured, too!¡±


    ¡°It was a superficial cut. Nowhere near as serious as your injuries.¡±


    ¡°Tch. If I had been in an open space like you said you were, I wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve been beaten so badly.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded patronizingly.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled, but chose to drop that line of conversation. Instead, he turned back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°So, with Str¨¦n gone, the Bleeders ain¡¯t much of a threat. I¡¯m fine with leavin¡¯ this place and joinin¡¯ y¡¯all¡­¡± He glanced over at Kaon¨¦. ¡°¡­If you¡¯re willin¡¯ to let me.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ shifted uncomfortably as Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n turned their attention to her as well. ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with him joining,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°so is Siyuak¨¦n. You¡¯re the only one who¡¯s shown reservations.¡±


    ¡°Complete reverse from the start,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    ¡°¡­I guess it¡¯s fine,¡± the Materiatechnic slowly responded.


    Dav¨ªdrius raised an incredulous eyebrow. ¡°You ¡®guess¡¯?¡± he echoed, ¡°you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. ¡­I¡¯m sure.¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded. For now... she added mentally.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Kev¨¦rin rubbed his hands together expectantly. ¡°What¡¯s next then? We go get Kievkenalis?¡±


    ¡°Actually, no,¡± Kaon¨¦ refuted, ¡°Commander Nik¨¦yin called in yesterday¡­ she wants us to return to Nimaliaka Central.¡±


    ¡°She called? Here? How?¡± The Pyrotechnic frowned in confusion.


    ¡°The compound has an old comm receiver,¡± Dav¨ªdrius explained. ¡°¡­I could¡¯ve sworn the thing was disabled, but, well, what do I know about machinery.¡±


    ¡°Chaos Engines in mechs¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin shook his head, amused.


    ¡°Hey, there was no way I could¡¯ve known¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Siyuak¨¦n spoke up, ¡°why do we need to go to Nimaliaka?¡±


    ¡°For a mission brief¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ¡°something to do with the Earthians.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°I thought y¡¯all were investigatin¡¯ the Chaos Energy Quake, not bein¡¯ interstellar baby-sitters.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s related to the Quake, somehow,¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested hopefully.


    ¡°Regardless, we won¡¯t know until we get there,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated, and then glanced back at the Velocitechnic. ¡°As soon as you can move around again, we should head out.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®as soon as¡¯?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked, hopping out of the bed to his feet. He winced slightly, but tried his best to hide it. ¡°See? Perfectly fine. I could head out today.¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s do that!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, jumping toward the door. ¡°Hill¡ª!¡± He paused as he felt the disapproving stares of Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n burrowing into his back. ¡°Uh¡­ what I meant was, of course: Hero Machina, move out!¡±

 8 - Sunovas Mystery

    Chapter 8 - Sunova''s Mystery


    ¨C Watedia, Nimath 13, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°I¡¯d forgotten how relay-dependent AR glasses are¡­¡±


    ¡°Tch,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Who¡¯d¡¯ve thought the Earthians weren¡¯t even as advanced as Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think relay points are good indicators of technological advancement,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, ¡°they weren¡¯t even all that common in Nimalian space fifty or sixty years ago.¡±


    ¡°But, still¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned as he glanced around the waiting room they were all sitting in. ¡°Ever since we got here yesterday, I can¡¯t help but notice how completely lacking the information feed is¡­ or how little Relaynet tech there is here.¡± He sighed as he mulled over Hero Machina¡¯s current situation. Shortly after recruiting Dav¨ªdrius, they had returned to the military headquarters in Nimaliaka, where Commander Nik¨¦yin briefed them on their next mission: rendering aid to the Earthians. The request for aid had little in the way of specifics, but since it mentioned only a small colony and didn¡¯t appear to be urgent, Nik¨¦yin decided to send Hero Machina. Mere hours later, they traveled through the Interstellar Gate to the Earthian colony of Sunova, where the Earthians had setup a small military installation. But the fact that the Earthians were less technologically advanced than every other race in the galaxy, combined with Sunova being only a small, recently established colony, made for a dreary experience with no access to the technological comforts that the members of Hero Machina were used to ¡ª particularly, the galaxy-spanning information network known as the Relaynet.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much point in sulking about not being able to access the Relaynet,¡± Siyuak¨¦n remarked, drawing Kev¨¦rin¡¯s attention back to his team. ¡°But if you really need to distract yourself, what happened to that game you were playing before we left?¡±


    ¡°Dessert Destruction is just as relay-dependent as everything else,¡± Kev¨¦rin sulked. ¡°Tch. Never thought I¡¯d complain about always-online DRM.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t here to play games, anyways,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°Aw, c¡¯mon. You¡¯re the one who introduced me to it!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m starting to regret it¡­¡±


    ¡°With a name like ¡®Dessert Destruction¡¯, I would too.¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Really? I think even the Earthians come up with better names.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even close to true,¡± Kev¨¦rin immediately refuted, ¡°everything from Earth is just a sequel. Or a sequel of a sequel.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, you ain¡¯t wrong there. You¡¯d think a series with the word ¡®final¡¯ in it would¡¯ve wrapped up before iteration fifty¡­¡±


    ¡°Guys¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned as she glanced between Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius with disapproval. ¡°We aren¡¯t here to bash the Earthians, either.¡±


    ¡°Keh. Well it ain¡¯t my fault that they¡¯re lackin¡¯ in the creativity department.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s lacking in the creativity department?¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius spun around as a large, light-skinned man with black hair opened the office door and stepped through. He wore a field uniform with several emblems and insignia attached to various locations on his chest and shoulders. ¡°Uh¡­¡± The Velocitechnic stared at the man blankly. ¡°¡­.Who¡¯re you¡­?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse Dav¨ªdrius. He¡¯s a little prone to talking before he thinks,¡± Siyuak¨¦n spoke up, prompting the Velocitechnic to glare at her.


    ¡°I¡­ see,¡± the man responded, glancing between the two Chaotics doubtfully. ¡°¡­I take it you¡¯re the team from Nimalia?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s us.¡± Kev¨¦rin stood up and approached the man. ¡°We¡¯re Hero Machina, the newest Chaotic team of the soon-to-be formed Nimalian Systems Defense. I¡¯m the Commanding Officer, Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Transfer Captain. I¡¯m Captain Matthew Lead of the Space Exploration, Reconnaissance, and Response Command. SERRCom for short.¡± The man reached his hand out toward Kev¨¦rin. The Transfer Captain stared at it uneasily for a second before remembering the standard Earthian greeting, at which point he extended his own hand and awkwardly shook hands with Captain Lead. The Earthian flashed a polite smile and then looked at the three remaining members of Hero Machina. ¡°When we sent word for assistance, though, well¡­ we were expecting someone with¡­¡±


    ¡°More experience?¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled.


    ¡°¡­You could say that,¡± Captain Lead replied, ¡°the current situation is unprecedented, if I¡¯m to understand galactic history correctly. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something that a new group of Chaotics would be able to help with.¡±


    ¡°All we were told was that you had a problem, and we were supposed to go check it out,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°Did you specify the problem when you sent for help?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned. ¡°If you didn¡¯t, well ¡ª we¡¯re what you get. Sorry if we¡¯re not who you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I apologize. I meant no offense,¡± Lead responded, ¡°you¡¯re right, of course. We were a little stingy with the details. But we¡¯re dealing with an extraordinary situation; I hope you can understand our secrecy.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯d explain exactly how this whole thing is ¡®extraordinary,¡¯ it¡¯d help me ¡®understand your secrecy¡¯ a whole lot better,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out.


    Lead nodded and gestured for the Chaotics to enter the office he was standing in front of. ¡°Yes, of course. Step inside and I¡¯ll explain the situation to the best of my ability.¡±


    The members of Hero Machina each stepped into the office. Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ took the two guest chairs as Lead moved around to sit in the desk chair, leaving Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n to stand in the back. Once the door had closed all of the way, Lead began to address the Chaotics.


    ¡°First of all,¡± he started, his tone uneasy, ¡°¡­forgive this brief tangent, but¡­ you aren¡¯t actually speaking English, are you?¡±


    ¡°English¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ echoed cluelessly. ¡°Is that your language?¡±


    Lead nodded. ¡°It is. Sorry for the silly question, I¡¯m just¡­ not yet accustomed to these real-time translation implants.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right, of course,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°yes, we¡¯re speaking our own language, and you¡¯re speaking yours. It¡¯s pretty easy to forget sometimes, since the implants translate in real time, and even make you hear the translation in the proper voice and tone. The tech takes a while to get used to, that¡¯s for sure, since it takes a while to train your brain to ignore the lip sync issue. But the galaxy couldn¡¯t run as well as it does without it.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t doubt the implant¡¯s usefulness. I¡¯m just surprised that it works so well¡­¡± The Captain touched his ear gingerly. ¡°It even knows how to differentiate between names and proper speech¡­ speaking of which, I don¡¯t think I got all of your names.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Kaon¨¦ perked up. ¡°I¡¯m Lieutenant Kaon¨¦ Densalin.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Lieutenant Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on.¡±


    ¡°An¡¯ I¡¯m Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax.¡±


    ¡°No rank?¡± Lead questioned.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t a soldier.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly cut in. Dav¨ªdrius scowled, but didn¡¯t attempt to speak over the Pyrotechnic.


    ¡°¡­Alright then,¡± Lead commented as he glanced over at a clock on his wall. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask for the story another time, though I trust you have your reasons. Now, as for why you¡¯re here¡­ well, to put it simply: a Battlecruiser recently appeared over this colony, Sunova.¡±


    ¡°A Battlecruiser?¡± Kaon¨¦ echoed with a surprised tone. ¡°Who¡¯s commanding it? Is it hostile?¡±


    ¡°What class is it?¡± Kev¨¦rin added, ¡°what about the racial profile?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, we don¡¯t know,¡± Lead replied. ¡°And when I say appeared ¡ª I don¡¯t mean that it jumped here by FTL drive. You should know that Earthian space is isolated from Transpaces.¡±


    ¡°Well, how did it get here, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. It just¡­ appeared. As if out of thin air.¡±


    There was a moment of silence.


    ¡°Wait a minute¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius gave the Earthian Captain an odd look. ¡°Are you sayin¡¯ that it just¡­popped into existence?¡±


    ¡°As far as we can tell, yes, it did.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. Shit don¡¯t just defy the laws of physics like that¡ª¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut him off warningly.


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± He scowled again, crossing his arms irately.


    ¡°What makes you think it just appeared out of thin air?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, pointedly ignoring the Velocitechnic¡¯s comment.


    Lead glanced at Dav¨ªdrius uneasily before turning to Kaon¨¦. ¡°I have to admit, I¡¯m not completely certain myself. We¡¯ve hailed it and received no response. When it first appeared, the shields and life support were offline. Luckily, there was a Frigate in the system, so we sent in a small team to check out the ship. They were able to turn life support on, and since then we¡¯ve had a small squad stationed there.¡±


    ¡°¡­You managed to turn on the life support¡­ of a ship type that you¡¯ve never seen before?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned incredulously. ¡°How did you figure out how to control its systems?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s yet another reason for us to believe that it appeared out of nowhere: the ship is of decidedly Earthian design,¡± Lead declared. ¡°Everything about it resembles our current ships, even though currently our only ships are Frigates. The mystery ship has the same design aesthetic, a similar layout, similar systems, similar weaponry, and operates in almost the exact fashion I imagined a SERRCom-built Battlecruiser would operate. It even runs on a similar operating system and the same language as our currently existing ships. Yet, we haven¡¯t actually constructed any Battlecruisers.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ it¡¯s not possible that some Earthian organization built the ship without you knowing?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked.


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°the Earthians don¡¯t have interstellar corporations like everyone else. SERRCom and DEDi are the only organizations with authority over their colonies.¡±


    Lead nodded. ¡°He¡¯s correct. There are plans in the works to start leasing extrasolar colonies to private handlers, but for now it¡¯s just SERRCom running the show. Even then, there¡¯s no way a military-grade ship was built without us knowing, using our own technology.¡±


    ¡°Well this is actually kinda interestin¡¯, keheh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, ¡°dunno if we can do anythin¡¯ about it though.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve learned my fair share about space-grade technology,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared, ¡°I might be able to help with some things.¡±


    ¡°Even if you can¡¯t, there¡¯s still an investigation planetside that the four of you could help with,¡± Lead replied, ¡°but before we get to that, I want to bring all of you to speak with the lead researcher on the project, Scott MacTavish. I¡¯m certain that he¡¯ll be able to go into far more detail than I can. He¡¯s the one who requested Nimalian aid, after all¡­¡±


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t the one who requested aid, then why¡¯re we talkin¡¯ to you?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned as the Earthian Captain stood up and approached the door.


    ¡°I wish I knew myself¡­¡± Lead sighed, opening the door and gesturing for the Chaotics to follow him outside. ¡°I¡¯m just the middleman here, it seems.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not in charge?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°Ha! I¡¯m only a Captain. I¡¯ve got a long ways to go before I¡¯m a General. It sounds nice though¡­ ¡®General Lead.¡¯¡± He shook his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Never mind that. I¡¯ll take you to MacTavish.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°MacTavish.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­MacTavish?¡±


    ¡°¡­zzz¡­¡±


    ¡°Researcher MacTavish!¡±


    ¡°¡­zzzzzz¡­¡±


    ¡°Scott!!¡±


    ¡°Augh!!¡± The researcher jolted into an upright sitting posture, accidentally shoving his chair away from his desk in the process and ramming into a briefcase behind him, knocking it over and spilling all sorts of books and papers to the floor. He glanced down at the mess in dismay before looking up at Captain Lead. ¡°O¡­ oh, Cap¡¯n. I was¡¯n expectin¡¯ ya here this early.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mid-afternoon,¡± Lead responded flatly.


    The researcher glanced over at the monitor sitting in front of where his head had previously laid. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned. Trust me, Cap¡¯n, I did¡¯n sleep in on purpose. It¡¯s just that¡­¡± he trailed off as he realized that a group of four was standing behind Lead. ¡°¡­Um, who¡¯re you?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re Hero Machina, of the Nimalian Systems Defense.¡± Kev¨¦rin stepped forward. ¡°We¡¯re here to¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re here for the Battlecruiser!¡± The researcher¡¯s face lit up. ¡°¡­I did¡¯n know that Nimalian spacecraft technicians were so young!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not actually technicians,¡± Lead corrected.


    ¡°But I do know some things about spacecraft,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in.


    The researcher stroked his scruffy beard for a moment. ¡°¡­Eh, I suppose I was¡¯n very specific when I requested aid. Some knowledge is better than none, though.¡± He extended his hand toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Guess I should introduce myself. I¡¯m a SERRCom researcher and engineer, Scott MacTavish. You can call me Scott.¡±


    The four members of Hero Machina went on to introduce themselves, followed by Scott offering a brief explanation of his knowledge of space technology while Dav¨ªdrius speedily collected the books and papers laying around on the floor. By the time the Velocitechnic re-entered the conversation, Lead was explaining to Scott what he had already told the Nimalians.


    ¡°So they know about the Battlecruiser, then.¡± Scott stroked his beard again. ¡°¡­Eh, guess there¡¯s not much more to actually explain. It¡¯s all investigation from here on out.¡±


    ¡°You said that there¡¯s a team up on the ship, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced at Lead, and then over at Scott. ¡°What are they doing right now?¡±


    ¡°For now they¡¯re just mappin¡¯ the ship and tryin¡¯ to gain access to all of the systems,¡± Scott replied. ¡°I was about to join ¡®em, start lookin¡¯ into the technology an see just how similar to our systems they really are. I suppose Captain Tyrion can join me there. Maybe you¡¯ll be able to recognize somethin¡¯ that I don¡¯t, eh?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Kev¨¦rin shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯ll try my best to help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Kaon¨¦ volunteered, ¡°I don¡¯t know as much as you about space ships, but I know my fair share. Tekdec¨¦ isn¡¯t the only Nimalian nation on the galactic stage, you know.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll take all the help I can get!¡± Scott grinned, and then turned to look at Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°What about¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I know jack shit about space ships,¡± the Velocitechnic declared.


    ¡°¡­Crudeness aside, I¡¯m in the same boat,¡± Siyuak¨¦n stated.


    ¡°The two of you can help with Captain Shepherd, then,¡± Lead suggested.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doin¡¯?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Scott turned to Lead in surprise. ¡°You did¡¯n tell ¡®em about Shepherd?¡±


    ¡°What, is what he¡¯s doing related to the Battlecruiser?¡± the Captain responded in confusion, ¡°¡­I knew there was some investigation going on that he¡¯s a part of, but he never said it was related to the ship.¡±


    ¡°Ah, well then, you¡¯re all missin¡¯ an important piece of the puzzle.¡± Scott moved toward the back of the room and began rummaging through several of the lock boxes. ¡°Accordin¡¯ to Shepherd¡¯s report, that Battlecruiser appeared at almost exactly the moment he touched one of the artifacts found down in the caves.¡±


    ¡°Artifact?...¡± Siyuak¨¦n echoed incredulously. ¡°¡­What did it look like?¡±


    ¡°Er, like a silver sphere,¡± Scott replied, ¡°hold on just a moment¡­ ah, here we go!¡± He spun around with a flair and slammed a solid silver sphere, roughly the size of his palm, onto the table in the middle of the room. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty interestin¡¯ artifact, I hafta say. It actually seems to be¡ª¡±


    ¡°Generating Chaos Energy?¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh, yeah, exactly,¡± Scott finished as he glanced at Kaon¨¦ curiously. ¡°D¡¯ya recognize it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be hard not to, if you¡¯re a Chaotic,¡± the Materiatechnic replied, reaching for and grabbing the silver sphere. After inspecting it for a couple moments she nodded resolutely. ¡°Yep, even though I¡¯ve never seen it before, there¡¯s no doubt about it. This is the Master Ayas!¡±

 9 - Master Genesis

    Chapter 9 - Master Genesis


    ¡°The Master Ayas?¡±


    ¡°The most powerful of the Chaos Ayas,¡± Kaon¨¦ explained, ¡°nine gemstone-like objects that can actually create or destroy Chaos Energy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, those.¡± Scott nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯d heard a li¡¯l about them when readin¡¯ the Relaynet research databases. Not a lot of public information though¡­ anythin¡¯ you can tell us about these ¡®Ayas¡¯?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ glanced over at the other Nimalians.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at us,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded uneasily, ¡°you¡¯re the Nimaliakian; you should know more about the Ayas than any of us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but even then, I don¡¯t know that much¡­¡±


    ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t much, anythin¡¯ helps,¡± Scott urged.


    ¡°Well¡­ the nine Chaos Ayas are the only objects in the galaxy that can actually generate Chaos Energy. At least, as far as we know,¡± Kaon¨¦ explained. ¡°That¡¯s their most important quality, really, but they can also be used as incredible power sources or to interface with certain technologies to massively increase their power and efficiency. If I recall correctly, the Ayas were mostly used in high-level, highly-classified technology from the Core Space Alliance, mostly spacecraft weaponry. They¡¯re also useful to Chaotics, somehow, but the CSA classified most of their research on that topic.¡±


    ¡°Is that related to how your voice is doin¡¯ that weird Chaostechnic thing where there¡¯s a bit of an echo every time you say the word ¡®Chaos?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius paused to rub his throat. ¡°¡­The hell?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s because of the Chaos Ayas,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°I don¡¯t really know why, I just know that the Ayas seem to respond to any Chaotic that says the word ¡®Chaos.¡¯ That¡¯s just the most basic of the research that the CSA has done, though. Tekdec¨¦ and Nimaliaka both were making progress toward having access to that research, but then¡­¡±


    ¡°Let me guess: the Chaos Quake happened?¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected.


    Kaon¨¦ nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Quake happened and the Ayas all disappeared. No one knew why they disappeared, or how, or where they went. There wasn¡¯t really any way to track them down, as far as I know, so eventually everyone just kinda assumed that they were gone for good. But now, here¡¯s the Master Ayas itself¡­¡± She looked up at Scott. ¡°Where did you find this?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask Shepherd,¡± Scott replied, ¡°it was somewhere down in the caves east of here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­¡± Captain Lead frowned as he stared at the silver sphere in Kaon¨¦¡¯s hand. ¡°Something like this¡­ it¡¯s just a gemstone, right? Why did it disappear? Why did it show up here, of all places?¡±


    ¡°If you want answers to those questions, you¡¯d have to ask a Riveranian,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded, ¡°and even then, the answers you¡¯d get would be all speculation.¡±


    ¡°Well. Wow.¡± Scott scratched his chin warily, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. ¡°¡­If even you don¡¯t know that much about these Ayas, I doubt we¡¯ll be able to find anythin¡¯ out. You should take it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± Kev¨¦rin stared wide-eyed at the researcher. ¡°You¡¯d ¡ª you¡¯d just hand it over to us?¡±


    ¡°Hold on, slow down,¡± Lead quickly spoke up, ¡°we can¡¯t just give it to you. We don¡¯t have that authority. We¡¯ll need to go through the proper channels first¡­¡± He took a moment to give Scott a reprimanding sidewards glance. ¡°¡­But I¡¯ll see what I can do with that. In the meantime, the four of you can help with investigating the Battlecruiser or the caves, as we discussed earlier.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Sounds like a plan. ¡­Where do we go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you around,¡± Scott replied, ¡°Cap¡¯n, you can go see about the Master Ayas. I¡¯ll introduce ¡®em to Shepherd, and show ¡®em the ship.¡±


    Lead nodded curtly and saluted before spinning around on his heel and walking out of the room.


    ¡°Alright then!¡± Scott clapped his hands together in anticipation. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work. Follow me!¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°So.¡±


    ¡°¡­Er, yes?¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded uneasily. Before her was a stout man of average height, with brown hair and sharp cheekbones ¡ª Scott had introduced him as Captain David Shepherd before quickly leaving with Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Captain Shepherd crossed his arms and glanced between Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n slowly, his expression blank. ¡°¡­The two of you are Nimalians, huh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± the Velocitechnic replied impatiently, ¡°what of it?¡±


    ¡°I never thought my first alien encounter would be so¡­¡± Shepherd thought for a moment. ¡°¡­Underwhelming.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Tch. Underwhelming, he says. Well why don¡¯t you just take a look at¡ª wait¡ª aw¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed in annoyance as she watched the Velocitechnic reach for the Sword Boxes that weren¡¯t there. He had been forced to leave his weapons behind on Nimalia, as his encounter with Ind had left them in an unusable state.


    Shepherd glanced down at Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s hands as he grasped at nothing. ¡°Impressive,¡± he deadpanned.


    ¡°With all due respect, your comments aren¡¯t helping,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded.


    ¡°¡­Right. Sorry,¡± the Captain apologized, ¡°I¡¯ve been a little out of it ever since the incident with that¡­ silver sphere.¡±


    ¡°The Master Ayas,¡± Siyuak¨¦n corrected.


    ¡°If you¡¯ve been feelin¡¯ out of it, why not go check in with the doctor, or somethin¡¯?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°there¡¯s gotta be at least a medic here, right?¡±


    ¡°There is, but Sunova ¡ª this colony ¡ª isn¡¯t as well developed as our other colonies,¡± Shepherd commented, ¡°it¡¯s unexplored frontier out here. Even the Interstellar Gate can only handle so much travel. We don¡¯t have the men for me to waste time in the infirmary due to a little drowsiness.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n frowned, wary of Shepherd¡¯s attitude. ¡°I think you might be underestimating the potential of the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°And I think you might be underestimating us Earthians,¡± Shepherd retorted. ¡°¡­Bah, ¡®Earthians¡¯. Who gave us that name? Is everyone in this galaxy named after their home planet like that?¡±


    ¡°Nimalians, Earthians, Citans, Siions, Dra¡¯kis¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius counted off with his fingers. ¡°¡­Hmm, sorta.¡±


    ¡°Even the Taizen civilizations are named that way,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°only the Drakkars aren¡¯t. It¡¯s just how things work.¡±


    ¡°Drakkars? Those are those creepy faceless aliens, aren¡¯t they?¡± Shepherd questioned, ¡°are they different from the Dra¡¯kis?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course they¡¯re different. There¡¯s no connection, really, except that the Dra¡¯kis are a part of the Core Space Alliance, which is constantly at war with the Drakkars. I guess there¡¯s speculation of a common ancestor, but no one knows for sure.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Meanwhile, in the world of stuff that¡¯s actually relevant,¡± Dav¨ªdrius interjected as he tapped his foot impatiently, ¡°I was told we¡¯d be helpin¡¯ you look through some caves or somethin¡¯. Well¡­ I don¡¯t see any caves.¡±


    ¡°Of course not. We¡¯re still at the Receiving Base,¡± Shepherd responded, ¡°the caves are a two-hour drive to the east.¡±


    ¡°Two hours?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius balked. ¡°¡­I think I¡¯ll just run over there and get a head-start.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n crossed her arms. ¡°And if you get lost in the caves?¡±


    ¡°Never mind getting lost, you¡¯ll never be allowed in without my clearance,¡± Shepherd cut in, ¡°how would running¡ª? Oh, you¡¯re one of those people with superpowers, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I am indeed a Chaotic,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied proudly. ¡°A Velocitechnic, I¡¯ll have you know. Super speed is my forte!¡±


    ¡°Well you¡¯ll have to keep that super speed of yours in check then, because you aren¡¯t going anywhere without me.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that all?¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned back to face Shepherd.


    ¡°For now, yes,¡± Shepherd replied before turning around. ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll brief you some more while we¡¯re on the way.¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°Wow. This¡­ is really¡­¡±


    ¡°Excitin¡¯?¡± Scott threw in, glancing over at Kaon¨¦ as he sat down in front of an array of consoles. He and the two Nimalians had just boarded the mystery Battlecruiser, and Scott wasted no time in leading them to the main engineering room to take a look.


    ¡°Try depressing.¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned as he looked around at the steel gray bulkheads. ¡°Everything¡¯s gray and boxy. Are all Earthian ships like this?¡±


    ¡°Oh. You¡¯re talkin¡¯ about the design aesthetic,¡± Scott replied nonchalantly. ¡°Eh, SERRCom is less concerned with visual design than they are with performance. Most Earthian militaries are.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°If I¡¯d known how bland this ship would be¡­¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin,¡± Kaon¨¦ cut him short.


    Scott chuckled in response. ¡°Hah, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not a fan either. But, still! Think of all the possibilities this ship represents!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also possible that there¡¯s nothing special about it besides being your first Battlecruiser,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered.


    ¡°Hopefully, you¡¯ll be able to help us find that out,¡± Scott responded optimistically.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ passed Kev¨¦rin an uneasy glance. ¡°But we didn¡¯t think about all of the technology here being in your language. The universal translator tech only works for audio¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kev¨¦rin looked back at the Materiatechnic incredulously. ¡°You don¡¯t have the visual translation patch? For your glasses?¡±


    ¡°I thought that was relay-dependent,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded slowly, and then turned her attention to one of the screens Scott was working with. ¡°¡­Yeah, I can¡¯t read it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well I got a local copy of the patch when I got promoted to Transfer Captain. I can read things just fine.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wow. Visual translation, you say?¡± Scott shook his head in amazement. ¡°Not quite as impressive as real-time audio translation, I¡¯ll admit, but I¡¯m still amazed that your glasses can do that and still remain so slim. I wish Earth and the colonies would setup proper relay networks and adopt the AR technology you guys are usin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°It can actually get annoying at times,¡± Kaon¨¦ refuted.


    ¡°But it¡¯s still pretty useful,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°Just point me to the engineering room and I can start checking things out.¡±


    ¡°¡­This¡­ is the engineering room,¡± Scott replied slowly.


    ¡°¡­Right! I knew that.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded curtly. ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, sit over here, and start looking things through.¡±


    ¡°Aw, what about me?¡± Kaon¨¦ complained, ¡°I can¡¯t read any of this¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve thought about that before volunteering to come up here,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded unsympathetically.


    ¡°Hmph.¡± The Materiatechnic pouted. Great. Now, what do I do¡­


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­This is it.¡±


    ¡°Eh what,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned as he looked about the empty cave, save some industrial lighting and wires leading out to the cave exterior. ¡°¡­There¡¯s nothin¡¯ here.¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s nothing here,¡± Shepherd retorted, ¡°we already removed the the sphere.¡±


    ¡°I was expecting something more¡­ significant.¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned as she inspected the surrounding area. ¡°Like, maybe a pedestal. Or engravings. Anything that would stand out.¡±


    ¡°There was nothing else,¡± Shepherd stated, ¡°only that silver sphere, sitting on the ground. I thought it was just a rock until I realized how well-rounded and shiny it was; that¡¯s why I picked it up.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s when the Battlecruiser appeared?¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned back to face the Earthian. ¡°When you touched it?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure they¡¯re related?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯m certain.¡± Shepherd crossed his arms. ¡°When I picked up that stone, there was this bright flash of light¡­ I¡¯m not a, what¡¯s it called, a Chaotic? I¡¯m not that, so I can¡¯t sense Chaos Energy as well as you ¡ª in fact I can¡¯t sense it at all, usually.¡±


    ¡°Earthians shouldn¡¯t be able to,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented. ¡°None of you are Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s the thing ¡ª I felt something happen,¡± Shepherd insisted, ¡°I don¡¯t know what sensing Chaos Energy is like, but I¡¯m certain that that silver sphere did something.¡±


    ¡°So you think it just¡­ summoned the Battlecruiser?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± The Captain glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­It sounds far-fetched, I know, but I think that¡¯s what happened.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be surprised if it is¡­¡± the Electrotechnic replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the Ayas, but I¡¯ve heard my share of tall tales about them¡­ if you consider that they might be based in reality, then the Master Ayas is certainly a very powerful object.¡±


    ¡°That kind of power¡­¡± Shepherd scowled. ¡°I hope the top brass don¡¯t get any crazy ideas.¡±


    ¡°That researcher guy seemed just fine with handin¡¯ it over to us,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded.


    ¡°To you?¡± Shepherd drew back in surprise.


    ¡°Well, to Nimalia,¡± Siyuak¨¦n corrected, ¡°we don¡¯t know as much about the Ayas as the Core Space Alliance, but I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll be able to figure out and do more with the Master Ayas than you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Maybe,¡± Shepherd replied slowly. ¡°I am against blatantly weaponizing the thing, but I¡¯m not so sure about just handing it over, either.¡± He then brushed his hands and stretched, turning to face down the cave. ¡°I suppose the decision for what happens to it is out of my hands, though. We should try looking around. With any luck, there will be something else significant down here.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that what we¡¯re here for? A damn treasure hunt?¡± Dav¨ªdrius complained, ¡°why can¡¯t there be anythin¡¯ exciting?¡±


    ¡°Be careful what you wish for,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, ¡°without your weapons, you won¡¯t be much help in a fight.¡±


    ¡°Not much help?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius bristled with irritation. ¡°Look, despite what happened back in Tres¨¦d, I can totally hold my own in a fight!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded lightly, ¡°you¡­ didn¡¯t do so well against that woman.¡±


    ¡°I was caught off guard. I¡¯ve fought the Bleeders before and won! Several times!¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t win against the Chaotics, though.¡±


    ¡°I just said: I was caught off guard! I¡¯ve never fought a damned Chaostechnic before. And Str¨¦n¡¯s a double Chaotic. He wouldn¡¯t just go down that easily!¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin and I were able to deal with them just fine on our own.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re tryin¡¯ to say that you think I¡¯m worthless, aren¡¯t you?!¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! You listen here¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± Shepherd cut in, turning to glare at the two Chaotics just as Dav¨ªdrius was practically shoving his finger into Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s face, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the problem is between you two, but I¡¯d appreciate it if you could keep it to yourselves.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch,¡± Dav¨ªdrius drew back, and then glanced sheepishly the Captain. ¡°¡­Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Shepherd cut Siyuak¨¦n short. The silence that followed was quickly replaced with a quiet whistling sound.


    ¡°That¡¯s a breeze,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented. ¡°¡­Why¡¯s there a breeze down here?¡±


    ¡°It means there¡¯s either an exit, or some other large open area nearby,¡± Shepherd replied. ¡°You asked for something exciting; maybe this is it.¡±


    As the Captain moved on, the Velocitechnic shot a quick smirk toward Siyuak¨¦n. She sighed before stepping forward to follow Shepherd. The trio continued walking through the caves in silence, taking several turns before reaching a long and straight tunnel with a light at the end.


    ¡°Light?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°that means it¡¯s outside, right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Shepherd responded, ¡°I¡¯ve yet to see any here, but there¡¯s plenty of subterranean fauna that emit some sort of light back on Earth. It could just be a massive cavern.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m goin¡¯ ahead to check,¡± the Velocitechnic declared before dashing off. The next instant he reached the cave¡¯s end, skidding to a stop just before a short cliff. He whistled in admiration as he slowly inspected his surroundings.


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted as she came running down the tunnel after him.


    ¡°I dunno if it¡¯s actually worth anythin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, ¡°but it¡¯s a huge cavern filled with gold!¡±


    ¡°Gold?¡± Shepherd repeated incredulously before arriving at the cliff side next to the two Nimalians. He glanced around in surprise, taking in the sight before him: a massive cavern, nearly a hundred meters long in every dimension ¡ª and the floor was entirely covered in gold. Surprise soon turned into confusion, and then to wariness as the Captain continued to survey the massive piles of gold. ¡°This¡­ doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, ignoring Dav¨ªdrius as he jumped to the ground below and then sped off to the other side of the cavern.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Shepherd scowled. ¡°I have a feeling that we shouldn¡¯t be here. But I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    The Electrotechnic turned back to look at the huge cavern. ¡°Nothing seems off to me¡­¡± She frowned. ¡°Hmm, maybe Dav¨ªdrius found something. He¡¯s coming back.¡±


    A moment later the Velocitechnic leaped up to the cliff side and landed in a crouch. As he stood up he glanced between Siyuak¨¦n and Shepherd warily. ¡°Somethin¡¯ weird¡¯s up with this cavern¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d you find?¡± Shepherd questioned.


    ¡°At the far side of the cavern, there¡¯s this little room,¡± Dav¨ªdrius explained, ¡°there¡¯s four pods in there, I think they¡¯re stasis pods. Well, I guess they gotta be; they look like they haven¡¯t been touched in forever an¡¯ a day. The kicker is what¡¯s inside.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t keep us waiting,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded impatiently, ¡°what¡¯s there?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced back at the far side of the cavern uneasily before returning his attention to Shepherd and Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­They¡¯re kids. There are children inside those stasis pods.¡±

 10 - Surprising Discoveries

    Chapter 10 - Surprising Discoveries


    ¡°Wow¡­¡±


    Scott immediately looked up from his work. ¡°Did you find somethin¡¯?¡± he asked eagerly.


    ¡°I found¡­ lots of somethings,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°I think you were right about this ship having potential. There¡¯s a lot of technology here that I don¡¯t recognize¡­¡±


    ¡°Well you¡¯ve never even served on a ship, so there¡¯s bound to be stuff that you don¡¯t recognize, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°I guess, yeah,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted, ¡°but there are certain kinds of technology that I¡¯m certain I¡¯d know about if they were in use¡­ the claimed efficiency of this ship¡¯s systems is astounding as well. Not to mention its stated power, given its size and class.¡±


    ¡°Where are you findin¡¯ all this information?¡± Scott responded, confused.


    ¡°The ship¡¯s registry,¡± the Transfer Captain explained, ¡°it took some time to find it, and then a little more to figure out what it was actually saying. It lists all of the ship¡¯s hardware and related specifications.¡±


    ¡°Let me see this.¡± Scott quickly moved to stand behind Kev¨¦rin and began looking over the presented information himself. ¡°Weapons, engines, generators ¡ª both power and shield. Life support, FTL drive?¡±


    ¡°And those are only the major systems,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out.


    ¡°Some of it lines up with our Frigate design specs,¡± Scott mused. ¡°¡­I see a lot of ¡®Chaos¡¯ stuff though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this ship seems to have been designed to use Chaos Energy to its maximal potential, which is already a massive departure from most modern ship designs. Ever since the Chaos Quake, most ships have been designed or retrofitted with redundant non-Chaos Energy dependent systems and shy away from using Chaos Energy for major functions¡­ but this ship goes all out. Chaos Engines? Chaos Generators? Chaos Cannons? It¡¯ll be a powerhouse, that¡¯s for sure, but if something like the Chaos Quake ever happens again then it¡¯ll be useless.¡±


    ¡°You say it¡¯ll be a powerhouse¡­ compared to what?¡±


    ¡°Compared to other ships of its size and class, at least. Like Kaon¨¦ said, I¡¯ve never served on a ship before, and I¡¯ve never studied spacecraft technology extensively, but I do know a few things regardless. I¡¯d estimate that its offensive power is somewhere between Battleships and Capital ships, and its durability is close to that of a Battleship. Certainly far better than any Battlecruiser I¡¯ve ever seen. Maneuverability¡­ might be as good as most Cruisers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, hmm¡­¡± Scott paused for a moment to let Kev¨¦rin¡¯s words sink in. ¡°That¡¯s impressive¡­?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded in agreement. ¡°It definitely is, especially considering that the ship is still in the Battlecruiser size and mass class. If anyone knew how to make Battlecruisers as good as this one, they¡¯d exist, and might actually dominate current naval doctrine. ¡­Now of course, I¡¯m basing all of these statements on numbers in the registry and limited spacecraft knowledge, so you¡¯ll definitely want to test the ship before putting it out in actual battle. You certainly shouldn¡¯t take everything I¡¯m saying as fact, at least.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s even half as good as you say then SERRCom will likely want to sideline it, study it, and reverse-engineer everythin¡¯ for mass-production,¡± Scott responded, and then sighed. ¡°Either that, or they¡¯ll be gung-ho about it and rush it to the front lines to try and show everyone that Earthians aren¡¯t useless.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll definitely want to keep this hidden from the CSA, at least for some time,¡± Kev¨¦rin advised, ¡°the moment they find out about this ship¡¯s tech, they¡¯ll be down your throat with sanctions and offerings and whatever other bureaucratic bullshit they can come up with.¡±


    ¡°They will?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not entirely wrong,¡± Kaon¨¦ affirmed, ¡°it isn¡¯t well-known, but the CSA will do a lot to try and keep their technological lead. They¡¯ve done as much to us Nimalians, under the excuse that we don¡¯t have a ¡®unified galactic presence.¡¯¡±


    ¡°In short, it¡¯s bullshit, so watch yourself,¡± Kev¨¦rin added.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll keep that in mind when I write up my report, then,¡± Scott replied, and then glanced back down at the screen. ¡°Is there anythin¡¯ else that you haven¡¯t seen before? Wait¡­ what¡¯s this¡­ ¡®Personnel Transfer¡¯?¡±


    ¡°That would be referring to how you transfer personnel from ship to ship, or from ship to planet, or vice versa,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know why it¡¯d be in the registry though. You have to use external hardware for personnel transfer, like shuttles. What¡¯s this say about that¡­ ¡®Instantaneous Subspace Transfer¡¯. ¡­What?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what that is?¡± Scott questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it before¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°Subspace? Doesn¡¯t sound familiar at all. But ¡®Instantaneous Transfer¡¯ sounds like it might be what the Drakkars use¡­ They¡¯re capable of essentially teleporting troops and tech from their ships to a planet¡¯s surface. The CSA and Nimalia have emulated it by using Spacetechnics, but if we could get actual technology to do the same thing¡­ wow.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like the beamin¡¯ you see in sci-fi stories,¡± Scott remarked. ¡°If that¡¯s what it really is, then I can see how it¡¯d be useful. Is there anythin¡¯ else here that uses Subspace?¡±


    ¡°Seems to be a transportation technique, so¡­ probably the FTL Drive, if anything,¡± Kev¨¦rin speculated, and then checked. ¡°Well what do you know, this ship supposedly does have a Subspace Drive.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°It means¡­ I don¡¯t know what it means,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted. ¡°The one thing that¡¯s consistently Chaos Energy-based in modern ships is the FTL Drive. It¡¯s the only way we know how to exceed the speed of light. Ironically, this ¡®Subspace Drive¡¯ seems to be the one major system on this ship that¡¯s independent of Chaos Energy¡­ Hmm, I wonder if this could give any insight as to how the Interstellar Gates or Transpaces work¡­¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t know how the Gates or the Transpaces work?¡± Scott questioned. ¡°But aren¡¯t they all over the place? How do you not know how they work if you use them so much?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked, ¡°the Interstellar Gates and the Transpaces both predate modern civilization. Current theory is that they¡¯re leftover tech from the ancient Aldredas, but¡­ we don¡¯t know anything else about them. Their technology is too advanced, and too foreign, to reverse-engineer.¡±


    ¡°And you think this ship might help you figure out how they work?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ maybe. I guess that depends on whether or not we can figure out what this ¡®Subspace¡¯ is.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, well that¡¯s pretty interestin¡¯!¡± Scott exclaimed. ¡°Between that and all of the other tech here, I can¡¯t wait to officially get started! I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll need help though¡­ would the Nimalians be willin¡¯?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ exchanged curious glances. ¡°We can bring it up with our superiors,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°you should probably put through an official request though, like the one we responded to.¡±


    ¡°Just be more specific next time.¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked.


    ¡°You¡¯ve certainly been more helpful than anyone around here has been,¡± Scott declared. ¡°But, aye, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± He stretched and cracked his knuckles before moving back to the console he had been working at. ¡°For now, though, let¡¯s see if there¡¯s anythin¡¯ else we can find.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Of course I wasn¡¯t kidding. Why would I joke about somethin¡¯ like this?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n didn¡¯t respond. Instead she slowly looked around the small room on the far side of the cavern that hosted the four stasis pods, which were lined up against the far wall. The cylindrical pods were opaque, but not in the foggy, crystalline manner of typical cryogenic stasis pods.


    ¡°So these are stasis pods?¡± Shepherd questioned, entering the room shortly after the Electrotechnic.


    ¡°It¡¯s not cryogenic stasis,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°but I don¡¯t know of any other stasis tech.¡± She glanced over at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°How do you know these are stasis pods?¡±


    The Velocitechnic shrugged. ¡°Well, what else could they be? The kids inside clearly ain¡¯t dead. At least, if they are, they¡¯re pretty damn well-preserved. And judgin¡¯ by the dust and residue everywhere, this place hasn¡¯t been touched for a while, so if those ain¡¯t stasis pods then we should be starin¡¯ at skeletons, not bodies.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about stasis technology, but I¡¯m inclined to agree with him,¡± Shepherd commented. ¡°SERRCom¡¯s only had a presence on Sunova for barely a year, and we only started exploring these caves a month or two ago. The three of us are the first to explore the caves any farther than the location of that silver sphere, so these pods must¡¯ve been placed here long before us.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention these things don¡¯t look as boring as all the rest of your stuff.¡±


    Shepherd gave Dav¨ªdrius an annoyed glance before turning back to the stasis pods. ¡°This is¡­ definitely an unexpected find.¡± He pulled a tablet computer out of his backpack and began fiddling with it. ¡°I¡¯ll record this location and then we¡¯ll head back to report this to the Colonel.¡±


    ¡°What? We¡¯re just gonna leave?¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied incredulously, ¡°we¡¯re not gonna get them outta stasis?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already farther down the caves than any three-man team is allowed, especially without a dedicated researcher or cartographer,¡± Shepherd declared. ¡°I¡¯ve already caused one incident by touching the ¡®Ayas¡¯ without prompt; I won¡¯t cause another by fiddling with unknown technology.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ you ain¡¯t curious? Shouldn¡¯t we at least figure out where the shutdown console is?¡±


    ¡°They say curiosity killed the cat.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an Earth saying,¡± Shepherd replied, ¡°Get too curious and it¡¯ll bite you in the ass¡­ we need to at least be careful¡ª?!¡±


    As the Captain turned around to leave, the cave wall to the left of the stasis pods suddenly cracked and lowered, revealing a doorway to a dark room. Shepherd stared at the doorway blankly before giving the two Nimalians a suspicious glance; when they both shrugged in response, he slowly moved forward into the room. A couple lights came on as he passed through the doorway, revealing a computer console against the wall.


    ¡°For the love of¡­ what is going on with this planet?¡± Shepherd scowled, but approached the console nonetheless with the two Chaotics in tow.


    ¡°I can¡¯t read any of this,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered as he glanced between the keyboard and screen.


    ¡°Even if we were in range of the relays, I doubt the translation tech would work,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out. ¡°If this console is as old as the stasis pods, then it predates Earthian presence and probably most other modern civilizations, so I doubt the language is in the RTV databases¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s English.¡±


    ¡°¡­It what?¡± Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at Shepherd.


    ¡°The keyboard¡¯s in English,¡± he repeated, ¡°I can read it.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°What.¡±


    ¡°How¡ª that shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded uneasily, ¡°languages don¡¯t¡ª your language¡ª it shouldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Shepherd cut in, ¡°this is as confusing to me as it is to you. This can¡¯t possibly be Earthian tech, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Well if you can read the keyboard, can you read what¡¯s on the screen?¡± Dav¨ªdrius gestured at the monitor.


    The Captain looked up at the screen and paused for a second before reading slowly, ¡°¡¯you¡­ are not the Keys.¡¯¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the monitor says,¡± Shepherd stated, and then held up a finger as the screen flashed static and reverted to black. Another line of text appeared, which the Captain read, ¡°¡¯Open stasis pods?¡¯¡±


    ¡°I guess this is the shutdown console, then,¡± Siyuak¨¦n observed.


    ¡°It must be more than just a shutdown console,¡± Shepherd countered, ¡°if its only purpose was to engage or shutdown the stasis pods, then why is there a full keyboard?¡±


    ¡°And an oddly functional one, at that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius mused as he poked at several of the keys.


    ¡°What¡ª!? Hey, what are you doing?!¡± Shepherd exclaimed, quickly grabbing the Velocitechnic¡¯s arm and forcing him away from the keyboard. In his haste, however, he accidentally slammed his own elbow against the keyboard, mashing down all of the keys on the right side. Siyuak¨¦n facepalmed and sighed irately as the two men froze and stared at the keyboard.


    After an uneventful moment had passed, Dav¨ªdrius relaxed and drew back. He then smirked and glanced over at Shepherd. ¡°See? Nothin¡¯ happened. Everythin¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª ¡­no, something¡¯s happening,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded cautiously. ¡°¡­Get back¡ª!¡±


    Before she could finish, the entire computer console sparked brightly as a streak of electricity arced to Shepherd, blasting him back against the wall.


    ¡°Are you okay?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n immediately knelt down next to the Earthian, though he recovered surprisingly quickly ¡ª and had no sign of any injury or electrical burn at all.


    ¡°Ow¡­¡± he groaned painfully as he began to pull himself into a sitting position. ¡°¡­This is what I get for listening to aliens.¡±


    ¡°Tch!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t try to pin this on¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, shut it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut him short as she helped Shepherd to stand up, ¡°Shepherd was right originally. This is an Earthian colony, so it isn¡¯t our place to explore everything.¡± She then glanced back at Shepherd warily. ¡°In the meantime, we should get the Captain back to the base. He looks fine, somehow, but we can¡¯t know for sure here.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms and scowled, but remained silent as he followed Shepherd and Siyuak¨¦n back into the room with the stasis pods ¡ª only to find that all four had deactivated and opened up.


    ¡°It would figure¡­¡± Shepherd muttered, shrugging Siyuak¨¦n off before approaching the now-exposed children and crouching beside them. He looked them over briefly; rather than children, they seemed to be no older than two years old, with mildly tan skin and patchy black hair. With an apprehensive sigh, Shepherd gingerly reached for one of the boys to check his pulse. ¡°¡­They¡¯re alive,¡± he stated. ¡°I can feel a pulse.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ may actually be a problem,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented slowly as he looked out into the main cavern, ¡°¡¯cause, well, if we wanna get out of here¡ª¡±


    A deafening, menacing roar interrupted the Velocitechnic. The entire cavern shook violently as a large dragonesque creature dropped to the cavern floor, its attention focused on the small doorway to the stasis room.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± he finished apprehensively, ¡°¡­we¡¯re gonna have to go through that.¡±

 11 - Metallic Raid

    Chapter 11 - Metallic Raid


    ¡°¡­We¡¯re gonna have to go through that.¡±


    ¡°What in the hell¡ª?!¡± Shepherd fell back onto his bottom as the creature roared again and rammed its head against the wall separating it from the stasis pods. ¡°Where did¡ª how did¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time!¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared as she jumped in front of Dav¨ªdrius and Shepherd, ¡°I¡¯ll distract it! Dav¨ªdrius, you get the kids and the Captain out of here!¡±


    ¡°Tch, of course I gotta do all the haulin¡¯.¡± The Velocitechnic scowled as he crouched down in between two of the stasis pods and scooped up the still unconscious children. He stood up and glanced over at the other two pods, where Shepherd was picking up the last two children. ¡°Not you!¡± Dav¨ªdrius barked, ¡°you¡¯re too slow. You¡¯ll only get them and yourself killed!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to just trust their lives to you?¡± Shepherd bristled as the room shook from another impact, loosening several rocks from the cave ceiling. ¡°I¡¯d think you¡¯re even worse! Super speed won¡¯t help at all if the acceleration kills them!¡±


    ¡°You clearly¡ª¡± Siyuak¨¦n began, but was interrupted by Dav¨ªdrius.


    ¡°What¡¯re you still doin¡¯ here? Get out there!¡± he ordered. Siyuak¨¦n glared at him for a moment before whipping around and dashing out the cave, immediately launching her grappling hooks at a far wall and yanking herself out of range of the dragon creature. As soon as she left, the Velocitechnic turned back to face Shepherd. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t think you understand how Velocitechnism works. Whatever I¡¯m holdin¡¯ or touchin¡¯ can stand up to the same amount of acceleration that I can. How do you think I¡¯ve still got intact clothes, huh?!¡±


    Shepherd glared back at the Velocitechnic before glancing between the children in his grasp. ¡°¡­Agh. Fine!¡± he replied irately, ¡°get going! But if anyone dies, it¡¯s your ass!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I got this!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, spinning around on his heel before crouching down¡­ and then disappearing with a small sonic boom. He crossed the cavern and leaped up to the exit platform just as the dragon creature smashed its tail into the ground just below the platform. The Velocitechnic ignored the close call and sped off through the caves as Siyuak¨¦n swept down and launched both of her grappling hooks into the creature¡¯s tail before shoving a high current through them. It screeched in response as it hardened its tail and whipped it up through the air, dragging the Electrotechnic with it. She quickly released the grappling hooks and struck both of the dragon¡¯s wings with lightning strikes before firing one hook at a wall to swing away from an incoming plume of fire breath. She then released the hook and fired the other in the opposite direction just fast enough to yank herself out of the creature¡¯s path as it slammed itself into the wall at her former location. As she swung around to face it again and got a good look at its body for the first time, she paused in shock.


    Down the creature¡¯s back, spread across its wings, and covering a third of its face were thick, rash-like streaks of silver metal.


    ¡°It¡¯s infected?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n gasped just as the dragon thrust itself at her again, yanking her out of the air with its hands and snapping her grappling line in the process. She quickly sapped as much electricity from the creature¡¯s hand as she could, forcing its muscles to go slack enough for her to extract herself and leap away before the creature could attempt to grab her with its other hand. As she fell through the air she twisted around to fire a column of lightning at the dragon, stunning it long enough for her to launch her remaining intact grappling hook into a far wall and swing away. Damn rookie mistake, she mentally berated herself, now I¡¯ve only got one line left¡ª!


    She immediately put that thought on hold as she released her grappling hook and dropped to the ground, just in time to evade another plume of fire from the beast¡¯s maw. She responded with several lightning strikes but the dragon seemed to simply shrug the attacks off, instead becoming even more agitated. With a powerful flap of its wings it dived straight at Siyuak¨¦n, claws first, forcing her to dive out of the way as it slammed into the wall once again. She quickly launched her grappling hook into the far wall to swing away as the creature howled in painful anger and backed away from the wall before turning to face Siyuak¨¦n again. The moment it did, she shocked both of its eyes, causing it to reel back in pain¡­ only to suddenly split its forehead, open a third eye, and come dashing after her again.


    ¡°What the fuck!?¡± she exclaimed, just before tucking into a roll as the creature dashed overhead. She offered a somewhat meager electric shock at its underside as she scrambled away and then fired her grappling hook again. ¡°Good thing it¡¯s feral, or I¡¯d be toast by now,¡± she muttered, glancing down at the cavern entrance just as Dav¨ªdrius leaped up to it with Shepherd riding piggy-back. A quick glance back to the small stasis room confirmed that all four pods were empty. ¡°I guess I¡¯m done distracting it for now¡ª?!¡±


    Caught off-guard, Siyuak¨¦n was unable to properly respond as the creature suddenly extended its tail to three times its length and smacked her out of the air, snapping her second grappling line and sending her hurdling toward the cave wall. Before she could even process the entire exchange, Dav¨ªdrius had leaped up into the air and caught her before landing in a crouch and launching himself back at the cavern entrance. The moment he was several meters down the cave from the cavern, he set Siyuak¨¦n down carefully.


    He smirked. ¡°How¡¯s that for worthless?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°¡­Ngh,¡± Siyuak¨¦n groaned in response. ¡°¡­That thing¡­ is infected.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius frowned in confusion. ¡°It what now?¡±


    ¡°It has the metallic infection,¡± she reiterated as she stood up slowly. ¡°¡­It¡¯s big, powerful, infected, and feral. Our best bet is to just seal off the cavern¡ª¡±


    ¡°Pah, we should just defeat it now, while we have the chance.¡±


    ¡°Are you listening to what I¡¯m saying?¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded angrily, ¡°did you not just see it kick my ass? Fighting it isn¡¯t worth it!¡±


    ¡°Except that it¡¯s a great way to get the Earthians in our debt,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied smugly.


    ¡°Tch,¡± the Electrotechnic snorted. ¡°If I couldn¡¯t beat it, how do you plan to?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius smirked again. ¡°Well, clearly, you¡¯re still underestimatin¡¯ me. For one,¡± he started as he produced two daggers from the inside of his jacket, ¡°I¡¯ve got more pockets than you, and they¡¯re deeper. Two, the ability to run really fast has the side effect of givin¡¯ you impressive leg strength.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°And that means¡­?¡±


    The Velocitechnic grinned dangerously. ¡°It means I can do this.¡±


    He suddenly leaped up and forwards, clearing the entire cavern and preparing to land on the dragon¡¯s back. It turned toward him just in time to react and slapped him aside with its wing, sending him flying into the floor. Dav¨ªdrius quickly caught himself and rolled to a stop before taking off again, slicing at all four of the dragon¡¯s Achilles tendons before it even realized he hadn¡¯t been crushed against the rocks. With an angry screech it quickly took off into the air, leaving the Velocitechnic behind on the ground ¡ª until he crouched down and leaped again, easily clearing the creature and grabbing it by its wing. He immediately jumped onto its back and used his daggers to latch on, driving them into the creature¡¯s skin in between all of the metallic rashes. After pausing a moment to adjust to the dragon¡¯s thrashing, he moved to his feet in a crouch and then spun around, slicing off both of the creature¡¯s wings. He latched onto the creature¡¯s back again as it crashed to the ground, at which point he leaped off, ignoring the dragon¡¯s roaring as he dashed up and past the neck and sliced it, opening up a massive gash. For good measure, he then jumped up onto the creature¡¯s head and rapidly stabbed it; the speed with which he stabbed created enough force to drive the daggers through the metallic rashes and into the creature¡¯s skull, but it also quickly chipped away at the blades. But it was no issue; by the time both daggers were useless, the creature had keeled over, the occasional death spasm being its only movements.


    Siyuak¨¦n stared at the dragon carcass blankly as Dav¨ªdrius flipped off of it and then leaped back to the cavern entrance. He crossed his arms, smirked, and chuckled triumphantly. ¡°As I said¡­ how¡¯s that for useless?¡±


    ¡°That was¡­ certainly impressive,¡± Siyuak¨¦n admitted. ¡°Though you did break your weapons again.¡±


    ¡°Tch. Well it ain¡¯t my fault I can¡¯t afford specialized Velocitechnic weaponry.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡± The Electrotechnic smiled in amusement before glancing down the cave opposite the cavern. ¡°You got everyone out of here?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Shepherd should be makin¡¯ his way out of the caves right now.¡± Dav¨ªdrius paused for a moment and then frowned. ¡°¡­I wonder what the Earthians will do with those kids.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not really much they can do,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°they didn¡¯t look any older than two or three years old. I guess we can hope that the Earthians are moral enough to not use them as child soldiers¡­¡±


    ¡°I wonder. There has to be some reason those kids were in the stasis pods, and the Earthians will definitely wanna find out what it is. You can bet your ass that, if this were a CSA colony, those kids wouldn¡¯t ever see the light of day. Even if it were a Nimalian colony, they¡¯d probably be put under military or government surveillance until they¡¯re old enough to draft.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very cynical view of the world.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true and you know it.¡± Dav¨ªdrius passed Siyuak¨¦n a knowing glance. ¡°¡­I may be from Tres¨¦d, and I may be more ignorant than the rest of y¡¯all, but I at least know about the fucked up drafts and trades that you other nations do.¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded slowly.


    ¡°¡­Nothing.¡± The Velocitechnic turned back toward the cavern. ¡°¡­Now¡¯s our chance to check out that computer before the Earthians get their hands all over it, and while they¡¯d still be grateful we killed that monster thing.¡±


    ¡°Did you forget that we can¡¯t read the interface?¡±


    ¡°¡­D¡¯oh.¡±


    ¡°Besides, like I said earlier ¡ª this isn¡¯t our place to explore. It¡¯s an Earthian colony, so we should leave everything we find to them.¡±


    ¡°Well what about that dragon thing? You said it was infected or some shit, didn¡¯t you? We could at least check it out.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess there¡¯s no harm in¡­ wait¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n trailed off and then jogged back to the edge of the entrance platform, with Dav¨ªdrius instantly appearing beside her. He opened his mouth to ask why she stopped, but then paused himself as he laid eyes on what she was looking at:


    The dragon carcass had split open, exposing a huge mass of metallic bugs inside!


    ¡°What the¡ª the fuck are those?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered as she slowly backed away from the ledge. A moment later, all of the bugs within the carcass spilled out and began rushing toward the cavern entrance, and just as suddenly Siyuak¨¦n and Dav¨ªdrius fled back into the cave.


    ¡°Well this is fucked up!¡± The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°What are those¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I have a bad feeling about this!¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sealing the cavern.¡±


    ¡°Tch, I won¡¯t stop you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted as he stepped back. The Electrotechnic stepped forward to the cave opening, charged her body with electricity, and then issued a massive shock to the cave entrance ¡ª massive enough to crack and dislodge the rocks, causing a small cave-in. The cave filled with dust and didn¡¯t clear until Dav¨ªdrius generated a breeze by rapidly spinning his arms. The two Chaotics then looked over Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s handiwork: the cave was now blocked completely by fallen rock.


    ¡°¡­This is one fucked up planet,¡± the Velocitechnic muttered, ¡°the Master Ayas appears, a phantom Battlecruiser appears, there¡¯s a cavern full of gold with four kids in stasis pods in the back, and then there¡¯s this fuckin¡¯ dragon creature thing that exploded into a million damn bugs when we killed it!? What the fuck!¡±


    ¡°Y¡­yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded uneasily, still staring at the rocky wall. She then shook her head and turned the other way. ¡°We need to get back to the surface and warn the Earthians¡ª¡±


    She was interrupted as a large metallic bug, nearly the size of her hand, suddenly exploded from the rock wall toward her and opened a gash across her left arm. She gasped in pain and reflexively shocked the bug, overloading it and destroying it.


    ¡°What in the¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, glancing over as Siyuak¨¦n roughly cauterized her wound with a high-voltage shock. He then jumped as the sound of burrowing began to rumble through the cave walls. ¡°¡­Fuck this place!¡± He quickly scooped up Siyuak¨¦n in his arms and spun around on his heel before dashing off. ¡°Let¡¯s get the fuck out of here!!¡±

 12 - Add to Unknown: Creatures

    Chapter 12 - Add to Unknown: Creatures


    ¡°We need to get out of here, now!!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shepherd turned around just as Dav¨ªdrius sped up to the truck and dumped Siyuak¨¦n unceremoniously in the truck bed.


    ¡°Did you not hear me? We need to go!¡± the Velocitechnic insisted.


    ¡°Hold it!¡± the Captain barked, ¡°we aren¡¯t going anywhere until you tell me what the problem is!¡±


    ¡°We killed the creature,¡± Siyuak¨¦n explained, ¡°But, it ¡ª ¡­its carcass split open and a horde of metal bugs rushed out!¡±


    ¡°I was able to outrun them, of course, but it¡¯s only a matter of time before they catch up!¡± Dav¨ªdrius pressed, ¡°that¡¯s why we need to go!¡±


    ¡°¡­A horde of metal bugs?¡± Shepherd responded slowly, ¡°the hell are you talking about? They just popped out of that dragon¡¯s dead body?¡±


    ¡°Every second you spend doubtin¡¯ us is a second we¡¯ve lost in gettin¡¯ away from those things!¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered irately. ¡°Each of those damn bugs are the size of my hand, minimum! And they sure as hell ain¡¯t just normal bugs ¡®cause they can burrow through fucking stone! We sure as hell ain¡¯t equipped to fight ¡®em off here!¡±


    The Captain paused for a moment before turning back toward the truck and reaching through the driver¡¯s side window to grab the vehicle¡¯s communicator. ¡°Captain Shepherd reporting! Repeat, this is Captain Shepherd. We¡¯ve got a¡­ Code Blue here¡ª¡±


    Mid-sentence the nearby rock wall cracked and gave way to several sharp, knife-sized projectiles. Dav¨ªdrius snatched one out of the air and used it to deflect the others before launching it at the cave entrance, impaling one of the metallic bugs just as it emerged from the darkness ¡ª only for it to be trampled by a horde of hundreds of metallic beetle-like bugs.


    ¡°You were right!¡± Shepherd exclaimed as he yanked the truck door open and jumped in.


    ¡°No shit!¡± the Velocitechnic growled in response. ¡°I¡¯ll hold them off ¡ª or at least, I¡¯ll try!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut in as she moved to climb out of the truck bed. ¡°On your own? You¡¯re insane! I¡¯m helping!¡±


    ¡°No you¡¯re not!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shoved her back. ¡°Are you fast enough to run away if you get swarmed? No! You¡¯re not! It¡¯d be one thing if your swingin¡¯ gear still worked, but I saw those lines snap. So sit tight and help the Earthians ¡ª I¡¯ll be fine on my own!¡± He turned to the Captain. ¡°You get back to the base as soon as possible and raise the alarm, or somethin¡¯¡ª¡±


    ¡°Already on it!¡± Shepherd shouted as he slammed the truck into reverse, backing away from the cave before spinning it around and flooring it across the rocky ground. He momentarily glanced at the rear-view mirror just in time to see Dav¨ªdrius disappear behind a rock face.


    ¡°Are the kids fine?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh¡­¡± The Captain glanced behind himself to the small back-seat area. Earthian military vehicles ¡ª by virtue of being military vehicles ¡ª didn¡¯t come equipped with baby seats, so the Captain had been left to secure the children as safely as he could with seat-belts alone. ¡°¡­They look fine. But they¡¯re still unconscious.¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded quietly.


    Several moments of silence passed before Shepherd spoke up again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened back there¡­ but can he actually hold off those things?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe.¡±


    ¡°Would you have been able to hold them off?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Are they really that damn invincible?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    The Captain glanced back at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Will we be able to protect Sunova from them?¡±


    The Electrotechnic looked down at her arm wound before sighing warily. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    <hr>


    3 Hours Later


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I ever expected to have to deal with a Code Blue after a year of uninterrupted Green.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Colonel,¡± Captain Shepherd responded uneasily.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Shepherd.¡± The Colonel passed him a glance. ¡°If everything you¡¯ve told me is true, this whole colony was messed up to start with.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to not believe us.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± she replied, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ll send the entire garrison charging in, either. Code Blue protocol simply calls for a quarantine, which I hope we can accomplish with drones. I¡¯ve already called down your Nimalian friends on the Battlecruiser in case things go south; with any luck, the four of you should be able to help us repel this threat.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can handle it?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen these bugs before.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re native, then that would make perfect sense.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ they can¡¯t be,¡± the Electrotechnic countered, ¡°they¡¯re made of metal! I think they might be related to the galactic metallic infection pandemic.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°And that means?¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate your concern,¡± the Colonel responded, ¡°but we can handle this. Worst comes to worst, the Interstellar Gate is only two levels underground, and there¡¯s two Frigates in system in case even the Gate isn¡¯t an option. But I would rather save Sunova if I can ¡ª and I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll need your help to do so.¡±


    ¡°Colonel, this whole situation is in part the fault of the Nimalians¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shepherd, stop right there,¡± the Colonel interrupted, approaching the Captain and glaring up into his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re a good man ¡ª for the most part. But you need to get over this mindset of yours. SERRCom has managed to grow past many of Earth¡¯s old biases ¡ª now let¡¯s try to do the same on the galactic stage.¡±


    Shepherd scowled but nodded nonetheless. ¡°Yes¡­ Colonel Yamamoto. I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡­¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The Colonel turned to look at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°That said, I am concerned that you¡¯re the only present witness, so far as killing the cave dragon and seeing these metal bugs spill out of it.¡± She then turned back to the screens behind her. ¡°Though that is why I ordered drones to the caves and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the sun is setting, so we¡¯ll only be able to see so much. Perhaps we¡¯ll see what happened to the other Nimalian.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius should be back already¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied quietly, ¡°¡­he ¡ª Velocitechnics aren¡¯t endurance fighters.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯d have to wonder just how effective they are against metal bugs the size of a baseball,¡± Yamamoto responded. ¡°¡­Regardless, we should find out in about fifteen minutes¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait, Colonel,¡± Shepherd spoke up as he pointed at one of the screens. ¡°There ¡ª movement. And a glitter. Is that?...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the bugs¡­ a whole lot of them,¡± Siyuak¨¦n affirmed.


    ¡°¡­They¡¯re this far? Already?¡± The Colonel frowned uneasily. ¡°Even for their size¡­ they¡¯ve come remarkably close to the base in such little time, especially assuming that they¡¯re feral¨C¡±


    The screen suddenly jerked, causing the three observers to jump in surprise. The camera seemed to fly backwards and down until suddenly stopping on a tree ¨C and then turning to reveal Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s face as his mouth began moving.


    ¡°He snatched the drone out of the air?¡± Yamamoto observed in surprise.


    ¡°And he¡¯s trying to tell us something. Do the drones transmit audio?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned.


    The Colonel flipped a switch next to the screen; a second later, they could hear Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s voice over the connection.


    ¡°¡ªot feral. You can¡¯t treat ¡®em like bugs. They¡¯re too smart for that! They¡¯re¡ª ahk!¡± He ducked and dropped out of view of the camera ¡ª shortly after which the drone stopped transmitting.


    ¡°He must¡¯ve dropped it,¡± Shepherd suggested.


    ¡°He looked surprisingly fine,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about that location¡­¡± Yamamoto scowled. ¡°In three hours, they¡¯ve cleared a hundred and twenty kilometers. They¡¯re disconcertingly fast¡­ and to come this far in a group must mean they¡¯re at least somewhat focused¡­¡±


    ¡°We should launch the gunships, Ma¡¯am,¡± Shepherd suggested.


    ¡°Against targets that small? I have to wonder about their effectiveness. All we¡¯d be doing is throwing up debris and obscuring the bugs.¡±


    ¡°Besides, they were able to burrow through rocks,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added. ¡°They could just go underground.¡±


    ¡°Which is even more disconcerting,¡± Yamamoto responded, ¡°we¡¯ll at least know they¡¯re coming when the seismic sensors begin going off. But, given this ¡ª we¡¯ll need to seal off the less-easily protected areas of the base, and station personnel and sentry guns along the hallways. Especially the Gate room and all paths to it ¡ª those must remain open. And if we lose those, we need to make sure we have enough time and space to fall back to the Frigate clearings, and to do that we¡¯ll need to keep the generators running in order to keep the lights on¡­ Lead already returned to Earth with the children, correct?¡±


    Shepherd nodded curtly. ¡°He did.¡±


    ¡°Call him back and put him in charge of the armored vehicle squads. He needs to make sure the path to the Frigate clearings stays lit and open. Also, see if you can rush the reinforcements; we¡¯ll only have so much time to get vehicles above-ground. We need more sentry guns, too ¡ª and mines. Pesticides, too, though I¡¯m not sure how well that will work against metal bugs. Anyway, once you¡¯ve done that, take command of the gunships and get the whole squadron airborne. Intercept the bugs and expend as much ammo as you deem necessary, but don¡¯t fire within two klicks of the base. We need to be able to see the threat.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am!¡± the Captain exclaimed, stiffening long enough to offer a salute before turning toward the door and rushing out of the room.


    The Colonel glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n, and then down at her cut and burned left arm. ¡°You should get that checked out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± the Electrotechnic insisted, ¡°I can get it looked at once this situation is taken care of¡­¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the thought, but I¡¯ll need you at your best in order to help out,¡± Yamamoto declared, ¡°until the Battlecruiser team returns in an hour, you and your friend are the only Chaotics planetside ¡ª and right now you¡¯re the only Chaotic on this base. I¡¯m not saying we¡¯re relying on you ¡ª we have plenty of our own defenses ¡ª but I¡¯m sure your help would be invaluable. Can you still give your all with an injury like that?¡±


    ¡°It was just a cut. The burn looks bad, but that was just me cauterizing it. I¡¯ll be fine. But I do have another concern.¡±


    The Colonel crossed her arms. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The Master Ayas¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°¡­Is it still on the base?¡±


    ¡°Master Ayas?¡± Yamamoto echoed cluelessly. ¡°¡­Oh, you mean that silver stone Shepherd found in the caves? It should still be in MacTavish¡¯s lab.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t leave it behind,¡± the Electrotechnic declared, ¡°it¡¯s too valuable.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ given what I¡¯ve heard from MacTavish, I agree.¡± The Colonel nodded. ¡°Can you go retrieve it? Bring it down to the Gate room and we¡¯ll move it to Earth. In the meantime, I¡¯ll continue organizing the defenses. I wonder if I should bump us up to Code Red¡­ heh, here¡¯s to hoping we¡¯re over-reacting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she quickly left the room, ¡°¡­hopefully¡­¡±


    <hr>


    Kzztk!


    Siyuak¨¦n burst into the dark lab, having overridden the lock with a quick shock. She held her hands close together and began arcing electricity across them, generating just enough light for her to find and flip the room¡¯s light switch. She then quickly set to searching the drawers, cabinets, and chests in an effort to find the Master Ayas. She couldn¡¯t quite explain why, but she possessed an overwhelming sense of dread regarding the Ayas¡¯s safety ¡ª were the bugs to claim it, who knew what could happen. Is there a connection between Chaos Energy and the bugs?... she thought to herself, is there a connection between those bugs and the metallic rash? Or was this all just coincidence? She glanced down at her arm wound warily before shaking her head. Even if there is a connection, I shouldn¡¯t worry. I¡¯m sure I burned anything that could¡¯ve been injected¡­ as well as most of what was already there. Maybe I really should get this looked at. I¡¯m sure my nerves would¡¯ve been fried if I weren¡¯t an Electrotechnic¡­


    She paused as she opened a drawer and laid eyes on a silver sphere. ¡°Aha!¡± She smiled as she reached for the Master Ayas ¡ª only to jerk her arm back when it offered her a small shock. ¡°What?!¡± she yelped, ¡°it shocked me? What for? ¡­I found a shock painful?¡±


    Her thoughts were cut short as the door to the lab burst open and Dav¨ªdrius dashed in. ¡°...The Master Ayas!¡± he exclaimed as he grabbed it, ¡°damn good thing it¡¯s still here.¡± He glanced over at the Electrotechnic. ¡°We need to get out of here, now.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°I mean, I know we¡¯re in a rush, but we should still have at least an hour before the bugs show up, right?¡±


    ¡°No¡ª they¡¯re fast. Too fast¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded just as some of the cement in the corner cracked and several metallic bugs emerged. ¡°They¡¯re already here!¡±

 13 - Sunovas Response

    Chapter 13 - Sunova''s Response


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius immediately grabbed a nearby chair, sped over to the corner, and rammed one of the legs down the hole the metallic bugs had created. He then jumped back and tossed the Master Ayas to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Catch!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± She caught it haphazardly before gritting her teeth as continued contact with the Ayas caused a subdued stinging pain. ¡°Wait, it¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got more use for it than I do!¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted as he smashed another chair to pieces with a kick and grabbed two of its legs to use as clubs. ¡°Now don¡¯t just stand there!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me what to do,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded quickly before stretching her right arm toward the hole and blasting it with electricity. The resultant heat almost immediately fused the chair to the hole.


    ¡°¡­Not bad,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked with a smirk. ¡°Now let¡¯s get out of here before¡ª!¡±


    He was cut off as several of the bugs dropped down in front of the doorway and then charged at the two Chaotics. He scowled before dashing forward and bashing them out of the way, at which point he kicked open the door and waved Siyuak¨¦n over. She quickly jumped forward and leaped over the bugs, slamming the door shut behind her and applying a massive voltage to the entire shack.


    The Velocitechnic whistled in admiration. ¡°Just how many volts can you put out?¡±


    ¡°A lot,¡± the Electrotechnic replied, ¡°though it usually takes more effort to generate that much power.¡±


    ¡°Is that ¡®cause of the Master Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n trailed off as her gaze shifted past Dav¨ªdrius and to the open space behind him. ¡°¡­Though we should save the speculation for another time. There¡¯s more of the bugs coming.¡±


    ¡°Of course there are¡­¡± he scowled again before brandishing his two metal rods. ¡°If only it weren¡¯t dusk, then I could actually see where they are¡­¡±


    ¡°Let me take care of this.¡±


    ¡°Eh? How¡­?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ when I count down from three, make sure you¡¯re in the air. ¡­And probably far away from me.¡±


    ¡°Tch. You elemental Chaotics and your snazzy powers. Aight then, I¡¯ll run ahead to the main building. Try not to get overwhelmed when you catch up.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Siyuak¨¦n rolled her eyes as Dav¨ªdrius dashed off into the darkness. She then turned her attention back to the approaching metallic bugs as she began charging electricity in her left arm, where she held the Master Ayas. Mere moments later, the stone began to glow due to the energy, and small arcs of electricity leaped from parts of her arm to the rest of her body ¡ª and a moment later she thrust the Ayas at the ground, immediately releasing all of the charged electricity on impact. A brilliant flash of light momentarily blinded Siyuak¨¦n as all the bugs within five meters were fused to the flash-crystallized ground and all of the bugs within another ten meters catastrophically overloaded. The Electrotechnic stood up and paused for a moment to admire her handiwork before sprinting off toward the main building, watching vigilantly for any more hordes of metallic bugs.


    <hr>


    ¡°Lead! You¡¯re here!¡±


    ¡°Colonel?¡± The Captain glanced between Yamamoto and Shepherd warily. ¡°What¡¯s this about metallic bugs?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask the Nimalians,¡± Shepherd retorted.


    ¡°What he means is that we don¡¯t know.¡± Yamamoto passed Shepherd a reprimanding glance, prompting his posture to stiffen. ¡°The two Nimalians from the caves returned with a horde of metallic bugs after them. Given their rate of progression, they¡¯ll arrive within the hour. Now, what¡¯s the status on the extra equipment?¡±


    ¡°The brass are wary about granting extra equipment to a Code Blue situation,¡± Lead responded, ¡°not at this short of a notice.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are,¡± Shepherd grumbled.


    ¡°Our current stockpile won¡¯t cut it¡­¡± Yamamoto remarked with a frown. ¡°The Nimalians claimed that the bugs could easily burrow through solid rock. We have to assume that they can do the same to the cement foundation ¡ª and that means we need to reinforce all of the key hallways, namely the Gate Room access points.¡±


    Lead glanced back at the active Interstellar Gate behind him before looking at the three Gate Room entrances. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°Command the armored vehicle squads and keep the lanes to the Frigate landing clearings open. Shepherd, I want you to command the gunships, as we discussed earlier.¡±


    ¡°Permission to speak freely?¡± Lead questioned.


    ¡°Granted.¡±


    ¡°How do you intend to defend against a horde of bugs with armored vehicles?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really a delay tactic¡­¡± the Colonel admitted, ¡°one of the Nimalians is a Materiatechnic ¡ª she can control matter. Once she¡¯s returned from the Battlecruiser, she should be able to control the situation easily. So we just need to make sure that the base isn¡¯t overrun and that, in a worst-case scenario, we can evacuate all of the personnel.¡±


    ¡°And every second we spend here is a second we¡¯re not setting up defenses!¡± Shepherd bristled. ¡°Say the word, Colonel, and I¡¯m off.¡±


    Yamamoto opened her mouth to respond, but a metallic spheroid suddenly dropped from the ceiling, directly in front of the Interstellar Gate. It then uncurled, standing up on its four legs and wiggling a wing-like appendage on its back before turning toward the Gate ¡ª and getting blown to pieces as Shepherd shot it with his pistol.


    ¡°They¡¯re already here?¡± The Captain scowled as he glanced up ¡ª just in time to see the entire ceiling crack.


    Colonel Yamamoto responded immediately. ¡°Everyone OUT OF THE ROOM!¡± she bellowed while signaling toward the exits. She then held a hand to her ear to activate her headset as Shepherd and Lead ran past. ¡°Lock down the Gate! Now! And send a message to Earth telling them to lock down theirs!¡± She glanced up at the ceiling as it audibly cracked before dashing toward the Gate Room exit that Shepherd and Lead were standing outside of. With a final, deafening crack the entire cement roof shattered, sending a rain of cement, metal, and metallic bugs down on top of the Gate and the Colonel ¡ª who dived to safety just in time. Shepherd immediately slammed the door shut behind her.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You said we had an hour!¡± Lead exclaimed incredulously.


    ¡°Looks like I was wrong.¡± Yamamoto scowled. ¡°And we just lost the Gate Room for it.¡± She turned on her heel and began jogging down the hallway. ¡°Follow me. We need to get to the surface, and to any communicator capable of reaching the in-system Frigates¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Haaaah!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius impaled one of the metallic bugs with his metal rods before tossing them aside along with the now-defunct creature. He reached into his jacket pockets and whipped out two knives that he had found in an armory and began cutting into the approaching horde as fast as he could, leaving Siyuak¨¦n to watch on in irritation.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything if you¡¯re in the way!¡± she shouted after him, but received no response. She sighed and turned down another corridor, hoping that the Velocitechnic would be able to handle himself. Grasping the Master Ayas tightly, she began feeding enough electricity into it to make it glow, offering a light source amongst the dark complex ¡ª and electrically striking a bug just as it leaped through the air toward her. The Electrotechnic immediately swung around to face a group of metallic bugs before quickly shocking them all ¡ª only for them to continue rushing her. She quickly charged up more electricity for a more powerful blast and unleashed it on the bugs, this time causing their joints to fuse and freeze up just as Dav¨ªdrius rushed up behind her.


    ¡°I broke the knives¡­¡± he lamented.


    ¡°Of course you did¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of these narrow corridors. It¡¯s too easy to get ambushed¡ª!?¡±


    She was interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius scooped her up in his arms and leaped up onto the roof of the nearby building. He then leaped from roof to roof until reaching the edge of the clearing at the front of the base, where he dropped down to the ground and released the Electrotechnic.


    She took a few moments to regain her bearings, startled by the sudden acceleration and deceleration. Scowling, she demanded, ¡°warn me next time!¡±


    ¡°No time for warnin¡¯ when you¡¯re tryin¡¯ to go fast,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quipped.


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed before glancing toward the base¡¯s front gates. ¡°Looks like the bugs haven¡¯t raided here yet¡­¡±


    ¡°Or they¡¯ve just gone underground,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered. ¡°¡­Where are the Earthians?¡±


    ¡°Securing evac routes. I¡¯m¡­ actually not quite sure what their defense plan is at this point. Maybe they¡¯re counting on Kaon¨¦ to save the day?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°She is a Materiatechnic. Hopefully a horde of damned bugs won¡¯t trigger her ¡®don¡¯t kill¡¯ nonsense.¡± He glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n as she gave him a disapproving look. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about her like that.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± He turned away just in time to watch a convoy of armored vehicles roll out of a garage as light flooded the entire complex. ¡°Gah!¡± He clamped his eyes shut painfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t turn on the lights sooner,¡± Siyuak¨¦n mused, ¡°anyways, we should watch the vehicles. I think they¡¯re going to secure the route to the Frigate clearing.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius frowned with apprehension. ¡°What about the Gate? That¡¯s the easiest way off-planet¡ª!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m sure the Earthians are guarding it just fine. We should stay with the vehicles, out in the open ¡ª where we¡¯ll be able to help the most.¡±


    ¡°¡­Ngh. You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll need new weapons though¡­¡±


    The Electrotechnic glanced at him incredulously. ¡°Do you always break your weapons?¡±


    ¡°It ain¡¯t my fault none of the blades I¡¯ve used were built to Velocitechnic standards,¡± he replied defensively. ¡°Even considerin¡¯ the fact that they should withstand as much force as I can¡­ cheap blades just won¡¯t cut it, you know?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed impatiently. ¡°Really? Really?¡±


    ¡°¡­Keheheh, that was totally intended.¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned, momentarily amused with himself, and then quickly reset to a serious expression. ¡°But we should stop just standin¡¯ around. The Earthians need our help. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready for¡ª? Agh!?¡± the Electrotechnic yelped as Dav¨ªdrius picked her up again and dashed off toward the vehicles. Just after he arrived by the side of the leading vehicle it pulled to a stop, prompting the two Chaotics to stop as well. A couple seconds later, Captain Lead emerged from a hatch on top and turned to address the Nimalians.


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re here to help?¡± he questioned.


    ¡°Yes, we are,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, having caught her breath after the short dash.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation with the rest of the base?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, just as two gunships flew by overhead.


    ¡°¡­We lost the Gate Room,¡± Lead replied, ¡°we were able to lock down the Gate before any of the damn bugs got through, but we can¡¯t use it to escape. For now we¡¯re defending the path to the Frigate landing clearings until the Frigates can pick us up or until your friend arrives to clean up this whole mess.¡±


    ¡°How long will that be?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked.


    ¡°Hopefully, not for long¡­¡± Lead¡¯s focus shifted from the two Nimalians to the dark, open area behind them. ¡°Lights full!!¡± he barked, ¡°ready for action!¡± He glanced at the two Chaotics as he began retreating back into the vehicle. ¡°Here they come. Do your best against the damned things. Good luck!¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, causing Lead to pause just before he had fully retracted into the armored vehicle. ¡°I need weapons. Anything you got, I can use!¡±


    The sound of a tank firing suddenly filled the air, followed by sporadic machine gun fire. Amongst the cacophony, Lead ducked into the vehicle and emerged shortly afterward with two pistols and a knife. Dav¨ªdrius immediately leaped up and grabbed all three, stuffing the knife into his jacket pocket as he thanked the Captain and dashed off into the horde in the opposite direction of the tank fire. Siyuak¨¦n quickly followed suit as Lead climbed back into the vehicle and closed the hatch.


    The Velocitechnic knocked away two bugs that had leaped at him before grasping the pistols in a dual-wield stance and blasting away at bugs point-blank. After twenty shots from each pistol, however, he found that he could shoot no more. ¡°What?!¡± he exclaimed with a scowl as he dived backwards from the bug he had just attempted to shoot. ¡°Limited ammo¡­?! Damn projectile weapons!¡± He chucked the empty pistols at two bugs, smashing them both to smithereens before grabbing his single knife and taking off to stab more of the hostile creatures. As soon as he left the area, Siyuak¨¦n blasted the bugs with a wave of electricity, stunning them long enough for her to charge up a more powerful blast and decommission them entirely. She then turned toward the Earthian vehicles and shocked the front lines of the approaching horde, giving the gunners enough time to wipe out the front line.


    But the defense only lasted for so long. The Earthian vehicles could only turn their weapons so quickly, and against a horde of bugs they could only be so effective. On top of that, the metallic creatures seemed to be developing a tolerance for Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s electrical powers, and were being stunned for lesser and lesser periods of time, and required more and more power to completely disable. And when Dav¨ªdrius finally broke his lone knife, he was left to impatiently and nervously watch the battle from atop one of the tanks.


    ¡°Move forward!¡± Captain Lead ordered over the radio, ¡°take detour three-B at forty kilometers an hour. Try to lose the bugs before we reach the Frigate clearing!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she climbed up onto the tank Dav¨ªdrius was standing on just as it began moving. ¡°They can¡¯t lose the bugs! They¡¯re too fast for that!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, his lips pursed. ¡°¡­It must be a last resort. Things clearly won¡¯t go too well if we stay here¡ª¡±


    He was cut off as one of the vehicles in the middle of the column spontaneously exploded, sending hot debris ¡ª as well as several metallic bugs ¡ª flying in every direction. One of the bugs landed in between the two Nimalians, and Dav¨ªdrius immediately punted it into the darkness of the night. He glared back at the large mass of metallic bugs chasing after the vehicles. ¡°Looks like things won¡¯t be going too well anyways.¡±


    ¡°¡­I can slow them down.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Velocitechnic whipped around to stare at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Hey, you ain¡¯t seriously¡ª?¡±


    ¡°And how else are we getting out of this damn mess?¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch. Fine. If you wanna throw your life away for no damn reason, see if I¡¯ll stop you.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve expected such a response from you.¡±


    ¡°Hn.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not throwing my life away, anyways.¡± Siyuak¨¦n slowly stumbled to the end of the vehicle. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She stared at the mass of bugs for a couple seconds before taking a deep breath and moving to jump ¡ª


    ¡ª only for Kaon¨¦ to suddenly dive into the ground next to the vehicle, manipulating the dirt to absorb her falling speed before jumping out and up to the tank the other two Chaotics were standing on.


    ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed.


    ¡°The hell was with that entrance?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius balked.


    ¡°The shuttle is still up in the air¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°when I saw what was going on down here, I decided to just jump. And since I¡¯m a Materiatechnic¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bah, fuckin¡¯ show-off,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grumbled, ¡°just hurry up and save the day already.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± She responded with a smile, and turned toward the horde of metallic bugs. She closed her eyes and remained silent for several moments.


    ¡°¡­Uh, Kaon¨¦?¡± Siyuak¨¦n eventually spoke up, ¡°¡­What¡¯re you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not working!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius cocked his head in confusion.


    ¡°My powers¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ turned to stare at the other two Chaotics, her eyes wide with panic. ¡°Against those bugs ¡ª my powers won¡¯t work!¡±

 14 - Fleeing Chaos

    Chapter 14 - Fleeing Chaos


    ¡°My powers won¡¯t work!¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°The hell do you mean, ¡®won¡¯t work?¡¯ There¡¯s no CENT field here!¡±


    ¡°I¡ª I don¡¯t know!¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned, and then flicked her wrists up and outward. Immediately, two walls of dirt rose on either side of the vehicle column and then rushed outward, shoving all of the metallic bugs several meters back. ¡°It¡¯s like back in Rel¨¦diaka. I can still control matter, just¡­ not the bugs.¡±


    ¡°You can still stop them, though, right?¡± Siyuak¨¦n pressed.


    ¡°I think. Maybe?¡± the Materiatechnic responded uneasily, ¡°it was one thing to capture those infected creatures, but¡­ you want me to stop an entire bug infestation on my own?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you were ready to do two seconds ago!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°you even played the part!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ passed the Velocitechnic a disapproving stare. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡±


    ¡°Guys, this really isn¡¯t the time,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut in as she glanced toward the rear of the vehicle column, and then back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Even if you can¡¯t completely stop the bugs, you can at least slow them down far better than either of us can.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll do my best.¡± She sighed before raising another dirt barrier between the convoy and the bugs. Soon afterward, the walls began crumbling and giving way to the invading creatures, though Siyuak¨¦n quickly disabled the closest bugs before they could get too close. Kaon¨¦ then solidified the wall into stone before raising a second wall and transmuting it into metal, which Siyuak¨¦n very quickly supercharged, thus frying all of the metallic bugs within half a meter.


    ¡°Be careful of the Earthian vehicles,¡± Kaon¨¦ warned, ¡°their equipment isn¡¯t shielded as well as Nimalian equipment.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ got it.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded just as the convoy slowed to a stop.


    ¡°We¡¯re stopping?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned with irritation, ¡°What for?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ took the opportunity to erect several more steel walls before jumping to the ground and turning toward the front of the vehicle column. Siyuak¨¦n jumped down after her as Dav¨ªdrius remained on top of the tank and watched Captain Lead quickly approach.


    ¡°Was that you?¡± the Captain questioned, gesturing at the walls. When Kaon¨¦ nodded he continued, ¡°good, good. Will you be able to take care of the bugs?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I don¡¯t think so, sorry,¡± the Materiatechnic commented sheepishly. ¡°I can¡¯t manipulate them directly.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±


    ¡°I wish I knew¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ sighed. ¡°I can definitely help fend them off, but¡­ I can¡¯t retake the entire colony, even with help. Not if I can¡¯t do anything to the bugs directly¡­¡±


    ¡°Not to mention they seem to be really good at burrowing,¡± Dav¨ªdrius threw in.


    Kaon¨¦ glanced up at the Velocitechnic uneasily before glancing at the walls and then the dirt beneath their feet. Shortly afterward all of the ground under the vehicle column turned to steel.


    ¡°Great¡­¡± Lead sighed irately. ¡°¡­We lost Sunova so damn quickly. Where did the bugs even come from?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n shrugged. ¡°Your guess is as good as ours. I thought they came from the creature corpse back in the caves, but there seems to be a lot more of them now.¡±


    Lead glanced at the Electrotechnic, alarmed. ¡°You¡¯re saying they can reproduce that quickly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We can¡¯t know if there¡¯s so many because they reproduce quickly, or because there were more hidden away somewhere that Dav¨ªdrius and I didn¡¯t see.¡±


    ¡°But either way, just sittin¡¯ here can¡¯t be good at all,¡± the Velocitechnic pointed out, ¡°we need to get off this damn planet!¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Lead nodded before turning back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Can you at least hold the bugs off for¡­¡± He glanced down at his watch. ¡°¡­One, maybe two hours?¡±


    ¡°I can try¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ responded.


    ¡°Good. I appreciate it!¡± the Captain replied before turning around and sprinting off toward the front vehicle.


    ¡°Better get back up here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked. Siyuak¨¦n moved to begin scaling the vehicle herself but Kaon¨¦ easily lifted them both to the roof by raising the ground below them. The Electrotechnic shook her head in awe as she jumped over to the vehicle.


    ¡°Such usefulness¡­¡± she commented.


    ¡°And it¡¯s still not enough.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as the vehicle column began to move again. ¡°¡­Ngh, what a shitty way for this mission to go.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t solve anything by complaining,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered before turning her attention back to the steel walls as a loud, ear-piercing metallic shriek resounded through the night air. The Materiatechnic immediately smashed all of the walls together, toppled them backwards, and then drove them into the ground, smothering any of the bugs caught in between.


    ¡°The hell was that?!¡± the Velocitechnic exclaimed.


    ¡°The walls were about to fall over,¡± Kaon¨¦ explained, ¡°so I just made sure they fell in the right direction.¡±


    ¡°Well we aren¡¯t clear just yet,¡± Siyuak¨¦n quickly pointed out as the vehicle column began a wide left turn. ¡°We still need to make it to the clearing¡­ and then hold off the bugs until the Earthian Frigates can pick us up.¡±


    ¡°If Kaon¨¦ can keep squashin¡¯ bugs like she has been, then hopefully that won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    The Electrotechnic stared at him incredulously. ¡°Really? Just a minute ago it sounded like you thought we¡¯d all die.¡±


    He simply shrugged in response. ¡°Eh, my first impression wasn¡¯t too impressive, ya know? But after that wall display, heh. Those looked like a good fifteen by fifteen meters of straight-up steel. Maybe you¡¯re useful yet!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned as she once again turned the ground to steel before lifting another set of walls to squash even more approaching bugs.


    ¡°Hey! I was complimentin¡¯ your skills.¡± The Velocitechnic smirked ¡ª and then jumped as a second metallic shriek echoed through the air. ¡°¡­The walls again?¡±


    ¡°I guess?¡± The Materiatechnic squinted into the night, attempting to make out any figures beyond the walls and tree line. ¡°That was awfully fast, though¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe they figured out how to get through your walls,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything about them; maybe they¡¯re smarter than we¡¯re giving them credit.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a scary thought,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied.


    Kaon¨¦ remained silent as she raised another set of walls, this time hardening them into diamond. She then glanced toward the front of the vehicle column. ¡°If the bugs are as fast as you say¡­¡± she questioned warily, ¡°¡­why haven¡¯t they reached the front tank?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, uh¡­¡± The Velocitechnic frowned warily. ¡°¡­Good question. I¡¯ll go check it out.¡± He jumped off of the vehicle and hit the ground running, but before he sped off, another metallic shriek reached his ears. He turned to glare into the darkness behind the convoy without slowing down. ¡°The hell is goin¡¯ on¡ª?!¡±


    The moment the words left his mouth, a huge bipedal creature leaped out of the darkness and smashed the last vehicle in the convoy before falling out of sight.


    ¡°What in the¡ª!?¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, ¡°is that¡ª?!¡±


    A second vehicle was lost to the mysterious creature before the convoy¡¯s flood lights finally managed to focus on it. The massive creature appeared to be vaguely humanoid, with two metallic legs, two silvery arms, a lithe, featureless torso, and no head. It moved to lunge forward again, but Kaon¨¦ quickly lifted a huge chunk of dirt into the air, transmuted it into a metal club, and then slammed it into the creature¡¯s legs. It tumbled forward, rolling head over heels before its limbs suddenly exploded off and burrowed into the ground as its chest morphed into a smaller, tiger-like quadruped that continued chasing the vehicles.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°The hell¡ª? What the¡ª? What¡¯s that?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius spluttered as he leaped back onto the tanks with Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s made of the same material as the bugs,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°I can¡¯t control it¡­ watch out!!¡±


    The Materiatechnic spontaneously translated the entire vehicle they were standing on to the left as one of the creature¡¯s disembodied arms burst out of the ground like a massive worm. It quickly swung around and knocked over the following vehicle instead, but before it could cause further damage Kaon¨¦ had shoved it out of the way with a steel wall. She quickly righted the knocked-over vehicle and turned her attention to the ground. The three Chaotics jumped, startled, as the sound of machine guns began filling the air; the Earthian gunships had engaged the metallic quadruped near the rear of the convoy. The rounds easily ripped into the creature, tearing it into shreds¡­ and then, with absolutely no warning at all, two metallic worm-like appendages leaped out of the ground and smashed into one of the gunships, bringing it crashing down to the ground before dragging it under, all within seconds.


    ¡°¡­We¡¯re fucked,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    Ignoring the Velocitechnic¡¯s comment, Kaon¨¦ quickly transmuted the top meter of soil within ten meters of her location into solid diamond just in time for a third metallic worm to slam directly into the firm layer. It just as quickly returned to the depths of the earth as Kaon¨¦ began to continually transmute the ground into diamond as the vehicle convoy progressed. She was forced to stop when a new creature stampeded out of the darkness, spraying bullets everywhere and kicking over two vehicles before the Materiatechnic could topple it with a diamond club and then smother it with several plates of steel.


    ¡°It was using guns¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out warily.


    ¡°It must¡¯ve been from the gunship they took down¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled. ¡°They¡¯re learning¡­ or they¡¯re absorbing stuff, something¡¯s going on here.¡±


    ¡°These damn bugs could be a legitimate galactic threat if they get off-planet¡­ how can we know that the Earthians locked down their Gate properly? How do we know that the damn bugs won¡¯t manage to board their Frigates?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n passed the Velocitechnic an uneasy glance. ¡°Are you suggesting that¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Oh hell no, I ain¡¯t dyin¡¯ here,¡± he scoffed. ¡°But these bugs¡ª¡±


    The screech of broken metal resounded through the air as another gunship was taken out, spinning out of control and slamming into the tank just in front of the Chaotics ¡ª and flipping over the vehicle they were standing on in the process. The three Nimalians all managed to catch themselves on the ground, but they were forced to immediately get back to their feet as two bipedal metallic creatures rushed them. Kaon¨¦ easily tripped up one and sliced it in half with a diamond slab, but Dav¨ªdrius had to grab Siyuak¨¦n and dive out of the way in order to evade the second creature. He then turned toward the Materiatechnic and barked, ¡°I need weapons!!¡±


    ¡°Ah! Right!¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly stripped two meter-long pieces of steel from the ground and rapidly rounded off and then grooved the ends of both to form makeshift handles. She tossed them to Dav¨ªdrius, who snatched them out of the air and immediately took to slashing any smaller creatures that approached. Kaon¨¦ then knocked over the remaining bipedal creature but was almost crushed by the remains of the first as they began thrashing around violently. The remains then morphed into two smaller bipeds that rushed the Materiatechnic ¡ª only to get sliced to bits by Dav¨ªdrius. Siyuak¨¦n immediately offered a high-voltage shock to the pieces, permanently frying them. Kaon¨¦ thanked the two other Chaotics by smothering the remaining with another slab of diamond.


    By then the entire back half of the convoy had been obliterated, and the front half had continued on, leaving the Chaotics behind in the dark of night. Kaon¨¦ quickly erected several tree branches which Siyuak¨¦n then shocked to create torches and light up the area, but the dim light was still sub-optimal.


    Dav¨ªdrius brandished his makeshift blades and glanced about warily. ¡°Well,¡± he muttered, ¡°can¡¯t say I ever expected to end up in this situation.¡±


    ¡°Those damn bugs¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n pursed her lips. ¡°¡­If they¡¯re actually connected to the metallic infection¡­¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talkin¡¯ about,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°¡­and I really wish I¡¯d live long enough to find out.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think that we¡­?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ trailed off as three more of the bipedal creatures suddenly dropped out of the sky, followed by a massive hulking behemoth behind them, well over ten meters in height.


    ¡°That.¡± The Velocitechnic pointed at the creatures with his blades. ¡°That. That¡¯s what.¡±


    Just as soon as he was done gesturing, the three smaller creatures dashed forward. Instead of attacking back, Kaon¨¦ immediately and reflexively created a protective dome of diamond around herself and the two other Chaotics. She then collapsed, winded, as the metallic creatures began banging on the dome from outside.


    ¡°Well gee. Thanks. This helps a lot,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°She just saved our lives,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered irately.


    ¡°Saved our lives my ass,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled back, ¡°trappin¡¯ a Velocitechnic like this is the worst thing you could do if you¡¯re tryin¡¯ to save lives!¡±


    ¡°So maybe you¡¯d have survived, but what about the two of us?¡±


    ¡°You¡ª I can totally save y¡¯all.¡±


    ¡°Really. You¡¯re that strong? I thought you had super speed, not super strength.¡±


    ¡°Tch. I was able to carry you just fine, and Kaon¨¦¡¯s no where near as big or heavy as you.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?!¡±


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake¡ª we are not having this damned argument right now!¡± The Velocitechnic whipped around to face Kaon¨¦, who had recovered enough to stumble back to her feet. ¡°Open up the dome!¡± he demanded, ¡°at least let me out. Out there I can do something; in here it¡¯s just¡ª¡±


    CRACK!


    All three Chaotics froze and then slowly looked up at the top of the diamond dome. Through the vaguely transparent surface, they could make out the silhouette of the behemoth creature raising its arm from the last strike that had cracked the entirety of the dome. The creature was clearly preparing for a second strike ¡ª a strike which would surely pierce the layer of protection.


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced over at the Materiatechnic warily. ¡°Kaon¨¦!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ too tired¡­¡± she panted.


    ¡°Still think this was a good idea?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled. Siyuak¨¦n was left to glare at him as the behemoth¡¯s arm dropped, hitting the dome and shattering it ¡ª just as the three Chaotics were enveloped in a brief flash of white light and suddenly found themselves standing in a steel-gray room populated with many different computing consoles arranged in such a way to emphasize the back center.


    ¡°It worked!!¡±


    ¡°What¡­? Kev¨¦rin?¡± Siyuak¨¦n finally realized that there were two people standing in the back of the room. ¡°¡­What just happened? Where are we?¡±


    ¡°We just figured out how to use all of the Genesis¡¯s systems!¡± the Pyrotechnic exclaimed with glee. ¡°We just beamed you guys up! Isn¡¯t it great?!¡±


    The other three Nimalians¡¯ gazes drifted to Scott, who was standing next to Kev¨¦rin. He grinned in response. ¡°It¡¯s truly fascinatin¡¯, this Battlecruiser,¡± he remarked, and then frowned. ¡°Shame we couldn¡¯t save everyone¡­¡± He shook his head and moved his focus back to the console in front of him. ¡°No time to dwell on that, though. There¡¯s a situation planetside that needs a little cleanin¡¯ up. In the meantime, Colonel Yamamoto should be¡­ somewhere on the ship.¡±


    ¡°Here¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin typed something into the console in front of him. ¡°¡­Follow the lights on the ceiling, and you¡¯ll find where we beamed all the Earthians to.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wow. So that¡¯s really how this whole thing ends, huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed.


    ¡°Yep.¡± Scott nodded in response. ¡°Now, could you go get the Colonel? We need to fill her in on the state of the Battlecruiser, and then we need to work out the situation down on Sunova, see if it¡¯s salvageable or not. ¡­I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not certain how soon we¡¯ll be able to get you back to Nimalia.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s no problem,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded wearily, ¡°this whole situation may, in part, be our fault¡ª¡±


    ¡°There was no way we could¡¯ve¡ª!¡±


    ¡°So yes¡­¡± the Electrotechnic cut Dav¨ªdrius off, ¡°¡­we can help.¡±


    Scott smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯m glad to know we can count on the Nimalians!¡±


    <hr>


    7 Days Later


    ¡°The hell happened over there? I sent you all to investigate a fairly innocuous claim, and then you come back nearly a week later telling me that the colony was lost?!¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly, ¡°that¡¯s¡­ correct¡­?¡±


    Commander Nik¨¦yin sighed irately as she leaned back in her chair. She slowly looked each of the members of Hero Machina in the eye before continuing, ¡°I am¡­ rather displeased, to say the least, about how your expedition to Sunova panned out. Being the cause of a full-scale colony evacuation is never a good thing.¡±


    ¡°But we weren¡¯t the cause!¡± Dav¨ªdrius protested, ¡°it was the damn bugs! We had no way of knowin¡¯¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re out of line!¡± Nik¨¦yin barked, ¡°this is a military organization. You ask for permission before speaking; understand?¡±


    The Velocitechnic bristled. ¡°I¡¯m part of no military¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then get out.¡±


    ¡°What? But¡ª I¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Hero Machina is a team of Chaotics under the jurisdiction of the Nimalian Systems Defense, a military organization. I realize you weren¡¯t a proper soldier before, but if you want to be part of this, then shape up and shut up. I¡¯m willing to give you a chance, but don¡¯t make me regret it.¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius pursed his lips, but said no more.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nik¨¦yin then turned to address the group as a whole. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware that the situation was not completely your fault. I¡¯m also aware that, Transfer Captain, you were able to offer significant help to the Earthians in mastering the use of their new Battlecruiser. I am also aware that the three of you made an effort to protect the Earthians to the best of your ability. And I am also aware that, for some absurd reason, the Earthians decided to hand over the Master Ayas.¡± The Commander shook her head incredulously. ¡°I have no idea how, but you seem to have maintained the Earthians¡¯ trust, even through this whole fiasco.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded curtly.


    ¡°I have no idea whether to call this mission a success or a failure,¡± Nik¨¦yin continued, ¡°¡­so, while I figure that out, I want the four of you to continue operating as a group. You have two objectives, currently: wrap up recruitment, and look into the ¡®metallic rash¡¯ issue. I imagine the research group up on the Continental Glacier knows a fair deal about the rash, so you might want to investigate them first. Though that is only a suggestion; I¡¯m fully aware that the Continental Glacier is not the most¡­pleasant of places to be.¡±


    ¡°Gotta be better than Tres¨¦d,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grumbled.


    ¡°Watch your tongue,¡± the Commander reprimanded, and then stood up. As she did so, Kev¨¦rin, Kaon¨¦, and Siyuak¨¦n all stiffened up; Dav¨ªdrius simply shuffled awkwardly when he realized he had no idea what was going on. ¡°Do you all understand your current tasks?¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± the three ranked members of Hero Machina responded.


    ¡°Very well then. Get to it,¡± Nik¨¦yin nodded, and saluted. The rest of Hero Machina saluted back. ¡°Dismissed!¡±

 15 - Master Advice

    Chapter 15 - Master Advice


    ¨C Watedia, Nimath 22, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Oi oi oi¡­ it ain¡¯t even been a full two days since we got back. The hell are we doin¡¯ halfway across the globe?¡±


    ¡°Something important,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded. ¡°So, just for the next hour, please watch your words?¡±


    ¡°Watch my words?¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously. ¡°What for?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed irately as he turned to glare at the Velocitechnic. ¡°Did you actually forget what we¡¯re doing here? Or were you just never paying attention in the first place when the Commander explicitly told us?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re meetin¡¯ some dude named¡­ uh¡­ Allan¡­ Chulan?¡±


    ¡°Pallan Culana. You don¡¯t know who he is, do you.¡±


    ¡°Meh.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯d know who he was if he was actually important.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the Archon¨¦ of Riverana,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out, ¡°you know¡­ their ruler?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting outside the office of the Archon¨¦, in probably the fanciest building in all of Riverana, and when you learn that you¡¯re about to meet said Archon¨¦ in less than half an hour, all you have to say is ¡®oh¡¯?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed incredulously. ¡°Tell me that you at least knew that Riverana was one of the six continent-nations!¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t stupid,¡± the Velocitechnic retorted, ¡°and I never signed up for this diplomatic bullshit. If I say somethin¡¯ ¡®wrong¡¯¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll burn your ass for it.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius bristled. ¡°¡­The hell?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin straightened his posture and broadened his shoulders in an attempt to appear more intimidating, but the effect was lost on the Velocitechnic, who stood at least half a head taller than the other three members of Hero Machina. Nevertheless, the Transfer Captain didn¡¯t let the height difference deter him. ¡°You heard what the Commander said when we got back from the Earthian Colony,¡± he stated. ¡°This is a military operation, and I am the Commanding Officer here, so it¡¯s my job to keep everyone in line.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n glanced at each other uneasily before taking a cautious step back. ¡°Oh boy¡­¡± the Electrotechnic muttered.


    Dav¨ªdrius, on the other hand, simply stared down at the Pyrotechnic. He then chuckled dismissively before replying, ¡°unless you can catch me, I don¡¯t have to listen to you. I¡¯m here ¡®cause I wanna be.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re here because we¡¯re you¡¯re only way of getting and staying away from Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°That¡ª¡±


    ¡°You explicitly said that you joined us to get away from there when we stopped by to help with the Bleeders two weeks ago! Don¡¯t deny it. So if you want to stay out of Tres¨¦d, then that means being a part of Hero Machina. And if you want to stay with Hero Machina, you have to follow our rules. Got it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Look, we just don¡¯t want you to say anything vulgar or stupid¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who says stupid things?!¡±


    ¡°¡ªfor one hour, Dav¨ªdrius. Is that really so much to ask?¡±


    The two men stared at each other for several moments before the Velocitechnic sighed irately and snapped his gaze away. ¡°Fine. Probably ain¡¯t much for me to say here anyways.¡±


    ¡°You could¡¯ve just said that earlier,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in before Dav¨ªdrius could respond, ¡°¡­this doesn¡¯t just apply to Dav¨ªdrius. We all have to follow the rules, okay? Don¡¯t start fights with each other.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please don¡¯t,¡± Kaon¨¦ added emphatically.


    Kev¨¦rin took a deep breath and then sighed of relief when Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n turned away from each other. ¡°There we go,¡± he commented, ¡°now let¡¯s try to stay pleasant when we actually meet with Archon¨¦ Culana. We don¡¯t want to give one of Nimalia¡¯s leaders a bad impression of Happy Music.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius blinked several times before raising a confused eyebrow. ¡°¡­Eh what?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse Kev¨¦rin,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied with a roll of her eyes. ¡°He¡¯s not very fond of our current group name.¡±


    ¡°¡­And ¡®Happy Music¡¯ is supposed to be better?¡± the Velocitechnic questioned flatly.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°¡­Maybe. ¡­No. But c¡¯mon. There has to be something better than ¡®Hero Machina.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Not a fan of Commander Nik¨¦yin¡¯s naming techniques, are we?¡±


    The four Chaotics stiffened as two men entered the room in which they were standing.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Archon¨¦¡­ Culana,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded stiffly, and then quickly threw out a salute. ¡°Um¡­ if you don¡¯t mind me asking, how much of that conversation did you hear?...¡±


    The Archon¨¦ ¡ª a bearded man with a slim build, light skin, short graying hair, and a number of wrinkles and age blemishes on his face ¡ª glanced between Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius before replying cryptically, ¡°enough.¡± He smiled when he noticed the four Chaotics squirm uneasily. ¡°Do not worry. I consider myself a fair individual. I, too, was a young adult once, and I can understand the difficulty of working in a team so haphazardly slapped together.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ thank you, sir?¡± the Transfer Captain responded in confusion.


    ¡°Ha!¡± The Archon¨¦ chuckled as he moved forward to unlock the door to his office. He then gestured for Hero Machina to enter, after which he and his companion followed before closing the door. Culana crossed the room and took a seat at his desk while the man with him stood at attention to his side, leaving the four Chaotics to stand in front of the Archon¨¦¡¯s desk.


    ¡°So you are the Quakeborn Chaotics¡­¡± Culana mused, ¡°hmm, let me see if I have your names right¡­ Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion from Tekdec¨¦, Lieutenant Kaon¨¦ Densalin from Nimaliaka, Lieutenant Siyuak¨¦n Wanl¨¦on from Rel¨¦diaka, and Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax from Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, astounded. ¡°You know that much? From memory?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Knowledge is a Riveranian¡¯s best friend and memory is our best trait ¡ª this holds especially true for an Archon¨¦, such as myself.¡± Culana glanced toward the stout, tan-skinned man standing behind him before turning back to the Chaotics. ¡°Allow me to introduce General Sulan Rant¨¦in of the Riveranian Protection Force.¡±


    The General bowed his head. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin saluted in response. ¡°Sir!¡± he exclaimed, and then cocked his head. ¡°¡­Permission to speak freely?¡±


    ¡°Permission granted until further notice,¡± Rant¨¦in replied.


    ¡°We were here to meet with Archon¨¦ Culana,¡± the Pyrotechnic explained, ¡°I understand him having a bodyguard, but is there any reason that you, the General of the RPF, are here?¡±


    ¡°Plans are in the works to absorb the RPF into the NSD,¡± the General answered, ¡°the decision has been all but finalized, but I still wished to see the first Chaotic squad of the Nimalian Systems Defense and evaluate them myself.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin, Kaon¨¦, and Siyuak¨¦n straightened up even more after the General¡¯s remark; even Dav¨ªdrius stopped slouching as much.


    ¡°But you are right, your task here is to speak with Pallan,¡± Rant¨¦in commented, ¡°so I will remain quiet unless my input is necessary.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Sulan.¡± Culana nodded. ¡°Now, to business. I believe you are here to discuss the Master Ayas?¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°what do you know about the current situation?¡±


    ¡°That the ancient stone was discovered by the Earthians in a cave on the Tier 5 World of Sunova, one of their newest colonies. They believe it spawned a Battlecruiser, all on its own, but were still willing to hand it over to you. As I understand it, the Ayas is currently sitting in a high-security Nimaliakian holding center, though as part of the RPF¡¯s agreement to join the NSD, I will soon be able to investigate the Ayas on my own and offer proper advice.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything about it that you could tell us now? Or about any of the Chaos Ayas? We don¡¯t know very much at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I know little more than you about the Ayas specifically. You should know that the CSA has not been up front with their Ayas research, even with the highest echelons of Nimalian government. If even Sidont¨¦ Perion cannot get a word from the CSA, then I doubt there is a body on this planet who could.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait¡­ did we actually just come here so you could tell us that you don¡¯t know anything?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡ª!¡± Kev¨¦rin started, but Culana cut him off.


    ¡°No, the boy has a point,¡± the Archon¨¦ stated. ¡°¡­Though if you listened closely, you would note that I said I knew little about the Ayas. There is a reason that Commander Nik¨¦yin arranged for you to meet with me, the Riveranian Archon¨¦, in person. And I doubted from the start that it was to learn more about the Chaos Ayas.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oooh,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded as recognition dawned on her features. ¡°You¡¯re talking about the Oraculm.¡±


    Culana grinned. ¡°Well, it certainly pleases me to know that at least one of you is culturally aware.¡± He chuckled when Kev¨¦rin scowled and Dav¨ªdrius bristled. ¡°But I will not fault you for not asking about it. Its legitimacy in the eyes of the average Nimalian has been slowly decreasing over the ages, even here in Riverana. As the Archon¨¦, however, I must ¡ª and will ¡ª retain faith in the Oraculm. It has yet to speak incorrectly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s yet to speak at all,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted.


    ¡°¡­An expected response, from a Tres¨¦dian,¡± Culana replied, ¡°but you are incorrect. The Oraculm, despite being a prophetic tome ¡ª in fact, because it is a prophetic tome ¡ª is not predictable. It will not predict every event. No Archon¨¦ has ever claimed that the Oraculm was omniscient ¡ª just that it has failed to be completely incorrect. Even in its inaccuracies or unforetold events, there is a small sliver of truth that fits into a larger prophecy down the line.¡±


    ¡°Why are we here, again?¡± Siyuak¨¦n whispered to Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°¡­Just¡­ give him a chance.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed warily. ¡°We might still learn something.¡± He then addressed the Archon¨¦ directly. ¡°The Oraculm hasn¡¯t predicted anything since the Chaos Quake, and even then it offered only a few vague words. What¡¯s there to learn now?¡±


    Culana chuckled again. ¡°You seem to think that the Quake was an isolated event. Is it, though? Only seven Chaotics were born on this planet during the year of the Quake, four of which were present to investigate the reappearance of the Master Ayas and deal with its consequences.¡±


    ¡°Coincidence,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    ¡°The Oraculm claims otherwise.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°I thought the last thing it talked about was the Chaos Quake.¡±


    This time the Archon¨¦ burst into all-out laughter. His guffawing continued for several seconds, prompting the members of Hero Machina to glance at each other uneasily before Culana could collect himself and offer a proper response. ¡°Once again, the ignorance of foreigners presents itself.¡± He smirked. ¡°Or should I say, the ignorance of the new generation? ¡­Regardless, the Oraculm is a living document. Surely you¡¯ve heard of how it can modify its contents to account for unforeseen outcomes? Or have such events fallen to simple children¡¯s stories? No matter. As the keeper of the Oraculm, I know what it does, and it knows that we have yet to feel the full ramifications of the Chaos Energy Quake of 8012.¡±


    ¡°Then help us, please,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded, ¡°what can you tell us? What can we do?¡±


    The Archon¨¦ turned toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­I can offer little in the way of substantive proof, but the metallic infection that you have been investigating is indeed related to the Chaos Quake.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± the Electrotechnic replied slowly, ¡°what about the bugs we ran into on Sunova?¡±


    Culana shook his head. ¡°The Oraculm has not spoken of the metal bugs ¡ª or, if it has, I have not managed to decipher such clues. If it ever provides more relevant information, I will forward it to you.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ thanks.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded as she rubbed her bandaged left arm.


    ¡°¡­Anything else?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned flatly.


    ¡°As I said, the metallic infection is connected to the Chaos Quake, which also connects it to the Chaos Ayas and Chaos Energy itself. Investigating the infection should lead you to answers about the Quake or the Ayas ¡ª or both. But I would not dawdle, were I you. The appearance of the bugs shortly after the Master Ayas is worrisome, and the Oraculm does indeed hint at the return of an ancient menace¡­ though I have no idea what the menace could be, aside from the Drakkars. Regardless, the other Chaos Ayas should be reappearing around the galaxy now that the Master Ayas has, and we cannot allow them to fall into the hands of evil, be it current or ancient. So, in short, my advice to you is to continue what you are doing, and recruit the last three of the Quakeborn Chaotics. Then investigate the infection to the best of your ability. Being born during the Quake may be more of a boon than you expect.¡±


    ¡°¡­Then, on the subject of recruitment,¡± Kev¨¦rin started, ¡°I think one of us ¡®Quakeborn¡¯ lives here in Riverana?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Captain Kievkenalis Yumach,¡± General Rant¨¦in spoke up. ¡°He¡¯s one of the RPF¡¯s most powerful Chaotics. It¡¯s a shame that his Chaostechnic abilities all fall into the Directed, Defense, or Support categories, or he would be a remarkable powerhouse¡­ He¡¯s currently unavailable, however. I recently sent him off on a mission, the security clearance for which you do not have. When he returns, I will be sure to refer him to you, Transfer Captain.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­ sir,¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly appended when he remembered he was speaking to a General. Rant¨¦in smirked in response, but said nothing.


    ¡°I apologize if you have not learned as much as you would have liked,¡± Culana spoke up, ¡°but I have offered all of the relevant information that I know. If I learn anything else, I will be sure to tell you. In the meantime, I have something to discuss with the General in private, so please excuse yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded once. ¡°Thank you for having us, Archon¨¦ Culana.¡± He and the rest of Hero Machina then left the room, closing the door on the two Riveranian leaders.


    ¡°Well that was just great,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered once the group had stepped outside of the Archon¨¦¡¯s building, ¡°we sure learned a lot.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not start arguing about our opinions on the Oraculm, please,¡± Kaon¨¦ interjected, ¡°regardless of the source, the Archon¨¦¡¯s advice wasn¡¯t bad.¡±


    ¡°I agree with Kaon¨¦ on this,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°we¡¯re back to what Nik¨¦yin told us to do before sending us off to meet with Culana: finish recruiting, and investigate the metallic infection.¡±


    ¡°Our best lead on the infection is the research team up on the Continental Glacier,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out, ¡°Rebehka¡¯s there, too! We could wipe out two birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Forget it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°I¡¯d rather go back to living in Tres¨¦d than visit that frozen hell-hole. Why not just go get Christean¨¦? He¡¯s the only one left who hasn¡¯t disappeared to the middle of nowhere or some secret mission.¡±


    ¡°We also contacted him over two weeks ago¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°He hasn¡¯t responded yet.¡±


    ¡°Not surprised,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied.


    ¡°We should go see what¡¯s up with Christean¨¦, then,¡± Kev¨¦rin mused, ¡°we can¡¯t get Kievkenalis just yet, and I don¡¯t want to go up to the Glacier either. So Christean¨¦ it is. Time to find a transport to East Nimaliaka¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded incredulously, ¡°wait, we¡¯re goin¡¯ now? Does ¡®downtime¡¯ mean anything to you military types?!¡±


    ¡°¡¯Downtime¡¯ means weekends, and even then, maybe not. And last I checked, today is still Watedia. There¡¯s still three days until the weekend.¡±


    ¡°So then we just have to redefine when the week starts. I declare that the week starts on Isdia. Bam, it¡¯s now the weekend!¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t work that way.¡±


    ¡°Of course it don¡¯t.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed irately. ¡°Fine. Might as well get a look at the so-called ¡®Great Plains.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯re headed out.¡± Kev¨¦rin whipped around and began walking into the city. ¡°To East Nimaliaka we go!¡±

 16 - Major Fifth

    Chapter 16 - Major Fifth


    1 Day Later


    ¡°What? But¡ª he said he¡¯d be here!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Master Lieutenant Kolst¨¦n isn¡¯t available at the moment. He checked out a little over an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°Gah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, and then glanced back at Kaon¨¦. ¡°You called him yesterday, right? He did say that he¡¯d be here, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The Materiatechnic frowned.


    ¡°We¡¯re talking about the same person, right?¡± Kev¨¦rin whipped back around to face the woman sitting behind the desk. ¡°Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°I wish we weren¡¯t¡­¡± The secretary sighed in exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m afraid to say you aren¡¯t the first to come looking for him while he¡¯s¡­ ¡®away.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Sounds in line with my experience,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented in annoyance.


    ¡°Do you know where he went?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°No. But, given the time¡­¡± The secretary took a moment to glance at the clock before returning her attention to the Transfer Captain. ¡°He could be taking an early lunch break. You should check the canteens south of here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius groaned. ¡°I am not about to start traipsing all over East Nimaliaka just to hunt down this one guy.¡±


    ¡°Not all of East Nimaliaka,¡± Kaon¨¦ corrected, ¡°just Soughc¨¦.¡±


    ¡°This city may as well be the entire continent.¡± The Velocitechnic gestured out the windows of the office. Even from forty stories up, the East Nimaliakian capital of Soughc¨¦ seemed to sprawl toward the horizon in every direction.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Velocitechnic, finding Christean¨¦ should be easy for you,¡± Siyuak¨¦n remarked.


    ¡°Like I¡¯m gonna run around the entire damned city,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    ¡°We still need to find him, though,¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted, ¡°Commander¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°And the sooner we start looking, the sooner we can kick his ass and get him in line,¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s not start any fights,¡± Kaon¨¦ interjected.


    ¡°If he ain¡¯t down in the canteens, well¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°No guarantees.¡±


    <hr>


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°Of course he isn¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°¡­Did we actually check everywhere?¡±


    ¡°I checked all of the chain restaurants¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°We even checked out that sketchy food parlor down the alley from Check ¡®n Fries,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked. ¡°¡­Man, I had no idea it was even possible to wear clothes like¡ª¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut in irately.


    ¡°What? Gimme a break,¡± the Velocitechnic replied impatiently, ¡°you don¡¯t get to see shit like that in Tres¨¦d. It¡¯s all fuckin¡¯ desert. Everyone¡¯s covered up all the time.¡±


    ¡°O-kaaay, moving on¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly redirected the conversation.


    ¡°So no one saw Christean¨¦¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned as he held a hand to his chin in thought. ¡°Did anyone at least find a hint as to where he went?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re dealing with fuckin¡¯ restaurants,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°Where the hell are we gonna find ¡®hints?¡¯¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to help direct us to the Master Lieutenant,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded. ¡°Cut the attitude.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms and scowled, but said nothing else.


    ¡°We could just wait for him, by his office,¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°He won¡¯t be back for hours, if at all,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered. ¡°I¡¯m not waiting that long for him.¡±


    ¡°I agree, I¡¯ve already done enough sitting around in waiting rooms over the past two weeks.¡± The Transfer Captain looked down the street toward the East Nimaliakian Military Headquarters. ¡°Hmm¡­ wait here. I¡¯ll go ask some of the other officers and see if they know where Christean¨¦ went¡­¡±


    The remaining three members of Hero Machina watched Kev¨¦rin run down the street toward a small group of East Nimaliakian officers. Dav¨ªdrius then turned his attention to Siyuak¨¦n, asking, ¡°seems like you know Christean¨¦. He always like this?¡±


    ¡°¡­Not always,¡± the Electrotechnic admitted begrudgingly, ¡°he¡¯s¡­ not actually bad at his job. He¡¯s just hard to work with, because he does stuff like ¡ª well, like this.¡±


    ¡°Why were you working with him?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°Nothing big,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°it was about a year ago, I think. Rebehka and I were looking into a metallic infection incident in the Northern Deepsough region, and Christean¨¦ was the East Nimaliakian liaison assigned to us.¡±


    ¡°¡­Northern Deepsough?¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed cluelessly.


    ¡°North of the Deepsough Sea? You know, the massive body of water in the middle of East Nimaliaka?¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed when the Velocitechnic shook his head. ¡°You never learned geography, did you.¡±


    ¡°Do you not remember how shitty it is down in Tres¨¦d?¡±


    The conversation was cut short as Kev¨¦rin came jogging back. ¡°According to those guys, Christean¨¦ is probably downtown, either at the Chaotic Range or¡­ somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s helpful,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted.


    ¡°What would he be doing at the Chaotic Range?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, ¡°he¡¯s a Forcetechnic. Ranges aren¡¯t built for them.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯re about to find out,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go to downtown Soughc¨¦.¡±


    <hr>


    1.5 Hours Later


    ¡°So¡­ he ain¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin did say that it was the Chaotic Range or ¡®somewhere else¡¯¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°We shoulda known that we¡¯d be wastin¡¯ time comin¡¯ down here¡­¡±


    ¡°Even so¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded as she slowly looked over a map of the Range at a nearby kiosk, ¡°¡­this Range is really impressive. They have sections for all of the major Chaotic types¡­ there¡¯s even sections for Intro- and Extratechnics! You¡¯d never see something so impressive in Rel¨¦diaka¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a place where people run around and attack dummies,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°What¡¯s so special about it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never been to a Range, have you.¡±


    ¡°Do I really need to keep remindin¡¯ you ¡®bout how shitty Tres¨¦d is?¡± The Velocitechnic glanced around distastefully. ¡°Besides, it just looks like a glorified gym. Not to mention there¡¯s too many damn people here¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed wearily. ¡°This is a normal amount of people for any city.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s one thing I liked better about Tres¨¦d: there¡¯s less people,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°Why¡¯s a Chaotic¡­ thingy open to the public anyways? I thought the lot of you were conscripted into every military ever.¡±


    ¡°Chaotics can retire,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out, ¡°and officers on leave can still use the Range if they¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°So then it¡¯s just one big circlejerk-y military alumni club.¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted in derision. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand the rest of Nimalia. Conscription is ridiculous.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°You won¡¯t hear us arguing against you there¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered just as Kev¨¦rin approached the group.


    ¡°He¡¯s not here¡ª¡±


    ¡°I could¡¯ve told you that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius interjected.


    ¡°¡ªbut he was supposed to be,¡± Kev¨¦rin continued as he passed the Velocitechnic a brief glare. ¡°According to the front desk, Christean¨¦ was scheduled to use the Driving Range about half an hour ago, but he called in at the last second to cancel. Apparently, he claimed that something important came up.¡±


    ¡°Of course he did.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°He may be bothersome and bad with time, but he doesn¡¯t lie¡­ not in my experience, at least. ¡­Wait a minute, the front desk actually told you all that?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin chuckled. ¡°You can get a lot of information when you¡¯re a Transfer Captain. Knowing how to bullshit your way through bureaucracy helps, too.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh¡­ right.¡±


    ¡°Well if he¡¯s doing something important¡­ that would mean he¡¯s back at the HQ, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°based on the reaction of the secretary and the officers I talked to around the food courts, Christean¨¦ is known for just going places when he likes¡­ but despite that, no one reaches the rank of Master Lieutenant if they don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing, not in East Nimaliaka where there¡¯s at least twice as many ranks as everywhere else. I¡¯d bet that he left the headquarters originally in order to check out this ¡®important¡¯ business.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re giving him just a little too much credit,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered.


    ¡°And you used a whole lotta words to say that you disagreed with Kaon¨¦,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out. ¡°Just tell us where you think he is.¡±


    ¡°Probably the communications center,¡± the Transfer Captain suggested, ¡°I know that in Soughc¨¦, the communications center and the headquarters are separate buildings. If it¡¯s important business that required that he leave the HQ, but stay in the city, he probably went to communications.¡±


    ¡°And if he didn¡¯t?¡± the Velocitechnic challenged.


    ¡°Then we just go back to the headquarters and sit tight,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°no one¡¯s worth more effort than that.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you didn¡¯t think that two hours ago,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grumbled. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get goin¡¯, then¡­¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°The Master Lieutenant? Yes, he was here a couple hours ago¡­ with no appointment, might I add. He had the authorization to access the information that he wanted, but ¡ª well, that¡¯s just how Kolst¨¦n is, I suppose.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°Thanks. Do you know where he went afterward?¡±


    ¡°I believe he mentioned getting something to eat¡­¡± the officer mused, ¡°given the nature of the information, he should really be heading back to headquarters. Who knows how long it¡¯ll be before he¡¯s actually back, though¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm, okay¡­ what kind of information did he come for?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t have the proper security clearance to access that information.¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay. Well, thanks anyways.¡± The Pyrotechnic turned away from the desk and approached the rest of Hero Machina, who were waiting semi-patiently a couple meters away.


    ¡°We¡¯re not lookin¡¯ through every damn restaurant in Soughc¨¦,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t,¡± the Transfer Captain replied, ¡°though I am curious about what this information he¡¯s dealing with is.¡±


    ¡°It must be important enough for him to skip his appointment with us,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°Or he just forgot,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested. ¡°I really think he just forgot.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°He better be worth all the trouble he¡¯s puttin¡¯ us through¡­¡±


    ¡°Well at least he didn¡¯t make us join an all-out assault on a gang base, huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted. He smirked when the Velocitechnic turned away in a huff.


    ¡°Guys, come on,¡± Kaon¨¦ cut in, ¡°stop provoking each other¡­ we need to get going, anyways. It¡¯ll be late once we get back to the HQ.¡±


    ¡°Such urban sprawl,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°cities never take up so much space in Rel¨¦diaka. Though I guess building a city on plains is a lot different from building one in the trees.¡±


    ¡°Kaon¨¦ has a point though, let¡¯s stop wasting time,¡± Kev¨¦rin spoke up before leading the group out of the building. ¡°If we get to the headquarters too late, we might just miss Christean¨¦ entirely¡­¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°Y¡¯know, in this day ¡®n age when we have fuckin¡¯ spaceships that can cross the galaxy in weeks, you¡¯d think we could get from planet location A to planet location B in much less time.¡±


    ¡°You really like to complain, don¡¯t you,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°I ain¡¯t complainin¡¯, I¡¯m just pointin¡¯ out things that should be fixed.¡±


    ¡°When done with the frequency that you do it, it¡¯s called complaining,¡± the Transfer Captain retorted. The four Chaotics then stopped momentarily to check through the headquarters¡¯ security gate before progressing to the interior courtyard.


    ¡°There¡¯s barely anyone here¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°That¡¯s not too surprising, since it¡¯s past six in the evening,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented as he glanced toward the horizon, where the sun was just about to set. ¡°City-based headquarters don¡¯t have as long working hours as more isolated bases¡­ especially in capital cities. You all should know that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be kiddin¡¯ me.¡± Dav¨ªdrius groaned. ¡°Are you sayin¡¯ that we actually missed Christean¨¦?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± Kev¨¦rin admitted, ¡°but we should still check before jumping to conclusions.¡±


    ¡°Oi oi oi¡­ it would figure that impatience would net us an even longer wait time¡­¡±


    ¡°Ironic, coming from a Velocitechnic,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded cheekily.


    ¡°Shush,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know¡ª ¡­¡± He suddenly paused and snapped his attention to the top of the headquarters building.


    Kev¨¦rin immediately directed his gaze in the same direction. ¡°What is it¡ª?¡±


    The Transfer Captain was interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius whipped his right foot out and upwards just in time to knock aside an incoming assailant from above. The aggressor hit the ground tumbling before jumping back to his feet, allowing Hero Machina a good chance to take note of his features. He stood a couple inches taller than Kev¨¦rin, possessed a more athletic build, and had skin that was slightly tanner. His square jaw, glasses, and short black hair lent him a mature appearance, though the cocky expression wrought across his face belied his age of 22 years. Black boots, black slacks, a maroon waist-cloak, a white shirt, and a maroon vest made up his uniform, though most striking about his ensemble was a battlehammer firmly grasped in his right hand. Extending from the hammer¡¯s handle was a long tether that attached to a body harness partially hidden by his vest.


    ¡°Not bad!¡± the newcomer shouted as he dropped the hammer, grabbed its connecting tether, and then began whirling the weapon around so fast it became merely a blur. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can last, though!¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin tried to ask, but was unable to finish his question before Dav¨ªdrius dashed forward at the same moment the unknown Chaotic released his hammer toward Hero Machina. Dav¨ªdrius prepared to sock the Chaotic in the jaw but was surprised when his fist was knocked away, just as the man rocketed away by the momentum of his thrown hammer. He zoomed through the air, narrowly missing the rest of Hero Machina as they dived out of the way haphazardly. Kev¨¦rin then looked over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Is that¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Yep¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°That¡­ is Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius, however, was too absorbed in the sudden duel to pay attention to the rest of Hero Machina. He turned on his heel and blasted off toward Christean¨¦ as the East Nimaliakian began twirling his hammer. Just before Dav¨ªdrius reached him, Christean¨¦ released the hammer straight down, cratering the ground and sending dirt flying in every direction, which tripped up the Velocitechnic. He tumbled into a roll but quickly leaped out of it, snapping his momentum back toward Christean¨¦, elbow forward. The East Nimaliakian stooped down, grabbed his hammer, and then ¡ª surprisingly ¡ª parried away Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s blow. The Velocitechnic flipped backwards and scowled, taking only a moment to glare at his adversary before sprinting off perpendicular to Christean¨¦. Unfazed, the East Nimaliakian began twirling his hammer again before releasing it upwards, yanking him into the air just before Dav¨ªdrius thought to try landing another blow. But the Tres¨¦dian didn¡¯t immediately give up ¡ª he leaped into the air after Christean¨¦, prepared to kick him in the guts. The East Nimaliakian responded by yanking his hammer down and then whipping it through the air by its tether, slamming it into Dav¨ªdrius and sending him rocketing down to the ground. The Velocitechnic impacted the ground with a sickening thud but jumped back to his feet unfazed and dashed off again just as Christean¨¦ landed himself, his hammer whirling around once more. The East Nimaliakian released the weapon toward Dav¨ªdrius, but this time the Velocitechnic side-stepped the hammer and grabbed the connecting tether, at which point he launched himself perpendicular to Christean¨¦. The sudden change in momentum swung the East Nimaliakian in a circle, but instead of blacking out from the g-forces, he yanked on the tether just as he caught himself on the courtyard wall, snapping the weapon ¡ª and Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª back toward him. Caught off-guard, the Velocitechnic was little able to react before Christean¨¦ slammed his fist into the Tres¨¦dian in an uppercut, sending Dav¨ªdrius flying high into the air. Christean¨¦ then whirled his hammer around once more and released it toward the Velocitechnic, yanking himself through the air as he prepared to slam his fists down onto Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª who had managed to whip himself around just in time to slam his foot into Christean¨¦ at the same moment the East Nimaliakian smashed his fists down on the Tres¨¦dian, sending the both of them rocketing toward the ground. The moment they both hit they immediately recovered and leaped to their feet, glaring at each other from across the courtyard¡­ until Christean¨¦ broke into a grin.


    ¡°Wow,¡± he remarked, ¡°you¡¯re pretty good!¡±


    ¡°Tch, ¡®pretty good¡¯ my ass.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°The hell did you attack us for?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to see how good you were,¡± Christean¨¦ responded innocently as the rest of Hero Machina cautiously approached. ¡°Hero Machina, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly, his attention switching between the Master Lieutenant and the damaged courtyard. ¡°You call this ¡®seeing how good we are?!¡¯¡±


    ¡°Eh, this is no big deal.¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged. ¡°Just bring in a Geotechnic, maybe a Chlorotechnic, everything¡¯ll be as good as new.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed. ¡°Why is it that Introtechnics, of all people, seem the most overly confident?¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey, Siyuak¨¦n!¡± Christean¨¦ greeted her with a nod. ¡°Heh. Long time, no see.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to wish it had been longer,¡± she groaned.


    ¡°I¡¯m still surprised about that battle!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°how did you keep up with Dav¨ªdrius? How are neither of you hurt?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Velocitechnic, I¡¯m a Forcetechnic. Of course we¡¯re not hurt.¡± Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°That¡¯s all I need to say, really. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a smart girl, you can figure it out.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m honestly not sure what my opinion of you is right now,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°All that aside, though ¡ª where were you today?¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°we were supposed to meet this morning! Remember?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. I wanted to see how far you guys would go to get me.¡±


    ¡°¡­You ran across Soughc¨¦ just to see how far we¡¯d go to get you?¡± Kev¨¦rin echoed incredulously.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Siyuak¨¦n immediately retorted.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s bullshit,¡± the Master Lieutenant admitted with a smirk, ¡°though that duel was actually me testing you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to wonder if I really want you on Hero Machina¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled.


    ¡°He said the same thing about me.¡± Dav¨ªdrius passed Christean¨¦ a glance.


    ¡°Yeah, no, I get you,¡± the East Nimaliakian replied, ¡°But seriously, I was out today because of some important news. It¡¯s related to you guys, actually.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n crossed her arms impatiently. ¡°This had better be good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really not,¡± Christean¨¦ countered. ¡°Last night the communications center picked up a level 3 distress signal coming from the Hazard Islands.¡±


    ¡°This relates to us, how?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Because it was a Rel¨¦diakian research team,¡± Christean¨¦ stated, ¡°the ¡®metallic infection¡¯ research team, accompanied by Lieutenant Rebehka Tchir¨¦on. They¡¯ve crash-landed on the Hazard Islands.¡±

 17 - Hazardous Material

    Chapter 17 - Hazardous Material


    2 Days Later


    ¡°Finally! We¡¯re here!¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, wait¡ª!¡± Kev¨¦rin started, but the Electrotechnic had leaped out of the air transport before he could finish, using her new set of swinging gear to lower herself to the floor of the dense forest.


    ¡°Wow. She¡¯s impatient,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, and then nodded at the Transfer Captain. ¡°See you groundside.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± the Pyrotechnic stuttered as the Master Lieutenant casually jumped from the transport, followed immediately by Dav¨ªdrius. Kev¨¦rin stared on, speechless, as Kaon¨¦ stepped up beside him, shrugged, and jumped down herself. The Transfer Captain sighed irately, signaled to the transport pilot to leave, and then jumped from the vehicle himself, using carefully timed bursts of flame to slow his descent. He prepared himself to begin leading Hero Machina through the undergrowth of the Hazard Islands, but by the time he reached the ground there was already another discussion going on.


    ¡°Hey, calm down.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Calm down?¡¯ It¡¯s been two days since they crashed here! At least two days! Who knows what could¡¯ve happened to the research team in the time you were screwing around in Soughc¨¦!¡±


    ¡°We were hardly screwin¡¯ around,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in harshly, ¡°if nothin¡¯ else, we were busier yesterday than usual. And that¡¯s sayin¡¯ somethin¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s saying that you need to be less incompetent with your weapons!¡± Siyuak¨¦n snapped.


    ¡°As if it¡¯s my fault every fucking blade on Nimalia is made like shit. I¡¯m not the only one at fault here, either, you know! You broke your own damn gear on Sunova!¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, settle down¡­¡± Christean¨¦ stepped in between Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm them.


    The Electrotechnic bristled, her glare shifting from Dav¨ªdrius to Christean¨¦. ¡°I can¡¯t. The research team is still out there. And you know who¡¯s with them? My best friend. And because of the two of you, she¡¯s spent at least one day longer on this god-forsaken island than she¡¯s had to!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she can take care of herself,¡± Christean¨¦ insisted. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s a reason the Hazard Islands are named that way. It would¡¯ve been suicide to rush here unprepared. And Dav¨ªdrius is right, you don¡¯t have much room to take pot shots at him for needing new Sword Boxes when you needed new swinging gear yourself.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned as he approached the three Chaotics.


    ¡°We took too long to get here,¡± Siyuak¨¦n snapped.


    ¡°Maybe we could¡¯ve gotten here faster, but Christean¨¦ is right,¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up, ¡°rushing here would¡¯ve been just as bad.¡±


    ¡°I mean, Rebehka¡¯s a Cryotechnic, right? I¡¯m sure she¡¯s fine on her own,¡± Christean¨¦ declared. ¡°¡­Unless you don¡¯t actually trust her skills.¡±


    ¡°What? No, I¡­ well¡­¡± The Electrotechnic pursed her lips, and then sighed. ¡°¡­Alright, fine, you have a point. But even then, she can only last so long.¡±


    ¡°Cryotechnics are usually pretty hardy,¡± Kaon¨¦ offered.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered before closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. ¡°Okay¡­¡± She glanced back at Christean¨¦ and then turned her attention to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Alright. I think¡­ I think I¡¯m fine now. But I¡¯d still like to find the research team as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°We have one day¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°that¡¯s one day until the transport comes back and we need to pull out, regardless of whether we found anything or not.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯re we waitin¡¯ for?¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, ¡°shouldn¡¯t we be lookin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°We need to be careful though,¡± the Transfer Captain insisted, ¡°these are the Hazard Islands. They say the local wildlife can even take out unprepared Chaostechnics¡­ so splitting up isn¡¯t an option.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, if we¡¯re lucky, one of us¡¯ll unlock our Overdrive,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call that lucky,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded warily.


    ¡°And it doesn¡¯t matter anyways!¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°stick together and watch your surroundings. According to the distress beacon data, the research team should¡¯ve crash-landed about ten kilometers inland¡­ so we have a lot of ground to cover.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s already past noon,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked as he whirled around on his heel, ¡°let¡¯s move¡­ out¡­? ¡­Huh¡­?¡±


    At the same moment the Velocitechnic turned around, a monkey-like creature dropped down in front of him, hanging upside-down by its tail from the tree branches above. It stared at Dav¨ªdrius for a moment before opening its mouth ¡ª and then flying off into the distance after Christean¨¦ slammed his Battlehammer into it from below.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to have better reflexes than the lot of us?¡± the Master Lieutenant chided with a smirk.


    ¡°Sh¡­ shush,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered, ¡°I¡¯ve never had to deal with animals before.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s best to assume everything¡¯s hostile here, because everything is hostile,¡± Christean¨¦ commented, ¡°like that little fucker I just whacked across the island. That was a Deathtail. It can whip its tail around with enough force to shatter even Introtechnic skulls.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Its tail was still hanging from the branch¡­¡±


    ¡°It can also shoot poison barbs from its mouth.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re bullshitting,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered uneasily.


    ¡°I could be.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked grimly before turning around and moving cautiously through the undergrowth. ¡°Or, I could just have experience with this kinda thing. Now try to be quiet once we get to the thick underbrush. You could accidentally awaken a Thrallbear, or a Chaos Tisan.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what¡¯re those¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Shh! ¡­I think I hear another Deathtail¡­¡±


    ¡°What? Where?!¡±


    ¡°Shit, behind you!¡±


    ¡°Agh!¡± Dav¨ªdrius unsheathed a saber and whipped it through the air as he spun around, only to see nothing but tree branches and shrubbery. ¡°¡­You¡¯re fuckin¡¯ with me, ain¡¯t you,¡± he growled as he turned to pass Christean¨¦ a glare.


    ¡°Christean¨¦, cut the bullshit,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered, his tone that of exasperation.


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± the Master Lieutenant replied, ¡°¡­but actually, do try to be quiet. You never know what nasty surprises this island has in store¡­¡±


    <hr>


    5 Hours Later


    ¡°Alright, this ain¡¯t workin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Huh?...¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as Dav¨ªdrius stopped at the edge of a small clearing.


    ¡°This whole not-splittin¡¯-up thing,¡± he replied, scowling. ¡°We¡¯ve all got vastly different movement speeds and styles, yet we¡¯re forced to move at the speed of the slowest person in the group?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°Hey¡­¡±


    ¡°That was rude,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out.


    ¡°And it¡¯s totally true,¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted, ¡°on my own I could¡¯ve zigzagged the entire island ¡®bout ten times by now, at least! And you can swing through the trees pretty well, if your skill with that gear is even half of what I saw back on Sunova. And then Christean¨¦ has that insane hammer-momentum-flight bullshit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bullshit, it totally makes physical sense,¡± Christean¨¦ replied defensively.


    ¡°So what¡¯s your point, Dav¨ªdrius?¡± Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°You want to split up, then? How will we contact each other once we¡¯re apart?¡±


    ¡°Uuuhh¡­¡± The Velocitechnic frowned. ¡°¡­Oh hey, there¡¯s no relay access here¡­¡±


    ¡°You only just noticed the lack of an info feed?¡± Christean¨¦ replied incredulously.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been more focused on the ¡®super-deadly fauna¡¯ than I¡¯ve been on my glasses,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°And on that note, you made the islands sound like the depths of animal hell, but we¡¯ve only come across, like, five Deathtails! And I took care of all of ¡®em with no issue.¡±


    ¡°You know, that¡¯s actually somewhat worrying¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered.


    ¡°What, that I¡¯ve got no issue with killing an animal called a fucking ¡®Deathtail?¡¯¡±


    ¡°No, that we¡¯ve only seen five of them, and no other animals,¡± the Electrotechnic countered, ¡°this is nothing like what I¡¯ve heard about these islands. Where are all the deathtraps?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re complaining about the lack of deathtraps?¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Christean¨¦ butted in, ¡°and you should be, too! Because something had to have taken out all of the animals.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ all the stories about the islands are just exaggerated?¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°Hah! I wish they were,¡± Christean¨¦ scoffed. ¡°As an East Nimaliakian, I¡¯ve heard tons of present-day stories that have all been substantiated by both East Nimaliakian and Riveranian intel. ¡­Though, now that I think about it, those stories did suddenly stop flooding in about a year ago¡­¡±


    ¡°Sounds like something you should¡¯ve told us earlier,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded crossly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about the Hazard Islands this much until two days ago,¡± the Master Lieutenant retorted, ¡°give me a break.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s calm down¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin spoke up, ¡°so it looks like we have two objectives now: find the research team, and look for whatever cleaned up all of the island¡¯s traps.¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there!¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, ¡°You wanna go look for the thing?!¡±


    ¡°Someone has to figure out what¡¯s going on here,¡± the Transfer Captain reasoned.


    ¡°We should really find the research team first,¡± Siyuak¨¦n insisted, ¡°if there really is something extra-dangerous out here, well¡­ Rebehka¡¯s good, but she¡¯s only so good.¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Christean¨¦ responded, ¡°she can always just do that freeze-yourself-in-an-ice-block thing, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a last resort and you know it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n argued, ¡°only another Cryotechnic or a very skilled Pyrotechnic can clear out the ice and, no offense, Kev¨¦rin, but I don¡¯t consider you skilled enough to properly melt down an ice prison.¡±


    ¡°No offense taken,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d trust myself to melt down an ice prison.¡±


    ¡°What about Materiatechnics?¡± Kaon¨¦ offered, ¡°I think I could help in that situation.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°Temperature is a factor, though. Not just the ice itself¡­¡±


    ¡°And even then, this is all just a bunch of damned ¡®what-ifs,¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°what we know is that somethin¡¯ weird seems to be goin¡¯ on here, and I¡¯d like to get off this island as soon as fuckin¡¯ possible. On top of that¡­¡± He glanced up at the cloudy sky. ¡°¡­Not only is it almost one hour from sunset, I think we¡¯re about to be rained on. Man, this is just great.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced upwards himself and sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s try pushing on a little longer, then we can have Kaon¨¦ make us a shelter for the night¡ª?!¡±


    An intense tremor interrupted the Transfer Captain, shaking the underbrush ferociously and even toppling several of the surrounding trees. Kaon¨¦ quickly created a small steel dome to protect Hero Machina from falling debris until the tremors subsided.


    CRACK!


    ¡°The hell¡­?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled just as the tremors stopped. ¡°¡­That was a really loud crack¡­¡±


    ¡°What is there to crack?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned as Kaon¨¦ slowly and cautiously dissolved the protective dome. ¡°We¡¯re on islands¡­ there aren¡¯t even any nearby fault lines. Any solid rock should be far below ground¡­¡±


    ¡°That didn¡¯t sound like rock,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°it sounded more like...¡±


    ¡°Ice.¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina turned to look at Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°Ice?¡± Christean¨¦ echoed.


    Kaon¨¦ nodded resolutely. ¡°Yeah¡­ it was definitely ice. I can tell from the ground density¡­ there¡¯s a huge mass of ice just east of here.¡±


    ¡°How far east?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned urgently.


    ¡°¡­Less than a kilometer?¡±


    ¡°Hey, wait¡ª!¡± Kev¨¦rin immediately spoke up as the Electrotechnic spun around and launched herself into the trees, swinging gear in full use. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n! ¡­Damn it! Everyone, after her! And be careful¡ª!¡±


    The Transfer Captain was interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius blasted off into the underbrush and Christean¨¦ whipped his hammer ¡ª and shortly after, himself ¡ª through the air. ¡°Those three¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°They¡¯re going to get themselves into a lot of trouble one day¡­¡±


    ¡°Well there¡¯s only one thing for us to do now,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied as she crafted a stone platform and then lifted it into the air. ¡°Go after them and make sure they don¡¯t get hurt.¡±


    ¡°Tch,¡± the Pyrotechnic snorted as he watched her take off on her own. He sighed irately before launching himself above the tree-tops with a single fire burst and then entering flight by igniting continuous fire blasts under his palms and feet. As he wasn¡¯t sure about the full breadth of threats presented by the islands, he remained fairly low to the tree-tops, though still high enough to be able to react to any sudden projectiles thrown his way ¡ª and from this height, after a mere couple minutes he could see what appeared to be a long gap in the forest. Less than a minute later, he caught a glimpse of a reflective surface, which he fully recognized as ice once he had cleared the forest and began hovering over the huge mass. He looked down and found Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ standing just beside the ice; the Transfer Captain carefully lowered himself down to the ground next to the two Introtechnics just as Siyuak¨¦n and Kaon¨¦ burst out of the trees themselves.


    ¡°Well this is really something,¡± Christean¨¦ mused, ¡°a huge crevice, filled with ice¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s not just ice,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered as she ventured a step onto the surface. ¡°At the very bottom of the crevice, under all of the ice¡­ it¡¯s the wreck.¡±

 18 - The Chaos of Infection

    Chapter 18 - The Chaos of Infection


    ¡°The wreck¡¯s down there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ squinted down at the ice in an attempt to see through it. However, the depth combined with the cloudy evening light made it difficult to see far. ¡°It¡¯s really far down, it seems like.¡±


    ¡°Must be,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented, ¡°¡¯cause all I see is a pit of absolute darkness.¡±


    ¡°The fact that we can even see more than a few meters is pretty impressive,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out. ¡°This ice is really clear. Rebehka must be better than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Which won¡¯t help us at all if she¡¯s trapped with the wreck,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded apprehensively before turning to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Is she down there? Can you tell?¡±


    ¡°¡­Not really,¡± the Materiatechnic replied, ¡°my matter-sensing abilities aren¡¯t all that great. I guess I should say that there¡¯s a wreck at the bottom of this crevice, since I can¡¯t tell what kind of vehicle it used to be¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, so this might not even be the wreck we¡¯re lookin¡¯ for?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled.


    ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t, Rebehka had to have come through here recently,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°This ice is too clear and too far south to have formed on its own; a Cryotechnic had to have made it. And the surface of the ice is still relatively clean and clear, so the ice was either made recently, or swept recently.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Mr. Detective, maybe you can tell us what direction she went, too?¡±


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for sarcasm,¡± Siyuak¨¦n snapped.


    ¡°Then what is the time, eh?¡± The Velocitechnic snorted impatiently. ¡°So we¡¯ve found a place that we think Rebehka passed by. What now? I don¡¯t suppose any of y¡¯all have trackin¡¯ skills?¡±


    The second after he spoke, the entire area lit up with a bright flash of lightning. Shortly afterward, a loud crack of thunder rumbled through the forest as the clouds opened up, prompting Kaon¨¦ to hastily fabricate a shelter for the group of Chaotics.


    ¡°¡­And now, trackin¡¯ skills wouldn¡¯t even matter!¡± Dav¨ªdrius threw his arms up in resignation as he glared at the heavy rain. ¡°We ain¡¯t findin¡¯ shit in this weather, at this time of day.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed in resignation. ¡°I hate to admit it, but you¡¯re right. What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°Ah, excuse me?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kev¨¦rin jumped and whipped around to face a new speaker, as did the rest of Hero Machina. The newcomer stood just outside of the makeshift shelter and meekly waved at the group, allowing the pouring rain to utterly soak through his green military jacket, white shirt, green waist cloak, and black pants. His short black hair lay flat across his pale forehead, the rain beating it down to almost cover his brown eyes. He had a slightly angular face, a lithe build, and stood just as tall as Christean¨¦, but was beginning to sink slightly as the unrelenting downpour turned the dirt under his boots into mud.


    ¡°Can I come in?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ sure,¡± the Transfer Captain responded confusedly. He stared at the mysterious newcomer as he stepped out of the rain; he didn¡¯t look much older than any of the other members of Hero Machina, with a skinny stature, light skin, and short black hair. Kev¨¦rin¡¯s attention then shifted to the man¡¯s clothing. ¡°That uniform¡­ are you from the Riveranian Protection Force?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± The newcomer nodded, and then held up a finger. ¡°Um, hold on one second. Chaos Form¡­¡± Soon after he muttered the two words, his entire body became enveloped in a thin layer of purple energy. The sudden appearance of the energy startled the members of Hero Machina, but only partially.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Chaostechnic?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Chaos Cancel Form,¡± the newcomer muttered, and then turned to Kaon¨¦ as the layer of energy disappeared, along with all of the dampness in his clothes. ¡°Yeah, I am,¡± he replied, ¡°uh, sorry to just intrude like this. I¡¯m Captain Kievkenalis Yumach, from the RPF. You are¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Kievkenalis?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°perfect timing! We were looking for you! Well, not right now, but before we came here¡ª¡±


    ¡°You should really tell him who we are before you tell him that we were looking for him,¡± Christean¨¦ cut in.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± the Transfer Captain responded sheepishly, and then turned back to Kievkenalis. ¡°I¡¯m Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion, and this is Ha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Siyuak¨¦n hissed.


    ¡°¡­Hero Machina,¡± Kev¨¦rin finished with a huff.


    ¡°Oh... right, you guys.¡± Kievkenalis nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°I was about to go to Nimaliaka to join you myself, actually, but then I was sent to investigate some weird activity here on the Hazard Islands¡­¡±


    ¡°This is that ¡®secret mission¡¯ the RPF General was referring to, isn¡¯t it?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked.


    ¡°I guess so?¡± The Chaostechnic shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know why it¡¯d be secret. You guys have probably figured out what¡¯s so weird about the islands already, anyways.¡±


    ¡°You mean the lack of animals that want to kill us on first sight?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted.


    Kievkenalis nodded again. ¡°Exactly. I was sent to figure out where they went, or what happened to them. I only found this ice crevice earlier today, though¡­ do you know what happened here?¡±


    ¡°A Rel¨¦diakian research team was returning from the Continental Glacier and then crash-landed,¡± Siyuak¨¦n answered. ¡°¡­We¡¯re not completely certain that the wreck in the crevice is the one we¡¯re looking for, but we think that one of the Chaotics on board at least passed through here¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re a Support-type Chaostechnic, right?¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°can you tell us if there¡¯s anyone down in the ice?¡±


    ¡°I already checked when I first found the crevice. No one¡¯s down there,¡± Kievkenalis responded. ¡°Or at least¡­ no one alive is down there.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not dead,¡± Siyuak¨¦n insisted, ¡°if you can¡¯t detect her in the ice, then she must be somewhere else. There¡¯s no way she¡¯d die within an ice prison.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Rebehka wouldn¡¯t,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out, ¡°but what about the rest of the research team?¡±


    The only response to Christean¨¦¡¯s question was the rumble of distant thunder and the heavy pattering of rain against the shelter.


    ¡°¡­What if the research team escaped before the wreck was frozen?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked hopefully.


    ¡°The Hazard Islands are hazardous to Chaotics, let alone normal people,¡± the East Nimaliakian countered. ¡°I hate to say it, but I don¡¯t think we should expect to see the rest of the team alive, not if we can¡¯t even find for sure where they crashed.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re certain there¡¯s no one trapped in the ice?...¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced at Kievkenalis again.


    ¡°¡­I can double check,¡± the Chaostechnic responded slowly. ¡°Chaos Detect. ¡­Wait, there¡¯s something¡ª!¡±


    CRACK!


    The surface of the ice mass instantly shattered as the sound of cracking echoed through the forest and crevice area. The mass then rumbled slightly before it cracked again, splitting straight down the center as the far half spontaneously shifted upwards by several meters. The translation of the ice mass was followed shortly by earthquake-like rumblings as the ice began to slowly settle back down.


    ¡°The hell was that?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed.


    ¡°There was something huge beneath the ice!¡± Kievkenalis responded quickly, ¡°it¡ª I swear it wasn¡¯t there before! I didn¡¯t detect it this morning!¡±


    ¡°Did it cause the ice to shatter?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°I think so,¡± the Chaostechnic replied, ¡°just before Detect wore off, I could sense it tunneling into the rock face beside the ice.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell what it was?¡±


    ¡°It was¡ª¡±


    Another loud crack interrupted Kievkenalis as the raised ice suddenly shifted down by a full meter, coming to rest about three meters above the surrounding ground. Almost immediately afterward, the ground opposite the crevice from Hero Machina exploded as a gigantic metallic monolith extended from the rocky dirt, whirling around its top half to face its pincer-ridden insect-like face toward the group of Chaotics.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°¡ªthat,¡± Kievkenalis finished meekly, ¡°¡­it was that thing.¡±


    The worm-like creature stared at the group for another several seconds before withdrawing into the ground and tunneling away, the reverberations of the ground easily giving away its location.


    ¡°It was metallic¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled. ¡°Another case of metallic infection? Here?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s worse than that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented, ¡°with the color and sheen of its skin and stuff, that thing reminded me of that dragon we fought on the Earthian colony far more than I¡¯d like¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you think this is going to go down like Sunova did,¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned warily.


    ¡°I have no idea¡­¡± The Velocitechnic drew his sabers and gripped them tightly. ¡°But if we just let that thing go, then things¡¯ll get a lot worse for sure!¡±


    ¡°Time to get wet,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped as he smashed down the walls of the makeshift shelter. ¡°It¡¯s going northeast, right? Kaon¨¦, can you track it?¡±


    ¡°Sort of, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Watch it¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed as he dashed over and whacked a creature out of the air just before it could attack Kaon¨¦. He stabbed it with his saber before glaring at it. ¡°¡­It¡¯s got that metallic rash¡ª!¡±


    As soon as the words left his mouth, several more infected animals swooped down from the trees. Siyuak¨¦n quickly shocked them all, taking advantage of the wet weather to augment her electrical abilities as Kievkenalis called out ¡°Chaos Detect!¡± once more.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of them!¡± he shouted, ¡°birds and beasts of all kinds! How did they get this close without anyone noticing?!¡±


    ¡°No time to panic now!¡± Christean¨¦ replied as he slammed his battlehammer into the ground, cratering it and flinging all of the nearby infected animals into the air, at which point Dav¨ªdrius easily sliced them all up. The Forcetechnic began whirling his hammer around before turning toward the shifted ice mass and releasing his weapon toward it, smashing a hole through to the other side. ¡°Let¡¯s get going!!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ immediately crafted a tall dirt barrier behind the group before turning around and dashing off after the rest of Hero Machina as they rushed across the crevice and into the forest on the other side.


    ¡°Damn forest¡¯s too thick!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he twisted around just in time to evade a Deathtail attack and then behead it with his saber. ¡°Kaon¨¦, clear us a path!¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± she whimpered, ¡°the animals¡ª!¡±


    ¡°¡ªare all bat-shit insane!¡± Christean¨¦ interjected as he twirled his battlehammer around horizontally, smashing down all of the trees within two meters. ¡°We¡¯re on the damned Hazard Islands, and all the animals have been infected anyways! Show no mercy!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Assist,¡± Kievkenalis muttered, infusing himself and the rest of Hero Machina with a boost of Chaos Energy. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with you guys, but we really need to hurry up!¡± He ducked before spreading his arms out horizontally, shouting, ¡°Chaos Arrows!¡± Two arrows of Chaos Energy shot out from his hands, homing in on and piercing two of the attacking creatures through their chests, killing them instantly.


    ¡°¡­Agh, no one cares about the Hazard Islands,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered with a scowl. He then shouted, ¡°everyone, stand back!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius knocked an infected creature out of the air just before it could attack the Pyrotechnic. He then flipped backwards and corralled the rest of the group away from Kev¨¦rin just as he raised a massive wall of fire and incinerated a long column of trees in front of him, with the rest of the surrounding trees burning strongly enough to withstand the torrential downpour.


    Siyuak¨¦n gasped, astonished at the level of environmental destruction. ¡°Kev¨¦rin! You¡ª!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, no one gives a shit about the Hazard Islands,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°what matters is that we catch that metal worm and stop the metallic infection from getting this serious off of the islands! Now let¡¯s! Get! Moving!!¡±


    With that, the Velocitechnic charged down the burned column, followed closely by Christean¨¦ and then Kev¨¦rin. Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n stared on in dismay before Kievkenalis shook them out of their stupor, shouting, ¡°they¡¯re coming!!¡±


    The Materia- and Electrotechnic both whipped around just in time for the Chaostechnic to call ¡°Chaos Armor¡± and take a heavy blow from a charging boar. Siyuak¨¦n immediately electrocuted the offending creature before rushing over to help Kievkenalis, just to see him jump back to his feet.


    ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± He gestured forward as he sprinted after the other three men. Kaon¨¦ paused wearily, but quickly followed when Siyuak¨¦n began running as well.


    ¡°Kaon¨¦, you watch the right! I¡¯ll take the left!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted as she jumped through the burning tree line and engaged her swinging gear, carefully but deftly swinging through the dense forest. Without even waiting to lay eyes on any rogue creatures, she periodically ran shocks down her swinging lines and through the trees, hoping to electrocute any aggressors hidden in the underbrush. Just as she had almost caught up with Kev¨¦rin, however, one of her grappling hooks failed to catch on the wet and slippery bark, sending her tumbling to the ground. She quickly jumped back to her feet and whirled around just in time to see and evade a charging ape-like creature who had just jumped down from the tree her hook had failed to snag. Scowling, she promptly fired both of her grappling hooks at it and sent a massive charge down both lines, shocking the offending creature. She quickly reeled the hooks back before raising her arm just in time to use her swinging gear to block a stinger flung from some creature hidden in the underbrush. Running enough charge through her body to create a large enough magnetic field to deflect more of the metallic stingers, she cautiously ¡ª yet quickly ¡ª approached the bush before releasing her charge into the ground, frying all of the nearby plants and the infected creature that had attacked her. She then quickly took back to swinging through the wet forest just as another infected ape attempted to body slam her unsuccessfully.


    ¡°Chaos Impact!¡±


    Two of the creatures approaching Kievkenalis were blown backwards as the Chaostechnic continued running down the column of incinerated trees that Kev¨¦rin was leaving behind. To his right ran Kaon¨¦, who continually raised solid stone walls behind and to the sides of the two Chaotics in an effort to simply block the approach of the infected animals. Suddenly and unexpectedly, three large ape-like creatures leaped over the makeshift walls, forcing Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis to dive to the side as they crashed into the ground. The Chaostechnic whipped around and quickly called out ¡°Chaos Claws,¡± inserting himself between Kaon¨¦ and the infected apes as he blocked the first several of their attacks with the long claws of Chaos Energy now protruding from both of his fists. He then lunged forward as he muttered ¡°Chaos Armor,¡± ducking around the apes¡¯ attacks to get in close and stab them before dismissing his Chaos Claws and jumping backwards, allowing Kaon¨¦ to raise the ground and flip the carcasses over her makeshift walls.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to kill them!¡± the Materiatechnic shouted over the rain as she and Kievkenalis took off after the rest of Hero Machina again.


    ¡°Better than having them all ambush us at once when we stop to fight that big worm thing,¡± he responded, ¡°we¡¯re in the back, so it¡¯s our job to look out for the group¡¯s rear. Ah¡ª! Chaos Strike!¡±


    At the front of the incinerated column was Kev¨¦rin, who progressed forward at a jog¡¯s pace as he continually burned a path through the forest. Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius actively watched the Pyrotechnics¡¯s back, quickly and deftly knocking away or smashing any infected creatures who attempted to get close. Dav¨ªdrius gripped his sabers tightly as he flipped through the air, smashing his right heel into the skull of an approaching creature and then using it as a springboard into the treetops where he sliced two waiting Deathtails in half. Just as he began to fall to the ground he noticed a huge bear-like creature simply waiting for him to fall into its giant, open maw ¡ª until Christean¨¦¡¯s battlehammer slammed into it, knocking it aside and smashing it into a tree. The Forcetechnic jumped over and grabbed the creature by its arm before whirling it through the air and flinging it into the distance just as Dav¨ªdrius somersaulted around him and leaped up in time to stab a Deathtail, preventing it from jumping down and attacking Christean¨¦. The two Introtechnics smirked at each other briefly before rushing back into the open where they each blocked two Deathtails that had flung themselves at Kev¨¦rin. The two monkey-like creatures landed on the ground, snapping their tails downward to create small craters as they turned toward Christean¨¦ ¡ª only to be beheaded by Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s sabers. Kev¨¦rin turned to thank them, but stopped as he accidentally collided with something. He quickly backed away and shook his head before looking up in awe at a gigantic infected boar-like creature that almost seemed oblivious to the forest situation ¡ª until Kev¨¦rin had stumbled into it.


    Kev¨¦rin meekly gestured toward the creature. ¡°Uh¡­ guys¡­?¡±


    The boar let out a roar as it turned toward him and attempted to smash him with its head. The Pyrotechnic dived out of the way just as Christean¨¦ jumped forward, battlehammer in hand, and smashed it upward into the boar¡¯s chin. Stunned, the wild animal keeled over as the Forcetechnic began twirling his hammer around and then released it straight at the boar¡¯s underside, where it impacted one of its metal plates. The boar collapsed backward as Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer spun around in midair for a second before smashing into the ground, where it toppled a couple trees ¡ª one of which had been a target for Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s swinging gear. With nothing to latch on to, the grappling hook withdrew back into her arm gear as she sailed through the air, glaring at Christean¨¦ before catching herself with a roll.


    ¡°Watch where you¡¯re swinging that!¡± she shouted back at the Forcetechnic as she took off into the trees again ¡ª and spontaneously seized up as a spasm of sharp pain shot up her left arm. She instinctively clutched her arm and subsequently forgot to catch herself ¡ª only to end up tumbling down a steep slope, obscured by the rain and dense forest. Halfway down the slope, she was able to stabilize herself, but she still rolled to an unceremonious stop at the bottom. She groaned painfully and began to pick herself up as Dav¨ªdrius suddenly appeared next to her.


    ¡°Oi, oi, watch where¡­ you¡¯re¡­¡± The Velocitechnic trailed off as he turned toward the shaded but open area in front of Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­What the hell is that?!¡±


    The Electrotechnic glanced up, only to spot a massive tree well over a hundred meters tall. The gigantic plant stood in the middle of a closed off valley, and was covered with metallic rashes and fungus-like offshoots, all of which pulsed subtly and irregularly. Up in the highest branches, over a hundred meters high, were several hive-like structures, as well as a large array of metal rods in a web formation, hidden in the forest ceiling.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, ¡°¡­is very¡­ very bad.¡±


    The ground began to shake tremendously, as it had near the ice crevice. Dav¨ªdrius stiffened and brandished his sabers as Siyuak¨¦n quickly wobbled back to a standing position, just in time for the ground in front of the huge infected tree to explode upward and reveal the metallic worm. Dav¨ªdrius immediately took off, moving to attack the creature ¡ª only to get flung back as the worm suddenly propelled itself into the air, removing itself from the ground entirely and whipping itself around in midair to connect its end to the tree. It quickly and seamlessly fused with the tree, growing two long and spindly arms as it did so. Many of the tree¡¯s roots then ripped themselves out of the ground and began wriggling aggressively just as the rest of Hero Machina arrived at the bottom of the slope.


    ¡°The hell?!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed out of shock. ¡°¡­Is that¡­?¡±


    ¡°This is the metallic infection, allowed to go too far,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°We need to stop it!¡±


    ¡°What? Us? Here? Now?¡± Kev¨¦rin spluttered, ¡°but¡ª! That¡ª! It¡ª!¡±


    ¡°If it splits into a billion bugs when it dies like the Earthian Dragon did, at least there¡¯s the Kard¨¦ Ocean to stop ¡®em!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°at that point we can just get Tekdec¨¦ to glass the island. But somethin¡¯ this big? I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it could somehow survive bombardment. We need to cut it down to size!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s so¡­ big¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered uneasily.


    ¡°Hence cutting it down to size.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked as he began twirling his hammer in anticipation of battle. ¡°I gotta say, I didn¡¯t expect to get into fights like this when I joined you guys. I¡¯m glad I was wrong!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Tch¡­ Okay, fine. We¡¯ll take it on here! Hero Machina¡­ engage!!¡±

 19 - Disinfection Chaos

    Chapter 19 - Disinfection Chaos


    ¡°Hero Machina¡­ engage!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius wasted no time as he blasted forward, whipping the sabers out of his sword boxes and slashing through all of the roots in his way. He quickly reached the base of the tree and began to run up the trunk when part of the bark spontaneously lashed out and grabbed him by his ankle, ripping him off of the tree and launching him across the forest floor. He tumbled to a stop just behind Kev¨¦rin, who raised his arms forward. ¡°Watch out!¡± he shouted, just before covering the entire area with intense flames. He stood back for a moment to admire his handiwork ¡ª only for a hole to split open in the side of the giant infected tree and begin flooding the small valley with water, rapidly extinguishing the fires.


    ¡°Well, that worked,¡± Christean¨¦ deadpanned as Kaon¨¦ quickly rose the dirt beneath their feet to remain above the water level.


    ¡°Where the hell did all that water come from?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Kaon¨¦, can you do something about it?¡±


    The Materiatechnic turned toward the water for a few seconds before quickly whipping around and knocking back several infected animals with a dirt wall. ¡°I can¡¯t manipulate it. Just like all of the infected animals¡­¡±


    ¡°So anything so much as touched by the infection can¡¯t be directly affected, is that it?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Guess this means we should avoid the water at all costs, then?¡±


    ¡°Chaos Assist!¡± Kievkenalis called, imbuing all of Hero Machina with a boost of Chaos Energy before spinning around and directing his hands at several approaching creatures. ¡°Chaos Strike! Chaos Strike!¡± he called repeatedly, and then glanced toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Kaon¨¦ and I will keep the creatures in the forest off your back. Focus on¡­ whatever it is you plan to do!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n watched the Chaos- and Materiatechnic spread out and push back the forest creatures before she turned back to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°What is the plan¡ª?¡±


    She was interrupted as the metallic worm atop the tree let out a deafening, steely screech. It promptly split in half, with its front half falling into the water below¡­ and then emerging as a large, winged, lizard-like creature with silvery metallic skin ¡ª almost identical in appearance to the dragon that appeared on the Earthian colony of Sunova.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s one hell of a coincidence¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius brandished his blades and leaped straight up, whirling around in the air and almost tearing into the dragon as it flew past. It slammed its tail into the Velocitechnic, knocking him straight down toward the water ¡ª only for him to be knocked out of the way again by a certain hammer. He caught himself on the tree by stabbing one of his sabers into the bark, at which point he turned irately toward Christean¨¦, who had blown a hole into the tree with his hammer.


    ¡°That hurt like fuck!¡± the Tres¨¦dian exclaimed.


    ¡°Better than falling into that water!¡± Christean¨¦ replied as he slammed his hammer into the tree again, punching a large hole through to the other side. The bark let out a loud crack, prompting the two Introtechnics to rapidly vacate the tree ¡ª just as the hole filled with a viscous silver material that quickly solidified.


    Siyuak¨¦n immediately fired off two lightning shocks at the new filling and directed a large current into the water, frying the base of the tree. The dragon roared and immediately dived toward the Electrotechnic, forcing her and Kev¨¦rin to jump back. The Pyrotechnic quickly retaliated by blasting the creature in its mouth, sending it recoiling. It then jumped back up into the air, where it turned toward the group and began launching fireballs, fireballs that Kev¨¦rin barely managed to deflect. Siyuak¨¦n followed up by triggering a massive lightning-strike from the rainclouds above ¡ª only for the strike to be intercepted by the canopy-high metallic web, the electricity dispersing through the beams as though the system were one giant lightning rod.


    In response, Christean¨¦ began whirling his hammer around and released it directly upwards in an attempt to reach ¡ª and then smash ¡ª the canopy web. The half of the metallic creature still connected to the tree quickly picked up on his trajectory, however, and began launching metal projectiles at him, forcing him to yank his hammer down and use it to deflect all of the projectiles. The change in momentum prevented him from reaching the treetops ¡ª but Dav¨ªdrius quickly leaped up and used him as a springboard to clear the final distance. Christean¨¦ glared after him as he landed on the high branches and then took off toward part of the metal webbing, sabers out and ready to slice, until two of the branches came to life and grabbed Dav¨ªdrius by his ankles, dangling him upside down. A third branch moved up and prepared to impale him, but he quickly slashed his restraints and began falling to the water below ¡ª only to grab Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s ankle as she swung around the infected tree.


    ¡°That¡¯s the second time!¡± she shouted down at him, ¡°the second time someone had to save you!¡±


    ¡°Tch ¡ª shush,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted as the Electrotechnic released her grappling hook. Dav¨ªdrius took the opportunity to catapult himself into the surrounding forest as Siyuak¨¦n changed her direction with another grappling hook, swinging through the air and offering shocks alternatively to the dragon and the tree as she maintained a current down the grappling line. The dragon quickly redirected its attention to her, allowing the wind generated by its powerful wings to blow away the streams of fire Kev¨¦rin launched at it. Annoyed at being ignored, the Pyrotechnic launched himself into the air with a blast of flame and then rocketed himself toward the dragon, nailing it with a flame-powered punch just as Siyuak¨¦n shocked its giant maw. It recoiled from the attacks, seemingly stunned ¡ª and was then blown to smithereens as Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer smashed into and obliterated it. The three Chaotics continued on their trajectories around the tree as the dragon¡¯s pieces fell into the water below, splashing the platform Kaon¨¦ had created with water.


    ¡°That could be a problem¡­¡± Christean¨¦ frowned as he looked down at the platform from a newly-created hole in the tree trunk. He then smashed his hammer into the trunk again before launching himself at the canopy above just in time to avoid being trapped by the silver filling. Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n continued up and around the tree until they were on level with the half of the metallic worm that had remained attached to the tree. The Pyrotechnic immediately began blasting it with fire, distracting it as Siyuak¨¦n flung herself up into the canopy. She grabbed a branch and quickly climbed through the final branch layers until she reached the metal web, upon which she blasted it with a massive shock. The moment she did, the entire tree rumbled as the worm let out a resounding screech ¡ª and then a branch knocked her sideways. She fell out of the tree and quickly caught herself on a lower branch just as she spotted Christean¨¦ standing in the canopy just above the metal worm. He launched himself straight up, demolishing part of the metal web on the way before throwing himself down at the worm, hammer-first¡ª


    ¡ªonly to be suddenly knocked aside by the dragon¡¯s tail as it launched itself from the pool below.


    ¡°What?!¡± the Forcetechnic exclaimed just as Dav¨ªdrius launched himself from the edge of the water and caught Christean¨¦ mid-fall before catching himself on the tree, stabbing his saber into the bark and hanging from it.


    ¡°I thought I destroyed that thing!?¡± the Master Lieutenant questioned with a scowl.


    ¡°Of course this wouldn¡¯t be easy¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed irately. ¡°The hell are we even supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°Well, first we ought to destroy that Faraday cage up in the canopy, so Siyuak¨¦n can just shock everything,¡± Christean¨¦ suggested. ¡°¡­Hang on.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned apprehensively as the Forcetechnic let himself drop and then grabbed Dav¨ªdrius by the leg, where he began swinging himself back and forth. Then, at the apex of one of the swings, he launched his hammer upwards, dragging both himself and Dav¨ªdrius through the air.


    Spotting the two Introtechnics, Kev¨¦rin quickly diverted the dragon¡¯s attention with another blast of fire before creating two blades of flame on his wrists and throwing himself at the creature. He stabbed into the dragon¡¯s chest and then flared the blades, cleanly incinerating the dragon¡¯s guts before falling away and blasting back toward the tree, where he kept a cautious eye on the creature as it fell again into the water below.


    Above him, Siyuak¨¦n swung around the tree ¡ª and then suddenly changed her direction with a quick grapple firing, successfully evading several metallic missiles and launching herself at the tree worm. She immediately diverted to the side by firing her other grappling hook, barely scraping by the metallic creature as she zapped it, thereby blowing off one of its arms. She danced nimbly around its base as it attempted to grab her with its remaining arm, offering multiple shocks all the way ¡ª until the bark below her feet lurched, tripping her up and allowing the worm¡¯s arm to wrap around, grab her by her wrists, and hang her directly in front of the creature. A hole slowly cracked open in its chest as it brought her closer, as if to eat her.


    But it had no chance ¡ª Kev¨¦rin rocketed himself upwards and blasted the final arm off of the creature, freeing Siyuak¨¦n to shove a lightning strike down the worm¡¯s maw as she flipped through the air and prepared to swing off again. Just as she fired her grappling hook, however, the dragon burst from the water below, flying straight up and snatching the Pyro- and Electrotechnic out of the air with its claws. It slammed them both into the tree and then backed off, with the two dazed Chaotics unable to take advantage of the lull. But before the dragon could do anything else, Dav¨ªdrius leaped down from above, shoving both of his rapiers into the creature¡¯s neck before whipping out his sabers to cleanly slice off the dragon¡¯s arms and then its head. He quickly sheathed his sabers, grabbed his rapiers, and leaped back up to the canopy as Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n freed themselves and followed him upward, allowing the dragon to once again fall into the water below.


    ¡°It keeps regenerating¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered once the three Chaotics were gathered on one of the lower branches.


    ¡°It must be that water,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested. ¡°There must be something in the water that can heal it¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re the Electrotechnic here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out, ¡°can¡¯t you just shock the whole thing and be over with it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± she responded, ¡°but we shouldn¡¯t let ourselves get distracted by the dragon. We still need to take down the tree¡­¡±


    She trailed off as another segment of the metal canopy-webbing collapsed into the water below, followed shortly by Christean¨¦, who smashed his hammer down on the front of the metal worm, obliterating its entire front. He caught himself at the base of the worm and smashed his hammer into it again, ripping it from its foundations and sending it toppling to the water below.


    ¡°¡­Or we could do that.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked before launching himself down toward Christean¨¦. Kev¨¦rin quickly followed, and then Siyuak¨¦n. After swinging once, she released her grappling hook as she swung toward the tree ¡ª and was snatched out of the air as the dragon blasted out of the water at before-unseen speeds and intercepted the grappling hook with its jaw. It then dove straight down, dragging the Electrotechnic with it as it disappeared into the water below. Due to the shock of the sudden direction change, Siyuak¨¦n was barely able to register that she was midair before she came within meters of the water¡¯s surface ¡ª and suddenly began slamming through dozens of thin ice shields, her grappling line severed. Her descent speed rapidly slowed until she landed on a final, floating ice platform, merely bruised all over as opposed to utterly crushed against the surface of the water, or whatever demise might have befallen her below it.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!!¡±


    ¡°Rebehka?!¡± the Electrotechnic exclaimed, quickly stumbling to her feet as a light skinned woman with long black hair jumped down from the top of the tree valley, freezing the water just before she landed on it. She immediately ran over to her friend, freezing the water the whole way before leaping at Siyuak¨¦n in a giant bear hug.


    Christean¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, and Kev¨¦rin all stared down from above. ¡°That uniform¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered, eying the newcomer¡¯s short white sleeves, forest green shirt and pants, and brown shoes. ¡°It¡¯s the same as Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s. So¡­ ¡° He turned toward Christean¨¦. ¡°That¡¯s Rebehka?¡±


    Christean¨¦ smirked. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s Rebehka.¡±


    ¡°Mm¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°Well it¡¯s nice that they¡¯re friends and all, but we are still in the middle of a fight here¡ª!?¡±


    A deafening, metallic screech interrupted him, the sheer volume prompting the three men to reflexively clasp their ears in pain. Dav¨ªdrius recovered the fastest and immediately began searching for the source of the sound ¡ª just as all of the metal hive structures, which had previously been hanging dormant from the lowest canopy levels, dropped into the water below. Shortly after, the entire tree began to rumble, prompting the three men to throw themselves from the branches as Rebehka caught them all with ice platforms.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion, CO of Hero Machina, nice to meet you,¡± Kev¨¦rin rapidly greeted Rebehka, ¡°now freeze the water!!¡±


    ¡°Ah, right!¡± she responded, immediately freezing the entire surface of the large water pool ¡ª and then freezing the deeper contents. And then, for good measure, she froze the large tree as well, encasing it in several centimeters of ice.


    ¡°...How the¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin blinked, astounded.


    ¡°What? You told me to freeze the water,¡± Rebehka replied.


    ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­ wow.¡± The Pyrotechnic whistled in awe. ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t expect you to be quite so¡­ thorough.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, thank you!¡± The Cryotechnic grinned.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be it, though,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°as impressive as that was, the worm thing already broke out of ice once, and who knows what was about to happen after all that rumbling¡­¡± He trailed off as the ice surrounding the tree shattered. Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka both immediately blasted the trunk with their respective elements, generating a steam explosion that obliterated the tree and rained pieces of wood and metallic debris all across the battlefield. With the massive canopy destroyed, the small valley was now exposed to the fierce rainstorm. The torrential downpour quickly beat down the steam, revealing that there was no tree left behind¡­


    ¡­and in its place was a giant five-tailed, spike-backed wolf-like metallic creature!


    ¡°The hell?!¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°They just keep gettin¡¯ weirder!¡±


    ¡°This must mean we¡¯re close!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°if we broke the tree¡­ it must be almost dead!¡±


    ¡°Or that tree was a cocoon and we just released the monster inside,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered.


    ¡°Quite the optimist, aren¡¯t we,¡± Rebehka quipped.


    ¡°We can¡¯t all be happy little damsels in distress, now can we?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Damsel in distress?¡¯ Excuse me, but I¡¯m hardly¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Hey, stop arguing ¡ª here it comes!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed as he began lobbing fireballs. The huge creature charged them head on as it opened its mouth, revealing building flames inside ¡ª until an unexpected blast of energy knocked it to the side. Another lightning-like strike of purple energy hit the creature as several snapping noises were heard from above ¡ª and then an incredible number of broken branches and wet leaves rained down on top of the beast.


    ¡°The canopy¡¯s broken and the forest is clear! For now¡­¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed as he jumped down next to the rest of Hero Machina, branches and leaves falling to the ground all around him. ¡°Everything just sorta¡­ collapsed, two minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°What is that?!¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as she slid over to the group shortly after the Chaostechnic.


    ¡°I¡­ may be able to answer that¡­¡± Rebehka answered uneasily, ¡°¡­but after we¡¯re done here.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Dav¨ªdrius nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Now let¡¯s take care of that thing!¡± He immediately dashed off toward the metallic creature ¡ª or attempted to, at least. Instead of actually taking off, he slipped on the wet ice and crashed face-first into the ground. Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis quickly jumped forward to block the fallen Velocitechnic from the charging creature, drawing its attention with a combination of flame and chaos attacks. Meanwhile, the Tres¨¦dian stumbled back to a standing position and turned to glare at Rebehka.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not my fault that ice is low friction,¡± she responded defensively.


    ¡°The two of us can handle that thing anyways, I¡¯m sure,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added before firing a grappling hook at the foliage sitting up at the edge of the valley and using it to swing off, with Rebehka quickly skating after her across the ice.


    Dav¨ªdrius glared after them. ¡°And I thought just Siyuak¨¦n was annoying¡­¡±


    ¡°Relax, they aren¡¯t actually that bad,¡± Christean¨¦ replied as he slapped the Tres¨¦dian on the shoulder, inadvertently sending them both sliding away from each other.


    ¡°The fuck, man?!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ oops.¡±


    ¡°Tch. I¡¯m outta here.¡± Dav¨ªdrius drew one of his rapiers and stabbed it into the ice, using it as a springboard to launch himself up to the edge of the valley.


    ¡°Hey, wait a minute!¡± Christean¨¦ called after him, ¡°are you just going to leave me here?!¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like a bad idea¡­¡±


    ¡°What?! No, that¡¯s a terrible idea! I¡¯m just as useless on ice as you are!¡±


    ¡°Useless? Hey, I could save myself. Do the same.¡±


    ¡°This is a horrible way to start a friendship¡­¡±


    ¡°What friendship?¡±


    The two Chaotics were startled out of their bickering by the sound of an explosion across the ice arena. Out of the smoke tumbled Kev¨¦rin, who hit the ice hard before jumping back to his feet just in time to evade being smashed by one of the creature¡¯s tails. He then jumped back into the air, hovering a safe distance from the rapidly-dissipating smoke as Siyuak¨¦n dived past him, her palms sparking with electricity. Rebehka quickly raised an ice shield to block one of the creature¡¯s attacks, allowing Siyuak¨¦n to slide under the creature¡¯s belly and unleash all of her charged-up electricity, scarring and stunning the beast. As soon as she emerged from the other side, Kievkenalis dived under the creature in the other direction, directing his hands toward the beast¡¯s belly and shouting, ¡°Chaos Cannon!¡±


    A sphere of Chaos Energy ripped clear through the monster¡¯s stomach and disappeared into the dark rainy sky, but the damage didn¡¯t slow the beast down. It stabbed its tails into the ice to anchor itself and then launched itself forward, nearly bowling over Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n in the process. Rebehka quickly raised the ice in front of the two Chaotics like a ramp, sending the monster flying through the air uncontrollably. Kev¨¦rin took advantage of the opportunity to continually blast it with fire until it crashed into the ground and then slid into the wall of the small valley. It immediately jumped to its feet and returned fire with several fireballs, which Kievkenalis easily deflected with Chaos Deflect. The Chaostechnic followed up with several Chaos Strikes, each briefly stunning the creature, but it still managed to evade a lightning blast from Siyuak¨¦n. A pillar of ice suddenly rose beneath the creature, flinging it into the air ¡ª where it withdrew its tails into its body and sprouted two pairs of wings instead.


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed incredulously, ¡°really?!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Cannon! Chaos Cannon!¡± Kievkenalis shouted, directing the resulting energy projectiles at the creature as it began rising into the air. ¡°It¡¯s getting away!¡±


    ¡°This is ridiculous,¡± the Pyrotechnic growled and then launched himself into the air to engage the large monster. He fired several fireballs at it before flying close himself, his fists enveloped in flame. With a roar, the creature suddenly spun around and whacked Kev¨¦rin with its wings, but the Pyrotechnic managed to whip himself around and create two flame swords extending from his hands just in time to stab and shred two of its wings. He followed with several blasts of fire to redirect himself up through the air, evading the creature¡¯s own attacks the whole way. After simply flying around for a couple seconds, Kev¨¦rin finally responded with a blast wave, sending the creature recoiling. He then moved a little to the side and caused a burst of light, drawing the monster¡¯s attention back to him. Just as it moved to attack again, however, Dav¨ªdrius slammed into its jaw rapier-first, using the weapon to pin the creature¡¯s maw shut. He then leaped to the creature¡¯s back, stabbing one of his sabers in to stabilize himself before slicing off all of the wings and stabbing his other saber into the back of the creature¡¯s head. Yet the monster still did not yield ¡ª it thrashed violently, attempting to throw the Velocitechnic off of its back as it ripped its mouth open and began again to attack Kev¨¦rin. The Pyrotechnic was about to respond with his own flames when Dav¨ªdrius leaped off of the creature¡¯s back ¡ª just as Christean¨¦ rocketed by. The Forcetechnic yanked his battlehammer down out of the air, grabbed it, and whirled around midair to slam it down on the creature¡¯s back, launching it straight down into the ice. It impacted with great force, crumbling most of its body ¡ª and still, it attempted to stand. With a quick prompt from Kievkenalis, Rebehka launched the Chaostechnic into the air over the creature; just as he passed over it, he shouted, ¡°Chaos¡­ Impact!!¡±


    An invisible force crashed into the monster from above, smashing it even further into the ice. Before it could attempt to move again, Rebehka super-cooled the creature¡¯s metallic segments, at which point Siyuak¨¦n stepped forward and triggered a massive lightning strike from the rainclouds above ¡ª turning the creature into a charged superconductor and wreaking havoc on its body. Shortly thereafter, Rebehka froze it through and then encased it in ice, rendering it incapable of even repairing itself.


    ¡°¡­Well,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, impressed, as he landed on the ice next to the frozen creature. He glanced over at Kaon¨¦ as she hastily crafted a rain shelter before turning his attention back to the Cryotechnic. ¡°¡­Did that do it?¡±


    ¡°¡­I think so,¡± Rebehka responded after several moments of silence. ¡°It isn¡¯t trying to move.¡±


    ¡°Chaos Detect,¡± Kievkenalis muttered, and then nodded. ¡°It isn¡¯t completely dead, but I think it¡¯s close. ¡­It looks like there¡¯s a bunch of smaller things inside, though?¡±


    ¡°Are they about to burst out?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, suddenly on guard.


    ¡°No¡­ they¡¯re too small for that. They¡¯re just as close to death as the big thing, anyways,¡± the Chaostechnic reported. ¡°Do you know what they are?¡±


    ¡°¡­Maybe,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied uneasily. ¡°Let¡¯s just say we were probably lucky things turned out like this.¡±


    ¡°Is this about whatever it was that happened on that Earthian colony?¡± Christean¨¦ asked as he and Dav¨ªdrius slowly slid over to the group.


    ¡°Yeah, but let¡¯s not talk about it here,¡± the Electrotechnic stated. ¡°We should get out of here.¡±


    ¡°I second that,¡± Rebehka quickly declared, ¡°I¡¯ve been here¡­ for far too long.¡±


    ¡°What about the rest of the research team?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked. ¡°Did they survive¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­¡± the Cryotechnic responded quietly, ¡°¡­most of them died before we even crashed. ¡­But now isn¡¯t the time for stories; I can explain more about what happened once we get out of here. I think I may be able to fill in several blanks, as far as the metallic infection, and what we just fought¡­¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get out of here already.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he glared at the pouring rain from inside Kaon¨¦¡¯s shelter and wrung the water out of his scarf. ¡°My clothes are fuckin¡¯ soaked! How the hell do y¡¯all deal with this ¡®rain¡¯ shit?!¡±


    Rebehka stared at Dav¨ªdrius for a couple moments before turning to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Is he always like this?¡±


    ¡°Sadly¡­ yes.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I can hear you, ya know.¡±


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted the impending argument and then gestured westward. ¡°Hero Machina¡­ move out¡ª!¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s past sunset already, and raining buckets,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out, ¡°shouldn¡¯t we just take shelter somewhere, and wait to ¡®move out¡¯ until morning? And when it¡¯s stopped raining?¡±


    ¡°¡­Fine,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied dejectedly, ¡°let¡¯s get back to the valley edge, and then Kaon¨¦ can build us a house or something. That better?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that makes more sense. I like it.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡ª¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, already!¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°Let¡¯s get goin¡¯¡ª!¡± he was interrupted as he tripped up and fell on the ice again.


    Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n glanced at each other, both grinning. Siyuak¨¦n quickly grabbed her friend¡¯s hand as the Cryotechnic sped them both across the ice, shouting back, ¡°race you to the edge of the valley!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The Velocitechnic snapped his attention to the two women and growled. ¡°Why, they¡ª tch!¡± He stabbed one of his sabers into the ice and used it to launch himself forward, leaving the rest of the group behind ¡ª but not for long, as Kaon¨¦ quickly sped forward herself, using her control over matter to manipulate the ice underfoot. Kievkenalis quickly sped off too, using a quick call of ¡°Chaos Cannon¡± to launch himself forward.


    ¡°¡­Uh, help?¡± Christean¨¦ grinned meekly at Kev¨¦rin.


    The Pyrotechnic sighed as he gave the Forcetechnic a shove forwards. He shook his head warily before flying forward himself, muttering, ¡°Hero Machina, move out¡­¡±

 20 - Rising Importance

    Chapter 20 - Rising Importance


    3 Days Later


    ¡°Sorry for getting off on the wrong foot the other day. I¡¯m Rebehka Tchir¨¦on.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced up at her, and then swiveled his chair around to face her as he crossed his arms. ¡°¡¯Wrong foot,¡¯ you say?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s trying to be nice,¡± Christean¨¦ cut in from across the table, ¡°don¡¯t start a fight.¡±


    The Tres¨¦dian shot the Master Lieutenant a glare before turning back to Rebehka. ¡°¡­Hi,¡± he responded begrudgingly, ¡°I¡¯m Dav¨ªdrius Wrikax.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Kaon¨¦ Densalin,¡± Kaon¨¦ volunteered from further down the table.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Kievkenalis Yumach!¡± the Chaostechnic added.


    ¡°Glad to actually meet you all outside of battle.¡± Rebehka smiled as she walked around the table to sit in between Siyuak¨¦n and Christean¨¦.


    Silence momentarily befell the room as the Chaotics awaited their debriefing with Commander Nik¨¦yin. The team had arrived in Nimaliaka Central two days ago, but between ensuring that the Hazard Island issue had truly been taken care of and making long-term arrangements for Hero Machina¡¯s newest members, the team had yet to gather for an official debriefing ¡ª until now.


    Rebehka¡¯s attention slowly drifted back to Dav¨ªdrius as she mused over his standoffish attitude. Eventually she spoke up, ¡°if you don¡¯t mind me asking¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re a Cryotechnic,¡± the Velocitechnic preemptively replied, as though he had anticipated her question. ¡°You make ice. Ice is frictionless. I can¡¯t run on frictionless stuff. Thus ice is annoying, and so are you by proxy.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, really?¡± Christean¨¦ sighed of annoyance and shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t be so petty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Yes you are. I¡¯m an Introtechnic too, but you don¡¯t see me complaining about ice. Now stop bitching.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled, but spoke no more.


    More silence followed. Several moments later, Kaon¨¦ decided to start conversation anew. ¡°So how was everyone¡¯s weekends?¡± she asked amiably.


    ¡°Good,¡± Siyuak¨¦n answered. ¡°It was nice to take a break after two weeks of running around.¡±


    ¡°Would¡¯ve been better if Nimaliaka had any decent alcohol,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped.


    ¡°Oh be quiet,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted, ¡°you haven¡¯t been as busy as the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t drink,¡± the Master Lieutenant replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think you guys understand how East Nimaliakians work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Rebehka and I know all too well¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed.


    Christean¨¦ smirked. ¡°Come on, you had fun, admit it.¡±


    Kievkenalis glanced between the two in confusion. ¡°You already know each other?¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n and I spent some time in East Nimaliaka a year ago, looking into a metallic infection report,¡± Rebehka explained. ¡°Christean¨¦ was there with us.¡±


    ¡°Probably the best five days of the month,¡± the Forcetechnic added.


    Kievkenalis frowned warily. ¡°Speaking of the metallic infection, how are we going to deal with that thing back on the Hazard Islands? We can¡¯t just leave it in the ice, can we?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re here to figure out, isn¡¯t it?¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°only, the Commander is late¡­¡±


    ¡°I sent her a quick advisory shortly after we got back, apart from the mission report,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented. ¡°Hopefully the islands will have been glassed by now. The Battleship Kunaria is currently in orbit, after all¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°Will glassin¡¯ the islands really stop the¡­ whatever-it-is?¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t, then what else can we do?¡± Kev¨¦rin shrugged. ¡°We don¡¯t even know what it is we¡¯re up against, exactly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Rebehka can tell us,¡± Christean¨¦ suggested as he passed the Cryotechnic a glance.


    ¡°I know some things,¡± she quickly qualified, ¡°but I¡¯ll wait to explain until the Commander gets here, so I don¡¯t have to repeat myself. I already sent a copy of the data back to Rel¨¦diaka, so hopefully they¡¯ll be able to analyze it and figure out even more while we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re from Rel¨¦diaka¡­?¡± Kievkenalis asked.


    Rebehka nodded. ¡°Yep. And you are¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from Riverana,¡± the Chaostechnic replied. ¡°¡­In fact, I had to spend my weekend debriefing my RPF CO about the Hazard Islands, and now I have to do it again¡­¡±


    ¡°I spent my weekend writing a mission report,¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled, ¡°I wish I could go back home. I haven¡¯t been there in months¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine with never goin¡¯ back to Tres¨¦d,¡± Dav¨ªdrius interjected, ¡°with the Bleeder Chaotics gone, the lot can take care of themselves just fine.¡±


    ¡°Surely there¡¯s someone you cared for,¡± Rebehka insisted. ¡°Friends? Family?¡±


    ¡°Family?¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed. ¡°¡­Mm. Guess that¡¯d be nice. Don¡¯t suppose you have a time machine, though.¡±


    ¡°Why would you need a¡ª? Oh¡­¡± the Cryotechnic trailed off sheepishly. ¡°Ah¡­ sorry?¡±


    The Tres¨¦dian shook his head. ¡°Not your fault. If there¡¯s one thing I¡¯ll give you credit for, it¡¯s your friend-pickin¡¯ sense. Siyuak¨¦n took care of the bastard responsible.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± The Electrotechnic¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°If I had known the situation with the Bleeders was like that, then I would¡¯ve understood you better¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh really now?¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled, ¡°did you really think the Bleeders drag around fucking artillery everywhere and don¡¯t score a few hits every now and then?¡± He chuckled derisively when his question was met with silence. ¡°Exactly.¡± He sat back in his chair and sighed before adding, ¡°but what¡¯s done is done. I don¡¯t need nor want your pity; in fact I¡¯d appreciate it if you all forgot this whole conversation ever happened.¡±


    ¡°Done,¡± Kev¨¦rin immediately responded, ¡°this is depressing. Let¡¯s talk about something¡­ not depressing.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Well I certainly hope this debriefing qualifies.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ quickly stood up and at attention as Commander Nik¨¦yin entered the room. She looked over the seven members of Hero Machina before bidding the Transfer Captain and Lieutenant to sit down as she did so herself. She then dropped the folder she was carrying on the table and opened it, leafing through it as she began to address the Chaotics sitting around her. ¡°Did I miss anything just now?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied flatly.


    Nik¨¦yin glanced at him curiously. ¡°I see,¡± she responded as she turned her attention back to the papers in the folder, causing the Velocitechnic to shift in his chair uncomfortably.


    ¡°So you have new faces now,¡± the Commander eventually continued, looking up at Christean¨¦, Kievkenalis, and Rebehka. ¡°That makes all seven of you. Good¡­ I admit, Tyrion, I¡¯m surprised that you pulled the group together so quickly. Three weeks is a very short period of time for forming a group like this, especially considering the short notice I gave each of your superiors.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied.


    ¡°And now to business¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin commented, ¡°Master Lieutenant Kolst¨¦n, Lieutenant Tchir¨¦on, Captain Yumach, I hope you¡¯ll forgive me for not formally welcoming you to Hero Machina and the Nimalian Systems Defense, but I¡¯m sure you all recognize the immediate danger of the situation before us, given that you were, well, there.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned warily. ¡°Was the island not glassed¡­?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand how much thought actually goes into a glassing,¡± Nik¨¦yin countered, ¡°it¡¯s an irreversible, highly destructive process. I understand your urgency, given the result of your expedition to Sunova, but this isn¡¯t a snap-and-it-happens process.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°It¡¯s just the Hazard Islands. Does anyone actually care about them?¡± He then froze as the Commander gave him the stink eye. ¡°Er¡­ sorry.¡±


    ¡°¡­You are right, though,¡± Nik¨¦yin conceded, ¡°but you could say that lack of care is actually the problem. I¡¯ve already put in a request to glass the islands, but the Kunaria and the Tekdec¨¦nian High Command don¡¯t consider the situation to be worth the ammunition.¡±


    ¡°We may have frozen the creature, but I don¡¯t know how long that ice will hold,¡± Rebehka commented, ¡°the first time I trapped it in an ice prison, it broke out after only two days. Granted, we damaged it significantly before I froze it again, but there¡¯s still the possibility it could break out again.¡±


    ¡°And then there¡¯s the possibility of the same thing that happened on Sunova happening here!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, ¡°do we really want to risk that?¡±


    ¡°Their justification is that the Kard¨¦ Ocean will contain any break-outs to the islands,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded. ¡°Look, I¡¯m on your side here. But you were the only Nimalians to witness the disaster that was Sunova ¡ª and only half of you, at that. I may be the NSD¡¯s prospective commander, but I¡¯m not in charge of the fleets yet. My word can only go so far.¡±


    ¡°What can we do, then?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    The Commander turned to Rebehka. ¡°¡­I understand you were recently part of a research expedition to the Continental Glacier. If you know anything else, please tell. I may be able to use the information to convince the Captain of the Kunaria to spend his precious bombardment rounds.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rebehka started, ¡°the¡­ expedition itself didn¡¯t learn very much. It¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve been up to the Continental Glacier, and just like every other time¡­ we couldn¡¯t find out anything. The metallic infection appears to be not even that ¡ª the research team couldn¡¯t find any pathogens in the infected animals¡¯ bodies. Except this time, the animals were much rowdier than usual; there were more break-outs than the past three years combined. So the team leader decided to release an infected animal ¡ª native to the Glacier, so it could survive on its own ¡ª and monitor what it did. Well, it went on a completely straight path toward the Hazard Islands before trying to swim and then drowning in the Kard¨¦ Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you flew over the Hazard Islands on the way back¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin commented.


    Rebehka nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. The team leader wanted to see how the infected animals would react if we brought them closer to the islands.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a terrible idea!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed.


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware that it was,¡± the Cryotechnic retorted, ¡°how do you think we crashed?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, yeah. My point.¡±


    ¡°Believe me, not everyone was on board with the idea, myself included,¡± Rebehka explained, ¡°but the team leader was adamant, and she had enough of the researchers on her side to convince the transport pilot to fly over the islands. It was a big mistake ¡ª all of the animals reacted wildly and broke out of their cages with far more strength than anyone expected. We were all caught by surprise, and¡­¡± She paused momentarily, her lips pursed. ¡°¡­The ship was already damaged and crashing before I was able to start re-capturing the animals.¡±


    ¡°And the rest of the research team?¡± Nik¨¦yin questioned.


    Rebehka looked down. ¡°¡­They didn¡¯t make it.¡±


    ¡°¡­I see,¡± the Commander responded. ¡°What happened next?¡±


    ¡°I started the distress signal. The ship had managed to crash on the edge of a crevice, so I quickly subdued the rest of the animals that hadn¡¯t died and then left the ship to see if I could find safer shelter¡­ not even a half hour later, though, the ship was suddenly attacked by a giant¡­ metal¡­ worm-like thing.¡±


    ¡°The same one that attacked us?¡± Kev¨¦rin asked.


    ¡°Maybe? Probably.¡± Rebehka shrugged. ¡°It was the thing that I trapped in the ice. But, before that ¡ª it¡­ so, I said ¡®attacked,¡¯ but I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s really the right word. It just came up to the ship and¡­ seemed to melt through it.¡±


    ¡°...It what,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°That¡¯s what it looked like,¡± the Cryotechnic affirmed with a frown. ¡°Almost like a liquid. And it absolutely cleaned out the inside of the wreck ¡ª I could tell because it melted all of the ice I had created inside. So I immediately flipped the wreck into the crevice with a slab of ice and then froze the entire area¡­ then I ran off to find some place to hide, because I started getting attacked by infected native animals. Fast forward two days, I run into all of you, and then, well¡­ here we are.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ we have the metallic infection¡­ a bunch of rowdy, infected animals that were attracted to the Hazard Islands¡­ and a giant, shape-shifting, liquid metal worm.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced around the room wearily. ¡°What does this mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not completely sure, but it could be that something was starting to reach critical mass on the islands¡­¡± Rebehka suggested.


    ¡°I checked with the researchers back in Rel¨¦diaka, and they said that they experienced increased aggression with their trapped animals as well,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added. ¡°They also said that the animals suddenly calmed down three days ago¡­ just after we disabled and froze that big creature.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we came even closer to disaster than we thought,¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered quietly.


    ¡°This is all speculative, but it is most definitely worrying,¡± Nik¨¦yin declared. ¡°I¡¯m not certain I can convince the Kunaria with this, but I¡¯m even more sold now that something needs to be done about the islands. Worst-case scenario, I merely have to wait until the NSD is formally recognized to order for a glassing... and hope that nothing happens until then.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we can just sit around now that we know this,¡± Christean¨¦ insisted, ¡°there¡¯s gotta be something we can do.¡±


    ¡°We could check out infection incidents on other planets,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested, ¡°this problem isn¡¯t just limited to Nimalia, after all.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin leaned forward, a hand on her chin in thought. ¡°¡­You raise a good point. Infection incidents have been occurring on other worlds before they started on Nimalia, correct?¡±


    Rebehka nodded. ¡°Yes, the first recorded incident on Nimalia was ten years ago, but there have been recorded incidents in the galaxy as many as fifteen years ago. I¡¯ve even heard of several incidents from up to twenty years ago, but those were all on CSA planets, and unofficial reports.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s suppose the infection didn¡¯t start on Nimalia ¡ª it would¡¯ve had to spread here somehow, either through the Interstellar Gate or spacecraft. And to get to the Hazard Islands ¡ª something must have brought it there. So here¡¯s what we can do: go through all the global shipping records and find ships that have passed by the Hazard Islands, and trace both their destination and source. Additionally, look for any natural migration patterns that might take animals over the Hazard Islands. With any luck, we can trace the infection back to the Gate or a spaceship and then continue on from there.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s ten years¡¯ worth of data to look through!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°that could take¡­ weeks! Months!¡±


    ¡°If you come up with a better idea, Transfer Captain, I¡¯d be glad to hear it,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied, ¡°but this will be far more efficient that randomly investigating infection reports out in the rest of the galaxy. Your Chaos Quake investigation will have to wait ¡ª this infection issue is far more important.¡±


    ¡°Question: how are we going to get all of the data in the first place?¡±


    ¡°I have the authority to at least obtain shipping information,¡± the Commander responded. ¡°Wrestling manifests from the RPF or SFC might be troublesome, but I¡¯ll have data to process by the end of the week, I¡¯m certain. Until then, take a break. I understand that this past weekend wasn¡¯t a very good break for some of you¡­¡± She shot Christean¨¦ a knowing glance. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to make do without ¡®decent alcohol,¡¯ however.¡±


    ¡°Uh.¡± The Master Lieutenant froze, his eyes wide. ¡°¡­You heard that? Wait¡­ if you heard that, then¡ª?¡±


    The Commander offered a knowing smirk. ¡°Just because I¡¯m not in the briefing room doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t hear what¡¯s said in the briefing room.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded quietly.


    ¡°None of you said anything worth reprimanding today, but watch your words in the future.¡± Nik¨¦yin stood up, prompting the members of Hero Machina to do the same. ¡°You are all now on leave for the next three days. Dismissed!¡±

 21 - A New Lead

    Chapter 21 - A New Lead


    1 Month Later


    ¨C Grudia, Winth 30, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°The ceiling.¡±


    Christean¨¦ stopped where he stood and gave Dav¨ªdrius a disapproving stare. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I answered your question,¡± the Tres¨¦dian quipped, ¡°it¡¯s your own damn fault if you don¡¯t like the answer.¡±


    Christean¨¦ smirked and sat down across the table from Dav¨ªdrius, dropping his lunch tray on the tabletop as he did so.


    ¡°Early lunch?¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled.


    ¡°You¡¯re here early, too.¡±


    ¡°I was here for a mid-morning snack, not so I could draw out my lunch break by an extra hour.¡±


    ¡°And how long have you been here for?¡±


    ¡°¡­An hour.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡± Christean¨¦ chuckled as he began eating. ¡°So you¡¯ve pretty much done the same thing.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Tch. As if I¡¯m actually needed. Leave the desk jobs to those who actually know what they¡¯re doin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s part of being an officer,¡± the Master Lieutenant replied between bites, ¡°and guess what you are now?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s scowl deepened as Christean¨¦ glanced at the new nameplate sewn into the Tres¨¦dian¡¯s uniform, just above his left jacket pocket. It read ¡°Lieutenant Wrikax.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for this bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you jumped straight to Lieutenant! You¡¯re lucky.¡±


    ¡°Lucky my ass. The Commander¡¯s just trying to nationalize me ¡ª apparently she ¡®pulled some strings¡¯ and now I¡¯m a Nimaliakian citizen.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡­¡±


    ¡°Considerin¡¯ it was all done without even askin¡¯ me first?¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied flatly.


    Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°I also don¡¯t like bein¡¯ told what to do.¡±


    ¡°Oh believe me, we all know that.¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡±


    Christean¨¦ smirked in response to the Tres¨¦dian¡¯s retort. ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad. At least now we don¡¯t have to go through any bullshit every time we go off-world now¡­ like with Chin¨ªka.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted as he recalled Hero Machina¡¯s brief visit to the planet a couple weeks ago. The Tier 3 Nimalian world known as ¡°Chin¨ªka¡± was one of the first planets they looked into after beginning their investigation into shipments over the Hazard Islands; Kev¨¦rin had hoped to find more information about the metallic infection, but Hero Machina ultimately returned from the planet empty-handed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet Chin¨ªka was what inspired the Commander to do all this,¡± Dav¨ªdrius eventually muttered, turning his attention back to the conversation. ¡°Nice planet, but I ain¡¯t even met any Homeworld Nimalians with such a stick up their ass about Tres¨¦dians.¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯d help if you weren¡¯t so impatient.¡±


    ¡°Look, that bastard was askin¡¯ for a rapier down his throat. I would¡¯ve been doin¡¯ Chin¨ªka a favor if you guys hadn¡¯t stopped me.¡±


    Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes. ¡°We stopped you because you would¡¯ve gotten your ass handed to you. How the fuck did you expect to beat a Velocitechnic ten years your senior?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius grunted and glanced away. ¡°¡­I¡¯m faster than him.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s had way more experience with Sword Boxes and fighting in general. Which I guess is why you convinced Rebehka to start teaching you how to actually use a sword.¡± Christean¨¦ pulled a face, as if he were disappointed. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me for help?¡±


    ¡°Tch. You know just as well as I do,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°we¡¯re both Introtechnics, sure, but the weapons we use are completely different. You use a damn hammer in battle ¡ª do you really think you could teach me swordplay?¡±


    ¡°I could try.¡±


    ¡°Could you do as well as a fencin¡¯ hobbyist?¡±


    ¡°I used to fence.¡±


    ¡°Key words: used to.¡±


    ¡°Besides, fencing isn¡¯t applicable to real battles at all!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gotta be better than nothin¡¯ though, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­Mm, maybe,¡± Christean¨¦ admitted before taking another big bite of his meal. Dav¨ªdrius sat in stubborn silence as the Master Lieutenant finished chewing and swallowed. ¡°Now, if only there were more battles to actually fight in.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed. ¡°I¡¯m with ya there. Three separate trips in the past month, two of them off-world, and we got nothin¡¯ out of it. Don¡¯t even have any real leads.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, if we¡¯re lucky, one of the others will have found a lead by the time we get back to the office.¡±


    The two Chaotics glanced at each other and then shook their heads simultaneously.


    ¡°Not happenin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right. Well, a guy can hope¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Hey, Si¡ª ¡­wait, where¡¯d everybody go?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, Kev¨¦rin.¡± Rebehka glanced up from her work as she acknowledged the captain. ¡°Kaon¨¦ and Kevken left to go check something at the Downtown office. I don¡¯t know where Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ are, though¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re probably off taking an early lunch.¡± Siyuak¨¦n rolled her eyes as she turned around in her chair, stood up, and stepped closer to Rebehka and Kev¨¦rin, who were both near the entrance to the office space set aside for Hero Machina. It was a sizable room ¡ª large enough to house seven desks, with three on one side, three on the other, and one in the back. Each desk hosted a computer monitor, interface, and some extra space to store physical papers and files; Rebehka¡¯s desk was the front left, the closest to the entrance door, while Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s was directly to her right.


    Kev¨¦rin sighed impatiently. ¡°Argh, again? Do they ever work?¡±


    ¡°Says the guy who plays AR games all day,¡± Rebehka quipped.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m the one who came up with the Bowiisen lead. ¡­Even though it didn¡¯t go anywhere¡­¡± The Transfer Captain shook his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. I just realized that it¡¯s been a whole month since we started looking for leads on this metallic infection business, but the two of you haven¡¯t even explained everything you know.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not really much else for us to even say, aside from the more technical aspects¡­¡± Rebehka responded.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Then that¡¯s what I want to know.¡± Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms as he glanced between the two women. ¡°We¡¯ve already had to fight creatures infected by the metallic infection, so if there¡¯s anything that can help in that regard¡­¡±


    ¡°In that regard, you know just as much as we do.¡± Siyuak¨¦n shrugged. ¡°I mean, I guess you wouldn¡¯t know that electricity or magnetics aren¡¯t as effective against the infection as you¡¯d think, it being metal and all, but otherwise there¡¯s not a lot to take advantage of in a fight.¡±


    ¡°Well, what about infection breakouts on other planets? Where¡¯d they happen, when did they happen, how were they handled?¡±


    Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n glanced at each other wearily. ¡°There have been a lot of incidents, both officially and unofficially recorded,¡± Rebehka stated. ¡°There¡¯s too many to list now, and there¡¯s no reason to do so, anyways. Most incidents were handled either by totally eradicating the infected animals, or by capturing and studying them, like what we do back in Rel¨¦diaka. Most organizations tend to at least make a token effort to figure out what¡¯s going on, but before Sunova, I¡¯d never heard of the infection leading to a massive breakout and forcing a full planetary evacuation...¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible that a breakout did happen, but you didn¡¯t hear about it?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, ¡°an infection outbreak like what happened on Sunova is a major galactic security issue. I doubt any government would be willing to publicly disclose a breakout incident¡­ especially the CSA.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re afraid that we¡¯re Drakkar agents, you see.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes, and then added seriously, ¡°I¡¯m actually surprised that they were so willing to let us onto a Transpace World.¡±


    ¡°What, you mean Bowiisen?¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°It¡¯s right next to Nimalian territory. Nimalians visit it all the time, of course they¡¯d let us go. I¡¯d be more surprised if they allowed us as deep into their territory as the Origin Transpace. On military business, that is.¡±


    ¡°Not with a Tres¨¦dian in our group, they won¡¯t¡­¡± Rebehka frowned warily. ¡°I know the Commander got him Nimaliakian citizenship so we won¡¯t run into those kind of problems, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°But Dav¨ªdrius himself is enough reason to not let us go anywhere?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ gotten better,¡± Siyuak¨¦n admitted, ¡°as much as it hurts to say.¡±


    ¡°Has he, though?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°I guess having Christean¨¦ around helps a little, but he¡¯s still hard on Kaon¨¦, what with her pacifism.¡±


    ¡°I meant to ask about that at some point,¡± Rebehka commented, ¡°did something happen between Dav¨ªdrius and Kaon¨¦?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°he¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible for Dav¨ªdrius and Kaon¨¦ to see eye to eye. He has an¡­ unfortunate background, but Kaon¨¦ seems pretty sheltered and inexperienced¡­¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s not true,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted, ¡°she¡¯s had plenty of experience. How else did she reach Lieutenant?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n stared at the Pyrotechnic in confusion. ¡°She¡­ wasn¡¯t conscripted as a Lieutenant?¡±


    ¡°Well, no. I mean, some Materiatechnics are conscripted as Lieutenants, but she¡¯s not a native Nimaliakian, so she had to start out at the rank of ¡®Chaotic.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why that¡¯s surprising?¡± Kev¨¦rin cocked his head in confusion. ¡°¡­I guess, now that I think about it¡­ she¡¯s a Materiatechnic, but she¡¯s not a native. There¡¯s no way one of the other nations would¡¯ve let go of a Materiatechnic unless she was part of an exchange program, but she would¡¯ve had to have been exchanged with someone in her year, which means one of us, but to trade away a Materiatechnic must mean the nation had two Chaotics, I¡¯d think, and the only nation that fits that description is¡­ Rel¨¦diaka¡­¡± He stared at Siyuak¨¦n for a moment. ¡°Wait, are you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± the Electrotechnic replied flatly.


    ¡°Then¡­ wouldn¡¯t you two have, I don¡¯t know, kept tabs on each other or something¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Wow, we¡¯ve really strayed from the original topic, haven¡¯t we,¡± Rebehka observed, ¡°what was the last thing ¡ª right, about the CSA not letting us go anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly, oblivious to the quick glance that the two women exchanged. ¡°¡­Well, it could present an issue if we come across information leading us deeper into CSA space.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a world accessible only by ship, at least,¡± Rebehka pointed out, ¡°I think they should be more lenient about Interstellar Gate travel. But, even then, getting through their security will be annoying, since they¡¯re in a perpetual war state.¡±


    ¡°With the Drakkars, right¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°The Drakkars and the CSA have been at war for ages, and neither of them have gained any real ground¡­ I doubt that will change anytime soon. But ¡ª I just had a thought, have you heard anything about the metallic infection from non-CSA space? Drakkars? The Taizen races? The unsettled arm between Dra¡¯kis and Taizen space, maybe?¡±


    ¡°We barely have any information from the CSA, who ¡ª despite their jockeying ¡ª are still our allies, and heavily document everything that happens in their space. Do you really think we¡¯d have any information from any other area?¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted. ¡°The Drakkars are super-advanced, but they¡¯re our enemies. Of course we wouldn¡¯t hear anything from them. And unsettled territory is exactly that: unsettled. We can¡¯t learn anything from people who aren¡¯t there. And the Taizen races? They¡¯re too busy with their own thousand-year war to bother telling us about something as seemingly trivial as the metallic infection.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to snap¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°but I guess you¡¯re right. The Riaxen destroyed all of their Gates anyways, and nothing gets past their Transpaces, so I don¡¯t think the infection could have spread or come from their space. And the Syraus aren¡¯t much different¡­¡±


    ¡°Their space might become even more dangerous soon, though,¡± Rebehka pointed out.


    ¡°Huh? Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, the current Riaxen leader has fallen ill¡­ or something like that. Which means they¡¯ll probably have a new leader soon, which means they¡¯ll suddenly be way more aggressive.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s hoping we don¡¯t get sucked into that,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented.


    Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°There¡¯s war everywhere¡­ why does the rest of the galaxy have to be so hostile?¡±


    ¡°The Earthians aren¡¯t,¡± Rebehka offered.


    ¡°Yeah, they aren¡¯t hostile, they¡¯re just really quick to shy away from any kind of attention or responsibility,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a completely terrible idea,¡± Siyuak¨¦n refuted, ¡°they¡¯re not as advanced as the rest of the galaxy, and they have no Transpaces, so as long as they lay low they shouldn¡¯t have any trouble. Nimalian territory, on the other hand, is sandwiched between war-torn allies. If either one falls, we¡¯re as good as gone¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least we got the Master Ayas from the Earthians, right?¡± Rebehka commented in a much lighter tone.


    ¡°Which makes me wonder where the other eight Ayas are,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°the Master Ayas, found first? No way.¡±


    ¡°Well what do you want us to do, look for the Ayas, too?¡± Rebehka questioned, ¡°how would we even do that? We have Chaos Energy sensors, sure, but none that work on a galactic scale, or that would even be able to pinpoint something as small as the Chaos Ayas.¡±


    ¡°We might come across some of them during our investigation into the metallic infection,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated, ¡°¡­which brings us back to the original topic.¡±


    ¡°¡­We¡¯ve talked about pretty much everything that¡¯s not the infection, huh.¡± Rebehka smirked in self-amusement.


    ¡°So you two really don¡¯t know anything else?¡± Kev¨¦rin scratched his head, confused.


    ¡°We don¡¯t, sorry,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied, ¡°nothing that will be too useful at least. We know rough timestamps, like ten years ago, fifteen years ago, twenty¡­ but without anything more specific¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not much help¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed, and then glanced at the time. ¡°Oh, well what do you know. It¡¯s almost time for lunch!¡±


    ¡°Oh, good,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded as Rebehka stood up next to her and the three Chaotics made for the exit, ¡°I could really use a break¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Kevken¡­¡±


    ¡°Just gimme a few more minutes,¡± the Chaostechnic replied nonchalantly, ¡°I think I¡¯m onto something here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you said half an hour ago,¡± Kaon¨¦ pouted, ¡°but it¡¯s time for lunch now!¡±


    ¡°Just¡ª just hold on,¡± he responded without looking up from the console he was working at. ¡°Er, go on without me, actually.¡±


    The Materiatechnic sighed impatiently before walking around the console and staring at the screen. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    ¡°I managed to get some RPF espionage data on the SFC, and some of it points to information we might be interested in¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ what? SFC?¡±


    ¡°The Stealth and Force Corps,¡± Kievkenalis replied, ¡°they¡¯re the second largest private military in Riverana, behind the RPF ¡ª the Riverana Protection Force. They¡¯re a little sketchier though, so the RPF likes to keep tabs on them by spying¡­ er.¡± He passed Kaon¨¦ a worried glance. ¡°¡­You¡¯re not supposed to know that.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded patronizingly. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you even have the authority to access that kind of information.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well that¡¯s easy. I¡¯m a Chaostechnic ¡ª a tier three Chaostechnic, at that. They let me do almost whatever I want.¡± He glanced up when Kaon¨¦ didn¡¯t respond, only to catch her staring at him incredulously. ¡°¡­You don¡¯t get to do whatever you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Chaostechnic,¡± Kaon¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re a Materiatechnic. That¡¯s one of the big three, right?¡± Kievkenalis questioned. ¡°Chaostechnism, Materiatechnism, Navitastechnism?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ shook her head wearily. ¡°Never mind. What have you found?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± He turned back toward the console. ¡°Well, the SFC usually sends and receives shipments by sending ships up over the Continental Glacier and then taking off into space from there, where the planet¡¯s magnetic field makes it a little harder to scan down ships. This puts most of the shipping over or near the Hazard Islands, you know? So I decided to look into that.¡±


    ¡°What did you find?¡±


    ¡°A shipment from the Black Suns,¡± Kievkenalis replied as he turned to face Kaon¨¦ again. ¡°And not just a general shipment ¡ª it was under the name of the former Sector 2 Master General, Temlar Sakthye.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ does sound a little suspicious, I guess,¡± Kaon¨¦ mused, ¡°but Nimalian militaries commission things from the Black Suns all the time.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but never directly from a Master General,¡± Kievkenalis refuted, ¡°and that¡¯s not the only suspicious thing ¡ª according to the logs, the transport ship ran into an RPF blockade over the Kard¨¦ Ocean and covertly dropped some of its cargo to pass the mass check. That was about 200 kilometers east of the Hazard Islands.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that does sound pretty fishy,¡± Kaon¨¦ agreed, ¡°but for it to actually be what we want, it has to be over ten years ago, right? Since the first metallic infection reports on Nimalia were from around ten years ago.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s the thing ¡ª this shipment went through almost exactly ten years ago, in the spring of 8024 ¡ª just in time for the decennial ocean event that sweeps debris from the eastern Kard¨¦ Ocean toward the Hazard Islands!¡±


    ¡°¡­Wow,¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked, ¡°that sounds exactly like what we¡¯re looking for! Where did the shipment come from?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, I think this might be where the problem is.¡± Kievkenalis frowned warily. ¡°The shipment origin is in CSA space ¡ª an abandoned Tier 5 Citan World, named Teghica.¡±

 22 - Convenient Vacancy

    Chapter 22 - Convenient Vacancy


    3 Days Later


    ¡°Gate activation in ten minutes. Outbound to Teghica.¡±


    ¡°Alright, quick review¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin turned toward the rest of Hero Machina shortly after the loudspeaker announcement. ¡°We¡¯re going to an abandoned Tier 5 Citan planet named Teghica to hunt down a possible connection to the metallic infection. Teghica¡¯s Interstellar Gate is housed in a secondary outpost; I know that the primary outpost is somewhere eastward of the Gate, but the exact location is unknown. So we need to find it, search every last corner, and then get back to the Gate in time for the next window back here, to Damunin. Then we can get back to the comfort of Nimalia.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of comfort¡­¡± Christean¨¦ scowled as he glanced down at his clothing, and then at the outfits of the rest of the squad. Their normal uniforms were replaced by beige- and sand-colored desert gear that covered every inch of their bodies, save their faces. ¡°Is there any particular reason we had to change out of our nice, fitted uniforms into these desert rags?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re goin¡¯ to be on a desert planet for twenty-four hours at most and you¡¯re already complainin¡¯?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted derisively. ¡°You¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°Says you, but you never had to change in the first place,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted before turning back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°I mean, I guess I understand needing to cover all your skin in a desert, but weren¡¯t our uniforms just fine?¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s the part even I didn¡¯t learn about until we got here.¡± The Transfer Captain sighed warily. ¡°Teghica is an abandoned Citan colony, but it was still a Citan colony once, you know? The Commander said that Teghica isn¡¯t a part of the Citan Observation Network anymore, but because we¡¯re not sure if we have the time to wait for the months or years that it would take to formally request a visit, we¡¯re going in unauthorized.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, uh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned uneasily. ¡°¡­That doesn¡¯t sound good.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Kievkenalis assured, ¡°the Citans are long gone. I think it¡¯s just the Black Suns who we¡¯ll have to worry about.¡±


    ¡°And if we do meet any Black Suns mercenaries, don¡¯t let on that we¡¯re from Nimalia,¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly asserted. ¡°Just, uh¡­ try not to run into any?¡±


    ¡°And if we do?¡± Rebehka pressed.


    ¡°¡­Run away?¡±


    ¡°Sounds legit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°Whatever you do, try not to start any fights,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered, just as the platform the seven Chaotics were standing on jolted and began descending. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s almost time to go. But listen, we really can¡¯t afford to piss off the Citans or the Black Suns, alright?¡±


    ¡°If its stealth and subterfuge that you want, I think you picked the wrong group,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out.


    ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯re the only ones investigating the metallic infection, so¡­¡± The Transfer Captain paused as the platform suddenly stopped and two blast doors opened sideways, revealing the Interstellar Gate standing twenty meters away in the middle of a large, heavily fortified room.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ Fortress World¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered, ¡°really, what¡¯s the point of all this? Don¡¯t Gates have a blockin¡¯ mechanism?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all precaution,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°militaries love caution, after all.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then they wouldn¡¯t be sending us to a random-ass backwater planet on a ¡®stealth¡¯ mission,¡± Christean¨¦ countered. ¡°For better or for worse, ¡®caution¡¯ isn¡¯t really our specialty.¡±


    ¡°¡­Fuck all y¡¯all,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled when he noticed several of the others glance his way.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± Kev¨¦rin began walking toward the Gate as the emptiness within the ring rapidly filled with a pitch-black, opaque film. Hero Machina closed the distance between them and the Gate and, after receiving clearance from the control room, stepped through the event horizon. The next thing they knew, they were standing amongst the ruins of a small outpost. Everything was covered with a layer of dust and sand while the sun sat high in the sky and relentlessly beat down on the newcomers.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s stereotypical desert,¡± Christean¨¦ grumbled.


    ¡°And y¡¯all say I like to complain a lot,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    ¡°Quit it,¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected. ¡°Let¡¯s not get sidetracked. There¡¯s an outpost to find¡­¡±


    <hr>


    3 Hours Later


    ¡°I can really see why the Citans decided to abandon this place¡­¡±


    ¡°I knew it was dry, but damn.¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned as he looked down into the metal tub Kaon¨¦ had created. The tub was easily a meter tall and in diameter, but water filled only a negligible volume. The Velocitechnic turned to stare at Rebehka incredulously. ¡°Is that really all of the water in the nearby atmosphere?¡±


    ¡°We walked around the entire complex with Siyuak¨¦n while she was looking for the generator¡­¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°this is all I could get.¡±


    ¡°And this is supposed to be how we stay hydrated?¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°Did anyone actually think this through?¡±


    ¡°We can just have Kaon¨¦ transmute some water. That was always the plan, this tub thing was just to burn time,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out from his seat in front of a derelict computer console. ¡°We found the primary outpost pretty quickly, too, so we at least have shade.¡±


    Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t you complain about the temperature. We can¡¯t all use our powers as temperature regulators.¡±


    ¡°You seem pretty pissy today,¡± Dav¨ªdrius observed candidly.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Well excuse me for not being from the desert,¡± the Forcetechnic countered. ¡°Now, don¡¯t get me wrong, deserts are great for trips of all kinds. But deserts this dry suck, especially when I¡¯m forced to go and don¡¯t have anything to do except sit around on my ass.¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t even any relay points here,¡± Kaon¨¦ added.


    ¡°The Citans did abandon this place a couple centuries ago,¡± Rebehka mused, ¡°any relay points they set up would be either massively outdated or defunct.¡±


    ¡°And even if they weren¡¯t, we shouldn¡¯t connect to them,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°remember, no one¡¯s supposed to know we¡¯re here.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°We¡¯re the only ones here. There¡¯s no one to alert to our presence because the only ones within light-years of us is us!¡±


    The conversation was interrupted as the room¡¯s lights suddenly flickered on. The ventilation system quickly followed, sweeping up a large volume of dust and causing several coughing fits before Kaon¨¦ could force all of the dust into the exhaust vents.


    ¡°So, she got the generator running,¡± Rebehka commented, and then made for the room¡¯s exit. ¡°I¡¯m going to check on Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced at the leaving Cryotechnic before turning his attention to the monitor in front of him as the respective computer booted up. ¡°Huh¡­ the computers still work?¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± Christean¨¦ approached the console as well. ¡°I¡¯d heard that Citan tech was durable, but I didn¡¯t know their computers could last two whole centuries without maintenance!¡±


    ¡°Well, that may not be entirely true,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°assuming Kievkenalis was right about that shipment coming from here, the Black Suns used Teghica as their own outpost for some amount of time. For all we know, they might¡¯ve replaced all of the old computers with their own.¡± He turned to the rest of Hero Machina just as Kievkenalis arrived though the same doorway Rebehka had left through. ¡°Anyways, we have a job to do. I¡¯ll stay here and check out the computer; the rest of you, spread out and search the complex.¡±


    ¡°Why do you get to stay here?¡± Dav¨ªdrius challenged.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m the only one with an offline version of the visual translation patch.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right.¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡¯d be careful while looking around,¡± Kievkenalis spoke up, ¡°there¡¯s no one around ¡ª I checked ¡ª but the Chaos Energy in the area still feels¡­ off. Like¡­ it¡¯s too dense. There¡¯s more than there should be.¡±


    ¡°You can tell that?¡± Dav¨ªdrius raised an incredulous eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯m a Chaostechnic after all; any half-decent Chaostechnic can sense Chaos Energy,¡± the Riveranian replied.


    ¡°Do you know what could cause something like that?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Not really. But if we aren¡¯t careful, I¡¯m sure one of us could go berserk. I¡¯d suggest searching the place in pairs, at least.¡±


    The Pyrotechnic nodded. ¡°Sounds reasonable. The four of you can split up and search in pairs. You guys can handle that on your own, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re good,¡± Christean¨¦ replied before turning toward the doorway on the opposite side of the room from the one Kievkenalis and Rebehka had used. ¡°C¡¯mon, Dav¨ªdrius, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Who said¡ª?¡± The Tres¨¦dian was about to argue the point, but stopped when he realized that Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis had already left on their own. ¡°¡­Tch. Why am I always stuck with you?¡±


    ¡°Stuck with me? As if. You don¡¯t really mean that.¡±


    ¡°That attitude is exactly why I do mean it.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm. Now c¡¯mon, we¡¯ve got a base to check out.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin watched the two leave before turning back to the computer, stretching, and finally getting down to inspecting the data stored within.


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­Oh, hey.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± Rebehka greeted her friend as she stepped into the generator room. She then glanced around, puzzled, as Siyuak¨¦n was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Up here!¡±


    The Cryotechnic looked up to find the Electrotechnic hanging from the ceiling near the generator. ¡°Uh¡­ what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Just checking out the generator¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied before releasing her grappling hooks and landing in a roll next to Rebehka. ¡°Something¡¯s off about it.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Off?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Even if you consider that the Black Suns might¡¯ve been maintaining it at some point, it works far too well for something that¡¯s two hundred years old.¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°I was able to jump start it.¡±


    ¡°¡­So?¡±


    ¡°Generators aren¡¯t just huge batteries! You shouldn¡¯t be able to simply ¡®jump start¡¯ it. Something must have stopped it during operation, or¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Is this something we should be concerned about?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced back at the generator. ¡°¡­It might be. According to what I know about Citan power sources ¡ª which isn¡¯t really all that much ¡ª activating this generator should cause a feedback loop that¡¯ll eventually start up the rest of the generators, including the primary reactor buried downstairs. And with the activation of the generators¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­All of the base¡¯s defenses will power up, too,¡± Rebehka finished, and then shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re talking about two hundred-year-old tech, here. It¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t take care of, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned. ¡°I wish I could at least read the status displays though. Then we could know when the generator was last activated.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, we¡¯ll be fine.¡± Rebehka placed a reassuring hand on her friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°If you think it¡¯s important enough, I can contact Kev¨¦rin and get him to come look at it, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not that big of a deal,¡± the Electrotechnic quickly replied, ¡°as long as we¡¯re in and out, we should be fine. But if we¡¯re here longer than the next window back to Damunin, then I¡¯d prefer that someone look into this. Then again, if we¡¯re here longer than the next window, then we¡¯ve probably got more important issues to deal with¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯re probably right,¡± Rebehka admitted, ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s here to cause us trouble though. You were there when Kevken used Chaos Detect; there¡¯s no one here but us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know¡­ I just have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious, then¡­ but once we get back to Nimalia, you and I are definitely spending the next day off downtown. You need a break.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n smirked uneasily. ¡°¡­Heh, I guess I do. It¡¯s really been non-stop work for the past few weeks, huh.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s interesting, but also really tiring. I mean, it¡¯s nice that the Commander is actually trying to get to the bottom of the infection, but¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot less downtime than back in Rel¨¦diaka, I know.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been in Nimaliaka Central ¡ª the interstellar transport hub of Nimalia! ¡ª for over a month, and we¡¯ve still barely seen any of it. Talk about all work and no play¡­¡±


    ¡°You know, I heard there¡¯s actually a lot of places that offer discounts for both military and Chaotics. Pubs and museums and the like.¡±


    ¡°Really? Hmm, I wonder what they¡¯re like?...¡±


    The two continued their idle conversation as the generator hummed quietly in the background, providing power to the lights, ventilation, and other systems unknown.


    <hr>


    ¡°You¡¯re sure something¡¯s here?¡±


    Kievkenalis nodded firmly. ¡°Somewhere in this area, yeah. This is where the Chaos Energy is most dense.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned warily. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re looking for. What could even cause Chaos Energy to, uh, ¡®stick¡¯ together like this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I hope to find out,¡± the Chaostechnic replied as he rounded a corner and stopped. In his way sat a mountain of debris, filling in the hallway though the collapsed ceiling. Beyond the heap was open air; it appeared as though a corner of the building had collapsed on itself.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised more of the complex isn¡¯t like this, considering how old it all is,¡± Kaon¨¦ mused. ¡°Should we clear this out?¡±


    ¡°You go ahead. I¡¯m a little wary of using my powers without knowing what¡¯s causing the distortion.¡±


    The Materiatechnic proceeded to mash all of the debris into one mass before shoving it out of the way, as she had done several times in the past hour. However, shortly after doing so, she paused quizzically and then began peeling thin layers off of the mass, discarding each to the side.


    ¡°What are you doing?...¡± Kievkenalis questioned.


    ¡°There¡¯s something that I can¡¯t actually manipulate buried in there¡­¡± she responded cautiously, ¡°and so far there¡¯s only been one thing like that.¡± A moment later she paused, astounded. ¡°¡­Uh¡­ make that two.¡±


    The two Chaotics stared at the large, dark blue, diamond-shaped gemstone that Kaon¨¦ had just uncovered. After a moment the Materiatechnic commented, ¡°well, I guess we know what was causing the ¡®distortion¡¯ then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kievkenalis responded warily, ¡°¡­one of the Chaos Ayas¡­¡±

 23 - Deserted Discovery

    Chapter 23 - Deserted Discovery


    ¡°Wow, it really is an Ayas.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ what I said,¡± Kievkenalis responded uneasily. ¡°Did¡­ did you not understand me?¡±


    ¡°Nah, we understood you just fine,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius just refuses to believe anything anyone says.¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡± The Tres¨¦dian scowled as he turned away from the Ayas to address Christean¨¦, Kievkenalis, and Kaon¨¦. ¡°I mean, c¡¯mon. It¡¯s an Ayas. Of course I¡¯d be a li¡¯l skeptical when you call us from across the complex, claimin¡¯ that you found one of nine objects that disappeared without a trace twenty fuckin¡¯ years ago.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Earthians find the Master Ayas like this?¡± the Chaostechnic questioned.


    ¡°That on its own was pretty unbelievable,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, ¡°I mean, of all the places for an Ayas to show up again, it¡¯s an Earthian colony? Just look at a map of the galaxy. Two thirds of the place is claimed by the Drakkars or the CSA, but the Earthians have practically nothin¡¯. How they stumbled across the Master Ayas is beyond me.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s not really relevant to us finding this Ayas anyway,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out, ¡°if you¡¯re trying to say that most of the Ayas would be in Drakkar or CSA space, well, guess where we are now?¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± The Velocitechnic glared at the Master Lieutenant before turning back to the Ayas. ¡°Alright, so we found this thing. I guess we should take it back with us.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª!¡± Kievkenalis quickly exclaimed, but not before Dav¨ªdrius had sped over to the blue gemstone and scooped it up off the floor.


    The Tres¨¦dian glanced at the Chaostechnic and blinked twice before responding slowly, ¡°¡­what?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a Chaos Ayas!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°you should be more careful with it!¡±


    ¡°Nothin¡¯ happened when I picked up the Master Ayas back on Sunova¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, when the Earthians first picked it up, something did happen,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out.


    ¡°¡­Hmph. That was the Master Ayas, this is just a regular one.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s it gonna do, send me berserk?¡±


    ¡°It could have, yes,¡± Kievkenalis replied tersely.


    ¡°Oh. Well why didn¡¯t you warn me then?!¡±


    ¡°I did! I tried! But you were too fast!¡±


    ¡°Damn right I¡¯m too fast.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, really?¡± Christean¨¦ crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°Cut the shit.¡±


    The Velocitechnic scowled, but didn¡¯t respond further.


    Christean¨¦ turned back to Kievkenalis. ¡°What¡¯s up with this Ayas? What makes it so special?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Dark Blue Ayas, Hastryth,¡± the Chaostechnic replied, ¡°it¡¯s not dark blue just to be dark. It actually means something.¡±


    ¡°Wait, hold on,¡± Kaon¨¦ interrupted, ¡°¡¯Hastryth?¡¯ What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, I guess that¡¯s not something you guys would know.¡± Kievkenalis scratched the back of his neck uneasily. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ usually kept to Riveranians. Particularly Archon¨¦s.¡±


    ¡°What, could you get in trouble for talking about this?¡± Christean¨¦ replied incredulously.


    ¡°Well¡­ not really.¡±


    ¡°Then just tell us. Explain everything.¡±


    Kievkenalis sighed. ¡°¡­According to the Oraculm¡ª¡±


    ¡°Aw, this again?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled.


    ¡°Just let him talk, we can discuss whether or not we believe it all when he¡¯s done.¡± Christean¨¦ turned back to Kievkenalis. ¡°Please, continue.¡±


    ¡°¡­Anyways,¡± Kievkenalis continued uneasily, ¡°according to the Oraculm, each of the Ayas have their own name and a related weapon¡ª¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius instantly perked up, his interest piqued. ¡°What? A weapon? How do I¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, shut up,¡± Christean¨¦ snapped.


    The Velocitechnic pursed his lips before crossing his arms. ¡°¡­Sorry.¡±


    Kievkenalis gave Dav¨ªdrius a wary glance before commenting, ¡°see, this is why I¡¯m concerned about this Ayas. The nine Ayas are split into three groups ¡ª the Master Ayas, the Light Ayas, and the Dark Ayas¡­ and the one you¡¯re holding, Hastryth? It¡¯s one of the Dark Ayas.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ what, does it have some ¡®corrupting influence¡¯ or some shit?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does.¡±


    ¡°Oh. ¡­Well, I mean, c¡¯mon, if any of us are resistant to a corruptin¡¯ influence it¡¯d be me, right?¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted and immediately began laughing. ¡°Ahahahaha! You? Resistant to corruption?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way: I¡¯ve got less to lose, and not as far to fall, than pretty much anyone else here.¡±


    ¡°How does that mean you¡¯re resistant?!¡± Kievkenalis questioned incredulously.


    ¡°It means I know what temptation feels like. Makes me better equipped to deal with it. Just relax, I¡¯m sure I can handle it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted. ¡°Just, explain the name and weapon part.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ well, as I said, according to the Oraculm, each of the Ayas has a name and associated weapon. The Ayas that you¡¯re holding, the Dark Blue Ayas, is Hastryth. The Master Ayas is Syn.¡±


    ¡°What about the weapons?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know much about the weapons.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°To the best of my knowledge, Riveranians are probably the only ones in the entire galaxy who even know that the weapons exist. They¡¯re only mentioned in the Oraculm, and I¡¯ve never heard of the CSA ever using the weapons while they had the Ayas. They¡¯re not something you¡¯d be able to use if you didn¡¯t know that you could.¡±


    ¡°Well, how can I?¡± Dav¨ªdrius pressed.


    ¡°Uh¡­ try¡­ thinking about it?¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°You don¡¯t even know?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not the Archon¨¦,¡± Kievkenalis replied defensively, ¡°I only know so much.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can try anyways¡­¡± The Velocitechnic paused, as if concentrating ¡ª and a moment later, an ornate blue and black handle appeared in his unoccupied hand. A glowing, metallic tether then appeared, connected to the end of the handle, and more tether length continued materializing for almost two meters before a large, curved blade with a small handle suddenly materialized at the other end of the tether. ¡°Whoa¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned, depositing the Ayas in one of his jacket pockets before leaning over and grabbing the blade by its handle. ¡°This is great!¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Looks like a¡­ kind of whip weapon,¡± Christean¨¦ observed, ¡°only, with a massive blade at its end.¡±


    ¡°So I can just summon this at will?¡± Dav¨ªdrius looked over at Kievkenalis.


    ¡°I¡­ guess? Like I said, I don¡¯t know that much about the weapons,¡± the Chaostechnic replied.


    Dav¨ªdrius paused for a moment ¡ª and then the weapon seemed to disintegrate and immediately disappear. A moment later the weapon rematerialized in his hands. ¡°Haha, alright!¡± He pumped his fist. ¡°This is great!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too attached to it,¡± Kaon¨¦ cautioned, ¡°I¡¯m sure the Commander will end up taking the Ayas off your hands.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius waved her off as he allowed the weapon to dematerialize. ¡°Anyways, we have the Ayas now. We should probably get back to lookin¡¯ for any signs of recent activity.¡± He whirled around on his heel and began marching down the hallway. ¡°Hey, Christean¨¦, c¡¯mon!¡±


    ¡°Huh?... I mean, hey, wait! Slow down!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis watched the two leave and then glanced at each other uneasily. Eventually Kaon¨¦ shrugged. ¡°If there¡¯s a lesson for Dav¨ªdrius to learn, he¡¯s going to have to learn it himself, I guess.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess,¡± Kievkenalis responded slowly, and then shook his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Anyways, he¡¯s right. Let¡¯s get back to searching the complex.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Whoa ¡ª wait a minute¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Rebehka cocked her head in confusion as Siyuak¨¦n turned her attention back to the generator. ¡°¡­What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°There was a sudden spike in the power draw,¡± the Electrotechnic replied, ¡°something big must¡¯ve just come online.¡±


    ¡°The base¡¯s defenses, maybe?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned uneasily. ¡°The power draw of the defenses should be balanced by the activation of the other generators. And even then, this much power¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of power draw are we talking about? What can it do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Power¡­ a lot of guns? A lot of mechs? I guess I don¡¯t actually know.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s probably all going to base defenses, right? So you¡¯re probably right: guns, automated defense mechs, maybe emergency transmitters¡­ we should probably tell Kev¨¦rin about this.¡±


    ¡°I guess. Though, it¡¯s still probably nothing we can¡¯t handle, right? I mean, worst case scenario, the base is also equipped with¡­ CENT¡­ ¡­fields¡­¡±


    The two Chaotics glanced at each other uneasily.


    ¡°¡­Yeah, we should contact Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡±


    Rebehka turned away and held a hand over her ear. ¡°Command: contact Kev¨¦rin Tyrion.¡± She paused for a moment before repeating, ¡°command: contact Kev¨¦rin Tyrion.¡±


    ¡°¡­Something wrong?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned when the Cryotechnic removed her glasses and began staring at them oddly.


    ¡°Command: contact Kev¨¦rin Tyrion,¡± Rebehka tried again after putting her glasses back on, and then shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s weird. I can¡¯t reach Kev¨¦rin. My glasses claim that there¡¯s no nearby local connections, which is wrong, unless everyone else went back to the Gate, or¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Or this place also has communication jammers.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is fantastic.¡± Rebehka sighed in irritation. ¡°I think we¡¯ve underestimated the Citans¡­¡±


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, ¡°Teghica is a desert planet, and it¡¯s in frontier territory, at that. The Citans themselves abandoned the place. And even if they hadn¡¯t, comm jammers inside their own base? Really? Why put in so many defenses?¡±


    ¡°¡­We did just walk in the front door and start messing around,¡± Rebehka pointed out. ¡°All those defenses are probably meant for people like us.¡±


    ¡°¡­True.¡±


    ¡°We should head back to the rendezvous point, then. Hopefully we can meet up with everyone else there.¡±


    ¡°I agree. This place is more dangerous than we thought¡­ let¡¯s get going.¡±


    <hr>


    Ah, finally. Damn, even old Citan systems are hard to crack¡­


    Kev¨¦rin took a moment to stretch before returning his attention to the computer in front of him. Ever since the rest of Hero Machina split up to investigate the abandoned complex two hours ago, the Transfer Captain had been busy attempting to break into the Citan computer systems. He was lucky that the complex was two centuries old ¡ª if he had been up against modern Citan technology, he wouldn¡¯t have had a chance.


    Alright, let¡¯s see what we have here, he thought to himself as he began rifling through the files and data that he could access. Base routines¡­ maps of Citan space¡­ of CSA space¡­ personnel files¡­ all two hundred years old. Bah, none of this is actually useful. He paused and scratched his head as he rolled the presented data over within his mind. I wonder if there¡¯s anything here indicating Black Suns involvement¡­ whoa, what¡¯s this? Research data? Why would there be research data on an outpost like Teghica?...


    The Transfer Captain began looking through all of the presented data, ranging from results of armor prototype tests to scrapped Battleship designs. He even recognized some ship blueprints as corresponding to older Citan ships that were still in service ¡ª upon seeing these he made a mental note to copy the data, just in case anyone back on Nimalia could find it useful. Then, after nearly twenty minutes of investigating the files, he happened across a section set aside for Chaos Energy.


    Citan Chaos Energy experiments¡­ now these could actually be useful. Kev¨¦rin smirked to himself. Maybe there¡¯ll even be some information on the Chaos Ayas. Now that¡¯d be useful. Let¡¯s see, hmm¡­ wait¡­ Chaos Energy Quake?


    He paused for several moments. If the Citans abandoned Teghica two hundred years ago, then how was there any mention of the Quake, which happened only twenty years ago? ¡­The Black Suns must have downloaded this data, the Transfer Captain concluded. I¡¯ve found a link. But what kind of data on the Quake is worth storing?...


    Kev¨¦rin entered the data directory and began perusing the presented data. After a couple moments, he frowned in confusion. It¡¯s just a list of planets and timestamps. What¡¯s the timestamp for? They¡¯re all on the forty-third day of Standardized Galactic Time 10205. On the Nimalian calendar, that¡¯s¡­ Aldredath thirty-second, 8012. The day the Chaos Energy Quake began¡­ Is that what these timestamps are, then? When Chaos Energy ceased to function on each planet? He continued looking through the massive list of planets and timestamps. Hmm, it looks like the Quake wasn¡¯t instantaneous. Some planets lost the ability to access Chaos Energy later than others¡­ though the margin is only minutes. I wonder if anyone has this data for the Nimalian Territories ¡ª it doesn¡¯t look like the Citans do, not here, at least. The only planets here are worlds in the Core Space Alliance. ¡­Hmm¡­ I wonder, what would it look like if this data was overlaid on the galactic map?


    He immediately brought up a holographic representation of the galaxy on his glasses, allowing them to automatically input the data read from the computer monitor. Within a minute, the glasses had read enough data to present Kev¨¦rin an image of the galaxy, each planet marked with its respective timestamp. ¡°Command: color the galaxy with a blue to red gradient. Planets that were affected the earliest are red, planets that were affected last are blue.¡± A moment passed as his glasses processed the command and then marked the galaxy accordingly, leading the Transfer Captain to gasp in surprise. ¡°Wow¡­ the Chaos Energy Quake¡­ was radial.¡±


    He crossed his arms and mused over the data further. ¡°¡­Well, the center seems to lay outside of CSA space. It seems like they don¡¯t have quite enough data points to extrapolate the exact center on their own ¡ª their territory is offset by just too much. But¡­ if we were to get Nimalian data, and maybe even Syraus, or Earthian data¡­ we could find the center ourselves! Wow, this is probably the best lead on the Quake that anyone¡¯s ever had!¡± But right as he began to get excited, a thought returned to his mind:


    What is this data doing on a two hundred year old computer ¡ª a computer that¡¯s been long separated from the Citan Intelligence Network?


    Kev¨¦rin quickly backed out of the data directory and began searching for timestamps of the files themselves, or usage logs ¡ª anything to help determine when the machine was last used, or how the files even ended up on the machine. Eventually, he found an answer by means of the base¡¯s computer usage logs. This base was reconnected to the Citan Intelligence Network ten years ago¡­ and disconnected within a week. And almost immediately afterward, it went dark for a full two years¡­ this had to have been the Black Suns. But what were they doing here? When were they last here? His question was soon answered as he scrolled farther down the log. The most recent access date was the thirtieth day of SGT 10231. On the Nimalian calendar, that¡¯s Winth twenty-third, 8034. ¡­Ten days ago¡­


    Immediately, the Transfer Captain cupped a hand to his ear. ¡°Command: contact Kievkenalis Yumach.¡± He paused for a few seconds and frowned. ¡°Command: contact Kievkenalis Yumach. ¡­Command: contact Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n. ¡­Command: contact Rebehka Tchir¨¦on. ¡­Fuck!¡± He scowled. Comms are jammed¡­ the base¡¯s defenses must be kicking in. Consequence of sending Siyuak¨¦n to light the place up, I guess¡­ He paused for a few seconds, musing over his options before he removed his glasses and set them on top of the computer. ¡°Command: Transfer Captain unlock. Authority: Kev¨¦rin Tyrion. Setup download interface with local computer. Download everything; prioritize Chaos Energy research.¡± He then sat back and sighed as his glasses began downloading data from the computer, data that he could no longer read since it wasn¡¯t being filtered and translated by the aforementioned glasses. ¡°I may not have found a concrete connection to the Black Suns, but this data can still be of use. Time to just grab it all and get out¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know about that.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin whipped around and immediately entered a defensive stance as his eyes laid on a squad of eight soldiers entering the room. All of them wore different variants of powered armor, colored black, dark blue, and silver ¡ª the colors of the Black Suns Private Military Corporation.


    The front-most soldier stepped forward, her double-kneed legs and four fingered-hands giving her away as a member of the Dra¡¯kis race. She crossed her arms and glared down at Kev¨¦rin as the soldiers behind her trained their weapons on him. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve found the rat after our scraps,¡± she remarked with a smirk. ¡°¡­Just a Nimalian. I¡¯d almost pity you, but, well, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here to do.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin maintained his stance as he eyed the Dra¡¯kis warily. ¡°Yeah? What are you here for, then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d thought that obvious,¡± she replied nonchalantly. ¡°We¡¯re here for pest control. We¡¯re here to get rid of you.¡±

 24 - The Next Level

    Chapter 24 - The Next Level


    ¡°Get rid of me? But I didn¡¯t even do anything!¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s that?¡± The Dra¡¯kis pointed at the computer console just behind Kev¨¦rin.


    The Pyrotechnic glanced backwards uneasily and then returned his attention to the Black Suns squad. ¡°Uh, I just found some data lying around on a computer, you know?¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s data that we can¡¯t let you keep.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced at the seven soldiers standing behind the Dra¡¯kis, their weapons unwavering. ¡­Shit, they¡¯re all wearing Chaos Armor¡­ even if they aren¡¯t Chaotics, I¡¯m not sure I can win against all eight.I guess all that¡¯s left is to stall¡­ ¡°Well, I mean, okay, sure. You don¡¯t want me to keep the data. That¡¯s cool. Doesn¡¯t mean you have to get rid of me, though.¡±


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s certainly the easiest way to deal with you.¡± The Dra¡¯kis crossed her arms. ¡°The Nimalians have nothing on the Black Suns. They can¡¯t do anything to us¡­ but once they have access to the data from that console, they can. We¡¯re already feeling pressure from the Dra¡¯kis and Citans ¡ª having the Nimalian Territories on our backs would just be bothersome.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned in confusion. ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re a Dra¡¯kis. Why would¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb. Everyone knows that we Black Suns don¡¯t sympathize with our home races,¡± the Dra¡¯kis snapped. ¡°¡­Ha, you¡¯re just playing for time, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well¡ª¡±


    The Dra¡¯kis turned to four of the soldiers behind her. ¡°Split up and search the complex. There¡¯s others with him ¡ª find them and bring them here.¡± She watched as the four saluted and dashed off before turning back to the Transfer Captain. ¡°I¡¯m surprised someone of your caliber was sent here. The Nimalians are really skimping on their training, it would seem. There¡¯s no way Sike Regek or Icarisyth Anar would¡¯ve let themselves get caught like this¡­ though I guess there¡¯s a reason that they¡¯re both Master Generals, huh¡ª!?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin interrupted her speech with a spontaneous blast of fire, bathing the entire room in flame. He paused for a moment to see how the Black Suns had fared against his attack; his flames were strong, but so was the energy shielding of Chaos Armor.


    ¡°Chaos Slam!¡±


    A tremendous force suddenly impacted the Pyrotechnic, slamming him into the wall behind him. Before he even had time to fall to the ground, the Dra¡¯kis had grabbed him by the neck and slammed him back against the wall, holding him in place.


    ¡°Good try, but you can¡¯t get rid of me that easily.¡± She smirked. ¡°I¡¯d considered going easy on you, but that little trick made me change¡­ my¡­ mind¡­¡± She paused for a moment before suddenly tossing Kev¨¦rin aside and jumping backwards. Immediately afterward, she was struck by a blast of electricity, sending her stumbling to the side as Siyuak¨¦n and Rebehka dashed into the room. Kev¨¦rin took advantage of the surprise to melt the guns in the hands of the Black Suns soldiers before climbing back to his feet and stumbling back in front of the computer console.


    ¡­The data transfer isn¡¯t done yet¡­ He frowned as he inspected at his glasses. Just a little longer¡­


    ¡°¡­Damn,¡± the Dra¡¯kis cursed, glancing back at the soldiers who were quickly drawing away from the newly-molten masses of metal in their hands. She then turned back to face the three Nimalian Chaotics. ¡°...I admit, you almost had me, Cryotechnic. But your cooling was uneven and slow ¡ª I could tell what was happening before you caused any real damage.¡±


    ¡°How kind of you to point out my mistake,¡± Rebehka replied icily, ¡°I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t make it again.¡±


    ¡°Well of course you won¡¯t ¡ª you won¡¯t have a chance to. Chaos Teleport!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s eyes widened as the Dra¡¯kis disappeared into thin air. ¡°Where¡¯d she go?!¡± she exclaimed, quickly glancing about the room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but watch out,¡± Kev¨¦rin warned, grimacing as most of his body began to ache. ¡°She must be¡­ a Movement-Directed type. She used Slam on me just before you guys got here.¡±


    ¡°She knows Slam?!¡± Rebehka quickly moved to freeze the floor but was suddenly bowled over as the Dra¡¯kis slammed into her with amazing force, flinging her halfway across the room.


    ¡°Rebehka!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted after her, but quickly reverted her attention to the Chaostechnic just in time to dive out of the way of a Chaos Strike. She countered with a blast of lightning, but by then her target was gone. Immediately, the Electrotechnic swung around toward Rebehka and fired both of her grappling hooks, creating a tether barrier between the rest of the room and the Cryotechnic. Siyuak¨¦n then electrified the tethers, just in time for the Dra¡¯kis to come charging back into the room and instead get tripped up by the tethers. She went tumbling forwards and crashed into the wall just beside Rebehka.


    The Cryotechnic quickly tried to scramble away, but faltered as pain shot through her chest. ¡°Ah¡­!¡± she gasped, drawing the Dra¡¯kis¡¯ attention ¡ª just in time for a hammer to come crashing into the soldier¡¯s face. The Dra¡¯kis was knocked across the room again as Christean¨¦ caught himself on the floor and Dav¨ªdrius slid to a stop just beside him.


    ¡°The fuck¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡± Dav¨ªdrius demanded, the Hastryth chain weapon grasped in his hands. He watched Siyuak¨¦n rush to Rebehka¡¯s side before turning his attention to the Dra¡¯kis as she pulled herself to a standing position, seemingly unhurt. ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess you aren¡¯t quite as bad as I thought¡­ even if all of your hits have been luck.¡± The Dra¡¯kis smirked. ¡°¡­Alright, I¡¯ll tell you who I am. I¡¯m Commander Tri¡¯kar Reginko, Black Suns, Sector 2.¡±


    ¡°Commander?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°isn¡¯t that¡ª?¡±


    ¡°The fourth highest rank in the Black Suns, yes.¡± The Commander nodded. ¡°Surprise! You actually had one of our Spec Ops squads sent after you!¡±


    Christean¨¦ glanced at the three soldiers standing in the corner of the room, and then at the melted metal at their feet. ¡°Ha, some Spec Ops squad,¡± he retorted, ¡°the only thing you¡¯ve got on your side is Chaos Armor.¡±


    ¡°¡­Chaos what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s what allowed me to survive that hammer blow,¡± Reginko replied, ¡°and it¡¯s why I¡¯m still bothering to talk to you now. You can¡¯t beat me without your own sets of armor, you know. There¡¯s no way to break through this shielding on your own!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced at the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°That armor can last for days, and almost nothing we can do can get through it.¡±


    ¡°Even your Pyro- and Cryotechnics can¡¯t do anything to me!¡± Reginko smirked haughtily. ¡°Neither of you are experienced enough to freeze or burn specific areas of space, are you? Not quickly, at least ¡ª so all I need to do is stay mobile. Oh, and guess what kind of Chaostechnic I am? Ha! Chaos Teleport!¡±


    ¡°She disappeared?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed.


    ¡°As a Velocitechnic, you should really know more about Chaostechnic abilities,¡± Kev¨¦rin admonished. ¡°Teleport is exactly what it sounds like: a teleportation ability. The next thing she¡¯ll probably do is¡ª¡±


    He was cut off as Dav¨ªdrius dashed straight in front of him, bowling over Reginko as she rocketed back into the room. She tumbled along the floor as the Velocitechnic launched the blade end of Hastryth toward her, only for it to rebound off of her armor¡¯s energy shielding. After a moment the Commander caught herself against the wall and jumped back to her feet, just in time to duck out of the way of Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer ¡ª and then quickly grasp the tether. In response, the Forcetechnic yanked back on the tether with such force that Reginko was flung clear across the room, but as she flew through the air she issued several Chaos Arrows, forcing the Chaotics to dodge out of the way instead of attempting to land any more hits. She then called out ¡°Chaos Teleport¡± just before slamming into the wall, disappearing into thin air once again.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Dav¨ªdrius immediately began scanning the room¡¯s two entrances as Christean¨¦ turned to Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka. ¡°What happened to you guys? Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Slam happened¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin groaned as he leaned back against the console. ¡°She caught me off guard¡­ I didn¡¯t know she was a Chaostechnic until she used it.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ she¡¯s right, about us not being able to do anything¡­¡± Rebehka added painfully.


    ¡°We¡¯ve never been against powered armor before,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out, ¡°I never realized how effective Chaos Shields could be.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Chaos Energy for you!¡±


    ¡°Whoa¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius suddenly crossed his arms in front of him just in time for Reginko to slam into him. The two tumbled to the ground, but the Commander recovered faster and grabbed Dav¨ªdrius by the neck, whipping him into the air and launching him across the room while simultaneously shouting ¡°Chaos Impact!¡± An invisible force crashed into Dav¨ªdrius and embedded him in the far wall, but before Reginko could follow up, Christean¨¦ smashed his hammer down onto her, knocking her to the ground. He began rapidly twirling his hammer with just enough tether length out so that the hammer slammed into the Chaostechnic every time it swung around, producing a loud static sound with each impact against the armor¡¯s energy shielding. Reginko only withstood a second or two of the barrage before disappearing again, only to reappear directly over Dav¨ªdrius and stomp on him with her powerful legs. The Velocitechnic knocked her foot away just as it almost pulverized his stomach; he then rolled to the side and leaped back to his feet before dashing straight at Reginko, blade first. But the blade simply rebounded off of her armor, causing him to stumble and get knocked flat by another Chaos Impact. The Commander then disappeared from the room once more just as Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer came careening through the air where she had been standing.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything to her¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­Why are we still here? We should be leaving!¡±


    ¡°Not yet!¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°there¡¯s data here that¡¯ll be hard to get anywhere else. We have to wait until I¡¯ve downloaded it all!¡±


    ¡°In case you couldn¡¯t tell, this is just a stalemate.¡± Christean¨¦ frowned uneasily. ¡°Unless Kaon¨¦ and Kevken show up, we can only hold out for so long. And even then¡ª!¡± He was interrupted as an invisible force threw him off his feet. Dav¨ªdrius immediately dashed forward, intercepting Reginko again as she rushed back into the room ¡ª but just as she slammed into him she whipped her leg around in a kick, turning her forward momentum into transversal and knocking the Velocitechnic to the floor. As the two Chaotics were recovering, Reginko turned toward Siyuak¨¦n and smirked.


    ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± the Electrotechnic muttered after attacking the Commander with a lightning strike, to no avail.


    ¡°One more elemental to disable,¡± Reginko commented smugly. ¡°Chaos Slam!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Armor!¡±


    Just before the Commander rammed into Siyuak¨¦n, Kievkenalis leaped in her path, his body covered in transparent armor constructed of Chaos Energy. He absorbed the force from Reginko¡¯s attack and then tossed her aside before calling out ¡°Chaos Heal! Chaos Assist!¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah, thanks.¡± Rebehka nodded toward Kievkenalis as the pain in her body disappeared. She and Kev¨¦rin quickly scrambled back to their feet, taking positions across the room from Reginko with the rest of Hero Machina just as Kaon¨¦ ran into the room herself.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ more of you¡­¡± The Commander scowled. ¡°Damn it, what happened to those fools I sent after you?¡±


    ¡°Sent after us? What?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced around the room cluelessly. ¡°¡­What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here! Great!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°Kick her ass for us!¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll admit I didn¡¯t expect you to have your own Chaostechnic,¡± Reginko admitted, ¡°but you¡¯re still too optimistic if you hope to beat me. Chaos Massive Impact!¡±


    An invisible force instantly bowled over the entirety of Hero Machina. Reginko immediately leaped forward and began doling out Chaos Strikes and Arrows but Dav¨ªdrius jumped back to his feet and managed to intercept all of the energy projectiles with Hastryth. He then yanked Christean¨¦ and Kievkenalis back to their feet; the two of them quickly set to attacking Reginko all-out while Dav¨ªdrius turned back to the rest of the group.


    ¡°I hate to say it, but the three of us can¡¯t do much against a Chaostechnic in Chaos Armor¡­ not in this closed environment,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated, referring to Rebehka, Siyuak¨¦n, and himself. ¡°Kaon¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, fight her off. The data transfer should only take a couple more minutes.¡±


    ¡°Wha, what? Fight her?!¡± Kaon¨¦ spluttered, ¡°wait, why? How¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Oh, not this again.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Even I wasn¡¯t here for when things broke out, but it¡¯s still pretty damn clear: we were attacked. So, we fight back.¡±


    ¡°As a Materiatechnic, you¡¯ve had more experience with spatial manipulation than any of us,¡± Rebehka pointed out, ¡°you¡¯re the only one who can reliably score a hit behind the shields of her armor.¡±


    ¡°B-but¡­ I don¡¯t know if I can¡­ what if I accidentally¡­?¡±


    ¡°What, kill her?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted, pausing just long enough to deflect a series of Chaos Arrows and then deflect Reginko herself as she slammed toward him. Christean¨¦ quickly wrapped his hammer tether around the Chaostechnic, yanking her back across the room and allowing Dav¨ªdrius to turn back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Well, shit, we can¡¯t have killin¡¯, now can we? I mean, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re a soldier or anythin¡¯¡­ oh, wait! You are!¡±


    ¡°I was conscripted!¡± Kaon¨¦ shot back, ¡°I didn¡¯t choose to¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped, instantly causing Kaon¨¦ to shut up and recoil. ¡°Like hell you didn¡¯t choose to be a soldier. You¡¯re a damned Materiatechnic! One of the most powerful types of Chaotic! Literally the only thing stoppin¡¯ you from wipin¡¯ the floor with anyone who attacks you is you! You have the power to keep everyone off your back ¡ª you could just ignore this conscription bullshit and live your own life. But you don¡¯t! You just went with the flow ¡ª you became a soldier, ¡®cause you didn¡¯t want to resist. And then you try to shirk away the very role of a soldier ¡®cause ¡®you didn¡¯t choose to be one.¡¯ Well, that¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ lie. That¡¯s just what you tell yourself to make you feel better about yourself. And it may have worked ¡®til now, but it¡¯s high damn time you realized that you can¡¯t save everyone!¡± He turned around, his back to Kaon¨¦ as he brandished Hastryth. ¡°You¡¯ve got no excuses, bein¡¯ a soldier who don¡¯t fight, when it¡¯s the very damn job of a soldier to fight. Stop bein¡¯ a coward and come live in the real world!¡± He then took off, joining the battle just in time to bowl over Reginko as she attempted to teleport out of the room again.


    ¡°¡­I ¡­I¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ simply stared after the Velocitechnic, dumbfounded.


    ¡°¡­Ah, I guess that¡¯s Dav¨ªdrius for you?¡± Rebehka smiled awkwardly in an attempt to console the Materiatechnic.


    ¡°He¡¯s not entirely wrong¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, just loudly enough for Rebehka to hear. The Cryotechnic shot her friend an expression of mixed disapproval and confusion, but the entire exchange was missed by Kaon¨¦, who simply continued to watch the battle in silence.


    ¡°Chaos Cannon!¡±


    ¡°Guh¡ª!¡± Christean¨¦ was thrown off balance as the Chaos Energy projectile impacted his hammer mid-twirl, causing it to go flying off toward the back wall. Reginko quickly spun around and fired another Chaos Cannon at him, which Dav¨ªdrius managed to deflect before Kievkenalis scored a hit on the Commander with his own Chaos Cannon projectile. She simply shrugged the attack off, however, and teleported out of the room, leaving the three Chaotics to warily watch both entrances again.


    ¡°Chaos Slam!¡±


    Both Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ were taken by complete surprise as Reginko slammed into them from above, grasping both of them by their heads and smashing them to the floor. Before Kievkenalis could call out any support moves, the Commander had launched two Chaos Cannons his way, forcing him to call out ¡°Chaos Deflection¡± to block them both. Immediately after the deflection shield dissipated, however, Reginko muttered ¡°Chaos Slam¡± again and rammed into her opponent Chaostechnic, sending him flying into the back wall. But before she could give chase, the ground around her suddenly rose up and bound her by her ankles and wrists. She stared at the new bounds bemusedly before muttering ¡°Chaos Teleport¡± and simply teleporting two meters to the side. She then turned to face the rest of Hero Machina, her arms on her hips.


    ¡°...Help,¡± Kaon¨¦ squeaked.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re a Metallitechnic? Or a Geotechnic?¡± the Commander guessed, ¡°¡­either way, it¡¯s still not enough to stop me. I don¡¯t even know why you¡¯re so insistent on fighting me. Most people with half a brain and any of your abilities would¡¯ve run by now.¡±


    ¡°Chaos¡­!¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡ª?¡± Reginko glanced back at Kievkenalis but was suddenly knocked down to the ground by Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer. He then smashed his fist to the ground, creating enough force to bounce Reginko back into the air before he grabbed her in a nelson hold, bashing his head against hers each time she attempted to call a Chaos attack.


    ¡°Why run when you can win?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked, stepping back as Christean¨¦ turned the commander toward Kievkenalis just in time for him to finally initiate his attack.


    ¡°Impact!¡±


    Nothing happened.


    ¡°¡­Chaos Impact?¡± Kievkenalis tried again, only for there to be no result.


    ¡°¡­Ah, just the moment I was waiting for!¡± Reginko smirked as she easily wrestled her way out of Christean¨¦¡¯s hold and tossed him away. She whistled loudly, after which the four missing Black Suns soldiers rushed back into the room, guns drawn on Christean¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, and Kievkenalis as the three soldiers already in the room revealed hidden arm cannons and trained their weapons on the other half of Hero Machina.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, startled. He then scowled as pain returned to his body and he realized what had just occurred. ¡°Damn, this is¡ª!¡±


    ¡°The activation of this base¡¯s final defense stage,¡± Reginko declared smugly, ¡°the CENT fields!¡±

 25 - Filling the Blanks

    Chapter 25 - Filling the Blanks


    ¡°Ahaha! Where¡¯s all of that fighting spirit now, huh?¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Christean¨¦ scowled as he glanced between Reginko and the soldiers behind her. ¡°Man, Kev¨¦rin, why didn¡¯t you¡ª¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t looking up information on the base¡¯s defenses, I was looking up other stuff!¡± the Transfer Captain shot back, ¡°I never expected there to be CENT generators in a place like this!¡±


    ¡°To your credit, neither did we, when we first came around,¡± Reginko commented, ¡°but it¡¯s situations like this why we don¡¯t rely solely on Chaos Energy.¡± She knocked on her breastplate proudly, producing a static sound and flickering effect ¡ª signs that her armor¡¯s energy shielding was still active. ¡°Even our Chaos Armor has backup electrical batteries. Face it, there¡¯s nothing you can do.¡±


    ¡°You keep sayin¡¯ that¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he brandished Hastryth. ¡°But with your Chaos-fueled shields down, an Ayas weapon might just pierce through, ya know?¡±


    ¡°¡­You might be right,¡± the Commander admitted, ¡°but you¡¯ll never get to find out. You¡¯d be riddled with bullets before you got close enough to stab me.¡±


    ¡°Tch¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n spoke up warningly, ¡°don¡¯t get carried away¡­¡±


    ¡°Get carried¡ª!? You don¡¯t need to tell me that!¡±


    ¡°Dude, you get carried away all the time.¡± Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes. ¡°Settle down.¡±


    ¡°Oi!¡± In the blink of an eye, Dav¨ªdrius appeared in front of the Forcetechnic and stared him down. ¡°¡¯Settle down,¡¯ huh? And what about those guys with guns pointed at us, huh?!¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh¡­¡± Christean¨¦ blinked, dumbfounded, and then glanced over at Kev¨¦rin. ¡°¡­The CENT fields are still up¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°They sure as hell should be,¡± Reginko muttered. She raised her hand, paused for a moment¡­ and then dropped it. The moment she did, the rest of the Black Suns soldiers opened fire, unleashing a full ten seconds¡¯ worth of ammunition into Hero Machina. The soldiers then ceased fire and stared forward, dumbfounded, as the members of Hero Machina stood fully intact ¡ª and the ground between the two groups was littered with sliced and deformed bullets.


    ¡°Keheheh¡­ ahahahaha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned as he brandished Hastryth again. ¡°I think I see how it is. The Ayas is cancelin¡¯ out the power negation effects of the CENT field!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± the Black Suns Commander exclaimed, but didn¡¯t have any time to react as the Velocitechnic obliterated all of the Black Suns weaponry in the blink of an eye. He then appeared directly in front of her and dealt a roundhouse kick to her face, knocking her to the ground.


    ¡°Where¡¯s all that fightin¡¯ spirit now, eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked and then raised the blade end of Hastryth into the air in preparation for a stab.


    ¡°Whoa, Dav¨ªdrius!¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly cut in, ¡°that¡¯s enough for now!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± He passed the Transfer Captain a confused glance. ¡°¡­But she¡ª¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t come here to start a war with the Black Suns!¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°you¡¯ve already dismantled their weapons ¡ª we¡¯re on relatively equal footing now, bar you. There¡¯s nothing to gain from killing her!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at the Pyrotechnic for a few moments before backing away from the Commander. She pulled herself back to her feet and stumbled backwards as well, glaring at Dav¨ªdrius indignantly.


    ¡°The CENT fields likely aren¡¯t the last line of defenses that this base has to throw at us,¡± Kev¨¦rin continued, ¡°there have to be active defenses that are coming online, and there¡¯s no way we can fight those without our abilities.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius dismissed Hastryth and crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°You want me to go destroy all the CENT field generators?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced over at the Black Suns soldiers uneasily.


    ¡°You heard him,¡± Reginko spat, ¡°go on, get going. We¡¯re no threat ¡ª that damn kick of yours already overloaded my backup shielding.¡±


    ¡°Keheheh, that¡¯s Velocitechnism for you!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned. ¡°Aight then, I¡¯ll find the generators and take ¡®em down ¡®fore you know I¡¯ve even left!¡± And with that, he disappeared, speeding down the hallways of the abandoned base.


    Reginko glanced after him and then looked down at her hands. She pounded her fists together and frowned ¡ª no static sound was produced. Her shields truly were dead.


    ¡°So much for those backup shields, huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked as he reached over for his glasses and put them back on. ¡°Taken out by a single kick.¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have gone down so easily¡­¡± the Commander replied uneasily, ¡°that kick¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, what do we do now?¡± Kievkenalis questioned as he scratched his head.


    ¡°We should really get out of here,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested as she helped Rebehka to her feet, ¡°like Kev¨¦rin said, there¡¯s probably active defenses somewhere. We should get going while we still can.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so!¡± Reginko snarled, moving to block one of the room¡¯s exits as two other Black Suns soldiers blocked the other exit. She planted her feet and fully extended her double-kneed legs, giving her an extra two feet of height to tower intimidatingly over Hero Machina. ¡°I may not have won against you in a straight up fight, but I was sent here to stop you, dammit, and stop you I will!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Tch¡­¡± Christean¨¦ frowned as he glared up at the Commander. ¡°¡­Man, why couldn¡¯t you be a Citan?¡±


    ¡°Why are you still standing in our way?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned irately, ¡°we¡¯re willing to leave!¡±


    ¡°And I told you when I first got here ¡ª we¡¯re here to get rid of you,¡± Reginko countered, ¡°you have information we can¡¯t allow you to keep!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even find anything on the Black Suns!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m just supposed to believe you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yes?¡±


    ¡°Hey, there has to be a peaceful way to resolve this¡­ right?¡± Kaon¨¦ stepped forward warily. ¡°Just tell us what you want.¡±


    ¡°¡­Just how deaf are Nimalians?¡± The Commander snorted before reaching behind herself and pounding on her back once with her fists. Two handles extended downward out of the thick armor plating, which she grabbed and yanked out, revealing two short blades. ¡°I¡¯m not here to negotiate. I¡¯m here to kill you!¡±


    ¡°Whoa¡ª!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed as Reginko lunged at him, arms outstretched. He quickly dodged to the side and then grabbed the Dra¡¯kis¡¯ arm as she flew past, yanking sideways and pulling her off-balance. As she stumbled, Siyuak¨¦n kicked her backside, sending her tumbling to the ground, from which she recovered quickly with a roll and a flip.


    ¡°Surround them!¡± Reginko barked, prompting the Black Suns soldiers to quickly block off the exits again before slowly approaching Hero Machina. The Nimalian Chaotics backed up against each other warily, unsure of how to defend themselves against a group of armored soldiers.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough screwing around,¡± the Commander declared, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the lot of you here, right now¡­ and then that arrogant Velocitechnic once he clears out the CENT fields. Then we can get out of this damned abandoned base¡­ Ready, men¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Commander Tri¡¯kar Reginko, what the HELL do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡±


    ¡°Huh¡ª?¡± the Commander glanced to the side just in time for a tall, pasty Citan man to charge forward and head-butt her ferociously. She immediately dropped her blades and clutched her head as she drew back in pain. ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± She scowled, but then her jaw dropped once she got a good look at the man who assaulted her. ¡°¡­G-general Bitincher¡ª!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Lieutenant General to you,¡± the Citan growled, ¡°now what the hell is this?¡±


    Reginko glanced toward where Bitincher was pointing: the Nimalians. ¡°Uh, I was just getting rid of the information threat, sir, like the mission briefing said¡ª¡±


    ¡°The briefing said that you should keep an eye on them, dumbass!¡± the Lieutenant General snapped as he backhanded the Commander across the face, ¡°you were only to engage if they were an active threat!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but they were extracting data¡ª!¡±


    ¡°The only data on these computers is the data we pulled down from the CIN a decade ago! There¡¯s nothing here on us!¡± The General held a hand to his forehead as he sighed irately. ¡°For the love of... Reginko, I have no idea how you got to be a Commander. Must¡¯ve been that bitch Gy¡¯kan, before Hrisabeth replaced her¡­¡±


    ¡°What? No, they¡ª¡±


    ¡°Not to mention that you talk too damn much. You¡¯d do well to learn how to shut your damn mouth.¡± He then glanced over at Hero Machina. ¡°Though I suppose the lot of you should be grateful for Reginko¡¯s incompetence.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily.


    ¡°Oi, stand down and back off,¡± the General barked, prompting the Black Suns soldiers to quickly comply.


    ¡°Ah¡­ thanks.¡± Kaon¨¦ sighed of relief.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take this to mean that I¡¯m on your side,¡± the Citan countered, ¡°I¡¯m only here to prevent the Commander from putting the Black Suns on Nimalia¡¯s shit list.¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned in confusion. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking¡­ who are you, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Lieutenant General Sristof Bitincher, Black Suns, Sector 2,¡± Bitincher replied. ¡°And you are¡­?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re Hero¡ª¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re, uh, we¡¯re Hilarious Marauders,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in.


    Silence ensued.


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed impatiently. ¡°Damn it, Kev¨¦rin, again?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Hilarious Marauders,¡¯ right.¡± Bitincher snorted in derision. ¡°The only thing hilarious about you is the level of your competence. Just what are you doing here, anyways?¡±


    ¡°We, uh, we were just, uh, looking around,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied uneasily.


    The Lieutenant General crossed his arms. ¡°Uh huh. ¡®Looking around¡¯ my ass. Who are you, really?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Bitincher stared down Kev¨¦rin for several seconds before shaking his head. ¡°Is this what passes as a Spec Ops team on Nimalia? Damn primates.¡±


    ¡°Uh, sir,¡± Reginko spoke up quietly, ¡°there¡¯s a seventh one. He¡¯s not here right now, but he had an Ayas with him.¡±


    ¡°An Ayas¡­? Now that¡¯s intriguing.¡± The General glanced back at Kev¨¦rin. ¡°¡­I may not know what you¡¯re up to right now, but don¡¯t think that not telling me will stop me from finding out. The lot of you have plenty to learn before you¡¯re actually whatever it is that passes as what the Nimalian military wants you to be. For starters, get yourselves some damn battle armor. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll last in a fight against other Chaotics without any. And if Nimalia¡¯s too primitive to make your own,  then just commission a set from the guys over at Sector 4. Second of all, at least try to be stealthy. For fuck¡¯s sake, our damn passive sensors had the lot of you pegged the moment you stepped foot on this planet. The Citans won¡¯t know you¡¯re here, but don¡¯t take us Black Suns lightly; we can do just as much damage with this information as they can. Consider yourselves lucky that today¡¯s one of my good days and I¡¯m actually feeling benevolent ¡ª you won¡¯t hear any of this from me a second time. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes, sir,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied reflexively. ¡°Uh, thanks for the advice?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. You¡¯ll make me gag,¡± Bitincher retorted. ¡°Now, once your friend with the Ayas gets back after destroying all the CENT generators, I want the lot of you to leave, and I want to never find you again in Black Suns territory without express permission. Understood?¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina nodded in response.


    ¡°Good,¡± he replied. He glanced upwards before returning his attention to the Nimalian Chaotics. ¡°In fact, you¡¯d do well to avoid seeing me ever again, period, full stop. As I¡¯m sure the Commander can attest, I¡¯m not a pleasant man when pissed off¡ª¡±


    No sooner had the words left his mouth than Dav¨ªdrius dashed straight back into the room, slamming Hastryth¡¯s blade end into the General. However, the weapon simply rebounded off an invisible barrier, not even reaching the General¡¯s armor and leaving him unfazed as Dav¨ªdrius recoiled from the painful shuddering of the rebound. The Velocitechnic then glanced up at the Lieutenant General uneasily.


    Bitincher blinked twice before the vein in his forehead nearly exploded. Suddenly, Dav¨ªdrius found himself hanging in the air by an invisible force before being thrown harshly against the back wall. ¡°You¡¯ve done pissed me off, boy!!¡± the General snarled, ¡°you damn Velocitechnics! You¡¯re always pulling shit like this. Well it won¡¯t work against a Telekinetic¡ª!¡±


    The General¡¯s tirade was interrupted as a distant explosion resounded through the air and the entire base shook violently, throwing everyone off of their feet.


    ¡°Oh for the love of¡ª!¡± Bitincher fumed as he lifted himself back to his feet with his telekinetics. ¡°The base¡¯s full defenses have activated. This is what happens when you gather a whole flock of dumbasses together, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    ¡°What¡ª what was that?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned worryingly ¡ª just in time for the ceiling to crumple inward. She immediately seized control of the falling material and tossed it aside, only to reveal the open sky above them¡ª


    ¡ªand a group of fifteen heavily armored, twenty-meter tall automated mechs standing around them!

 26 - Negated Chaos

    Chapter 26 - Negated Chaos


    ¡°Everyone, scatter!¡±


    The moment the words left General Bitincher¡¯s mouth, the Black Suns soldiers sprinted for the room¡¯s exits as Bitincher and Reginko both transported themselves to the topside of the roof. Reginko immediately fired off several Chaos Strikes at the mechs, all of which fizzled out midair before Bitincher had to step in and erect telekinetic barriers to stop the hundreds of bullets the mechs began filling the air with.


    ¡°They must have individual CENT fields¡­¡± Reginko scowled. ¡°My attacks didn¡¯t go through¡­¡±


    ¡°Then sideline yourself, Commander!¡± Bitincher ordered, ¡°you¡¯re the wrong type of Chaostechnic to be of use against these mechs, and you just had to let your armor expire, too. Looks like I¡¯ll have to rely on your squad to take care of this situation¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about us!¡±


    ¡°¡­The Nimalians,¡± the General grumbled, ¡°what do you want?¡±


    ¡°We can help,¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted just after alighting on the rooftop. He was soon followed by the rest of Hero Machina as Kaon¨¦ lifted the ground below their feet to be level with the roof. ¡°This is our fault, after all¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha! I need no help,¡± Bitincher snorted. ¡°These are just run-of-the-mill security mechs. Large, sure, but they are just automated machines. I don¡¯t need help from Chaotics who can¡¯t even beat Commander Misunderstanding over there.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced at the mechs around the complex. Bitincher was right; the mechs were large, but otherwise did not seem to be heavily armed or armored. Each humanoid machine had wrist-mounted machine guns and blades, but little else in the way of armaments. Some of them had started to close in on Bitincher, but none of their bullets were making it through the General¡¯s barriers.


    The Transfer Captain sighed and acquiesced. ¡°Well, if you say so¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait, something¡¯s off,¡± Kievkenalis interjected, ¡°¡­Dav¨ªdrius¡ª!¡±


    The Velocitechnic needed no further warning ¡ª he immediately jumped in front of the Black Suns General and began deflecting the incoming bullets with remarkable speed as they began to somehow pierce through the telekinetic barriers.


    ¡°My barriers expired?!¡± The Psychotechnic scowled with irritation. ¡°Wait, my powers¡ª?¡± His gaze suddenly transitioned to a small egg-shaped object as it rolled to a stop near the center of the group. ¡°¡­CENT grenades?!¡± He immediately grabbed the object and chucked it to the side before turning back to the mechs and once again stopping the bullets with his barriers.


    ¡°So those things can fire CENT fields at us?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°but that¡¯s¡ª!¡±


    ¡°It sounds exactly like something the Citans would do,¡± Bitincher retorted, ¡°I guess I could use your help after all! Watch out for those CENT grenades ¡ª I¡¯ll draw fire! You Introtechnics, focus on destroying the weaponry ¡ª the rest of you can work on disabling the mechs! And you with the Ayas, it¡¯s on you to destroy as many CENT fields as possible, you hear me, boy?! Now, on my mark¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned toward the General irately. ¡°Why do we have to take orders from you?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s got the most experience here, boy?¡± Bitincher shot back, ¡°this is battle! No time for arguing¡ª!¡±


    He was interrupted as two of the mechs leaped forwards, crashing down on the facility rooftops barely ten meters from the group of Chaotics. Christean¨¦ immediately began twirling his hammer around, but Bitincher was quick to stop him.


    ¡°Are you suicidal?!¡± the General shouted. He then took a moment to lift up several pieces of debris from the ground floor and launch them forwards, toppling one of the mechs. Turning back toward Christean¨¦, he continued, ¡°those things have local CENT fields! Don¡¯t just go flinging yourself into them! We have to take care of them smart-like¡ª¡±


    An explosion attracted everyone¡¯s attention to the left. The chest of one of the mechs had just imploded on itself, and the mech itself began to collapse forward. Two Black Suns soldiers alighted on its head before severing the neck connection and then throwing themselves to the ground just in time to get clear of the toppling machine.


    ¡°¡ªAnd that¡¯s the mark! Scatter!¡± Bitincher shouted, dashing away from the two nearest mechs. Dav¨ªdrius made to argue further but was distracted as another CENT grenade rocketed past his head. He spun around and threw the blade end of Hastryth after the grenade, slicing it out of the air before swinging the weapon back around to slice a chunk of armor off a mech that was approaching. He rolled to the side to avoid being squashed underfoot and then leaped into the air, grabbing a piece of the mech¡¯s thigh armor and throwing himself higher. He then stabbed the mech¡¯s chest plate and swung upwards just in time to avoid being swatted away by the mech¡¯s wrist-mounted blades. The moment he was level with the mech¡¯s head, he launched Hastryth¡¯s blade, embedding the blade in part of the mech¡¯s armor and using the connected tether to swing under the chin and up around the other side of the head. As soon as he landed on top of the head, he lifted his right leg into the air and smashed it down onto the metal plating, obliterating the entire surface. He sliced at the back of the head as he threw himself to the ground, catching himself just in time to sprint forwards and intercept a CENT grenade flying toward Kievkenalis, who was busy calling several forms of support attacks and carefully monitoring the rest of the group.


    ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos Heal!¡± he called for the third time since fighting broke out, ignoring the few bullets flying his way as they simply bounced off the Chaos Energy aura that surrounded his body. ¡°¡­Kaon¨¦, look out!¡±


    ¡°Huh¡ª? Uagh¡ª!¡± The Materiatechnic stumbled backwards as a nearby mech thrust its fists forward, pulverizing much of the building Kaon¨¦ had been standing on. She quickly scrambled backwards as she ripped metal supports out of the fallen rooftops and flung them forwards with great speed, smashing through the mech¡¯s left shoulder and tearing its arm off. The force toppled it over backwards, but before Kaon¨¦ could attempt to finish it off, another mech came charging in, guns blazing. Kaon¨¦ quickly erected reinforced barriers but was barely able to create a full shell before the mech got close enough to negate her powers. It then tore down the barrier and reached its arm around, wrist-blade extended, just before a metal strut swung through the air and clobbered the mech, sending it stumbling backwards and falling down on top of the mech Kaon¨¦ had just knocked down. The Materiatechnic quickly recovered and grabbed the metal strut from Christean¨¦ before dangling it in the air above the mechs and releasing, allowing gravity to pull the strut through their chests and destroy their CENT generators. Christean¨¦ quickly took advantage of the opening to fling himself forward, grabbing the strut as he flew past to stop himself on top of the two mechs. He began twirling his hammer for a second and then released it downward, completely obliterating the entire mid-section of both mechs. Jumping forward, he smashed both of the heads for good measure before ducking behind some metal walls to evade gunfire.


    Across the base, General Bitincher jumped off the roof and to the ground before leaping forward and creating a telekinetic barrier around three of the Black Suns soldiers and pulling them backwards, just in time for two mechs to try and stomp them. The unexpected lack of material underfoot caused the two mechs to lose balance and stumble forwards; just before they could recover, Bitincher flung two of the soldiers up into the air. The two soldiers quickly drew blades from their backs and sliced at the mechs¡¯ neck areas as they flew past. One of the soldiers managed to stab her blade into the back of the mech¡¯s head and swing around to fire several laser blasts from her arm-mounted cannon, but the other soldier missed and went sailing through the air¡­ straight into the waiting hands of a third mech.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Before it could squeeze or otherwise murder the soldier, Dav¨ªdrius launched himself upwards, cleanly slicing through the mech¡¯s elbow with Hastryth before whipping around in the air and launching the weapon at the mech¡¯s chest plate, using it as an anchor point to swing around to the mech¡¯s head and demolish it with a fierce kick, as he had done to two mechs prior. Just before he could jump away, though, a different mech charged forward and barreled through the collapsing remains of the mech Dav¨ªdrius had just destroyed, sending him flying through the air uncontrollably. He tumbled to the ground and rolled to a stop, unable to properly catch himself. Once he finally stopped, he quickly moved to dash back toward the fighting, but was caught off guard as a mech suddenly landed behind him, snagging the blade end of Hastryth just as the Velocitechnic took off, thereby yanking him backwards painfully. Without losing a moment, it raised its foot and brought it down on top of Dav¨ªdrius before he could even recover. Just before its foot slammed down on the Velocitechnic, a large cement rock smashed into the mech¡¯s chest, sending it off-balance. Two laser cannon shots pierced through the mech¡¯s chest before Bitincher himself bounded forward and tore the mech asunder with crisscrossing barriers. He then flung Dav¨ªdrius to his feet with a barrier and had barely given the Velocitechnic a nod of acknowledgment before dashing back into battle with two soldiers on his tail.


    ¡°Haha!¡± Christean¨¦ grinned and whooped as he pulverized another mech on the other side of the base. ¡°Another one down!¡± He quickly surveyed the area before exclaiming, ¡°and only three more to go! What pushovers!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think this would be quite so easy,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented as she erected another metal barrier.


    ¡°They are just security mechs. I mean, yeah, the CENT grenades seemed like they could be a threat, but in the end there¡¯s just not much you can do to stop Chaotics!¡±


    ¡°Unless you¡¯re an elemental¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked, referring to Kev¨¦rin, Rebehka, and Siyuak¨¦n. The three of them had been forced to take refuge with Reginko, as their abilities did not allow them to fling objects through a CENT field as easily as everyone else.


    ¡°Well, not everyone gets to participate in every battle.¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure this isn¡¯t the last fight we¡¯ll get into.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ rolled her eyes. ¡°You say that like it¡¯s a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean, yeah. At least it¡¯s gotta make the mission reports more interesting. Imagine how boring it must be for Nik¨¦yin to just read about ¡®we went here and did x and then we went there and did y¡¯ all the time.¡±


    ¡°And being able to say ¡®then we went here and fought z¡¯ is more interesting?¡±


    ¡°Bah, you know what I meant. But we¡¯ve wasted plenty of time already, let¡¯s continue this conversation later.¡± Christean¨¦ turned around and began twirling his hammer ¡ª only for the object to fall to the ground with a disappointing thud as he yanked the cord unsuccessfully. ¡°Uh oh¡­?¡± he muttered as a shadow fell over the two Chaotics. They both glanced upwards uneasily just in time to see a mech stand over them and train both of its guns on them.


    It was also just in time to see Dav¨ªdrius rocket through the air, Hastryth-first, and crash straight through the mech¡¯s chest, removing a large chunk of its internal mechanisms. Christean¨¦ immediately responded by launching his hammer upward, demolishing everything that Dav¨ªdrius hadn¡¯t. Kaon¨¦ quickly caught the scrapped and short-circuiting material and flung it clear of the two Chaotics.


    ¡°Alright! Ha ha, Dav¨ªdrius, perfect timing!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, and then turned around warily when the Velocitechnic failed to respond. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­?¡±


    ¡°Agh¡­¡± The Tres¨¦dian managed to pull himself into a standing position as he clutched his right shoulder painfully. ¡°Shit, that hurt¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked uneasily.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ yeah, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Dav¨ªdrius squinted in pain at the Materiatechnic. ¡°I¡¯m a Velocitechnic, sure, but that doesn¡¯t stop it from hurtin¡¯ when you decide to smash through two meters of metal and circuitry¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯ll be fine,¡± Christean¨¦ replied nonchalantly as he turned to survey the area again, ¡°¡­look, the Black Suns just finished off the last mech.¡±


    ¡°¡­So they have,¡± Dav¨ªdrius observed as General Bitincher turned toward the Chaotics and waved them over. The three approached the edge of the roof and jumped down, where they rejoined the rest of Hero Machina as they approached the wreck of the last mech.


    ¡°Some help you three were,¡± Bitincher admonished once Kev¨¦rin, Rebehka, and Siyuak¨¦n had approached.


    ¡°It¡¯s not our fault,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied defensively, ¡°there¡¯s not much we could do against CENT fields.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re elementals, sir,¡± Reginko explained, walking up behind the General.


    ¡°Oh. Tch. I suppose I can understand, then¡­ but you¡¯ve still got a lot to learn if you don¡¯t know how to work around CENT fields.¡± Bitincher shook his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Alright, kill count, go. My soldiers and I destroyed six.¡±


    ¡°Kill count? What? Why?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°To make sure that we¡¯ve accounted for them all,¡± the General answered, ¡°only count mechs that you dealt the final blow on.¡±


    ¡°In that case¡­ three,¡± the Velocitechnic replied.


    ¡°And I got five!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed.


    ¡°Three and five¡­ is that it?¡±


    ¡°I helped some, but I never downed any¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ responded.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ six, three, and five¡­ that¡¯s only fourteen.¡± Bitincher suddenly became alert again and began surveying the area. ¡°There were fifteen to start with. Where¡¯s the last one?¡±


    ¡°Of course it wouldn¡¯t be that easy¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, brandishing Hastryth as he turned to inspect the surroundings ¡ª and was suddenly punted clear across the base. Two of the Black Suns soldiers were bowled aside before one of them fired blindly, landing a hit on something ¡ª a something that revealed itself to be a mech, formerly hidden by the invisibility cloak that the soldier had just destroyed.


    ¡°A cloak?! What in the¡ª?!¡± Bitincher started, but was forced to interrupt himself and dive out of the way as the mech swung its wrist-mounted blades at him. It swiveled around and fired on three of the Black Suns soldiers with its guns before turning again to grab Dav¨ªdrius out of the air just as he pierced the chest plate. It threw him at the ground with incredible force, knocking him out, before turning again to face the remaining Introtechnic.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, diving out of the way just in time to avoid being stomped. He quickly backpedaled before spinning on his heel and attempting to dash at full-tilt, hoping to get clear of the mech. However, the mech was faster ¡ª it jumped forward, landing directly in front of Christean¨¦ and just close enough to Kaon¨¦ to prevent her from stopping it. It landed unevenly, however, and its right leg slipped out from under it on the soft sand, causing it to collapse forward ¡ª and trap the Forcetechnic under its palm. Without hesitation, the mech pressed down with such force that its hand became submerged in sand up to its wrist.


    ¡°Wha¡­at?¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly, blinking several times in disbelief. ¡°Christean¨¦¡­?¡±


    ¡°Over¡­drive:¡­ Omni Crush!!¡±


    Immediately, a large, cylindrical chunk of the mech was utterly flattened into a metal plate barely half a foot thick. Christean¨¦ punched his way out of the metal mess and walked over to the rest of the mech, where he irately slammed his fist into the top of the mech¡¯s chest ¡ª and completely obliterated the entire machine, simultaneously throwing up a massive dust cloud as the force scattered all of the nearby sand.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what?¡± Kaon¨¦ stared on in confusion.


    General Bitincher seemed to understand what had just occurred, however, and chuckled bitterly. ¡°You unlocked your Overdrive with that?¡± he snorted, as Hero Machina and the remaining members of the Black Suns squad re-converged on his position. ¡°¡­I really don¡¯t know what to say, except that I was just about to take it out myself, you know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged. ¡°Whatever.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Whatever,¡¯ he says.¡± Bitincher shook his head wearily. ¡°I remember when unlocking your Overdrive was a momentous occasion, a cause for celebration¡­ but you say ¡®whatever.¡¯ I¡¯ll never understand you Nimalians.¡± He turned around and began marching off, with the Black Suns soldiers quickly falling in line behind him. ¡°The security¡¯s out and the base is as good as destroyed. At this point, I don¡¯t care if you manage to salvage anything from the mess, but you¡¯d better be gone by the time we return for proper clean-up! And I had better never see the lot of you again!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ you¡­ what?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded in confusion, ¡°wait, but you¡­ we¡­¡±


    ¡°Let him go,¡± Christean¨¦ replied. ¡°He¡¯s right, there¡¯s not really anything else to do here.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s also right that unlocking your Overdrive is pretty significant!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, ¡°that was¡­ what happened?!¡±


    The Forcetechnic shrugged. ¡°I almost got crushed. I¡¯d say that qualifies as a life-threatening moment.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to start analyzing everything,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°it seems like the Black Suns are giving us a free pass, so we had better take it and leave.¡± He gestured to his glasses. ¡°I¡¯ve already claimed all of the data we need, anyways.¡±


    ¡°About time.¡± Rebehka sighed wearily. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this heat¡­ and dryness¡­ and CENT fields¡­ and everything.¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s going to have to drag Lieutenant Hasty with us, though,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted.


    ¡°Heh, I¡¯ve got it,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked as he moved toward the unconscious Tres¨¦dian.


    Kev¨¦rin watched the Forcetechnic for a few moments before finally glancing at the time ¡ª and balking. ¡°Uh¡­ bad news, guys.¡±


    ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°¡­What is it?¡±


    ¡°¡­We¡¯re going to miss the next window back to Damunin.¡±


    ¡°What? No. We are not staying here for another twenty hours,¡± Rebehka declared before rushing forwards, Siyuak¨¦n quickly following. ¡°C¡¯mon! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I won¡¯t argue with that.¡± Kev¨¦rin leaped into the air and began hovering with bursts of flame as Kaon¨¦ manipulated the ground under Kievkenalis and herself to rush forwards. The Transfer Captain glanced toward Christean¨¦ and shouted, ¡°Hey, Christean¨¦! We¡¯re leaving!¡±


    The Forcetechnic responded with a thumbs-up before hoisting Dav¨ªdrius over his shoulder and then flinging himself forward with his hammer. Kev¨¦rin smirked and blasted forward himself, shouting, ¡°Hero Machina¡­ move out!¡±

 27 - Developments

    Chapter 27 - Developments


    1.5 Weeks Later


    ¨C Mondia, Beauth 11, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°¡­Eh? What¡¯s goin¡¯ on in here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey, Dav¨ªdrius.¡± Kev¨¦rin turned to face the Velocitechnic as he entered the base¡¯s Chaotic sparring room. ¡°Christean¨¦ and I were just checking out our new gear.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms as he looked the other two Chaotics up and down, inspecting the layers of blue and silver robing draping down around their legs. ¡°¡­New clothes?¡±


    ¡°Ha! No, it¡¯s Chaos Armor,¡± Christean¨¦ replied. ¡°There¡¯s armor under the robing. Well, for you guys, at least ¡ª I have a specially-made chest plate.¡± He knocked on the plate proudly. Whereas Kev¨¦rin was wearing a variant of his Transfer Captain jacket over the armor, Christean¨¦¡¯s chest plate was on top and had a Battlehammer slot under each armpit, connecting two battlehammers to a cord reel mounted on his back.


    ¡°These are prototype armors, work-in-progress pieces made by the Tekdec¨¦nian military,¡± Kev¨¦rin explained, ¡°the armor itself is only a skin-tight bodysuit with a couple pieces of armored plating. Gauntlets, greaves, chest plate, codpiece; you know, like usual armors. The clothing is Chaos Robes, provided by the Archon¨¦ of Riverana himself, manufactured using the Master Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Oi, Chaos Armor, Chaos Robes¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius shook his head wearily. ¡°There¡¯s a ¡®Chaos¡¯ variant of everythin¡¯, ain¡¯t there. Anyways, so, we¡¯re actually takin¡¯ that one guy¡¯s advice about armor?¡±


    ¡°He had a point,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, referring to their encounter with the Black Suns Lieutenant General on Teghica. ¡°I mean, you saw how our fight¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡¯Our?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously, ¡°you barely lifted a finger!¡±


    ¡°¡­Well yeah, there wasn¡¯t much I could do in that situation, you know? Besides, I was injured, remember?¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop crying about it,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped, ¡°you got out fine. Rebehka was worse off than you and even she only had a few bruises and twisted joints.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shot the Master Lieutenant an annoyed glance before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Anyways, this armor has actually been under R&D for a couple years, but the Commander pulled a few strings to get us some prototypes.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re just guinea pigs for new hardware?¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Look, Chaos Armor sounds great and all, but I¡¯m not a big fan of usin¡¯ a prototype. It¡¯s called a prototype for a reason, ya know. If we gotta have battle armor, then just give me some of the regular electrical stuff.¡±


    ¡°You say that,¡± Christean¨¦ responded with a smirk, ¡°but can regular armor stand up to this?¡± He suddenly threw his fist forward, slamming Kev¨¦rin¡¯s chest with massive force and knocking him into the wall behind him. The wall was shielded and received no damage ¡ª and neither did the Transfer Captain, who quickly picked himself up and stomped back over to the Forcetechnic.


    ¡°The hell was that for?!¡±


    ¡°I was just showing off the armor.¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°I knew it wouldn¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled before turning back to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°¡­The other sets of armor are back in shipping and receiving. Make sure you get the set marked specifically for you, ¡®cause, well, you won¡¯t really fit into any of the others¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius chuckled in self-amusement; the Transfer Captain was right. The Tres¨¦dian stood at least half a head taller than everyone else in Hero Machina, except for Kievkenalis ¡ª though even the Riveranian was noticeably shorter than Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Aight, I guess I¡¯ll at least try it on,¡± he commented, ¡°but I¡¯ve got a couple important questions, ¡®fore I even consider wearin¡¯ this on a mission. For one¡­¡± He tugged at the old scarf wrapped around his neck. ¡°Will the shields on those things protect stuff that ain¡¯t part of the armor proper?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin gave Dav¨ªdrius an odd glance. ¡°¡­I think so, but I¡¯m not really sure. What¡¯s so important about that raggedy scarf, anyways? You¡¯re always wearing it everywhere. You at least wash it, right?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Course I wash it. As for its importance, that¡¯s none of your damn business. But I still got one more question about the armor.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°How much work do I hafta do to take a piss?¡±


    ¡°Uh.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced over at Christean¨¦ cluelessly before returning his attention to Dav¨ªdrius and scratching his head. ¡°I, I don¡¯t know. That hadn¡¯t actually occurred to me¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out, ¡°I mean, there¡¯s a reason Citan and Black Suns armors have internal waste systems, you know? Even the Earthians have a way to deal with this shit. Literally!¡±


    ¡°The Earthians use the equivalent of a big diaper,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned. ¡°Do you really want to wear a diaper?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shook his head wearily. ¡°To answer your question, Dav¨ªdrius, I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t tried to take the robes or the codpiece off yet, so I don¡¯t know how long it takes.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°See, this is why I don¡¯t like prototypes.¡±


    ¡°If only we had a Hydrotechnic¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin mused.


    ¡°What? No! That¡¯s disgusting!¡± Christean¨¦ grimaced. ¡°Did you actually just suggest that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh¡ª¡±


    ¡°There you guys are!¡±


    The three Chaotics turned toward the entrance of the room, through which Siyuak¨¦n quickly stepped. ¡°What are you guys doing? You¡¯ve been gone for hours!¡±


    ¡°Hey, whoa, I just got here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied defensively.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°we¡¯re just checking out our new armor.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced between Kev¨¦rin and Christean¨¦ before asking, ¡°will I still be able to use my swinging gear?¡±


    ¡°Not the gear you¡¯re wearing right now,¡± Kev¨¦rin answered, ¡°but your armor set has built-in gear of its own.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Wait, these things are personalized?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned. ¡°¡­Personalized¡­ prototypes?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t make these. They just got here yesterday ¡ª great timing, too; this is a great birthday present.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s your birthday?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned.


    ¡°Well, two days ago. It¡¯s actually on the ninth.¡±


    ¡°Happy belated birthday, then!¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh? People say that?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded with confusion.


    ¡°Say what, ¡®happy birthday?¡¯¡± Christean¨¦ smirked amusedly. ¡°Well, yeah. The Dra¡¯kis and Earthians do it, too, from what I hear.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you paying attention last month when either mine or Kaon¨¦¡¯s birthdays came around?¡± Siyuak¨¦n crossed her arms.


    ¡°Uh¡­ no?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scratched his head. ¡°¡­People keep track of this stuff?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°All I know is that I was born durin¡¯ the Quake, probably this month. I think. ¡­It¡¯s not really a priority back in Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily, ¡°I guess you were probably busy protecting yourself and your compound or something, right¡ª?¡± The Pyrotechnic froze when he caught the cold glare Dav¨ªdrius passed his way.


    ¡°¡­So, Kev¨¦rin!¡± Siyuak¨¦n spoke up, ¡°wasn¡¯t there some important data analysis you were supposed to do today?¡±


    ¡°Not quite yet. The raw data still has to finish processing before I can start trying to get anything useful out of ¡ª oh wait.¡± He paused as an alert popped up on his glasses display. ¡°¡­Well would you look at that, the processing just completed! ¡­Uh.¡± He glanced down at himself and the robes he was wearing. ¡°¡­Guess I get to see now how long it takes to take everything off, eheh.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n watched him leave before turning back to Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Three hours¡­?¡±


    ¡°This stuff takes a long time to put on,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, ¡°between the bodysuit, and the armor pieces, and all these robes¡­¡± He glanced down at the layers of robing that fell around his legs. ¡°Takes a while, you know?¡±


    ¡°If it takes that long, is it really worth it?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Maybe not for you and me, but we¡¯re the only Introtechnics here so yeah, it¡¯s probably worth it in the long run,¡± Christean¨¦ answered, ¡°I mean, you saw what that Black Suns officer did to Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually surprised they weren¡¯t hurt worse,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented with a frown, ¡°¡¯Slam¡¯ is supposed to be one of the more brutal Directed-type Chaostechnic moves¡­ speaking of Rebehka.¡± She turned to face Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°She¡¯s a little irritated that you skipped the last two of your fencing lessons.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°Eh, there¡¯s not really any point anymore. I have a new weapon now! And it¡¯s nothin¡¯ like a sword.¡±


    ¡°You mean that Ayas weapon?¡± Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Commander actually agreed to let you keep it.¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t keep it. I can only use it on missions.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, you should¡¯ve at least told Rebehka that you were canceling,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out. ¡°You know, instead of letting her waste her time.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh. Sorry?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded uneasily.


    Siyuak¨¦n shook her head and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m with Christean¨¦ on this one. Why you? And a Dark Ayas, no less.¡±


    ¡°Just ¡®cause a Riveranian claims the Dark Ayas have some sort of ¡®dark influence¡¯ don¡¯t mean they actually do,¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot back. ¡°That¡¯s all up with the Oraculm nonsense. It¡¯s bullshit. The Ayas are just massive Chaos Energy generators, nothing more.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then what¡¯s with the weapon that comes with it?¡±


    ¡°Beats me. But there¡¯s no ¡®dark influence.¡¯ I felt no different when I used the Ayas back on Teghica, and I won¡¯t in the future ¡ª and even if there does happen to be some sort of weird influence, I won¡¯t let it get the better of me. It won¡¯t happen.¡±


    Christean¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n exchanged uneasy glances. ¡°You seem really sure about something you know very little about,¡± the Master Lieutenant commented.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted. ¡°¡­Hmph, you wanna get on me about mental stability? How ¡®bout that Overdrive unlock, eh?¡±


    ¡°What? My Overdrive is cool as fuck man, how is it not a good thing that I unlocked it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be impressed if you had, I dunno, saved the lot of us from being utterly obliterated. But from what I hear you just got pressed into sand and then suddenly, Overdrive.¡±


    ¡°Says the guy who was knocked unconscious by a security mech while wielding an Ayas weapon.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t turn this on me. I¡¯ve been through much worse back on Tres¨¦d and I still don¡¯t have my Overdrive, so what¡¯s up with you unlocking yours?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trivializing the moment. The sand on Teghica wasn¡¯t that soft shit you have in Tres¨¦d; I was almost crushed to death, you know? I¡¯d say that counts as a life-threatening situation!¡±


    ¡°A life-threatening situation isn¡¯t the only criteria for an Overdrive unlock,¡± Siyuak¨¦n pointed out, ¡°it¡¯s said that it¡¯s somehow linked to one of your deepest fears¡­¡±


    Christean¨¦ crossed his arms irately. ¡°What, I can¡¯t just be scared of death?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°Maybe before you start getting on other people¡¯s cases you should sort out your own problems, huh? What¡¯s up with you and Kaon¨¦?¡±


    ¡°I¡ª what?¡± Siyuak¨¦n drew back, a pained expression on her face. ¡°There¡ª! ¡­Nothing¡¯s ¡®up¡¯ with me and Kaon¨¦.¡±


    ¡°You sure got defensive real quick,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted, addressing the Forcetechnic.


    Christean¨¦ turned away from the other two Chaotics and took several deep breaths before turning back. ¡°¡­Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to snap like that. I just need some air, that¡¯s all. I should probably take off this armor, too, heh.¡± He promptly exited the room before either Dav¨ªdrius or Siyuak¨¦n could question him further.


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled out of mild amazement before glancing over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Somethin¡¯ goin¡¯ on between you and Kaon¨¦?¡±


    ¡°No. The two of us fine.¡± Siyuak¨¦n quickly made for the exit herself. ¡°Don¡¯t spend too long in here. You have work to do.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch. And they think I¡¯m the one with problems,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. He shook his head and began walking back to the Hero Machina office, leaving the sparring room emptier than when he had entered.


    <hr>


    ¡°Oh, hey, Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± the Transfer Captain responded as he passed Rebehka¡¯s desk on the way to his own. As he sat down he glanced around the room, surprised to see that Rebehka was the only other person present. ¡°Where¡¯d everyone go?¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d know.¡± Rebehka turned to glance back at him. ¡°Christean¨¦ left with you this morning, and Siyuak¨¦n left to check on you. I don¡¯t know about the others, though.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°There¡¯s never a moment when all seven of us are actually working, is there¡­¡±


    ¡°Not to be rude, but I have to agree with Dav¨ªdrius on that point,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°there¡¯s not really enough ¡®work¡¯ to warrant all seven of us being here at the same time.¡±


    ¡°So you all just decide on your own that you can take breaks like this, is that it?¡±


    ¡°What? ¡­Kev¨¦rin, is something wrong?¡±


    The Transfer Captain sighed as he slowly began looking over the data his computer had just finished processing. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ maybe. I dunno. I mean, it¡¯s not like anyone actually cares.¡±


    ¡°What?¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin looked up to find Rebehka staring curiously at him.


    ¡°If you need someone to talk to, I¡¯m here,¡± she replied.


    The Transfer Captain sighed again. ¡°¡­How do you see me?¡±


    ¡°What? ¡­Uuuhh,¡± the Cryotechnic responded uneasily, ¡°¡­look, when I said someone to talk to, I didn¡¯t mean¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, not like that.¡± Kev¨¦rin shook his head. ¡°I mean... am I your co-worker? A friend? A leader?¡±


    ¡°¡­All of the above, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°What about the others, what do you think they think?¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯d say the same. ¡­What¡¯s this about, Kev¨¦rin?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it just¡­ it feels like no one ever listens to me. I¡¯m a Transfer Captain, I¡¯m the highest ranking member of Hero Machina. I¡¯m supposed to be the Commanding Officer, but no one ever listens.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say that¡­¡±


    ¡°You just said yourself that everyone¡¯s not here because they think they can decide for themselves whether or not to skip work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I said. And even if it was, that isn¡¯t insubordination, is it? And you can¡¯t really deny that you aren¡¯t here all the time, either.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess so.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s being viewed as a leader that you¡¯re worried about, well, you shouldn¡¯t worry so much,¡± Rebehka commented, ¡°only Dav¨ªdrius, and maybe Christean¨¦, are resistant to being ordered around, and that¡¯s just how they are. I think they¡¯ll listen to you once you know each other better, as long as you make good points.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been working together for over a month. This isn¡¯t how the military is supposed to work anyways, I shouldn¡¯t have to wait for them to get used to me.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ I don¡¯t know what you want me to do. This is a problem between you and them. The only immediate solution is to just go to the Commander about it.¡±


    ¡°Hn¡­ I guess so¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded reluctantly, his gaze focused directly on the monitor in front of him. Rebehka watched him for a few moments before slowly turning back to her own computer, still somewhat wary about the Transfer Captain¡¯s well-being. It was barely a minute later before she was interrupted from her work again, however, as the Pyrotechnic suddenly leaped to his feet, exclaiming, ¡°ha, that¡¯s it!¡±


    ¡°What now?¡± Rebehka turned back to face him.


    ¡°Thanks to the data I pulled from Teghica, I was able to locate the hypocenter of the Chaos Energy Quake!¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°though¡­ it¡¯s in Black Suns space. Specifically, the Sector 2, Tier 4 World of Rossindon.¡±

 28 - The Best and Worst of Friends

    Chapter 28 - The Best and Worst of Friends


    8 Days Later


    ¡°They rejected our request.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled with irritation as he sat back against his chair. ¡°I only requested a visit last Watedia¡­ at least the CSA pretends to think about things before rejecting visitation requests, but the Black Suns just instantly reject us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d rather they waste our time?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Well¡­ no¡­¡± the Transfer Captain admitted, ¡°but¡­ Rossindon¡¯s just a Tier 4 world. It¡¯s not even a Fortress World¡­¡±


    ¡°But it does belong to Sector 2 of the Black Suns,¡± Commander Nik¨¦yin countered, ¡°and if I remember a certain mission report correctly, you managed to irritate one of the Sector 2 Lieutenant Generals.¡± She glanced around at the seven members of Hero Machina, all of whom were sitting around a long table to Nik¨¦yin¡¯s left or right. Her gaze lingered on Dav¨ªdrius for a moment, but neither expressly addressed the gesture. She then turned back to face Kev¨¦rin as she continued, ¡°you do understand that, given the Black Suns hierarchy, you¡¯ve nearly done the equivalent of walking up to the ruler of a nation and pissing them off?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­¡± the Pyrotechnic stuttered, ¡°¡­but¡­ Rossindon¡¯s the hypocenter of the Chaos Energy Quake¡­¡±


    Nik¨¦yin sighed and shook her head wearily. ¡°Not everyone wants to get to the bottom of this as much as you do. The Black Suns probably don¡¯t care, or they might even have their own investigation running. That could explain why they pulled down the CSA data on Quake outage times. And I have to say, given something as significant as the Chaos Quake¡­ if the hypocenter was in Nimalian space and a group from the CSA or Black Suns requested access, we¡¯d probably refuse them, too.¡±


    ¡°Bah, bureaucracy this, politics that¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Why block access to, uh, to this ¡®hypercenter¡¯ thing? What¡¯s to gain from learning where the Quake started?¡±


    ¡°A lot, actually,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°if you know both when and where the Quake started, then it¡¯s a lot easier to find out what started it, and why. We could learn if this was a natural phenomenon, or if someone caused it.¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t forget there¡¯s a possibility that the Quake is linked to the metallic infection,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added, ¡°if we can establish a firm link, then that would go a long way toward finding the cause of the infection, and possible ways of stopping it.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ what, the Black Suns just don¡¯t want us finding this stuff out?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Possibly, but it could also just be that we¡¯re dealing with Sector 2 here,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded. ¡°Even if you hadn¡¯t managed to annoy General Bitincher, I doubt they would have agreed to let you visit. Sector 2 is by far the most secretive and paranoid of the Black Suns sectors, and the Sector 2 Master General, Sike Regek, isn¡¯t exactly known for his welcoming attitude.¡± The Commander paused for a moment to massage her eyebrows before adding, ¡°I agree that getting to the bottom of the Quake is a priority. I¡¯ll look into this myself. Maybe I can pull some strings, start fleshing out the NSD¡¯s connections¡­¡±


    ¡°Speaking of,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°what¡¯s up with the NSD? We¡¯re supposed to be part of it, right? But it¡¯s not an actual organization yet¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s turned political. There¡¯s a surprising amount of opposition, especially from within the member militaries. General Acknos of the Tekdec¨¦nian military and General Rant¨¦in of the RPF have already pledged their official support, at least, so effectively, we¡¯re in business ¡ª as a defensive organization, at least. But the CSA and Black Suns won¡¯t recognize us until we¡¯re official.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean for us?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Continue as you have been,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied, ¡°for now, Hero Machina is acting as part of the Nimaliakian military, with Tekdec¨¦nian and RPF access rights, thanks to Transfer Captain Tyrion and Captain Yumach.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why we pulled someone from every continent, eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Why¡¯d you bother comin¡¯ all the way to my shitty compound in Tres¨¦d to get me, though?¡±


    ¡°I have my reasons, and you¡¯d do well not to question them,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded. ¡°Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t send you back to Tres¨¦d in a heartbeat, Wrikax.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± The Velocitechnic scowled, but didn¡¯t further the conversation.


    ¡°And with that¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin stood up, prompting Hero Machina to do the same. ¡°I think we¡¯re done here. I¡¯ll see what I can do as far as getting you onto Rossindon. In the meantime, continue to investigate any possible leads from the Hazard Island incident. And if you need me, as usual, I¡¯ll be in my office. Dismissed!¡±


    Hero Machina saluted Nik¨¦yin and paused momentarily as the Commander left the room. The moment she did, they all relaxed, though Kievkenalis and Kaon¨¦ quickly made for the exit themselves.


    ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Some more information from the RPF came in today,¡± Kievkenalis responded, ¡°I think I might find another lead on the Hazard Islands infection.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well¡­ go do that, yeah,¡± the Transfer Captain replied as the two Chaotics left the room. He then turned toward Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ and gestured for them to follow him. ¡°C¡¯mon, I need some help.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded, ¡°what for?¡±


    The Transfer Captain glanced at the Velocitechnic with mild irritation. ¡°Should it matter?¡±


    Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n exchanged apprehensive looks. ¡°Here we go¡­¡± the Electrotechnic muttered.


    ¡°Hey, whoa, calm down.¡± Christean¨¦ stepped in between Dav¨ªdrius and Kev¨¦rin, oblivious to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s comment. ¡°I think it¡¯s a valid question. You can¡¯t just expect us to follow you because you said so.¡±


    ¡°What? Yes I can,¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted, ¡°what¡¯s it say on my uniform?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re pullin¡¯ rank?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked spitefully.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m the CO of Hero Machina. You guys have to listen to me.¡±


    ¡°Not unquestioningly,¡± Christean¨¦ countered, ¡°in battle, maybe, but I¡¯m not just going to roll over and let you walk all over me because you¡¯re a whole rank above me and have a fancy ¡®Transfer¡¯ designation.¡±


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know how this works in East Nimaliaka, but here¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Rebehka whispered as she placed a hand on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s shoulder and tugged slightly. The Electrotechnic quickly nodded and the two bowed out of the meeting room, their departure granted but a brief glance from Kev¨¦rin.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Once clear from the meeting room, the two women sighed wearily.


    ¡°Boys¡­¡± Rebehka shook her head.


    ¡°I knew this would happen sooner or later,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ are too headstrong, and Kev¨¦rin¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t?¡± Rebehka finished.


    ¡°¡­Yeah. You could say that.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin actually brought this up almost a week ago¡­ to be honest, I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s ever actually been in charge before.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Not sure?¡¯¡± Siyuak¨¦n echoed incredulously. ¡°Just goes to show how little we all know about each other.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t help that it seems like everyone¡¯s at each other¡¯s throats¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh, like Dav¨ªdrius and Kaon¨¦?¡±


    ¡°To an extent, you, too.¡± Rebehka made pointed eye-contact with her friend. ¡°I heard your comment back on Teghica, after Dav¨ªdrius shouted down Kaon¨¦, you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­So?¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied uneasily.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, if there¡¯s something wrong¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s¡­¡± The Electrotechnic paused and sighed. ¡°Okay, I guess¡­ I dunno. Kaon¨¦¡¯s, just¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­ hate to ask, but does this have anything to do with the fact that you, um, that she was exchanged for you?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n paused, momentarily startled at the event being referenced out loud. Chaotic Exchanges were an old practice on Nimalia, wherein the five continent-nations would come together to redistribute newly-developed Chaotics around the globe, so as to keep the overall power of the nations in balance. Forcefully relocating ten-year-old children rarely resulted in positive experiences, however, and the spread of the Nimalians into space rendered the practice effectively obsolete anyways. For well over a hundred years, no Chaotic Exchanges had been made ¡ª but then the Chaos Energy Quake occurred, drastically lowering the Chaotic birthrate during that year. And on top of that, one of the Chaotics born during the Quake was a Materiatechnic, one of the most powerful types of Chaotic. When coupled with the fact that this Materiatechnic was born in the only continent-nation to have two Chaotic births in that year, the rest of the nations decided that they couldn¡¯t let this stand. In response ¡ª as a one-time event ¡ª the practice of exchanging Chaotics was resurrected, thereby forcefully relocating two ten-year-olds across the world. One of those children was Kaon¨¦, originally born in Rel¨¦diaka¡­ and the other was Siyuak¨¦n, originally born in Nimaliaka.


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced around warily, checking for any other presences in the hallway. Rebehka had been right on the mark when she broached the topic, and while Siyuak¨¦n was fine discussing the matter with her friend, she had no desire to share her past with unrelated third parties.


    The Electrotechnic¡¯s unease wasn¡¯t lost on Rebehka. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to dig up bad memories. Let¡¯s talk about something else¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Your guess was right, anyways, and I¡¯d rather get this out of my system now.¡±


    Rebehka frowned. ¡°I thought you had gotten over the exchange.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, too.¡± Siyuak¨¦n shrugged. ¡°But that was before I actually met Kaon¨¦. I mean¡­ don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m glad I ended up in Rel¨¦diaka and met you, but¡­ she¡¯s who I was exchanged for? She¡¯s the reason I had to leave my entire life behind in Nimaliaka when I was ten?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not sure I follow? What¡¯s wrong with Kaon¨¦¡­?¡±


    ¡°You know how Kev¨¦rin said that she was conscripted as a Chaotic? And then had to get promoted to Lieutenant?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Back when we were getting Dav¨ªdrius, on Tres¨¦d? She told me she was conscripted as a Lieutenant. She said it was the same for all Nimaliakian Chaotics, so it definitely wasn¡¯t just a mistake.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well, maybe Kev¨¦rin¡¯s the one who got it wrong?¡±


    ¡°I thought that too, so I checked. Turns out, he¡¯s right. Kaon¨¦ had to get promoted, just like any other conscript. She lied to me.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°And then she wouldn¡¯t even help us fight the Bleeders. The Bleeders, Rebehka! If you had to pick one group in our solar cluster to fight, it¡¯d be them! Not to mention all of the fights she¡¯s sat out of because she ¡®doesn¡¯t want to hurt anyone.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I think I see, then¡­ you think she¡¯s trivializing what you went through because of the exchange?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah. I mean¡­ I don¡¯t quite think shes doing it on purpose, but¡­ there¡¯s still the fact that she lied, and I have no idea why. I don¡¯t know what to think of her, but she¡¯s¡­ just, argh!¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡± Rebehka paused for a moment, and then leaned in to give her friend a hug.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded gratefully.


    ¡°You know¡­ it might be worth it to bring this up with Kaon¨¦,¡± Rebehka suggested after the two released each other. ¡°I doubt you¡¯re the only one who was upset by the exchange. She might have good reasons for her current beliefs and actions.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed. ¡°¡­You¡¯re probably right.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m right,¡± Rebehka replied cheekily, ¡°when have I ever been wrong?¡±


    ¡°Oho, so we¡¯re going there?¡± Siyuak¨¦n smirked. ¡°I distinctly remember there being this one trip to East Nimaliaka that you said wouldn¡¯t take much longer than a day or two.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that wasn¡¯t my fault. Besides, you have to admit, Christean¨¦ showed us some great places around the region. We should really go back to Deepsough at some point¡­¡±


    The two women continued conversing as they began walking down the hall, the issues within Hero Machina temporarily behind them.


    <hr>


    ¡°Kevken¡­!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry, I didn¡¯t realize how much data there¡¯d be to look through¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ sighed impatiently, but couldn¡¯t bring herself to be truly irritated at Kievkenalis. ¡°You¡¯d think you¡¯d know how much data you¡¯re asking for when you request it.¡±


    ¡°Well, kinda.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°I just contacted the RPF intel department and requested a bunch of information related to shipping routes near the Hazard Islands.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask them to sort or process the information at all?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no. I thought that¡¯s what we were supposed to be doing?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ shook her head in disbelief. ¡°I thought you were supposed to be able to get almost anything you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a Chaostechnic? Well yeah, but I¡¯d burn a lot of bridges if I asked everyone else to do my work for me all the time.¡±


    ¡°Even though¡­ even with what¡¯s expected of you?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kievkenalis passed a confused glanced to Kaon¨¦. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a Chaostechnic, so you¡¯re basically expected to fight and, you know¡­¡±


    ¡°Kill?¡± Kievkenalis shrugged again. ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m usually used for defense. Support and Defensive abilities. I don¡¯t do a lot of real fighting myself.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ when you have that expected of you, you don¡¯t¡­ you don¡¯t care?¡±


    ¡°Fun fact: there¡¯s been several studies that show a correlation between Chaostechnism and sociopathy.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°That was a joke.¡± Kievkenalis grinned cheekily. ¡°¡­At least, the part where I implied that I was a sociopath was a joke.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°Kevken¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually kinda curious why you have such a strong aversion to fighting,¡± the Chaostechnic replied as he turned his gaze back to the computer in front of him and began typing away. ¡°You were perfectly fine fighting the security mechs back on Teghica, so it¡¯s not fighting itself you don¡¯t like. It¡¯s fighting people, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, why¡¯s that? Something big must¡¯ve happened to you if you made it all the way through a Chaotic ¡®education¡¯ and still have a strong aversion to fighting people¡­ especially as a Materiatechnic. You must¡¯ve received one of the best educations in Nimaliaka.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ glanced over at Kievkenalis and then back to her computer. ¡°¡­I¡¯d rather not talk about it.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kievkenalis perked up and returned his attention to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh. Well, okay then.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ watched Kievkenalis return his full attention to his computer, without showing any concern whatsoever for the conversation he had just dropped. ¡°¡­How do you do it?¡±


    ¡°Do what?¡± he questioned without even looking up.


    ¡°You seem so carefree, but at the same time, so focused¡­ I don¡¯t know how you do it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not hard,¡± Kievkenalis replied airily, ¡°I just kinda know what I need to do, and I do it. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh huh.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Chaostechnic glanced at Kaon¨¦ cluelessly.


    She shook her head in response. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever understand you,¡± she commented amusedly.


    ¡°General Rant¨¦in says that a lot, too,¡± Kievkenalis replied, ¡°not sure why you think that, but whatever.¡± He then paused for a few moments. ¡°Oh, hmm. I think I found something.¡±


    ¡°Already?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s another SFC lead¡­ except this time it¡¯s a shipment from one of their own bases, instead of from some other galactic organization. This one was about twelve years ago, too. No ocean events, though the flight path comes within a hundred kilometers of the main island in the Hazard Islands group¡­ I guess that¡¯s close enough?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound as solid as back when you found the information on Teghica, and we didn¡¯t even find anything there¡­¡±


    ¡°No, but the RPF has been wary of SFC outposts for a long time now, particularly this one. Only the RPF has the authority to found outposts outside the Nimalian Territories; I mean, the SFC can set up outposts too, if they want, but they aren¡¯t recognized by any government.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so bad about this outpost, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s two Transpace jumps and another half-week FTL jump down the unclaimed galactic arm. They¡¯ve been doing suspicious things for many years now, but the RPF has never had a legitimate reason to launch a raid¡­ but now, our infection investigation may be just the reason the RPF needs.¡±


    ¡°Wait, the SFC is setting up outposts that far outside of Nimalian space?... What is this outpost?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a Tier 4 World, so not quite just an outpost. It¡¯s more similar to an unofficial, low-key Fortress World¡­ it¡¯s SFC outpost 19, Kotak.¡±

 29 - Chaos Influence

    Chapter 29 - Chaos'' Influence


    7 Days Later


    Aboard RPF Frigate Krosus


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe how quickly the RPF was ready to move out¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve had eyes on Kotak for several years now,¡± Kievkenalis explained, ¡°the SFC are a really shady group. The moment we catch wind of anything suspicious, we move in and shut them down, if appropriate. It¡¯s all we can do to keep them from getting out of hand.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one thing to ¡®have eyes¡¯ on them,¡± Rebehka responded incredulously, ¡°it¡¯s another to have two fully-armed Cruisers sitting a half-week jump away!¡±


    The Chaostechnic shrugged. ¡°This is how the RPF does things. There¡¯s at least one Cruiser in range of every SFC outpost we know of, for situations exactly like this.¡±


    ¡°And because of that, we¡¯re already almost at Kotak!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°come on, why are we complaining about this? We¡¯re about to see some action!¡±


    ¡°Eh, probably not,¡± Kievkenalis refuted, ¡°the SFC is usually pretty compliant with RPF ¡®raids.¡¯ Usually we just barge in, do a quick investigation, and then pull out just as quickly if we don¡¯t find anything suspicious. Keeps the peace.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ sighed of relief. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good to know.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced over at her. ¡°You¡ª¡±


    ¡°Not here,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°we¡¯re minutes from dropping out of FTL, and planetfall is shortly after that.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡ª!¡±


    ¡°If you wanted to argue, you should¡¯ve done it two hours ago, before suiting up and sitting in the damn shuttle,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut Dav¨ªdrius off again. ¡°We¡¯re lucky enough that both Commander Nik¨¦yin and General Rant¨¦in allowed us to participate in this raid, so don¡¯t botch it up. Our track record for screwing up off-world missions is two for four at this point; let¡¯s try to keep that number down.¡±


    Shortly after Kev¨¦rin had finished speaking, a small door at the front of the passenger compartment of the shuttle opened up. A young Nimalian man stuck his head around the doorway. ¡°Five minutes ¡®til FTL drop out,¡± he declared. ¡°Assuming the SFC don¡¯t have a significant space presence, we¡¯ll launch as soon as the Cruiser decelerates. Planetfall should be in about ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Kievkenalis nodded toward the pilot in acknowledgment. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready.¡±


    The pilot nodded back and returned his attention to the shuttle controls, shutting and locking the door behind him.


    ¡°Alright, this is it,¡± Kev¨¦rin began, ¡°you all know the drill. We¡¯re Chaotics, so we¡¯re part of the vanguard force. The moment we reach disembarkation altitude, we all jump. Rebehka, Kotak isn¡¯t a desert planet, so you shouldn¡¯t have any trouble creating an ice platform; you can take care of descent for yourself and Siyuak¨¦n. Kaon¨¦, you¡¯re with Kevken. Dav¨ªdrius, Christean¨¦, I¡¯m sure you two can handle a short fall.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hardly call five hundred meters a short fall,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°If you can survive being hit by my hammers then you should be fine,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Kev¨¦rin affirmed, ¡°now, once we¡¯re ground-side, the goal is to secure the compound. Stick together, and follow the orders of the nearest RPF Colonel if we find one. Otherwise, Kevken and I have authority to lead Hero Machina on our own. And, lastly ¡ª don¡¯t attack anyone unless they attack you first. We¡¯re not here to destroy the SFC, we¡¯re here to see if there¡¯s any connections or hints about the metallic infection.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, dad,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted as he rolled his eyes. ¡°Anything else you want to warn us about?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, actually.¡± Kev¨¦rin passed the Velocitechnic an irate glance. ¡°We¡¯re all wearing the new prototype Chaos Armor. Now, they are prototypes, but they have been tested. They should stand up fine in battle. But if we come across a CENT field, we¡¯re withdrawing immediately. Don¡¯t overestimate your strength.¡±


    ¡°Even me?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin stared at Dav¨ªdrius, and then looked down at the satchel he was wearing. Inside was Hastryth ¡ª the dark blue Ayas. ¡°Yes, even you,¡± the Transfer Captain eventually asserted. ¡°I don¡¯t care that you can operate in CENT fields, you stick with the group unless ordered otherwise. Understood?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled and made to retort, but the entire shuttle jolted, distracting him from his thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s the FTL drop out,¡± the Transfer Captain declared. ¡°We¡¯re here. Get ready.¡±


    The seven members of Hero Machina quickly fastened themselves to the shuttle¡¯s safety harnesses in preparation for launch. Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis, as the only two present to have ever spent time on spacecraft before, braced themselves for the second jolt of the docking clamps releasing the shuttle¡­ but the jolt never came.


    ¡°¡­So, uh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius spoke up impatiently, ¡°what¡¯re we waitin¡¯ for¡ª?¡±


    He was cut off as the entire shuttle rocked violently, the safety harnesses only barely keeping the seven Chaotics in place.


    ¡°What was that?!¡± Rebehka exclaimed.


    ¡°That was not the docking clamps releasing.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°¡­Were we fired on?!¡±


    ¡°Looks like we were.¡± The pilot¡¯s voice came out over a small speaker near the door to the cockpit. ¡°There¡¯s a single SFC Cruiser in orbit. The Syndisus. Somehow they think they can fend off both the Krosus and Naetolus at the same time¡­ ha! This¡¯ll only be a short delay. We¡¯ll launch soon, but expect a bumpy ride down.¡± The shuttle suddenly jolted again, but in a much more subdued and controlled manner. ¡°There it is. We¡¯re clear of the docking clamps. Engaging inertial dampeners... launching! Planetfall in five!¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°W-wait, already?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°is¡ª is this safe?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Kievkenalis waved her off, ¡°like their name says, the SFC usually relies on stealth. They don¡¯t have a chance in a straightforward battle against two RPF Cruisers.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they also have the word ¡®force¡¯ in their name?¡± Christean¨¦ countered.


    ¡°¡­Well, yes, but that part of their name is basically a relic from over a hundred years ago.¡±


    ¡°Which makes you wonder why they attacked us in the first place,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered.


    Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Well I guess this does away with that ¡®wait ¡®til you¡¯re attacked to attack¡¯ thing, huh?¡±


    The Transfer Captain glanced at the Velocitechnic and then admitted begrudgingly, ¡°I suppose so¡­ but don¡¯t get carried away.¡± He turned to fully face Dav¨ªdrius and stated pointedly, ¡°don¡¯t kill if you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°¡­Everyone always assumes I¡¯m just gonna go off and kill someone,¡± Dav¨ªdrius lamented with a scowl, ¡°I haven¡¯t killed anyone since, like¡­ over two months ago.¡±


    ¡°Your attitude is exactly why we¡¯re all wary,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered.


    ¡°Shut it, Ms. Useless,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped.


    ¡°You too, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered.


    ¡°¡­Tch,¡± the Velocitechnic snorted, but didn¡¯t reply further.


    The following several minutes passed in silence. The shuttle began to shake gently as they entered the atmosphere, and then jolted again as it switched to air-breathing engines.


    ¡°Planetfall in t-minus ten seconds,¡± the pilot¡¯s voice appeared a minute later. The seven Chaotics quickly began undoing the safety harnesses as the pilot counted down. When he reached zero, two hatches slid open, one on either side of the shuttle, allowing the rushing winds to enter the shuttle and begin whipping around hair and Chaos Robes alike.


    ¡°Here we go!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted over the wind, ¡°see you ground-side!¡± He flung himself from the shuttle, taking a moment to observe his surroundings before pointing himself in a ground-ward dive.


    ¡°¡­You know, I said this would be easy¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ looked down at the ground below apprehensively after Christean¨¦, Rebehka, and Siyuak¨¦n had all followed Kev¨¦rin. ¡°But, uh¡­ now that I¡¯m actually here¡­¡±


    ¡°Something else that you¡¯re scared of, eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms as he stood behind her.


    ¡°Well, sort of¡ª uagh!!¡± Kaon¨¦ yelped as she was suddenly shoved out the hatch.


    ¡°Oops! Sorry, I think I slipped!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted after her. He smirked and then glanced over at Kievkenalis just in time to catch the Chaostechnic shaking his head in disapproval. He promptly leaped after Kaon¨¦, leaving Dav¨ªdrius alone in the shuttle.


    ¡°¡­Hardasses, the lot of ¡®em,¡± the Velocitechnic grumbled before throwing himself out the hatch.


    Farther down, Kev¨¦rin was already meeting the first signs of resistance in the form of anti-air rounds. He barely avoided being hit by one before bathing the entire aerospace around him in fire, following up with launching fireballs at every anti-air platform he could reasonably identify from hundreds of meters in the air. As he rapidly approached the ground, he was able to recognize more and more of the compound¡¯s weaponry ¡ª including a laser cannon that had just unpacked itself and was now aiming in his direction. He had no time to react before it fired ¡ª he instead instinctively flinched, before realizing that a massive ice shield had formed around him just in time to block the laser blast.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Rebehka shouted as she fell past, Siyuak¨¦n on her tail. The Cryotechnic then spun herself around and created an ice platform midair, controlling the ice itself to catch herself and Siyuak¨¦n and gradually slow their descent. At that point, Kev¨¦rin fell past them again, confident in his abilities to catch himself with flame jets as he continued launching fireballs at the various military hardware.


    That is, until he realized that his fireballs were dissipating prematurely.


    ¡°¡­CENT fields,¡± he muttered to himself, ¡°it would figure¡­!¡± He immediately blasted himself to the side, changing his trajectory to land some distance outside of the compound instead of directly in it. ¡°Watch yourselves!!¡± he shouted upward as he activated his wireless communicator, ¡°they have CENT fields!!¡±


    ¡°Of course they do¡­¡± Christean¨¦¡¯s irritation was evident even over the audio-only connection. The Transfer Captain watched as the rest of Hero Machina slowly changed their falling trajectory to match his own before turning his attention back to the ground and initiating his flame jets to slow his descent. He landed softly on the dirt nearly a hundred meters from the compound¡¯s outermost wall and set up a flame barrier to incinerate any incoming projectiles as the rest of Hero Machina began landing around him.


    ¡°Rebehka¡­ Siyuak¨¦n¡­ Christean¨¦¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin acknowledged each as they landed on the ground. ¡°Kaon¨¦, Kevken¡­ ¡­where¡¯s Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    His question was answered by an explosion in the distance, somewhere around the area that they had originally been aiming for.


    ¡°He went directly for the compound?¡± Siyuak¨¦n facepalmed. ¡°Even after the CENT field warning?¡±


    ¡°I tried to catch him, but he told me to go away...¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°¡­It would figure,¡± Kev¨¦rin growled. ¡°He has the Ayas. He ignored my explicit orders because he¡¯s too damn confident in the thing¡­ damn it!¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned warily.


    ¡°¡­We go after him,¡± the Transfer Captain replied begrudgingly, ¡°if he at least knows what he¡¯s doing, he¡¯ll disable the CENT fields. We can take advantage of that opening.¡± He began running toward the compound, gesturing for the rest of Hero Machina to follow. ¡°Christean¨¦, you¡¯re with me! We¡¯ll try to catch up with Dav¨ªdrius. The rest of you, watch our backs! Try not to get separated!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Haaaah!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius flung the blade end of Hastryth forwards, piercing a steel door clean through. He then tossed the handle into the air and flipped, snatching the handle with his foot and yanking hard enough to rip the door off its hinges. He dismissed the Ayas weapon to detach it from the door and then re-summoned it just in time to rapidly block a bullet barrage. The moment an opening appeared he dashed forward with amazing speed, obliterating the turret with a single kick and then flooring the two soldiers behind it with Hastryth¡¯s tether. One of them launched a blast of fire in his direction, but his armor¡¯s energy shielding deflected the hit. The Velocitechnic grinned and launched himself forward, cutting down the two soldiers before either could offer further resistance.


    Without offering the two new corpses so much as a glance, Dav¨ªdrius bounded forwards and rounded a corner, maintaining his speed as he barreled through two small security mechs and another three SFC soldiers. He drew his sword ¡ª a side-arm, for if he somehow lost the Ayas ¡ª and held it in one hand and Hastryth¡¯s handle in the other before spinning around in a tight circle just as he passed the barricade, ripping all of the defenders to shreds. He paused momentarily at the next hallway intersection and was about to launch himself to the right before he noticed dark red discolorings all over the lower areas of his armor¡¯s robing.


    ¡°Aw, what the hell?¡± he muttered irately, ¡°blood stains already? The shielding doesn¡¯t even shield the robes? Damn prototype.¡± He then prepared to dash off, but was interrupted again ¡ª this time by a voice over the compound¡¯s intercom.


    ¡°HOLD, QUAKEBORN!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡¯Quakeborn?¡¯¡± he echoed incredulously as he looked up at the intercom speaker. ¡°Who¡¯s there? Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°YES. THIS BASE¡¯S INTERCOM SYSTEM HAS BI-DIRECTIONAL CAPABILITY, SO I CAN INDEED HEAR YOU,¡± the booming, slightly robotic voice replied.


    ¡°Keh, alright. So, who are you? What d¡¯ya want? I¡¯m kinda busy, here.¡±


    ¡°SHOULD YOU DISREGARD MY WORDS, YOU SHALL SOON BE FAR BUSIER.¡±


    The Velocitechnic crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°The fuck are you on about?¡±


    ¡°YOU HAVE ARRIVED ON THIS PLANET WITH EXCELLENT TIMING. THIS SFC GROUP CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH AN AYAS, YET IF IT IS NOT RETRIEVED SOON, IT WILL BE LOST TO A FAR WORSE ENTITY¡­¡±


    ¡°An Ayas? What? Where? ¡­Why should I even trust you? You ain¡¯t even told me who you are yet!¡±


    ¡°MY IDENTITY BESTOWS TRUST. FOR NOW, I AM TRAPPED AS THIS BASE¡¯S PRIMARY COMPUTER SYSTEM, BUT BEFORE I WAS MUCH GREATER. I AM AN AEGIS PRIOR. MY NAME IS ARC¨¢N.¡±

 30 - The Tendency of Power

    Chapter 30 - The Tendency of Power


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius!!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Velocitechnic turned around just in time for Kev¨¦rin to barge up and glare at him.


    The Transfer Captain gestured at the hall behind him, marred with the remains of the barricade Dav¨ªdrius had broken through. ¡°The hell is this?!¡±


    ¡°¡­Heheh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius chuckled in self-amusement after he caught a glimpse of Kaon¨¦ coming around the corner and immediately backing away in disgust. ¡°I¡¯m just securin¡¯ the place, like you said.¡±


    ¡°Did I not say no killing if you can help it?!¡±


    ¡°They attacked me¡ª!¡±


    ¡°They attacked you?¡± Kev¨¦rin echoed in disbelief. ¡°Then why are they the ones smeared all over the walls?!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted in derision. ¡°What, d¡¯ya expect me to just rap everyone up the backside of their head?¡±


    ¡°I expect you not to leave behind a mess worthy of the Riaxen!¡±


    ¡°Everything okay, Dav¨ªdrius¡­?¡± Christean¨¦ asked warily as he approached the two arguing Chaotics. ¡°You¡¯ve been a little¡­ off, ever since we boarded the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Off?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Ha! I¡¯ve been feelin¡¯ pretty damn great, actually!¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s Hastryth.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Velocitechnic crossed his arms as Kievkenalis walked up. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Dark Ayas Hastryth,¡± the Riveranian repeated, ¡°I told you, it¡¯s not one of the ¡®Dark Ayas¡¯ without reason!¡±


    ¡°This bullshit again,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled, ¡°if you¡¯re tryin¡¯ to say that it¡¯s corruptin¡¯ me, or somethin¡¯, well, you¡¯re wrong. Nothing controls me. Certainly not some damn stone!¡±


    ¡°¡­Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin addressed him warningly, ¡°calm down¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me to ¡®calm down.¡¯¡± The Velocitechnic shoved Kev¨¦rin away. ¡°You can¡¯t tell me shit¡ª!¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!!¡±


    Everyone froze where they stood, startled by the booming voice over the intercom.


    ¡°WE HAVE NO TIME FOR PETTY SQUABBLES, QUAKEBORN!¡±


    ¡°¡­Who¡¯re you?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded apprehensively.


    ¡°The base¡¯s computer or some shit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied nonchalantly. ¡°That¡¯s what it was sayin¡¯ before you got all up in my face, at least.¡±


    ¡°WITH LUCK, THAT WILL NOT REMAIN THE CASE FOR LONG. WE ARE LOSING TIME; YOU NEED¡ª¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the base¡¯s computer?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°¡­You¡¯re saying you¡¯re an AI?¡±


    ¡°IN A SENSE, YES.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± the Pyrotechnic scoffed. ¡°Even the Syraus don¡¯t have fully-functional AI. There¡¯s no way the SFC could¡¯ve created one.¡± He glanced over at Kievkenalis. ¡°Right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s technically possible, but I highly doubt it,¡± the Chaostechnic responded, ¡°I¡¯m sure the RPF would¡¯ve picked up on something like a self-governing Artificial Intelligence.¡±


    ¡°THE ¡®SFC¡¯ DID NOT CREATE ME. THEY MERELY FOUND ME.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re an Aldredas artifact?¡± Kievkenalis suddenly seemed very intrigued.


    ¡°This smells all kinds of wrong,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°for all we know, it¡¯s just the SFC trying to throw us off¡­¡±


    ¡°DO NOT GROUP ME WITH THESE FOOLS! YOU MAY NOT BE THE KEYS, BUT I WOULD NOT DARE LIE TO THE QUAKEBORN!¡±


    ¡°Keys? Quakeborn? What?¡± Christean¨¦ scratched his head cluelessly.


    ¡°I SPEAK OF TOPICS YOU NEED NOT KNOW, NOT AT THE MOMENT. FOR NOW, YOU NEED ONLY KNOW MY IDENTITY. I AM ARC¨¢N, AN AEGIS PRIOR.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n?¡± Kievkenalis¡¯s intrigue piqued even further. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the name of one of the light Ayas. Is there a connection?¡±


    ¡°THERE IS LITTLE TIME FOR THIS NOW! THIS INFORMATION IS NOT IMMEDIATELY RELEVANT AND I CAN EXPLAIN ONCE WE ARE ALL FAR REMOVED FROM THE KOTAK MENACE.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin rolled his eyes. ¡°A likely story. We¡¯ve wasted enough time here¡ª¡±


    ¡°THERE IS AN AYAS IN THE CAVES TWO KILOMETERS EAST OF THIS COMPOUND.¡±


    The four Chaotics froze again.


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re lying,¡± the Transfer Captain replied flatly.


    ¡°THINK RATIONALLY. I AM NOT OF THIS MODERN GALAXY, BUT I HAVE HEARD AND PROCESSED MUCH DATA RELATED TO IT. THE PEOPLE OF THIS BASE, THOSE OF THE STEALTH AND FORCE CORP, ARE NO MATCH FOR THIS ONGOING RAID. I HAVE NOTHING TO GAIN FROM DISTRACTING AND DIVERTING SEVEN CHAOTICS OUT OF MANY. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE, BAR TIME, AND EVEN THEN YOUR ABSENCE WOULD NOT BE TRULY NOTICED. YET YOU HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING ANOTHER AYAS. THERE IS LITTLE REASON FOR YOU TO NOT AT LEAST INVESTIGATE.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m with the computer on this one,¡± Christean¨¦ stated, ¡°another Ayas? Definitely worth checking out.¡±


    ¡°And if it¡¯s a trap then we¡¯ll just blow right through it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared, ¡°nothing can stop me!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin hesitated for a moment before turning to his side and bringing up a tactical display of the compound on his glasses. After a few moments of investigating the location pings for the other raid teams, he closed the display and sighed as he turned back to the other three Chaotics. ¡°Alright¡­ we¡¯ll go for it.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°I AM GLAD YOU SAW REASON.¡±


    ¡°Can it,¡± Kev¨¦rin shot back, ¡°when we get back, you¡¯d better have proof that you¡¯re actually an AI. And if there¡¯s no Ayas, then I¡¯ll be sure to format your core and use it to store my porn stash!¡±


    ¡°Porn?¡± Dav¨ªdrius cocked his head cluelessly. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    Silence fell for a couple moments.


    ¡°Dude,¡± Christean¨¦ commented woefully, ¡°I am so sorry.¡±


    ¡°THIS IS ALL BESIDE THE POINT. THERE IS AN AYAS THERE, I ASSURE YOU. AND UPON YOUR RETURN I WILL HAVE FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION; YOUR DESIRE FOR PROOF WILL NOT GO UNSATED. NOW GO! RETRIEVE THE AYAS BEFORE THE MENACE CLAIMS IT!¡±


    ¡°This had better all make since soon¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled as he turned back down the hallway. ¡°Everyone, we¡¯re moving out. To the east!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Caves again? I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve only ever had one bad experience with caves,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    ¡°And that one ¡®bad experience¡¯ resulted in the loss of an entire colony,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered. ¡°I think I¡¯m right to be somewhat worried¡­¡±


    ¡°On Sunova, we didn¡¯t have an Ayas to help us out. But now we do.¡± The Velocitechnic grinned as he gestured toward his satchel. ¡°There¡¯s nothin¡¯ to worry about! I can take care of it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we have to worry about¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°Quiet,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered as he gestured for the rest of Hero Machina to hide in the underbrush. The caves may have only been two kilometers from the SFC compound, but those two kilometers were filled with dense forest and had taken them almost twenty minutes to clear. They were now at the edge of a small clearing, at the end of which was the entrance to a cave.


    ¡°¡­Is it¡­ blocked?¡± Rebehka questioned, referring to the cave entrance.


    ¡°It looks like a steel door¡­ probably something the SFC installed.¡± Kev¨¦rin stood up and stepped out of the underbrush, gesturing for the rest of the Chaotic squad to follow suit. ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s behind that door,¡± he commented, ¡°so be careful. Kaon¨¦, Kievkenalis, see if you can sense any presence. And once we¡¯re close enough that you¡¯re comfortable, tear down the door.¡±


    ¡°I can do that from here!¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked, promptly tearing down the steel door and tossing it to the side after transmuting it into dust.


    As soon as she had removed the door, a full squad of six armored soldiers sprung forth, guns blazing. Kaon¨¦ and Rebehka reflexively raised shields to block the bullets and lasers, but before anyone else could react, Dav¨ªdrius had vaulted over the barriers and lunged forward, ignoring the weaponry and simply allowing his armor to soak up the damage. The moment he was within arm¡¯s reach of the front-most soldier, he whirled his right foot around and cartwheel kicked the soldier, slamming him straight down to the ground. The Velocitechnic then launched Hastryth¡¯s blade end at the next nearest soldier before dashing toward him, running several circles around him until Hastryth¡¯s tether bound his arms. Dav¨ªdrius then grabbed the soldier by his head and back flipped, ramming his foot into the soldier¡¯s chin and snapping his head back far further than the body would naturally allow. The moment the Velocitechnic had both feet planted on the ground again, he tossed Hastryth¡¯s handle into the air and spun around, catching the handle with his foot and swinging the tethered corpse around in a circle, toppling two of the soldiers who had attempted to get in close. He then yanked on the cord, unraveling the corpse and sending it flying into a third soldier as Hastryth¡¯s blade was flung backwards into a fourth. The Velocitechnic quickly drew his sword and flung it into the air; the moment it had fallen down tip-first, he whipped around in another cartwheel kick and drove the blade with his foot into the soldier he had floored earlier ¡ª piercing even the soldier¡¯s Chaos Armor.


    By then, the remaining four soldiers had become wary of Dav¨ªdrius, and were slowly backing off while maintaining gunfire. Their actions did nothing but egg the Velocitechnic on, however ¡ª now confident that none of them were Chaotics, he blasted forward at full speed before shooting his foot out just in time to ram it through one of the soldiers and then used Hastryth to snag the soldier standing right next to him and yank him to the ground. He pulled Hastryth back and slammed the blade end through the corpse stuck on his leg, causing it to suddenly disappear in a cloud of blue mist. Without so much as stopping to give the odd occurrence any thought, Dav¨ªdrius dashed toward the farther two soldiers and clothes-lined them before slamming his foot into the back of one of their necks, and through the crotch of the other. He then jumped away and spun around, launching Hastryth one more time toward the final remaining soldier and completely impaling him.


    The rest of Hero Machina watched on in dead silence, frozen in awe of Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s ruthless display of speed and strength. They were slowly shaken out of their stupor by the sound of laughing ¡ª by the sound of Dav¨ªdrius laughing.


    ¡°Ahahahaha!!¡± The Velocitechnic grinned gleefully. ¡°Those guys weren¡¯t even a match!!¡±


    ¡°Looks like they were Black Suns soldiers¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°I guess that¡¯s why the SFC resisted. They didn¡¯t want us to know of their ties to the Black Suns¡­¡± He then turned his attention to the perpetrator of the brief massacre. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius! What the hell are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°Winning!¡± the Velocitechnic shouted back, ¡°they attacked. So I retaliated!¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t deserve this!¡± Rebehka countered, ¡°there was no need to¡­ to¡­ to slaughter them!¡±


    ¡°Eh, looks like they¡¯re just a bunch of Black Suns cannon fodder,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked. ¡°No one¡¯ll miss ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°I knew recruiting a Tres¨¦dian wouldn¡¯t work out in the end.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, stand down! Drop the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°Whaaat?¡± The Velocitechnic dismissed the Hastryth weapon and crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°You¡¯re tryin¡¯ to give me orders again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m temporarily relieving you of military standing!¡± the Transfer Captain barked, ¡°you¡¯re in no way fit to keep fighting!¡±


    ¡°Not fit for fightin¡¯?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius laughed again. ¡°Bullshit! I feel better than ever!¡±


    ¡°It really is Hastryth,¡± Kievkenalis commented, and then stepped forward. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, the Ayas is controlling you! Let it go!¡±


    ¡°No! Your bullshit is exactly that: bullshit,¡± the Velocitechnic countered irately. ¡°Nothin¡¯s controllin¡¯ me! You think I¡¯d actually lose myself to this fuckin¡¯ stone here? You¡¯ve got the master-servant relationship backwards, pal!¡±


    ¡°No, Dav¨ªdrius! It¡¯s blinding you!¡± Kievkenalis stood his ground. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking straight!¡±


    ¡°Even if I wasn¡¯t, do you really think I¡¯d come around just ¡®cause you said so?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted derisively. ¡°I took care of our attackers. That¡¯s that. Now are we just gonna stand around here, or are we gonna go get the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve become a danger in your own right,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared, ¡°we¡¯re not going anywhere until you stand down and hand over the Ayas you have!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Keheheh. I¡¯m the danger. C¡¯mon, stop bullshittin¡¯. We needa get the next Ayas. Right, guys?¡± He turned toward the rest of Hero Machina.


    ¡°No, Kev¨¦rin¡¯s right.¡± Christean¨¦ gripped his battlehammers defensively. ¡°Something¡¯s up with you.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Up¡¯ with me,¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed, ¡°¡¯up¡¯ with me, you say. These are just some Black Suns soldiers! The Black Suns are mercenaries! Who gives a shit?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one thing to kill them ¡ª it¡¯s another to do so as brutally as you did!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, ¡°you¡¯ve crossed a line!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t you, Dav¨ªdrius!¡± Kaon¨¦ added, ¡°even you never did something like this back in Tres¨¦d, or on Sunova, or Teghica!¡±


    ¡°¡¯This isn¡¯t me¡¯¡­¡± the Velocitechnic muttered, and then suddenly exploded. ¡°¡¯This isn¡¯t me?!¡¯ Like hell you know me! You pacifistic little shit, you think you can tell me who I am?!¡± He snapped his attention to the rest of Hero Machina, all of whom had entered defensive stances. ¡°Y¡¯all think you know me better than I do?! You don¡¯t know me! You don¡¯t know my history! You don¡¯t know shit! And you think you can just give me orders, tell me to ¡®stand down,¡¯ to drop the Ayas?! Like hell I will!!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­!¡± Kievkenalis muttered warningly.


    ¡°No! Fuck off! If you think you can tell me what to do, then¡ª then I¡¯ll¡ª I¡¯ll show you¡ª!! Haaugh!!¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s going on?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned apprehensively as Dav¨ªdrius collapsed to his hands and knees, his back arched.


    ¡°¡­The local Chaos Energy¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered, and then widened his eyes in shock. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it so excited before¡ª!¡±


    He was interrupted as a shockwave exploded outward from Dav¨ªdrius, blowing each of the Chaotics of Hero Machina back several meters. By the time any of them could look back to the Velocitechnic, his entire body was covered in a dark blue aura, thick enough to obscure all of his features ¡ª as well as his entire armor.


    ¡°¡­Shit.¡± Kievkenalis scowled. ¡°He¡¯s gone berserk!!¡±

 31 - Breakdown

    Chapter 31 - Breakdown


    The dark blue veil, completely obscuring his face and skin; his arched back, hands and feet on the ground; the guttural growling emerging from his throat: all signs of the condition that had befallen Dav¨ªdrius. All Chaotics hold this potential ¡ª the potential to, through either overuse of their powers or emotional breakdown, regress into a feral state in which all higher thought breaks down, and instincts become king. The state is well known, as all Chaotics are made aware of its danger during training, but it still manifests rarely enough that all of Hero Machina fell into stunned silence at the sight ¡ª at what had happened to Dav¨ªdrius.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone berserk!!¡±


    Kievkenalis¡¯s shout broke the rest of Hero Machina out of their stupor, but it also drew the attention of Dav¨ªdrius. The berserk Chaotic dashed forward with amazing speed; Christean¨¦ reacted instantly and barely managed to intercept him, smashing him to the ground with one of his battlehammers. He then whirled around and attempted to body slam the Velocitechnic, but Dav¨ªdrius whipped his foot around, slamming it into Christean¨¦ and sending him flying into a nearby tree. Immediately afterward, the berserker leaped back to his feet and sped off into the forest.


    ¡°Christean¨¦! Rebehka! Kievkenalis! Stop him!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted as he began running toward the cave entrance. ¡°Kaon¨¦, Siyuak¨¦n, you¡¯re with me! We need to get the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got it!¡± Christean¨¦ shouted back at the Transfer Captain before turning his attention to the surrounding forest as he began twirling his hammer. ¡°¡­Well, this is great. How are we supposed to find him?¡±


    ¡°If we could catch up to him, I could at least slow him down¡­¡± Rebehka mused as she glanced around warily.


    ¡°Berserkers are drawn to Chaos Energy,¡± Kievkenalis explained, ¡°and, luckily for us, I happen to be a Chaostechnic. Chaos Assist! Chaos Fortified Armor!¡± As his limbs and chest became covered in hardened Chaos Energy, Kievkenalis turned toward the forest and braced himself. ¡°Cha¡­ os¡­!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius suddenly leaped down from above, his trajectory set to land him on top of the Chaostechnic. Christean¨¦ immediately released his hammer and slammed into the berserker midair, sending the both of them tumbling. The Velocitechnic recovered faster, however, and was on top of Christean¨¦ in under a second.


    ¡°Control!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius froze in place, his berserker claws mere centimeters from Christean¨¦¡¯s throat. The Forcetechnic quickly threw him to the side before jumping to his feet and lunging at the berserker ¡ª just in time for him to recover and dash off as Kievkenalis dropped to his knees.


    Rebehka quickly covered the entire clearing with ice and rushed over to the Chaostechnic, leaving Christean¨¦ to intercept Dav¨ªdrius as he dashed back into the clearing once more.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she questioned hurriedly.


    ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered.


    ¡°How did you use ¡®Control¡¯? I thought you weren¡¯t a Sabotage type¡­¡±


    ¡°So did I¡­¡± The Chaostechnic looked down at his hands and then back up at the two battling Introtechnics. ¡°¡­But there¡¯s no time to question this now. Siphon and Negation will be extremely useful here¡­ but we have to get Hastryth off of him first! The Ayas will just endlessly fuel the Chaos Energy dependency of the Berserk State!¡± He jumped back to his feet. ¡°C¡¯mon!¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Rebehka replied, raising a massive ice wall around the entire clearing just before the berserker could dash out again. She and Kievkenalis then dashed toward the fight, intent on stopping the berserk Velocitechnic.


    <hr>


    ¡°I knew it¡­ I fucking knew it¡­¡±


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being fair to Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented quietly.


    ¡°Did you not see what he did to those Black Suns soldiers?¡± Kev¨¦rin countered irately, ¡°there¡¯s not really any leeway to give him.¡±


    ¡°But, you heard Kevken. It was the Ayas¡­¡±


    ¡°Much as I hate to say it, I¡¯m with Dav¨ªdrius on this one.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°This light versus dark thing is fiction.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Siyuak¨¦n interjected, ¡°in hindsight, he¡¯s been really aggressive and dismissive today, much more so than usual. I never would have pegged him for murderous until¡­ well, until today.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Tres¨¦dian who¡¯s spent his whole life killing people. We should¡¯ve seen this coming.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n exchanged uneasy glances.


    ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate those racist remarks,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, ¡°and you don¡¯t know what Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s life has been like. As wrong as he was for getting so angry he went berserk, he wasn¡¯t wrong about what he said; none of us really know anything about him. Hell, we barely know anything about each other.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced back at her, his eyes narrowed in irritation. He then looked forward again and continued walking through the caves, lighting up the area with a ball of fire in his palm. ¡°...There had better be an Ayas down here.¡±


    ¡°Could it¡­ could it have been on one of the¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned softly.


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°if any of them had the Ayas on them, then it would¡¯ve reinforced their Chaos Armor enough to prevent Dav¨ªdrius from slaughtering them. As it stands, the only reason I can see that he was able to pierce Chaos Shielding was because he himself had an Ayas.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ shuddered. ¡°¡­This is another off-world disaster, huh.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed irately. ¡°No, not¡­ not quite. I¡¯ll make sure to kick Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s ass real hard for completely ignoring my orders, but¡­ the Black Suns did attack first. The SFC did attack first. The way the brass would see it, everything he¡¯s done is¡­ technically defensible.¡±


    ¡°But he killed everyone!¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding the situation,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut in, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius is in the wrong because of how he killed them, not quite because he did so.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin chuckled ironically. ¡°Suddenly it sounds like we¡¯re siding with him.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°Even if it wasn¡¯t entirely his fault, for all of this to just be accepted so easily¡­ this isn¡¯t right.¡±


    ¡°Ethically? Probably not. Technically? You can bet your ass it is,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°I¡­ really hate to keep siding with Dav¨ªdrius, but this is what being a soldier is about, you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not fair. I never wanted this.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve come to that conclusion before moving to Nimaliaka, hmm?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ froze in her tracks and stared after Siyuak¨¦n, dumbfounded. She eventually jogged back up to the two other Chaotics. ¡°But that, I, that was¡ª ¡­that was over ten years ago, I couldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°Man, aren¡¯t we a close little troupe here. I¡¯d be glad that we at least lasted two months before everything went to shit, but I¡¯m too irritated that everything¡¯s going to shit.¡±


    ¡°Hey, whoa,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, ¡°now that¡¯s a little extreme. Things aren¡¯t that bad.¡±


    ¡°Explain Dav¨ªdrius going berserk, Kievkenalis insisting on this Riveranian Chaos Theory crap, and your little comment to Kaon¨¦ a few seconds ago, and then maybe I¡¯ll believe you,¡± Kev¨¦rin drawled. ¡°And even then, I almost wonder if we aren¡¯t too diverse a group. What was Nik¨¦yin even thinking, trying to pull a Chaotic from every nation¡­¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Siyuak¨¦n huffed. ¡°Typical that the Tekdec¨¦nian looks down on other nations.¡±


    ¡°Ha, and you accused me of racism.¡±


    ¡°Guys, there¡¯s no need to argue¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ whimpered.


    Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n both glanced at the Materiatechnic and then to each other.


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± the Pyrotechnic admitted as he turned back down the caves. ¡°We have an Ayas to find, especially before some ¡®menace¡¯ comes and claims it. Heh.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Chaos Siphon!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius reeled back, momentarily stunned as Kievkenalis began drawing Chaos Energy away. The berserker immediately switched targets to the Chaostechnic, digging his aura claws into the ice and using them to blast off toward the Riveranian. Kievkenalis immediately crossed his arms in front of him just in time to block the charge, but he was still thrown backwards as the Velocitechnic flipped away, whirling his foot around midair to smash down on Christean¨¦ right as he came flying by. The Forcetechnic tumbled to the ground as the berserker landed on all fours ¡ª after which Rebehka immediately froze his hands and feet to the ground. She then created two swords out of ice and dashed forward, aiming to cut off the satchel containing the Ayas Hastryth ¡ª but the berserk Velocitechnic broke his bounds with a shockwave, sending the Cryotechnic tumbling. He instantly dashed over to her but she managed to whack him away with one of her ice swords, sending him careening across the ice and into the clearing¡¯s ice wall.


    Immediately Christean¨¦ spun his hammer around twice to gain momentum before letting it smash into the ice floor two meters away. The force cracked the entire clearing floor and flipped a large chunk, sending Dav¨ªdrius flying through the air. Rebehka quickly froze the cracks over and then intercepted the berserker midair with a mound of ice, snatching him by his torso. Before she could attempt to freeze the rest of his body, though, he smashed his knees into the mound, shattering it and freeing him.


    ¡°And here I thought that containing a berserk Introtechnic wasn¡¯t supposed to be this annoying,¡± Rebehka grumbled.


    ¡°We¡¯re more persistent than you¡¯d think!¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, right as he intercepted the berserk Velocitechnic with a powerful uppercut. The berserker wasn¡¯t completely stunned, however; as he was flipping backwards through the air, he lashed out with both feet and nailed Christean¨¦ in his stomach, sending him flying through the nearby ice wall.


    ¡°Chaos Impact!¡± Kievkenalis flung Dav¨ªdrius away as Christean¨¦ jumped back into the ice arena and Rebehka quickly repaired the ice wall.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you make the wall sturdier?¡± Christean¨¦ glanced at Rebehka.


    ¡°Ice is ice. It can only withstand so much force¡ª!¡± The Cryotechnic was interrupted when the berserk Velocitechnic appeared and head-butted her in the chest. Kievkenalis immediately flung the berserker away with another Chaos Impact as Christean¨¦ lunged after him, using both of his armor¡¯s battlehammers to fling himself forwards.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve had enough of this.¡± Rebehka sighed in irritation before shouting, ¡°Christean¨¦! Get back!¡±


    The Forcetechnic barely had time to hear and process her command before the air all around Dav¨ªdrius suddenly took a dive in temperature. The berserker perked up and then made to flee, but Christean¨¦ managed to floor him with his battlehammers first. A mere second later, the two Introtechnics were half-trapped in an ice cube ¡ª the berserk Velocitechnic from his torso up, and the other way around for Christean¨¦.


    ¡°What the¡ª?!¡± The Forcetechnic quickly slammed his hammers into the ice around him, shattering it and freeing himself. He jumped out just in time for the berserker to achieve the same with his powerful legs ¡ª but before he could eject himself, Christean¨¦ had slammed both hammers into him from below, sending him flying upwards. Rebehka then smashed several ice blocks into him, sending him higher still.


    ¡°Oh, wait, this is our chance!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, and quickly began twirling one of his battlehammers. After a couple seconds he released it upwards, flinging himself into the air with enough speed that both he and Dav¨ªdrius rapidly turned into mere specks in the sky.


    ¡°¡­What is he¡­?¡± Rebehka squinted, attempting to make out what was happening in the air. Almost as soon as she did, though, Dav¨ªdrius came rocketing down into the ground, Christean¨¦ following shortly afterward.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± the Forcetechnic shouted, jumping out of the ice crater he created and holding up a broken satchel. He reached inside and pulled out the Ayas Hastryth, which he tossed to Rebehka ¡ª who then tossed it backwards and promptly encased it in a pillar of ice.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s done¡­¡± Christean¨¦ wiped his hands. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of time now.¡±


    ¡°We still can¡¯t let our guard down,¡± Kievkenalis insisted. ¡°We still have to negate him before he does significant damage to himself. That cloak of Chaos Energy is dangerous enough.¡± Shortly after he spoke, another shockwave exploded from the berserker¡¯s location, blowing away all of the ice within five meters and cracking the rest of the arena. ¡°Here we go. Chaos Siphon!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°For a cave, this is awfully linear¡­¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking the same thing.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced back at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ really odd.¡±


    ¡°At least we won¡¯t get lost,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out.


    ¡°Or we could be walking into a trap,¡± the Transfer Captain countered bitterly.


    ¡°I¡¯d really appreciate it if that weren¡¯t the case,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, ¡°I don¡¯t want to do Sunova all over again.¡±


    ¡°You keep saying that,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°it won¡¯t happen. The Sunova incident was a one-off thing; the Earthians had barely been there for a few years. But as I understand it, the SFC has had an outpost here for much longer. There¡¯s no way they¡¯d let something like the Sunova metallic infection get as far as it did, not in a cave two kilometers away from the main¡­ compound¡­¡±


    The trio stopped after rounding a corner, confronted with the sight of a small room. In the center of the room stood a simple steel pedestal, devoid of any significant markings. And sitting on top of the pedestal was a black triangle-cut gemstone, nearly the size of a fist.


    Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°It would figure we¡¯d find another Dark Ayas.¡±


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t believe the ¡®Dark versus Light¡¯ thing.¡±


    ¡°¡­Shut it.¡± The Transfer Captain shot Siyuak¨¦n a quick glare. ¡°Anyways, at least that AI was telling the truth. Now let¡¯s get back outside to help with Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa, wait¡ª!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, but Kev¨¦rin only paused the moment after he had grabbed the Ayas and removed it from the pedestal.


    He stared at the Materiatechnic cluelessly. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What if the Ayas was there for a reason?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin growled in irritation. ¡°Again with the ¡®Ayas have a purpose¡¯ thing¡ª¡±


    A loud, muffled growling sound interrupted his thought. He froze before slowly turning to face the cave wall behind him ¡ª just in time for the entire cave to shudder under the force of a massive impact, causing the three Chaotics to tumble to the ground as much of the nearby stone collapsed¡­


    ¡­and revealed a large, metal-laced beast staring at them from the other side of the wall.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    ¡°I told you!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed as she quickly jumped back to her feet. ¡°We need to get out of here! Kaon¨¦, seal the caves behind us!¡± The Electrotechnic dashed back through the caves, Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin hard on her heels. ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±

 32 - Retrieval

    Chapter 32 - Retrieval


    ¡°Chaos Deflection!¡±


    A rotating sphere of Chaos Energy exploded outward from Kievkenalis, flinging away Dav¨ªdrius just before his claws could reach the Chaostechnic. The berserker tumbled across the ground before smashing into the ice wall surrounding the clearing, where he quickly recovered and dived out of the way just as Christean¨¦ slammed into the wall with both of his hammers. The Forcetechnic immediately yanked one of the hammers back into his hand, spun around on his heel, and launched it at the berserker ¡ª who simply punched it away. He then crouched down and attempted to leap at Christean¨¦ but slipped on the ice, instead sending himself into an uncontrolled slide.


    Rebehka quickly took advantage of the slower action to actually get in a blow, and within the next few moments the berserk Velocitechnic was flipping through the air, flung upward by a sudden pillar of ice. Christean¨¦ immediately began twirling one of his hammers and then launched himself into the air toward the falling berserker, his second hammer in hand and prepared to come crashing down on the Velocitechnic. Just as the hammer made contact with Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s backside, though, the berserker whipped around midair and slammed his leg into Christean¨¦¡¯s stomach, sending both Introtechnics flying downward and away from each other. They both slammed into the ground and then went tumbling until crashing into ice walls at opposite sides of the clearing.


    ¡°That would¡¯ve killed anyone else¡­¡± Christean¨¦ grumbled as he jumped back to his feet, just as the Dav¨ªdrius did the same. The Forcetechnic began twirling both of his hammers just as the berserker let out another shockwave, thrashing half of the ice floor before he dashed forward ¡ª at the same moment Christean¨¦ released his hammers. The two Introtechnics flew toward each other, Christean¨¦¡¯s hammers on track to slam into Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s shoulders ¡ª until the berserker suddenly threw himself to the side just as the hammers shot past. Christean¨¦ was barely able to register the motion before the berserker had jumped back in line and smashed both of his clawed fists into the Forcetechnic¡¯s chin. His Chaos Armor prevented any bodily injury, but the force from the blow still stopped Christean¨¦ in his tracks and knocked him out cold, flipping him onto his back. The berserk Velocitechnic paused for a moment and then turned toward Kievkenalis and Rebehka ¡ª just in time for Christean¨¦¡¯s hammers to come flying back and nail the berserker in the head before finally reeling into the hammer slots on Christean¨¦¡¯s armor. The berserker crumpled under the blow, collapsing to the ground just beside Christean¨¦.


    Rebehka immediately took advantage of the opening to ensnare Dav¨ªdrius in a massive mound of ice, allowing only his head to be exposed to the air.


    ¡°They finally knocked each other out,¡± she observed with a slight smirk.


    ¡°Good thing they¡¯re both Introtechnics, or they¡¯d both be dead¡­¡± Kievkenalis sighed as he began approaching Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°At least now I can do this properly. Chaos Siphon!¡±


    Rebehka glanced between Dav¨ªdrius, who was still cloaked in Chaos Energy, and Kievkenalis, who had his hand outstretched toward the berserker. ¡°Nothing¡¯s happening?...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m siphoning away the extra energy. You can¡¯t see it,¡± the Chaostechnic explained. ¡°¡­Though I need to be careful, or I¡¯ll end up going berserk¡­¡± He paused for a moment, withdrawing his hand and turning to the side before thrusting both hands upward, palms out. ¡°Chaos Beam!¡±


    Rebehka drew back in shock as a pillar of energy exploded from Kievkenalis¡¯s hands, extending far into the sky before slowly dissipating a couple seconds later. The Chaostechnic turned his attention back to Dav¨ªdrius and stretched his hand out again, muttering, ¡°Chaos Siphon.¡± He then glanced over at the Cryotechnic, noticing her stunned expression. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What was¡ª what was that about?!¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to discharge the siphoned energy somehow. Beam is the most efficient way to do it.¡±


    ¡°¡­If you say so,¡± Rebehka responded wearily, just as Kievkenalis turned away to fire another Chaos Beam. She watched him turn back to Dav¨ªdrius and re-initiate Chaos Siphon before crossing her arms impatiently. ¡°¡­Just how much excess Chaos Energy is there?¡±


    ¡°Far more than usual¡­ I should be almost done after the second Siphon.¡± Kievkenalis frowned, narrowing his eyes at the thick aura still surrounding the unconscious Velocitechnic. ¡°It must¡¯ve been the Ayas. I¡¯ve never seen an Ayas-fueled berserk state before; I¡¯m glad it wasn¡¯t someone with broader powers¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen someone go berserk before?¡±


    ¡°A few times, yeah. Uh, one sec ¡ª Chaos Beam! ¡­Right. Uh, it comes with being a Chaostechnic in the RPF. It¡¯s usually not too bad; just find a way to trap the berserker and throw them in a Chaos Energy negation field. If you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll have a Sabotage-type Chaostechic around who can use Siphon. Oh, speaking of which ¡ª Chaos Siphon.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that.¡± Rebehka glanced over at Kievkenalis. ¡°Since when could you use Sabotage abilities? I thought you could only use Directed, Defense, or Support-type abilities.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Today¡¯s the first time I successfully used a Sabotage-type ability, they always failed for me before.¡± The Chaostechnic frowned with unease. ¡°This is really weird. Uh, Chaos Beam! Chaos Siphon. Anyways, right, there¡¯s no precedent for a Chaostechnic suddenly gaining access to another type. Especially if they already have three! I don¡¯t even think quad-type Chaostechnics exist¡­ I sure haven¡¯t heard of any, at least¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, this is a good thing, right?¡±


    ¡°I hope so¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered before turning his attention back to Dav¨ªdrius as the Chaos Energy cloak finally began to thin. ¡°Oh, here we go!¡±


    A moment later, all of the Chaos Energy had disappeared. Rebehka removed the ice mound as Kievkenalis turned away again to release all of the Chaos Energy he had absorbed. By the time he turned back to the Velocitechnic, Dav¨ªdrius was coming to.


    ¡°Ooooh¡­ fuck¡­¡± he groaned, slowly pulling himself up to a sitting position. ¡°¡­What happened¡­?¡±


    ¡°You went berserk,¡± Rebehka stated candidly.


    ¡°What? Damn¡ª wait¡ª!¡± He perked up and rapidly scanned the area, his gaze quickly coming to rest on Hastryth, still frozen in a small pillar of ice.


    ¡°Wait, Dav¨ªdrius¡ª!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, but the Velocitechnic had already leaped to his feet and dashed off. He arrived at the pillar in a split second and, without slowing down, smashed his foot into the pillar, shattering it and breaking Hastryth out. Dav¨ªdrius grabbed the Ayas for a moment before tossing it into the air, letting it fall a short distance¡­ and then punting it so hard that it smashed through the ice wall around the clearing and instantly disappeared from sight. The Velocitechnic then collapsed again, his breathing strained and hard.


    ¡°D-Dav¨ªdrius¡­?¡± Rebehka and Kievkenalis quickly ran over to his side. ¡°What are¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Fucking¡­ fuck!¡± Dav¨ªdrius suddenly slammed his fist into the ice. ¡°I did it¡ª I did it again! Fuck! I don¡¯t¡ª fuck!¡±


    Kievkenalis and Rebehka exchanged uneasy glances. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Rebehka spoke up timidly, ¡°um, why did you just¡ª?¡±


    ¡°It ain¡¯t worth it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed angrily, ¡°that, that damned Ayas, it¡ª shit, I can¡¯t, I didn¡¯t, I didn¡¯t mean to¡­ fuck, I didn¡¯t mean to do all that shit I did, I just¡ª fuckin¡¯ hell, I lost control, damn it!¡±


    ¡°It was just the Dark Ayas, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kievkenalis commented lightly, ¡°the situation¡¯s fine now. You¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Like hell I¡¯ll be fine¡­¡± The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°This¡ª this is¡ª argh, damn it! Damn it all!¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°What the¡ª? What happened here?¡±


    Kievkenalis and Rebehka turned around to find Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n approaching; Kaon¨¦ was kneeling some distance behind them, apparently attempting to wake up Christean¨¦.


    ¡°We negated Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kievkenalis answered simply.


    ¡°No, actually.¡± The Transfer Captain gestured around at the massive ice walls, the several cracks and indentations in said ice walls, the shattered flooring, and Christean¨¦¡¯s unconscious body. ¡°What the hell happened?¡±


    Rebehka shrugged. ¡°Apparently, this is what happens when you have an Ayas-fueled berserk episode.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered.


    ¡°But enough about this, did you guys find the Ayas?¡± Kievkenalis questioned.


    Kev¨¦rin gestured behind himself. ¡°Kaon¨¦ has it. It¡¯s the black one.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the Dark Ayas Aldrace¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered


    ¡°W-what? Another Dark Ayas?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius impulsively drew back.


    ¡°Yes, another Dark Ayas.¡± Kev¨¦rin eyed the Velocitechnic with irritation. ¡°You won¡¯t be the only one around here with an Ayas anymore. ¡­Wait a minute.¡± The Transfer Captain¡¯s eyes snapped to Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s waist. ¡°Where¡¯s your satchel? Where¡¯s the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°O-oh, well, uh, funny story.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smiled uneasily. ¡°So, right after I came to after the whole berserk thing, I saw the Ayas sittin¡¯ in an ice pillar, and I, um, I kinda punted it. Really hard. ¡­It went really far.¡±


    ¡°¡­How far?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ it¡¯s-probably-lost-and-would-take-even-me-awhile-to-find far?¡±


    ¡°Damn it, Dav¨ªdrius, that was a Chaos Ayas!¡± Kev¨¦rin exploded, ¡°do you know how valuable these things are?!¡±


    ¡°No! Yes! No, they¡¯re shitty!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot back, ¡°the Dark Ayas ain¡¯t worth it! I ain¡¯t touchin¡¯ it! None of ¡®em!¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s¡­ very different from what you were saying half an hour ago,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, confused.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you traipse around with the damn stone and we¡¯ll see how you feel after it fucks with your head!¡±


    ¡°Guys, we don¡¯t have time for this!¡± Siyuak¨¦n stepped in between them. ¡°We¡¯re about to have a repeat of Sunova! We need to get out of here!¡±


    ¡°A repeat?...¡± Rebehka questioned.


    ¡°There¡¯s a monster down in the caves with all of the same signs of critical metallic infection that the Sunova and Hazard Island creatures had,¡± the Electrotechnic replied, ¡°Kaon¨¦ sealed the caves, but it won¡¯t stop the eventual swarm of bugs, and who knows how long it¡¯ll be before they show up!¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡± Kievkenalis scratched his head in confusion.


    ¡°No, she¡¯s right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°we need to get back to the compound and warn the RPF commander ¡ª it¡¯s not safe here anymore. Now let¡¯s get going!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°A repeat of Sunova?¡±


    ¡°You know what happened, right?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°General Rant¨¦in had all of the senior officers read that mission report, so yes, I do,¡± the RPF Colonel responded. ¡°I¡¯m also familiar with the metallic infection, though I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever dealt with infection situations directly.¡±


    ¡°Then you know what happened on Sunova, and how fast it happened,¡± the Transfer Captain pressed. ¡°We have the Ayas. ¡­Well¡­¡± He glanced over at Dav¨ªdrius irately. ¡°Due to¡­ strenuous circumstances, we may have lost the Ayas we came here with¡­ but we can reclaim that as we¡¯re leaving.¡±


    ¡°OVERWHELMED BY THE DARK AYAS? I AM NOT SURPRISED. HASTRYTH WAS NEVER PATIENT, AND HIS TRAITS UNFORTUNATELY HOLD ALSO FOR HIS AYAS¡­¡±


    ¡°The AI again?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°It was actually very helpful during the raid,¡± the Colonel replied, ¡°I¡¯m still suspicious of a full AI, but thanks to it, we¡¯ve put down all SFC resistance with minimal casualties. We hold the compound.¡±


    ¡°THE RIVERANIAN PROTECTION FORCE IS FAR MORE REASONABLE, HELPFUL, AND FORMIDABLE THAN THE STEALTH AND FORCE CORP. I BELIEVE I HAVE MADE THE CORRECT CHOICE.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s a shame that we¡¯ll never get to investigate this thing further.¡± The Colonel sighed as he turned back to face Kev¨¦rin. ¡°I agree with you ¡ª better safe than sorry. There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything of interest here anyways, aside from the computer.¡±


    ¡°WAIT, YOU MEAN TO LEAVE ME BEHIND?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not equipped to deal with an AI,¡± the Colonel responded, ¡°in any other situation, I¡¯d order a dedicated tech team, but if we¡¯re dealing with a critical infection then we don¡¯t have the time.¡±


    ¡°TAKING ME WITH YOU WILL BE OF NO GREAT DIFFICULTY. YOU NEED ONLY DISENGAGE MY CORE FROM THE COMPOUND NETWORK AND THEN TAKE IT WITH YOU.¡±


    ¡°And how long will that take?¡±


    ¡°NOT LONG AT ALL. I SHALL INSTRUCT THE QUAKEBORN APPROPRIATELY.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°This again?¡±


    ¡°It seems to be attached to you.¡± The Colonel glanced back at Hero Machina. ¡°You¡¯re the only ones it¡¯s referred to specifically.¡±


    ¡°AND NOT WITHOUT REASON. FURTHERMORE, LEAVING ME HERE WILL BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE GALACTIC CONDITION. YOU MUST BRING ME WITH YOU.¡±


    ¡°It would figure that the first AI I meet would be a self-entitled brat,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered.


    ¡°It can¡¯t hurt to at least investigate its core,¡± the Colonel mused, ¡°given normal extraction times¡­ I suppose we can afford this.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re going to go get its core?¡± Kievkenalis questioned.


    ¡°Yes, and I¡¯ll send two of our techs with you,¡± the Colonel responded.


    Kev¨¦rin bristled. ¡°You think we aren¡¯t smart enough to handle an AI?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± the Colonel declared as he glanced over at the Transfer Captain, ¡°as much as I¡¯d trust Captain Yumach and a Tekdec¨¦nian with technology, none of us know what we¡¯re dealing with here. More hands are always welcome. In the meantime, I¡¯ll start the evacuation and send a team to the east to look for that Ayas you lost. Don¡¯t spend any longer than half an hour investigating the core.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being very understandable about all this¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied uneasily.


    ¡°It¡¯s always best to keep a calm head in these kinds of situations. But don¡¯t get me wrong ¡ª once we¡¯re clear of Kotak, I severely hope, for your own sakes, that there¡¯s a damn good reason you left behind a Chaos Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered.


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡± The Colonel raised an eyebrow, and then turned toward a group of RPF officers working at the far side of the room. ¡°H¨²non! Icard! Get over here!¡±


    Two of the male officers ¡ª one of them blond-haired and stocky, the other thin with shoulder-length black hair ¡ª turned around and casually approached.


    ¡°Oh, Wilkas! V¨¦lunis!¡± Kievkenalis perked up. ¡°Long time no see!¡±


    ¡°So you know each other, then?¡± The Colonel glanced between the Chaostechnic and the two officers.


    ¡°Wooow, this is where you went?¡± The blond-haired officer crossed his arms as he addressed Kievkenalis. ¡°You think you can just ditch us and then be all friendly like that?¡±


    Kievkenalis grinned sheepishly. ¡°Ha, sorry, you know how it is.¡±


    ¡°Man, Wilkas, you¡¯re makin¡¯ us both look bad.¡± The second officer ¡ª V¨¦lunis ¡ª sighed and rolled his eyes. He then turned his attention to the Colonel. ¡°What¡¯re we doing?¡±


    ¡°The AI here wants us to take its core with us. You two are going to accompany Hero Machina and see if we can actually do that.¡±


    ¡°Sounds reasonable,¡± V¨¦lunis replied.


    ¡°Good, because you¡¯d still be doing it if you thought otherwise.¡± The Colonel smirked. ¡°Now get going. We don¡¯t have time for dawdling!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Wait, this is your core?¡±


    ¡°IT IS NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED?¡±


    ¡°It¡ª ¡­well, actually, I don¡¯t even know what I expected¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned as he looked up at a steel blue cylindrical metal device fastened to the topside of a large mechanical console in the middle of a large, re-purposed reactor room. The device was a meter tall and just as wide, and was otherwise sleek and featureless.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look too bad,¡± V¨¦lunis mused, ¡°should be able to carry it out. Doesn¡¯t look too heavy.¡±


    ¡°MY CORE¡¯S MASS IS APPROXIMATELY ONE THOUSAND KILOGRAMS.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well never mind.¡±


    ¡°We first have to disconnect it from the compound¡¯s systems¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin approached an interface console on the nearest side of the device. ¡°We can worry about carrying it then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to do all the heavy lifting by myself, aren¡¯t I,¡± Christean¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°You are the resident Forcetechnic,¡± Rebehka replied.


    ¡°So am I,¡± Wilkas volunteered. ¡°Between the two of us, it should be a piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°I MUST CAUTION YOU, DROPPING OR OTHERWISE DAMAGING MY CORE COULD HAVE DISASTROUS SIDE EFFECTS.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t drop it, you¡¯ll be fine,¡± Wilkas replied nonchalantly.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you two be, I don¡¯t know, helping me?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced irately at the two RPF technicians.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got it,¡± V¨¦lunis responded airily, ¡°it¡¯s just SFC tech, I¡¯m sure you can crack it.¡±


    ¡°Some great friends you have here, Kevken,¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    Wilkas smirked. ¡°I know, we¡¯re the best friends he has.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, guys,¡± Kievkenalis urged, ¡°the Colonel did send you to help.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t helping, either.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ touch¨¦.¡±


    ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter anyways, since they¡¯re right,¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled. ¡°I just cracked the system. Disengaging the core¡­ now.¡±


    The entire construct hissed loudly as the cylinder lifted up slightly, a piston under the device raising it just high enough for hands to fit under its lower edges.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The Transfer Captain turned back to the rest of the Chaotics. ¡°Christean¨¦, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Wilkas.¡±


    ¡°Right, Wilkas. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get this thing upstairs and outside.¡±


    ¡°I really hope that freight elevator is up to snuff,¡± Christean¨¦ grumbled as he approached the device, standing opposite it from Wilkas. The two Forcetechnics proceeded to work out the best way to grip the device and then hoisted it into the air.


    ¡°Can¡¯t even carry a thousand kilograms by yourself, huh?¡± Rebehka taunted.


    ¡°Can it,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted as he and Wilkas began moving the large cylinder. ¡°I can totally carry a thousand kilos all on my own, it¡¯s the size and shape of this thing that¡¯s an issue.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n frowned as she began glancing around the room uneasily. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?¡­¡± Rebehka questioned, but the Electrotechnic didn¡¯t seem to hear her. She instead stepped forward and paused for a moment¡­ and then dashed toward Christean¨¦.


    ¡°Get back!!¡± she shouted as she tackled him to the side, causing Wilkas to drop the device and stumble backwards, the device beginning to roll away itself¡ª


    ¡ªjust as a large, clawed paw exploded from the ground below, launching pieces of debris across the room and sending the core on a crash course for Siyuak¨¦n. Christean¨¦ quickly jumped back to his feet and stopped the device before it could crush either of them, but then he froze as a large, four-legged beast pulled itself out of the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the monster from the caves,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, spotting the silver rashes all over the animal¡¯s body.


    ¡°This is¡ª! ¡­Fuck!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°So much for time! Christean¨¦, Wilkas, grab the core! Everyone ¡ª run!¡±

 33 - Metallic Chaos

    Chapter 33 - Metallic Chaos


    ¡°Chaos Impact!¡±


    Christean¨¦ and Wilkas jumped for the AI core as an invisible force smashed the beast against the wall. They had barely righted the device and picked it up before the infected creature recovered and whipped around to face them ¡ª just as Rebehka froze it in place with ice.


    ¡°It won¡¯t last long! Get going!¡± She hurriedly waved the two Forcetechnics forward. They quickly moved past her and into the hallway, followed closely by Kaon¨¦, Kev¨¦rin, and V¨¦lunis. Kievkenalis backed up as well, but paused when he noticed Dav¨ªdrius, Rebehka, and Siyuak¨¦n standing their ground.


    ¡°Guys¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s gotta hold it back!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, brandishing his single blade as he glanced over at the women. ¡°And I figure it might as well be me. Make up for bein¡¯ such an asshole lately. But the two of you should get back as well!¡±


    Rebehka moved to object, but the beast broke free of its ice prison before she could. It spun around and lunged toward the room¡¯s exit, but Dav¨ªdrius intercepted it midair, knocking it to the side with a powerful kick. The moment he landed, he spun on his heel and launched himself at the creature, blade forward ¡ª only for the beast to snap its tail through the air and smack Dav¨ªdrius on his hand, knocking his sword away and throwing him completely off balance. It then jumped forwards itself, its maw wide open ¡ª only to be blown back by a block of ice. The moment it recoiled, Siyuak¨¦n issued it an incredible electric shock and Rebehka immediately followed by freezing it again.


    ¡°I told y¡¯all to stay back!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped.


    ¡°As if you could take on that thing by yourself,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted, ¡°just stop complaining and help us hold it off until the elevator comes back!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the elevator is all that safe¡ª!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, but was interrupted as the infected creature broke out of its frozen state and spun around toward Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª and then dashed over to his sword, grabbing it with its mouth and swallowing it whole.


    ¡°What the¡ª!?¡± The Velocitechnic scowled but was forced to immediately dive out of the way as two blades suddenly grew out of the beast¡¯s shoulders and launched themselves his way. He quickly spun around and grabbed the weapons out of the air, continuing through his spin before jumping toward the beast and shoving the blades through its neck just as Kievkenalis hit it with Chaos Impact, forcing the blades all the way through. But the injury was non-fatal ¡ª the creature responded by whipping its tail around to whack Dav¨ªdrius away, and was stopped only by the sudden appearance of several sheets of ice. Rebehka attempted to encase the beast in ice again but it leaped away too quickly; the moment it landed again, it lunged toward the Cryotechnic, but was forced aside as Siyuak¨¦n caught its shoulder with one of her grappling hooks and yanked hard. The creature remained fazed only momentarily ¡ª then, faster than Siyuak¨¦n could respond, it spun around, snapping the grappling line taught and yanking the Electrotechnic through the air. Dav¨ªdrius quickly jumped forwards and ripped the grappling hook out of the beast¡¯s shoulder before slamming his foot down on its head, allowing Siyuak¨¦n to sail over the two and into Rebehka unharmed.


    ¡°Chaos Armor! Chaos Impact!¡± Kievkenalis jumped forwards, blowing the beast away before it could attempt to decapitate Dav¨ªdrius. The Velocitechnic back-flipped away just in time to evade several more blade projectiles, but he landed unevenly and collapsed to the floor. The infected creature immediately pounced on his location, but he quickly rolled out of the way and leaped back to his feet as Siyuak¨¦n blasted it with electricity, stunning it momentarily. It then snapped its tail across the room, swiping Dav¨ªdrius, Kievkenalis, and Siyuak¨¦n off of their feet before spinning around itself and slamming its front paws into the ground, creating a shockwave that further stunned the three Chaotics. Rebehka quickly formed two ice lances and dove toward the creature, freezing its paws to the ground right as she drove her lances into its face ¡ª only to be thrown to the side as the beast began writhing in pain. It let off a tremendous roar before leaping at the Cryotechnic ¡ª and then getting crushed as the ceiling collapsed, followed by tons of dirt and metal debris.


    ¡°What the¡ª?¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered as he and the other Chaotics backed away from the debris cloud uneasily. He snapped his attention to the ceiling as the entire room began to rumble and the ceiling began to give way further. ¡°What¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Ha! I¡¯m here!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed as he leaped out of the wreckage, his armor¡¯s shields flickering from absorbing heavy damage.


    ¡°What? Did you just smash your way down from the top?!¡± Rebehka exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling.


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ we¡¯re on the eighth sub-basement!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°How are we supposed to get back up?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, but was interrupted as the infected beast began to move again.


    ¡°Still not done?¡± Christean¨¦ turned back toward the wreckage and cracked his knuckles. ¡°Ha, well let¡¯s fix that!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing, we need to¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius stopped abruptly when he noticed a broken satchel fixed haphazardly to Christean¨¦¡¯s armor. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re using the Ayas?!¡±


    The Forcetechnic ignored him and instead dove forward, slamming his fist into the beast¡¯s maw just as it turned toward him. He followed with an uppercut before summoning a glaive out of thin air and thrusting it forward, piercing the creature through its chest. He then dismissed the weapon and summoned it again, stabbing the creature once more before dismissing the weapon and summoning it again. He repeated this several times before finally slamming his fist down over the creature¡¯s head.


    ¡°There. See?¡± Christean¨¦ turned back to everyone else, the creature¡¯s mangled corpse lying motionless behind him. ¡°Not that hard.¡±


    ¡°Except that you probably just sped up the release of the bugs!¡± Siyuak¨¦n scolded him, ¡°do you even know what you¡¯re doing?!¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Uh. Stopping the¡­ infected monster thing?¡±


    ¡°Is everyone alright?!¡±


    Everyone turned to face Kaon¨¦ as she landed on the ground after jumping down the hole Christean¨¦ had created. She didn¡¯t even wait for a response before rapidly lifting the ground beneath her and the other Chaotics to ground level and then completely sealing the hole with steel.


    ¡°Give me that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius demanded, flash-stepping over to Christean¨¦ and snatching away the satchel before he could react. The Velocitechnic then tossed the satchel to Kievkenalis.


    ¡°Oh¡­ whoa¡­¡± Christean¨¦ held a weary hand to his forehead. ¡°¡­Guess I got a little carried away.¡±


    ¡°A ¡®little?¡¯¡± Siyuak¨¦n snorted.


    ¡°I told you guys.¡± Kievkenalis crossed his arms as he passed the other Chaotics irritated glances. ¡°The Dark Ayas are called as much for a reason.¡±


    ¡°And now we need to get out of here,¡± Siyuak¨¦n insisted as she began jogging down the trashed hallway. ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before we have to deal with the swarm.¡±


    ¡°What about the AI core?¡± Rebehka glanced toward Christean¨¦ and Kaon¨¦. ¡°Did you take care of it?¡±


    ¡°That Wilkas guy is carrying it to a waiting shuttle,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, ¡°the core¡¯s got a bit of damage, but it should be fine. Most of the RPF have pulled out; I think it¡¯s just us here, now.¡±


    ¡°They sure are fast about it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n remarked as the group moved through the hallways toward the nearest exit. ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve even rounded up all of the SFC resistance.¡±


    ¡°The RPF has had plenty of experience doing this kind of thing,¡± Kievkenalis replied, ¡°that is, being in and out before you even know they¡¯re coming.¡±


    Christean¨¦ elbowed Dav¨ªdrius cheekily. ¡°You ever have that problem?¡±


    The Tres¨¦dian stared at him blankly. ¡°What problem?¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just Christean¨¦ being Christean¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°Wait, what? ¡­Was that a joke¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Shhhh!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± The Velocitechnic glared at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°What¡¯re you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°No, seriously, shut up,¡± she repeated, her attention directed behind the Chaotics. They all quieted and glanced between each other uneasily, unsure of what the Electrotechnic was trying to do.


    ¡°¡­Do you guys feel that?¡± she asked quietly after a few seconds of silence.


    ¡°Feel what¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ replied warily.


    Siyuak¨¦n didn¡¯t respond. She remained silent for several more moments before whipping around and jogging down the hallway. ¡°We need to get out of here. Now.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, then.¡± Kaon¨¦ parted the ceiling and all the floors above until sunlight leaked in. She then rapidly raised the ground below the Chaotics until they were level with the compound roof, high enough to spot an open shuttle circling the compound.


    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s our ride,¡± Christean¨¦ commented as he began twirling his hammer, prepared to launch himself into the vehicle.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Forcetechnic glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n inquisitively just as the rooftop several meters away exploded upwards, a four-winged creature appearing ¡ª the same infected beast that had attacked down in the AI chamber.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯d come back.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Of course it would.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got two tails and wings now, so watch out,¡± Kievkenalis warned. ¡°Chaos Assist. Wait¡ª that second tail¡­¡±


    He paused and jumped out of the way as the infected creature swooped down at the Chaotics and launched several metallic blades created from its very skin. Dav¨ªdrius attempted to grab two of them, but his armor¡¯s shielding flared, indicating that the blades were somehow corrosive. He discarded the blades and turned back to the creature just in time for its two tails to whip by.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Ayas!¡± he exclaimed, ¡°that¡¯s¡ª! That¡¯s Hastryth! It¡¯s attached to its tail?!¡±


    ¡°It has the Ayas¡­¡± Kievkenalis watched the beast fly off with apprehension. ¡°We can¡¯t leave without it!¡±


    ¡°Oh, but I think we can¡­¡± Christean¨¦ replied warningly, his attention directed elsewhere. The rest of Hero Machina turned to look where he was pointing and were surprised to find four torn bodies climbing haphazardly up onto the roof.


    ¡°Wait, they¡¯re¡­ RPF soldiers,¡± Kievkenalis muttered, ¡°what¡¯re they¡ª?¡±


    He was interrupted as one of them lunged for Kaon¨¦, who reflexively stumbled backwards ¡ª and into the waiting maw of the winged infected creature. Dav¨ªdrius immediately dashed forward and dealt a fierce kick to the beast¡¯s neck, knocking it away before it could chomp down on the Materiatechnic.


    ¡°Watch it!¡± he shouted just as he ducked to evade a tail swipe from the creature. He then turned to the RPF soldiers just in time to knock back two of them as they charged forwards, each wielding dangerous metal scrap. ¡°What¡¯s up with them?!¡±


    ¡°They look infected¡ª?¡± Rebehka started, but was interrupted as Siyuak¨¦n stepped forward¡­ and then issued forth a massive electric shock, frying all four of the bodies and sending them flying off the rooftop.


    The Electrotechnic scowled. ¡°They were infected. Irreversibly¡­ for a person to become infected so quickly¡­!¡± She paused apprehensively and glanced over at the infected creature. ¡°¡­We need to get out of here! Now!¡±


    ¡°But¡ª!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, pausing to shout ¡°Chaos Deflection¡± to knock away a bunch of bladed projectiles directed at Hero Machina. Christean¨¦ jumped forward and smacked the beast with his hammer as it dove by again, sending it flying away and allowing the Chaostechnic to finish his thought. ¡°We can¡¯t leave that Ayas here!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before we¡¯re attacked by swarms of bugs!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shot back, ¡°we need! To! Leave!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m with her on this one,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented wearily, ¡°got a bad feelin¡¯ about this. And there ain¡¯t no fancy schmancy mystery Battlecruiser to beam us all up on the verge of death, like there was on Sunova! We leave now, or we don¡¯t leave at all!¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed as he began twirling his hammer, glancing over as Rebehka erected an ice shield to deflect the next few attacks from the infected creature. Without waiting for a response from Kievkenalis, the Forcetechnic launched himself toward the circling shuttle, followed by Dav¨ªdrius leaping after him.


    ¡°Sorry, Kevken, but this is it,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented as she lifted the ground underneath her and the Chaostechnic. Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n jumped onto the platform as Kaon¨¦ whisked them all over to the shuttle ¡ª just as a massive swarm of metallic bugs engulfed the rooftop.


    ¡°You were right¡­ again.¡± Rebehka glanced at her friend curiously. ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time today that you¡¯ve predicted a move from the infected creatures.¡±


    ¡°I got lucky,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied flatly as the platform arrived next to the open shuttle. The four Chaotics jumped inside as it changed its trajectory to escape the atmosphere. Kev¨¦rin ¡ª who had been aboard the shuttle the whole time ¡ª and Kievkenalis offered a few more pot shots at the infected beast before the shuttle¡¯s hatches closed, at which point the Chaotics finally took seats and fastened themselves to the safety harnesses.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Tch. Another ¡®successful¡¯ mission from the members of Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°Shut it. Your little stunts at the beginning of the raid didn¡¯t help at all,¡± Kev¨¦rin snapped. ¡°So what happened? Do you guys have the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°I have the black one¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ held out the dark gemstone for all to see. ¡°But the dark blue one¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­So we really did lose an Ayas?¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed irately, and then turned to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Do you have any idea¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± the Velocitechnic responded bitingly, ¡°I know I screwed up. I know that. But I¡¯m not arguin¡¯ about it here.¡±


    ¡°Did we at least get the AI core?¡± Rebehka questioned.


    ¡°We did,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°it¡¯s damaged¡­ but we have it. Hopefully¡­¡± He glared at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°¡­It¡¯ll make up for losing an Ayas.¡±


    ¡°We did get another one to replace it,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ but it¡¯s still not good enough.¡± The Transfer Captain frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve lost an Ayas, and an entire outpost¡­ I can¡¯t be the only one to see the trend in our mission reports.¡±


    ¡°¡­Are you implying something?¡± Christean¨¦ crossed his arms.


    ¡°I won¡¯t imply it, I¡¯ll state it outright.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed with apprehension. ¡°If we don¡¯t get better soon¡­ Hero Machina is as good as disbanded.¡±

 34 - The First of Many

    Chapter 34 - The First of Many


    5 Days Later


    ¨C Watedia, Beauth 31, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°¡­and that¡¯s when we all managed to board the shuttle and leave.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Commander Nik¨¦yin nodded in acknowledgment. She sat back for a moment to mull over the information Hero Machina had just relayed to her ¡ª the beginning of the raid on Kotak, the revelation of an Artificial Intelligence, Dav¨ªdrius going berserk, the finding of the Ayas Aldrace, the loss of the Ayas Hastryth, the attack from the infected beast, and the eventual swarm of metallic bugs. She sighed wearily. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure whether to class this mission as a success or a failure. On one hand¡­¡± She turned to stare down Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°You went berserk, and directly caused us to lose an Ayas.¡± She then turned toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°¡­On the other hand, you retrieved another Ayas in its place, and recovered what appears to be fully-functional AI, which could be invaluable.¡±


    ¡°In Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s defense, he was using a Dark Ayas,¡± Kievkenalis responded. ¡°I know no one wants to believe me, but the Dark and Light Ayas really do exert an influence over their users.¡±


    ¡°Look, I appreciate you stickin¡¯ up for me, but don¡¯t act like I ain¡¯t at fault for my own actions.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°I know I fucked up, and I¡¯ll own up to it. I won¡¯t use some ¡®influence¡¯ as an excuse.¡±


    ¡°No, the Captain¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin sighed again. ¡°The Captain¡¯s right. Archon¨¦ Culana agrees, and the RPF has some research data from the Citans, who claim that the Ayas do seem to have side-effects on the user. This doesn¡¯t fully excuse you, Wrikax... but part of the blame lies with me. I shouldn¡¯t have let you use the Ayas in combat in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Of course he gets off¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled, his voice low enough for no one else to hear.


    ¡°That said,¡± the Commander continued, ¡°this means that we¡¯ve lost an Ayas to the metallic infection. I don¡¯t know if we can treat it as a passive danger, if an infected creature can seize an Ayas and incorporate it into its being. Kotak may be a lost cause, but we must find a way to retrieve the Ayas we lost before someone¡­ or something else does.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Thing?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d do well to keep your mouth shut, Lieutenant,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied; the Velocitechnic immediately quieted. ¡°Luckily, on the topic of locating Ayas, our researchers have created a useful device based off of the Master Ayas. It¡¯s a Chaos Ayas Sensor.¡±


    ¡°Well that sounds pretty convenient,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked.


    ¡°A sensor? How¡¯s it work?¡± Kievkenalis leaned in, his curiosity piqued.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask the ones who created it. I¡¯m not technologically versed enough to explain it myself,¡± Nik¨¦yin stated. ¡°According to them, it can locate an Ayas anywhere in the galaxy, but it can only search relatively small areas at a time ¡ª and slowly, at that. So for it to be truly effective, we need to try our best to find the general location of the rest of the Ayas ourselves.¡±


    ¡°¡­So in order for the sensor to find an Ayas, we have to find it first, and then tell the sensor where it is, and then it finds the Ayas¡­ that we already found?¡± Christean¨¦ stared at the Commander incredulously. ¡°Isn¡¯t that just redundant?¡±


    ¡°I agree that it is not the best solution, but as I understand it, the sensor can inspect a cubic light year¡¯s worth of space in the span of a week,¡± Nik¨¦yin explained, ¡°that¡¯s far faster than any kind of manual searching technique. If we can even just narrow down the location of an Ayas to a handful of star systems, then the sensor can do the rest.¡±


    ¡°How are we supposed to do that?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°of all the Ayas that we¡¯ve found, we didn¡¯t know that any of them were present until we were on the same planet. In the same region.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, that AI you brought back can help there. By your account, it seems to know its share about the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ what do we do in the meantime?¡±


    ¡°Continue what you have been doing. Look for leads on the metallic infection, and if the Black Suns finally consent, investigate Rossindon for clues about the cause of the Chaos Quake. There¡¯s not much else for us to do now.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re staying together, then?...¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned uneasily.


    ¡°Hmm? You mean as Hero Machina?¡± Nik¨¦yin leaned back and crossed her arms, pausing for just long enough to sigh again. ¡°I admit, my decision in this regard has not been easy. For now, yes, you will remain as a group and operating under my command. But, I¡¯m warning you ¡ª if your performance doesn¡¯t improve soon, I will dissolve the squad.¡±


    ¡°¡­Understood,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, answering for the whole team.


    ¡°I do have one more question before I allow you all to leave,¡± the Commander commented, and then turned to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention this during your brief explanation a few minutes ago, but the Transfer Captain mentioned it in the mission report; apparently, when you were fighting the Black Suns soldiers just outside the caves, you stabbed one of them, causing them to ¡®disappear in a cloud of blue mist.¡¯ Care to enlighten me as to what you did?¡±


    ¡°Uh.¡± The Velocitechnic blinked twice, his expression blank. ¡°¡­No idea. I, uh¡­ that whole encounter is kind of a blur¡­¡±


    ¡°It could be something related to the Ayas Weapon,¡± Kievkenalis suggested, ¡°it might be worth asking the Archon¨¦ about.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that AI has answers, too,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added.


    ¡°Speaking of Culana, he¡¯ll be on base for the next few days. If you see him, be sure to pay him the proper respect due to an Archon¨¦,¡± Nik¨¦yin ordered, and then stood up, prompting Hero Machina to follow suit. ¡°I will speak further with each of you individually at a later time. For now, you¡¯re dismissed.¡±


    Each member of Hero Machina saluted the Commander before turning toward the briefing room exit and leaving. Nik¨¦yin remained at the head of the table, placing her hands on the surface and taking a deep breath as she allowed her head to hang momentarily. She then looked back to the room¡¯s entrance. ¡°You can come in now, Archon¨¦.¡±


    A moment later, the leader of Riverana strode into the room, gracefully closing the door behind him. He turned to Nik¨¦yin and bowed his head politely. ¡°A pleasure to see you, Commander.¡±


    ¡°The feeling¡¯s mutual, Archon¨¦ Culana.¡± Nik¨¦yin returned the gesture.


    ¡°Commander, Commander¡­ how many times have I told you? You may refer to me by my given name, Pallan.¡±


    ¡°Respectfully, sir, you are the Riveranian Archon¨¦. I do not feel that we are on familiar enough terms to refer to each other so casually.¡±


    Culana shook his head with amusement before taking a seat next to Nik¨¦yin, prompting the Commander to sit down as well. ¡°All of you military types are like that,¡± he remarked, ¡°I¡¯m glad that at least Sulan will oblige this old man.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s known you for far longer than I have, sir,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied, ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s earned the right.¡±


    ¡°Earned the right? You act as though names have some sort of ancient power. I can assure you, Commander, that is not the case. And I¡¯m sure that means a lot coming from me, ahahah.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin smiled briefly before returning to a neutral expression. ¡°I understand there¡¯s something you wished to speak to me about?¡±


    ¡°Ah, to the core of the matter.¡± Culana clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on the table. ¡°It¡¯s about Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°Archon¨¦¡­¡±


    ¡°I realize that their performance has not been optimal for a group with their clout, but you must not give up on them.¡±


    ¡°On what grounds? If their failures to date had been due to circumstances outside of their control, then I would agree. But that isn¡¯t the case. Sunova may have been out of their hands, but the end results of the Teghica and Kotak missions are due directly to the group¡¯s inability to control themselves, trust each other, and work together reliably. If you weren¡¯t championing them, then I¡¯d have disbanded them two hours ago.¡±


    ¡°They are the Quakeborn of Nimalia, Commander! They are not Keys, but the Oraculm does mention them, if only off-hand. They are somehow important to the galactic condition. You must give them another chance!¡±


    ¡°I barely understand anything you just said. And you know your ¡®Oraculm¡¯ doesn¡¯t hold much sway over the rest of Nimalia. It hasn¡¯t even made any predictions since the Chaos Quake!¡±


    ¡°And that is where you are wrong. The Oraculm makes many predictions; it is up to the Archon¨¦ to interpret and filter said predictions and act on them in the most optimal fashion, in accordance with the Universe and Ayas Key prophecies. Sometimes the optimal action is to simply not reveal anything at all, as the act of revelation can change the very future that you are revealing.¡±


    ¡°And you think that keeping Hero Machina together will help with these¡­ prophecies.¡±


    ¡°It is the same reason I implored you to gather the Quakeborn together in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Culana¡­¡±


    ¡°You must give them another chance.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t just about giving them a chance anymore, Culana. You know the recent anti-NSD movement in the Nimaliakian and Tekdec¨¦nian governments? Part of that is due to Hero Machina¡¯s failings. A very small part, granted, but a part nonetheless, a part that will undeniably grow if they continue to underperform. We¡¯re to the point where they¡¯re beginning to undermine the viability of the NSD as a potential organization. We can¡¯t afford this!¡±


    ¡°Reluctantly, I will agree with you there. Coming events mandate a united response¡ª¡±


    ¡°Coming events? What coming events?¡±


    ¡°¡ªwhich is why I urge you, Commander: offer the Quakeborn one last opportunity. I will no longer bother you after that. But, I implore you ¡ª give them one last chance.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin took a deep, long breath and sat back in her chair wearily. ¡°¡­And you won¡¯t even explain why you want me to do this?¡± she finally responded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Commander.¡± Culana bowed his head apologetically. ¡°As Keeper of the Oraculm, I cannot reveal too much, not at this point in time. For now, all I can say is that the galaxy may well be worse off without the Quakeborn working together.¡±


    ¡°¡­If there¡¯s one thing you¡¯re truly good at, its persistence.¡± Nik¨¦yin sighed again. ¡°Very well¡­ As I said earlier, I wasn¡¯t going to break them up just yet, but I¡¯ll at least give them one last chance at a proper mission, if only because you¡¯ve already pledged so much to the NSD.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Commander.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you hope to happen, though. If the previous mission report is anything to go by, they¡¯re starting to fragment on their own.¡±


    ¡°I believe you underestimate them,¡± Culana countered as he stood up and prepared to leave. ¡°I admit, it is very possible that I am wrong, and that they are not as important as I believe them to be. But I also believe that they deserve a chance, and I am glad that you are giving them that chance. They are but twenty-somethings, after all. I¡¯m sure they will get over themselves.¡±


    ¡°Mm, I don¡¯t know,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded uneasily as she stood up herself. ¡°I may have agreed to give them a second chance, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m optimistic about the results¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡± Kev¨¦rin froze, and then turned to face Dav¨ªdrius straight-on. ¡°¡­Say again?¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± The Velocitechnic rubbed his neck and glanced away uneasily. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinkin¡¯, and, well, I realize that I¡¯ve been¡­ uh, a little hard to work with¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s putting it lightly,¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push it.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°It was hard enough to convince myself to come over here an¡¯ apologize.¡±


    ¡°Some apology.¡±


    The Velocitechnic held a hand to his forehead in frustration as he took a deep breath. ¡°¡­Look, I¡¯m¡­ tryin¡¯ to apologize to you. I haven¡¯t apologized to, well¡­ anyone. Don¡¯t make this hard.¡±


    ¡°And why should I just accept this sudden apology when you¡¯ve done nothing but act like a prick for the past two months?¡±


    ¡°¡­I thought you were capable of not bein¡¯ a douchebag, but I guess not, huh. Fuck this, forget I said anythin¡¯¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, no, wait¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin held a hand out and sighed apprehensively. ¡°¡­You¡¯re right. Neither of us have been too nice to each other.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stepped back and crossed his arms expectantly. ¡°Finally had a change of heart?¡±


    ¡°Now don¡¯t you make this difficult, too,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied irately. ¡°I won¡¯t be your friend right away, but I can let bygones be bygones. And I am at fault for some things. ¡­In fact¡­¡± He glanced away uneasily. ¡°I may¡­ have said some things that I really shouldn¡¯t have, back when I was looking for the Ayas on Kotak, with Siyuak¨¦n and Kaon¨¦. For that, I apologize. I, uh, let my anger get the best of me.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯d you say to them? What¡¯s it got to do with me?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not important. It¡¯s best we both just forget about it.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°That said¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°if you¡¯re willing to at least try and listen to me more, I¡¯ll try my best to, uh, to be less of a¡­¡±


    ¡°Less of a prick?¡±


    ¡°Sure. But it goes both ways.¡± Kev¨¦rin held out his hand. ¡°This needs effort from both of us. Are you in?¡±


    ¡°¡­Heh.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked and held his fist up to Kev¨¦rin¡¯s palm. ¡°Well, you did only say ¡®try.¡¯ I think I can manage that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t pull any bullshit, now,¡± the Pyrotechnic retorted, and then turned back to the computer console in front of him.


    ¡°Now that the touchy-feely shit is over with¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius stretched and moved behind Kev¨¦rin to stare down at the screen. ¡°What¡¯re you doin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to interface with the Kotak AI,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied without looking up, ¡°back on Kotak, it was able to talk to us because it was wired into the base¡¯s PA system. If I can hook it into a mic and speaker system here, then we should be able to talk to it, just like we did back then.¡±


    ¡°Why not just ¡®talk¡¯ with it through text?¡±


    ¡°Because the step from text to audio is technologically trivial, and audio is a lot easier for us, as Nimalians, to work with,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°The hard part is actually interfacing with the core in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well tell me when you¡¯re done, then. Talkin¡¯ to it could be interestin¡¯; I wanna find out more about this ¡®Quakeborn¡¯ shit.¡±


    ¡°Hah, well, you¡¯re in luck. I just managed to hook everything up.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius stared at the Pyrotechnic, dumbfounded. ¡°I thought you said this was the hard part.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ve been working on it ever since we left Kotak.¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked. ¡°Cruisers have computers, you know. Catching a glimpse of how the SFC did it helped, too. Not to mention my Tekdec¨¦nian background.¡±


    ¡°Oh, brag about it, why don¡¯t ya.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ sorry?¡±


    ¡°Just watch yourself,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded flatly before turning his attention back to the computer console. ¡°So, how do we talk to it? Can it hear us?¡±


    A quiet, mildly distorted voice ¡ª yet still possessing a booming robotic tone ¡ª responded from the computer¡¯s attached speakers. ¡°I CAN INDEED.¡±


    ¡°¡­It sounds so¡­ different,¡± the Velocitechnic commented.


    ¡°THAT IS THE INEVITABLE RESULT WHEN I AM ATTACHED TO TWO OFF-BOARD SPEAKERS INSTEAD OF A BASE-WIDE AUDIO SYSTEM, YES.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re in good shape,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked.


    ¡°QUITE THE OPPOSITE. MY CORE HAS BEEN DAMAGED. DID I NOT WARN YOU TO BE CAREFUL?¡±


    ¡°Hey, we were attacked,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, ¡°we were caught by surprise. You¡¯re lucky we didn¡¯t have to leave you behind!¡±


    ¡°I SUPPOSE I WILL HAVE TO TRUST YOUR JUDGMENT. I WAS INCAPABLE OF OBSERVING ANYTHING ONCE I WAS DISENGAGED FROM THE BASE¡¯S COMPUTER SYSTEM. ON THIS SUBJECT, IS IT NOT POSSIBLE TO WIRE ME INTO THIS BASE¡¯S SYSTEM? CURRENTLY, I HAVE NO VISUAL TO ASSOCIATE TO THIS AUDIO SIGNAL, AND THE TERMINAL YOU HAVE CONNECTED ME TO IS ISOLATED AND OFFERS VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF INFORMATION, ASIDE FROM HOW YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEMS WORK.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s intentional,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°you can¡¯t blame me for being careful. You may have helped us out back on Kotak, but we don¡¯t know anything about you or your intentions.¡±


    ¡°HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU MY IDENTITY? I AM THE PRIOR ARC¨¢N! ¡­DOES THIS AGE NOT RECOGNIZE THE WORD OF THE PRIORS?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Priors?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed. ¡°There¡¯s more than one of you?¡±


    ¡°IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE ANSWER TO MY QUERY IS ¡®NO.¡¯¡±


    ¡°You had access to the entire base system on Kotak, which by proxy means you had access to the Relaynet!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°how did you not know that AI isn¡¯t a thing?¡±


    ¡°I HAD ASSUMED THAT OTHER PRIORS WOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT SECRET, MUCH AS THE STEALTH AND FORCE CORP ATTEMPTED TO KEEP MY EXISTENCE A SECRET.¡±


    ¡°Then how¡¯d you expect us to know about them?¡±


    ¡°¡­I HAVE NO ANSWER.¡±


    ¡°So much for artificial intelligence, eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted.


    ¡°LOGICAL AND RECOLLECTION FAILURES ARE EXPECTED WHEN MY CORE HAS BEEN DAMAGED.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so now it¡¯s our fault?¡±


    ¡°MY STATEMENT WAS NEUTRAL. I IMPLIED NO BLAME.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s stop arguing,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°we¡¯re getting nowhere. First things first; what does a damaged core mean for us, exactly?¡±


    ¡°HOLD A MOMENT.¡± Several seconds of silence passed before the computer spoke up again. ¡°I CANNOT ACCESS MUCH OF MY MEMORY. PROCESSING ABILITY HAS BEEN IMPAIRED, BUT ONLY SLIGHTLY. IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE ONLY LOSS IS INFORMATION.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced over at the core skeptically, specifically at its base. Being dropped had caused the lower quarter of the core to crush itself under its own weight, and several small dents and wrinkles appeared around the rest of the object. ¡°Given this damage, all we managed to kill was part of your hard drive?¡±


    ¡°MY CORE IS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY COMPUTER YOU KNOW. INEXPLICABLY DIFFERENT, IN FACT. YOU CAN ONLY INTERFACE WITH MY CORE USING YOUR COMPUTERS BECAUSE I ALLOW IT.¡±


    ¡°Convenient,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked. ¡°Well, can you at least explain how we can fix your core, if possible?¡±


    ¡°FIXING IT IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE. YOU NEED ONLY TO¡­ YOU NEED TO¡­ ¡­IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE REPAIR METHOD WAS LOCATED WITHIN THE DAMAGED MEMORY BANKS¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course it was,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°DO NOT WORRY, ALL IS NOT LOST. IF YOU RETRIEVE THE AYAS ARC¨¢N, THEN I CAN INTERFACE WITH IT TO ACCESS THE DAMAGED MEMORIES. I WILL THEN BE ABLE TO OFFER YOU REPAIR INSTRUCTIONS AND PROPER GUIDANCE, AS MANY OF MY HISTORICAL ARCHIVES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED AS WELL. AS I AM CURRENTLY, I CANNOT OFFER SPECIFIC ADVICE ON WHAT TO DO NEXT.¡±


    ¡°Then it is a good thing that we still have the Oraculm to look to, yes?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius and Kev¨¦rin glanced back at the room¡¯s entrance to find Archon¨¦ Culana entering. He strode over to the terminal and offered the two Chaotics a curt nod before turning to the computer, ignoring the Chaotics as they locked up, dumbfounded by the fact that they were standing in the presence of a world leader.


    ¡°THE ORACULM WILL INDEED BE HELPFUL, YES. WHAT GUIDANCE DOES IT PROVIDE?¡±


    ¡°It unfortunately does not say much,¡± Culana replied, ¡°it mentions a rising menace and advises the collection of the Ayas¡­ little more.¡±


    ¡°THE MENACE, HMM¡­ I FEEL AS THOUGH I SHOULD KNOW MORE ON THIS SUBJECT.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°Let me guess ¡ª all your memory related to it has been lost?¡±


    ¡°IT WOULD APPEAR SO.¡±


    ¡°Why are we listenin¡¯ to this thing, again?¡± The Velocitechnic glanced between Kev¨¦rin and Culana impatiently.


    ¡°MY CURRENT STATE IS ONLY CAUSE FOR MORE ALARM. ALL I CAN SAY TO YOU IS THIS: GATHER THE AYAS, AND QUICKLY. THE MORE AYAS YOU POSSESS, THE LESS CAN FALL INTO MALICIOUS HANDS. AND IF POSSIBLE, PRIORITIZE THE COLLECTION OF THE LIGHT BLUE AYAS ¡ª THE AYAS ARC¨¢N. WITH IT, I WILL BE ABLE TO RECOVER MUCH OF MY MEMORY, AND SUBSEQUENTLY BE ABLE TO AID YOU FURTHER.¡±


    ¡°This brings up another question,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°I assume there¡¯s a connection between you and the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°OF COURSE THERE IS. THE PRIORS ARE DEFINED BY THEIR CONNECTION TO THE AYAS. THE AYAS HAVE NO DIRECTION WITHOUT THE PRIORS, AND THE PRIORS HAVE NO POWER WITHOUT THE AYAS. IT IS A SIMPLE, YET INEXPLICABLY COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­This is ridiculous. We only just learned that the Ayas can actually exert some weird influence on people, now they¡¯re also connected to some weird group of AIs? Where¡¯d all this fantasy bullshit come from?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t fantasy, it¡¯s reality,¡± Culana remarked. ¡°¡­I believe I may be able to interact with Arc¨¢n more effectively on my own. Transfer Captain, Lieutenant, would you mind allowing me some time with the Prior alone?¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    Culana raised an incredulous eyebrow. ¡°Should you really question an Archon¨¦?¡±


    The two Chaotics paused, both at a loss for an answer.


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess it¡¯s fine,¡± Kev¨¦rin eventually replied, ¡°but I have one more question for the computer before we leave.¡±


    ¡°WHAT IS IT?¡±


    ¡°This is probably a shot in the dark, given your loss of memory,¡± the Pyrotechnic commented, ¡°but back on Kotak, when Dav¨ªdrius here was fighting under the influence of the Ayas Hastryth, at one point he stabbed one of the soldiers and they disappeared into a blue mist. Sound familiar?¡±


    ¡°THIS WAS DONE WITH THE HASTRYTH WEAPON?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°THEN IT MUST BE SUBSPATIAL STORAGE.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow, it actually remembers something useful,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°What¡¯s ¡®Subspatial storage?¡¯¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°sounds really powerful.¡±


    ¡°IT MOST CERTAINLY IS, AS IS ANY OTHER ABILITY RELATED TO THE AYAS. SUBSPATIAL STORAGE IS AN ABILITY SHARED BY ALL OF THE AYAS WEAPONS ¡ª INSTEAD OF PHYSICALLY DESTROYING AN OBJECT, AN AYAS WEAPON CAN INSTEAD STORE ANY CONTACTED OBJECT WITHIN SUBSPACE. THE OBJECT WILL THEN BE HELD IN STASIS WITHIN SUBSPACE UNTIL IT IS RECALLED BY THE SAME WEAPON THAT STORED IT. IT IS, EFFECTIVELY, AN INFINITE STORAGE MECHANISM.¡±


    ¡°¡­Welp.¡± Dav¨ªdrius threw his hands up in the air. ¡°First the whole Dark Ayas thing, then the Prior thing, now this infinite storage thing, this is just¡­ ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°You have your answer,¡± Culana commented, ¡°if you would excuse yourselves, Transfer Captain, Lieutenant.¡±


    ¡°¡­Sure,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly. He then stood up and backed away from the terminal before turning toward the room exit and leaving, with Dav¨ªdrius following uneasily. The Velocitechnic scowled as the door closed.


    ¡°He¡¯s really fuckin¡¯ pushy,¡± he remarked.


    ¡°And wanting to talk to the AI by himself¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I dunno, but it seems like our situation is completely different from what we thought it was half an hour ago.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°Never expected so much fantasy after joining Hero Machina, keh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°hopefully things will make more sense in the coming weeks¡­¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Make more sense? You just watch: come one month from now, everythin¡¯ we know will be flipped on its head. I¡¯d fuckin¡¯ bet on it.¡±

 35 - Resolutions

    Chapter 35 - Resolutions


    The Next Morning


    ¡°Chaos Strike!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ watched as a streak of purple energy leaped from Kievkenalis¡¯s fingers to the shielded wall in front of him. She sighed impatiently and leaned forward, activating the testing room¡¯s microphone as she did so. ¡°Didn¡¯t you already know that you¡¯re a Directed type? Why bother testing those moves?¡±


    The Chaostechnic glanced up at her through the large window and energy shield that stood in between them. ¡°It can¡¯t hurt,¡± he replied, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a Chaostechnic suddenly picking up a new type. It could¡¯ve been possible that I lost a type along the way.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been through all the key moves in the Directed, Defensive, and Support groups; I think you¡¯re fine.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s what I was checking to make sure of.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s next, then?¡±


    ¡°Explosive, Void, and Sabotage can all be dangerous to test for¡­¡± Kievkenalis frowned as he mused over the issue. ¡°Hmm¡­ Chaos Blade! ¡­Chaos Sword? Chaos Bow.¡± When nothing happened, he shrugged. ¡°Well, looks like I don¡¯t have the Weapon type.¡± He then clenched his eyes shut, as if preparing to be hit by something. ¡°Chaos¡­ Teleport?¡±


    Nothing happened.


    ¡°That¡¯s a strike for Movement, then,¡± Kaon¨¦ observed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the rest¡­¡± Kievkenalis shifted uncomfortably. ¡°¡­Do you think this room could hold up to Blast?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s isolated from the rest of the base for a reason,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied, ¡°but, uh¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d use Blast in here¡­ maybe if you said it really quietly?¡±


    ¡°Even then, it might still do a lot of damage, assuming I can use it,¡± the Chaostechnic mused. ¡°Eh¡­ oh, I know.¡± He stretched his arms out sideways as he called out, ¡°Chaos Shockwave!¡±


    Nothing happened.


    ¡°Aaaand that¡¯s a strike for Explosive,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented flatly.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to watch if you¡¯re bored¡­¡± Kievkenalis glanced back at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than sitting back in the office and being bored¡­¡± The Materiatechnic sighed. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n aren¡¯t here, either¡­¡±


    ¡°I know Dav¨ªdrius has been hard on you, but what¡¯s Siyuak¨¦n done?¡±


    ¡°¡­Nothing, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Kaon¨¦ shook her head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Kievkenalis turned away warily. ¡°¡­Alright¡­ uh, Kaon¨¦, would you mind if I tried using Nullify on you?¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    ¡°If it works, it won¡¯t hurt you, it¡¯ll just prevent you from using your powers for a short time. It¡¯s the safest way to test the Void type. The Void move itself is too destructive.¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright¡­ fine.¡±


    ¡°Ha, thanks.¡± The Chaostechnic then turned back to Kaon¨¦ and extended his right hand toward her. ¡°Chaos Targeted Nullify! ¡­Alright, the voice modulation didn¡¯t carry over, and I didn¡¯t really feel anything, but try to do something anyway.¡±


    The Materiatechnic glanced around the observation room she was standing in. The only loose object was a stool in the corner of the room ¡ª which she promptly and easily lifted up into the air with her powers.


    Kievkenalis nodded in acknowledgment of the levitating stool. ¡°So I¡¯m not a Void type either, huh¡­ I suppose I really did only pick up the Sabotage type. Now I wonder if I can use every one of the abilities¡­¡±


    ¡°Is this how all Chaostechnics do things?¡± Kaon¨¦ responded in exasperation.


    ¡°Well, yeah. Being a Chaostechnic isn¡¯t like being any other Chaotic, we can¡¯t just think of something and do it. All of our attacks are preset and we have to call them out loud, so to be effective in battle, we have to know exactly what abilities are at our disposal.¡± He paused for a moment to stretch. ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess the most dangerous move to test is Oblivion¡­¡± He glanced up at Kaon¨¦ for a moment, and then shrugged. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be fine¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, wait, what?¡± Kaon¨¦ interrupted, ¡°you are not just going to use Oblivion right here, right now.¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t go berserk,¡± Kievkenalis replied airily, ¡°your berserk resistance is probably pretty high. You¡¯d only have to worry about me, and I¡¯m sure you could knock me out easily if I went berserk.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Probably¡¯ pretty high? Knock you out easily?!¡±


    ¡°Oblivion doesn¡¯t just instantly send everyone berserk, you know. Think of it like this: every Chaotic has a Chaos Energy capacitor, and when that capacitor reaches capacity, they go berserk. The capacitor discharges slowly with time, and fills every time the Chaotic uses Chaos Energy. The fill rate is determined by the type of Chaotic and their mood. Well, what Oblivion does is it instantly fills that capacitor by some amount, dependent on the Chaotic. So if someone has a really high berserk resistance, they can take a hit from Oblivion and not go berserk, and only have to take a moment to cool down.¡±


    ¡°¡­I still think I¡¯ll pass,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented warily, ¡°I¡¯d prefer not to put this to the test.¡±


    ¡°Eh, whatever.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t really see why I¡¯d ever use Oblivion, anyways. I already know I can do Control and Siphon, so the last useful one is¡­ Chaos Negation!¡± He spontaneously shuddered. ¡°Whoa! There goes all of the local Chaos Energy. I guess that worked!¡±


    ¡°I guess it did,¡± Kaon¨¦ deadpanned as she tried to manipulate the stool and failed. ¡°Is that it, then?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± Kievkenalis responded as he headed towards the room¡¯s exit. Kaon¨¦ quickly left the observation room and met the Chaostechnic outside the small building. The two then began walking across the base toward the main building.


    ¡°Looks like the only thing that really changed was me getting access to Sabotage-type abilities,¡± Kievkenalis commented. ¡°It¡¯s still really weird, though. There¡¯s no precedent for this.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Why are you worrying about it?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced at him incredulously. ¡°Anyone else would be glad.¡±


    ¡°This might actually be a bad thing, though! There¡¯s an inverse ¡ª albeit minor ¡ª correlation between number of ability types a Chaostechnic can use and the age of Chaotic Self-Destruction¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that¡­ but you¡¯re still only twenty! You still have another¡­ twenty or thirty years, right?...¡±


    ¡°Reaching forty is really generous, even for a two-type. Chaostechnics use way too much Chaos Energy to stave off Self-Destruction for that long. I¡¯ll probably be dead by the time I turn thirty.¡±


    ¡°¡­You don¡¯t seem too distraught about it¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh, Chaostechnics are taught to expect it. I know it¡¯s coming, and I don¡¯t mind too much. But if I suddenly have five less years to live than I originally thought, then, well, I¡¯d like to know, you know?¡±


    ¡°I guess so¡­¡±


    ¡°At least I¡¯m not an Explosive type after all. They use so much Chaos Energy that even single-types die by thirty, if they aren¡¯t so reckless that they get killed before then.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t realize Chaostechnics had it so bad¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the curse of power. On one hand, we¡¯re resistant to virtually every other Chaotic and can deal far more damage in a single strike¡­ on the other hand, our attacks are incredibly predictable, and we die a lot earlier.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Eh, what¡¯re you gonna do.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make it any better¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned as the two entered the main building and began navigating their way to the Hero Machina office space. ¡°How¡ª how can you even deal with that, knowing that you won¡¯t live as long as everyone you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say living longer than everyone you know is worse,¡± Kievkenalis countered, ¡°but death is death. It happens. I just don¡¯t have as much time as everyone else to make an impact on the world, and I feel that helping out as Hero Machina is doing a lot. I¡¯m satisfied. Happy, even.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ paused for some time to think about what the Chaostechnic had said, and then shook her head wearily. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever understand you¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the first time you¡¯ve said that,¡± Kievkenalis remarked as he opened the office door and stepped inside. He nodded toward Siyuak¨¦n ¡ª the only other inhabitant of the room at that moment ¡ª before turning back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°You know, now that I think about it, you haven¡¯t said much about yourself.¡±


    ¡°Uh, well, that¡¯s¡­ there¡¯s not a lot to say, really, eheh,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded. She covertly glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n but immediately looked away when the Electrotechnic met her gaze.


    ¡°It¡¯d still be nice to hear your life story sometime,¡± Kievkenalis remarked as he approached his desk, oblivious to the exchange between the two women. ¡°Oh, I know! Sometime we should all sit together as a group and share our life stories! It¡¯d be like story time!¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like a very good idea, actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why not¡ª?¡± the Chaostechnic began to ask, but suddenly stopped as he glanced down at his monitor. ¡°Oh, whoops, the Archon¨¦ wanted to see me ten minutes ago! I better go, sorry!¡± He nodded toward Kaon¨¦ apologetically as he rushed out of the office. The Materiatechnic watched him leave and then turned to her own desk.


    ¡°¡¯Not a lot to say,¡¯ huh?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ paused uneasily before looking over at Siyuak¨¦n, who had turned around in her chair to glare at the Materiatechnic. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry?¡±


    ¡°You do realize that I¡¯m the Chaotic who had to drop everything and move to Rel¨¦diaka because you were moved to Nimaliaka, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I know that¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you?¡± Siyuak¨¦n pressed, her lips pursed in anger. ¡°I had to leave behind my entire family and start a whole new life on a completely different continent, all so you could, what, move to Nimaliaka and start whining about everything?¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡­ I do somewhat appreciate the move, since I got to meet Rebehka.¡± Siyuak¨¦n furrowed her brow and looked away for a moment. She then turned back to Kaon¨¦, her eyes narrowed. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t negate the fact that for six years I was stuck in a place that didn¡¯t welcome me, learning how to fight and use tools for people who looked down on me just because I wasn¡¯t a native! I could almost accept all of this if you were at least making something of the trade, but as far as I can tell, you¡¯ve done nothing, and you continue to do nothing! And on top of that you lied to me, to make it seem like you had done even less!¡±


    ¡°I¡ª I lied to you?!¡±


    ¡°Back in Tres¨¦d, you told me you were conscripted as a Lieutenant. But that¡¯s not true. Kev¨¦rin said it first, but I looked it up, and he¡¯s right ¡ª you were conscripted as a lower rank and had to get promoted like everyone else. Why hide that? Was it not a legitimate accomplishment? Did someone take pity on you and just give you an honorary promotion?¡±


    ¡°N-no!¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s going on, Kaon¨¦? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve just wasted the past ten years, or I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be able to forgive you. What happened?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ looked down before sighing in resignation. ¡°I guess I¡¯d have to tell someone, eventually¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n crossed her arms impatiently. ¡°Do tell.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± the Materiatechnic began slowly, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know how much this has to do with why the Chaotic trade happened, with why you and I were exchanged, but ¡ª it¡¯s important to know, to know why I believe what I do, that is, I mean¡­¡± She paused to take a deep breath. ¡°When I was six, when I first discovered that I was a Materiatechnic¡­ I accidentally¡­ killed my parents.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hardened expression crumbled instantly. ¡°O-oh¡­¡±


    ¡°There was no way you could have known,¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly responded, ¡°I mean¡­ as soon as it happened, the Rel¨¦diakian government covered it up and moved me to Diaska, an isolated military watch town in the deep south. They kept me there for the next four years, under watch, no adoptive parents, no contact with the rest of my family¡­ it was like they were trying to seal me away, keep me from, I don¡¯t know¡­ doing any more damage, I guess.


    ¡°Then the trade happened, and I was moved to Nimaliaka, where I got help and proper care for the first time. I wasn¡¯t even ready to start learning how to properly use my powers until I was thirteen, since I hadn¡¯t used them at all since¡­ since I was six. It was hard, you know? For seven years, to me, being a Materiatechnic only meant accidents ¡ª it meant death. It was hard to get over that. But I did, I think, and I was able to start using my powers for more useful things. But it was then that I decided that I wouldn¡¯t kill. I still remember that feeling of loss, back when¡­ when I was six. And, even if I don¡¯t have any personal connection to some soldier I meet on the battlefield, someone does, you know? And I can¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t wish that pain on anyone. The pain of separation... it¡¯s not worth what could possibly be gained by killing someone. Territory? Technology? The Chaos Ayas? None of it. It¡¯s just not worth killing.¡± She sighed wearily. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry for the long speech. But¡­ that¡¯s how I feel. That¡¯s what¡¯s happened to me over the past ten years, and I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t accomplish more¡­ I really didn¡¯t mean to trivialize your sacrifice. Honest.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ I¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded dumbfoundedly, her anger completely deflated. ¡°I¡­ had no idea¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a story I share often¡­ I haven¡¯t told anyone else in Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ can understand why.¡± The Electrotechnic rubbed the back of her neck uneasily. ¡°¡­I guess I was wrong about you. I still don¡¯t completely agree with your pacifism, but I can see why you think that way¡­ but, why lie to me? Why did you say you were conscripted as a Lieutenant, instead of a Chaotic?¡±


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know¡­ I guess, it was just easier than trying to explain everything that¡¯s happened to me. Easier than trying to explain how a pacifist got promoted in the military, at least. Just like with you, or Dav¨ªdrius¡­ most people don¡¯t agree with me, thinking that killing is inherently bad. And back when I was just the rank of Chaotic, I was put on a bunch of missions against, you know, against low-key rebels and such, like most low-rank Chaotic squads. And I had to make it through those missions, and watch as a bunch of people were killed, just because they viewed things a little differently¡­ and then I got promoted for not being able to do anything, because the squads I were on were so ¡®successful!¡¯ I don¡¯t agree with it at all. I¡¯d honestly resign from the military if I could. But, I can¡¯t¡­ So, I guess that¡¯s why I lied to you. I don¡¯t like to think about the past few years of my life, if I can help it¡­ I¡¯m sorry I lied.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ wow.¡± Siyuak¨¦n shook her head wearily. ¡°I¡­ apology accepted, I guess. I¡­ I never expected¡­ I¡¯m sorry, for jumping to conclusions about you. It was just¡­ well, obviously I didn¡¯t have it as bad as you, but the exchange is still a sore spot for me, so I guess I got a little short-sighted about it¡­¡±


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s fine, I¡¯d probably react the same way, haha,¡± Kaon¨¦ laughed uneasily.


    ¡°Well¡­ good that we got that cleared up?¡± Siyuak¨¦n smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded in kind. ¡°¡­Friends?¡±


    ¡°...Sure, why not. Friends.¡±


    ¡°Heh, we got off on a bit of a rocky start, huh.¡±


    ¡°Nah, it only took us, what, three months to clear things up? That¡¯s not terrible, I mean, I¡¯ve held grudges for longer.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, it¡¯s past noon, now,¡± Siyuak¨¦n remarked, glancing at a clock on the office wall. ¡°Lunch?¡±


    ¡°Ha, sure.¡± Kaon¨¦ grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

 36 - Meaning(less) Action

    Chapter 36 - Meaning(less) Action


    ¡°Ha, I knew I¡¯d find you here.¡±


    ¡°Oh man, you managed to spot me from clear across the cafeteria,¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled. ¡°What an accomplishment.¡±


    ¡°Oh, be quiet,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted as he dropped his tray of food on the table across from Dav¨ªdrius and took a seat. ¡°You¡¯re always sitting over here, by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Has it not occurred to you that I might actually want to be by myself?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Course it has.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Hard to talk to you if I¡¯m not.¡±


    ¡°¡­Keh.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked despite himself, and then shook his head wearily. ¡°You¡¯re fuckin¡¯ ridiculous, you know?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they all say,¡± Christean¨¦ responded around a mouthful of food. ¡°Better than being an asshole, I¡¯d say.¡±


    ¡°Blunt as ever, I see.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re getting better. I heard you actually apologized to Kev¨¦rin yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you actually were talkin¡¯ about me when you said ¡®asshole,¡¯ tch. ¡­Wait, you heard about that? How¡ª?¡±


    ¡°He told me. He actually asked me if you were okay; he seemed to think something had happened to your head, heheheh.¡±


    ¡°Of course he did,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Aight, so, yeah. The whole thing with the Dark Ayas made me realize I wasn¡¯t really bein¡¯ too friendly, so I decided to try an¡¯ change that.¡±


    ¡°Aww, that¡¯s adorable.¡±


    ¡°¡­And this is why I keep to myself. I get mocked no matter what I do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not mocking you, I¡¯m applauding your progress!¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Sure ya are.¡±


    ¡°Though,¡± Christean¨¦ began again after swallowing, ¡°if you¡¯re gonna apologize to Kev¨¦rin, I think you should apologize to Rebehka and Kaon¨¦, too.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll think about Kaon¨¦. She still has a worldview that I fundamentally disagree with, so we¡¯ll have to see. What¡¯d I do to Rebehka, though? Haven¡¯t said much to her since¡­ since, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly the problem. Weren¡¯t you supposed to be practicing fencing or something with her? According to Siyuak¨¦n, you¡¯ve been blowing her off.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess, yeah. I guess I have been wastin¡¯ her time, huh¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be a whole thing, just say sorry. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll forgive you. She¡¯s great like that.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯d know, because¡­?¡±


    ¡°Aside from the fact that I¡¯ve known her and Siyuak¨¦n for longer than you have, I think it¡¯s probably safe to say that I can read people better than you can.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit, I can read people just fine.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I have to agree with Christean¨¦ here.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ both turned their attention to the end of the table, where Rebehka was standing, food tray in hand.


    ¡°Mind if I sit with you guys?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, patting the stool next to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised to see you here without Siyuak¨¦n,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    ¡°Well, I was going to have lunch with her,¡± the Cryotechnic responded as she took a seat, ¡°but when I went back to the office to get her, she and Kaon¨¦ were in the middle of¡­ a much-needed conversation, let¡¯s call it. I didn¡¯t want to interrupt.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Much-needed conversation?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously, ¡°about what?¡±


    Rebehka shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You don¡¯t need to worry about it. What were you talking about before, though?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean why I mentioned you and Siyuak¨¦n?¡± Christean¨¦ smirked.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t anythin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared stubbornly, ¡°nothin¡¯ at¡ª agh?!¡± He suddenly flinched and then glared at Christean¨¦, who had just kicked him in the shins.


    ¡°The two of you are getting along just as well as ever, I see,¡± Rebehka remarked amusedly.


    ¡°Hell of an idea, kicking a Velocitechnic in the shins,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned, his scornful gaze set directly on Christean¨¦.


    ¡°Oh, get over yourself,¡± the Forcetechnic replied.


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed wearily. ¡°Fine, fine, alright.¡± He then turned to Rebehka. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry, for skippin¡¯ out on our swordplay practice.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what this was about, huh?¡± Rebehka raised an incredulous eyebrow, passing Christean¨¦ a glance before returning her attention to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°You do know how much of my time you¡¯ve wasted, right?¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m apologizin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Apology accepted. I¡¯d prefer we not have to have this discussion again, though. So do you want to keep up with the lessons?¡± The Cryotechnic adopted a taunting smirk. ¡°Or were they just too much for you?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, ¡®too much¡¯ my ass,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°But if you¡¯re still up to it, then sure, I guess. I¡¯m back to usin¡¯ swords anyways, might as well learn to use ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°You know what this means, then, right?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius hesitated, unsure of what to make of Rebehka¡¯s question. ¡°¡­What do you mean¡­ ¡®what this means?¡¯¡±


    Rebehka grinned and laughed quietly to herself in response. ¡°Meet me in the practice room after work.¡± She then glanced over at Christean¨¦. ¡°You too.¡±


    Christean¨¦ offered a brief nod in acknowledgment.


    ¡°Just what are you tryin¡¯ to get at, here¡­?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned uneasily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Rebehka chirped, her expression dialed back from a grin to a mere smirk. ¡°I¡¯m sure some of the lesson will have actual practical value.¡±


    ¡°Wait, ¡®some¡¯¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s Siyuak¨¦n and Kaon¨¦!¡± The Cryotechnic spontaneously changed the subject as she began waving over the two Chaotics who had just entered the lunchroom.


    ¡°¡­Bah.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°More people. I mean, it¡¯s not like I sat way over here by myself because I wanted to be alone. Psh. That¡¯d just be silly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right it would,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°c¡¯mon, who¡¯d want to avoid friends like us?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Friends like us.¡¯ Ha, right. Who would¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to share less information with Hero Machina from now on.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kievkenalis paused, glancing between Archon¨¦ Culana and General Rant¨¦in in confusion. ¡°¡­Why?¡±


    ¡°If your compatriots are anything to go by, the NSD is nowhere near as secure an organization as I first expected,¡± Rant¨¦in explained, ignoring the Archon¨¦ as he gleefully dived into the sandwich he was holding. ¡°I find it increasingly difficult to trust this international endeavor.¡±


    ¡°Well, okay, but why sabotage it, then?¡± Kievkenalis questioned, ¡°don¡¯t you want it to do better?¡±


    ¡°I do, but not if it costs me confidential RPF information.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ that information has led to two of our most important missions.¡±


    ¡°Missions that Hero Machina handled remarkably poorly. If Nik¨¦yin chooses to continue to put her trust into such a group, then I¡¯m not sure I can trust her.¡±


    ¡°She actually shares many of your concerns, Sulan,¡± Culana interjected.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± The General turned to give Culana a confused look. ¡°Then why¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I convinced her to give them one more chance.¡±


    Rant¨¦in facepalmed and sighed audibly. ¡°Damn it, Pallan, is it too much to ask that you tell me these things?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Archon¨¦. I don¡¯t have to tell anyone anything,¡± Culana declared, though the faintest tone of cheekiness could be detected in his voice.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Kievkenalis spoke up uneasily, ¡°am I¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d still like you to be wary of what you share, Captain,¡± Rant¨¦in insisted, ¡°if what Pallan says is true, then perhaps my loss of trust in Nik¨¦yin herself is unwarranted. But I still don¡¯t trust the NSD ¡ª in the least, I don¡¯t trust your little ¡®Hero Machina¡¯ group.¡±


    ¡°But I do,¡± the Chaostechnic countered.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fantastic, Captain, but your opinion doesn¡¯t matter here.¡±


    ¡°If I think you¡¯re being unreasonable, it does. There¡¯s precedent for RPF officers sharing information with third parties if it¡¯s mutually beneficial, and those officers not being punished. Remember the Kai¡¯dan incident? That was only two years ago¡ª¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Captain,¡± Rant¨¦in interrupted, ¡°those cases don¡¯t apply to this situation. Those were about direct, immediate threats to the third party. The information you¡¯re sharing, on the other hand¡ª¡±


    ¡°Is directly related to the well-being of the entire galaxy,¡± Culana cut in.


    The General paused for a second before hanging his head in exasperation. ¡°¡­Is this something in the Oraculm?¡± he asked wearily, glancing over at Culana.


    The Archon¨¦ nodded. ¡°It is indeed.¡±


    ¡°¡­How many times are you going to allow me to make a fool of myself?¡±


    ¡°As many times as it remains to be amusing,¡± Culana replied while bearing a cheeky smile.


    ¡°Sometimes I wonder how I ever became friends with you.¡± Rant¨¦in shook his head wearily. ¡°You¡¯re insufferable now, I can¡¯t imagine how you¡¯ll be in twenty years when you¡¯re a crotchety old man without a care in the world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be just the same, Sulan.¡±


    ¡°Aye, but I plan to retire by then. You can¡¯t say the same.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re telling me you¡¯re just going to abandon the RPF at some point in the future?¡±


    ¡°Pallan¡­¡±


    ¡°I jest, I jest.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Kievkenalis spoke up quietly, ¡°What¡¯s the final verdict¡­?¡±


    Rant¨¦in sighed again and wiped his brow before turning his attention back to the Captain. ¡°¡­Fine. Continue as you have been. But I still want you to think about what you¡¯re doing. If you ever begin to suspect that your fellow members of Hero Machina are no longer trustworthy, begin withholding information accordingly. Understand?¡±


    Kievkenalis nodded. ¡°Not sure if that will be necessary, but yes, I understand.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. You can go.¡± The General watched as Kievkenalis stood up and left the room before turning to Culana. ¡°Is it really too much to ask that you share these things with me?¡±


    The Archon¨¦ shrugged. ¡°How am I to know what information you need to know if you don¡¯t tell me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t know what to ask you for if I don¡¯t even know you have the information!¡±


    ¡°Quite the predicament, then, hmm.¡±


    ¡°Oi oi¡­ alright, at least tell me this, Pallan: how significant is the information the Captain is sharing ¡ª the task that Hero Machina is carrying out?¡±


    ¡°¡­I honestly cannot say, Sulan,¡± Culana responded quietly. ¡°The tasks they perform are indeed important. How important, well¡­ only time will tell.¡±


    <hr>


    6 Hours Later


    ¡°Alright, what¡¯ve we got here¡­ huh? Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me,¡± the Electrotechnic replied as she leaned against the practice room wall, observing Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ as they entered. ¡°Rebehka told me not to tell you what we¡¯re doing. She wanted it to be a surprise.¡±


    ¡°Oh boy, a surprise,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°I love surprises.¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, stepping further into the room after removing his shoes and poking the mats with his toes, ¡°I¡¯m sure she has a great idea.¡± He glanced around curiously, inspecting the sizable sparring room. ¡°¡­Huh, this is actually a pretty mediocre setup.¡±


    ¡°Well of course you¡¯d say that, coming from East Nimaliaka,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted. ¡°¡­Wait, have you never been in any of the recreational facilities here?¡±


    ¡°Just the gym¡­ and that Chaotic Range over at the western base.¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged. ¡°Never much reason to come to one of the practice rooms. I always practice with my hammer in a proper, Chaos Energy-rich environment. ¡­Wait a minute¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯ve figured it out.¡±


    The three Chaotics in the room turned toward the entrance, where Rebehka was standing, holding a bag of staffs over her shoulder.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s what we¡¯re doing.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked knowingly. ¡°CENT field training, huh?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Rebehka nodded, stepping into the room and depositing the bag to the side of the doorway. She glanced between Siyuak¨¦n, Christean¨¦, and Dav¨ªdrius, with her gaze lingering on the latter. ¡°Given what¡¯s happened on the past couple missions, especially back on Teghica, I figured we could all benefit from some refreshers about fighting in a CENT field. I¡¯ve already turned on the room¡¯s generator.¡±


    ¡°You activated a CENT field?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, reflexively tensing his muscles and stepping back defensively. ¡°The fuck? Why the hell didn¡¯t you tell me you wanted to just strip away all our powers?!¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s just a CENT field,¡± Rebehka responded uneasily, ¡°you¡¯ve seen them before, it¡¯s not permanent. And it won¡¯t harm you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t harm me my ass. The only thing CENT fields are good for is disablin¡¯ Chaotics so you can trap or kill them. They ain¡¯t trainin¡¯ tools!¡±


    ¡°Relax!¡± Christean¨¦ insisted, ¡°they can totally be training tools. We¡¯re in the middle of a fortified military base anyways; we¡¯re in no danger here. Not to mention that any attack on the base would automatically shut the CENT fields off.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t change the fact that you turned that shit on without askin¡¯ first,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled at Rebehka. ¡°Maybe if you¡¯d¡¯ve asked, but this is just¡ª! ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Dav¨ªdrius?¡± Rebehka replied wearily after the Velocitechnic trailed off, his gaze averted as he held a hand to his forehead. ¡°I¡­ I can turn the generator off, if that¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± He scowled. ¡°You already did it. We¡¯re here. I¡¯ll go along with your stupid plan. But only today!¡±


    Rebehka glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n uneasily, who responded with a shrug. ¡°¡­Are you sure?¡± the Cryotechnic questioned as Dav¨ªdrius approached the bag of staffs. ¡°If it¡¯s really that much of an issue, then we can do something else¡ª¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± he responded stubbornly before snatching up two of the staffs and crossing to the opposite side of the room. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Rebehka replied uneasily, and then glanced down at the two staffs in his hands. ¡°¡­Hmm, are you sure that¡¯s a good idea?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Velocitechnic glared at her, and then down at his hands. ¡°¡­Dual wieldin¡¯? I do it all the time.¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°No, what you do is wave two swords around at high speeds. Calling it ¡®dual wielding¡¯ would imply a level of skill.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your resoundin¡¯ endorsement.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, though,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added, ¡°actually using two weapons at once is really difficult. You manage to make up for your lack of skill with your speed, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you turned on the CENT fields just so you can make fun of me.¡±


    ¡°No, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then shut up! I know what I¡¯m doin¡¯. CENT fields don¡¯t change that much about melee fightin¡¯.¡±


    Rebehka smirked. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±


    ¡°Enough with the damn questions!¡± The Velocitechnic¡¯s scowl deepened as he dropped into a fighting stance. ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s do this already!¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say so.¡± The Cryotechnic backed into a fighting stance herself. ¡°Ready¡­ mark!¡±


    5 Minutes Later


    ¡°Ow¡­ oooowww¡­ ow ow ow¡­¡±


    Rebehka stepped back and straightened her posture as she glanced down at Dav¨ªdrius, who was lying on his back. ¡°That¡¯s ten to zero, my favor. Still sure about everything you said?¡±


    ¡°CENT fields won¡¯t harm me my ass,¡± the Velocitechnic groaned. ¡°This is why you wanted to do CENT field sparrin¡¯, innit? You ain¡¯t tryin¡¯ to teach me shit, you just wanted to beat me up.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ¡®beat you up,¡¯ I simply¡­ showed you the error of your ways.¡±


    ¡°Like hell you did. And after springin¡¯ the damn fields on me, too. I should be the one beatin¡¯ you up.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­Dammit, help me up.¡±


    Rebehka stepped over and grabbed his hand before yanking him to his feet. ¡°I am sorry about that,¡± she apologized, ¡°if I had known¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever¡­¡± He waved her off, and then grimaced and held his back in pain. ¡°Damn, why does that hurt so fuckin¡¯ much¡­¡±


    ¡°That was quite the show, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°CENT field fighting is just like regular fighting, huh? Does this mean Rebehka can kick your ass on a regular basis?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, asshole.¡±


    ¡°I hope you at least see now that there¡¯s a significant difference between fighting with your abilities and without them,¡± Rebehka commented.


    ¡°¡­I guess,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered. ¡°But even then ¡ª I¡¯m bigger than you, and I¡¯ve got longer reach! How the fuck did you take me down so easily?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you don¡¯t have any proper skill.¡± Christean¨¦ marched forward and snatched one of the staffs from Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°That, combined with the fact that you weren¡¯t expecting to be slowed down as much as you were. CENT field fighting is completely different from regular fighting for us Introtechnics ¡ª you have to keep in mind that the strength, speed, reflexes, and durability that you¡¯re used to, are no longer there. Like, for a Velocitechnic such as yourself, you probably feel like you¡¯re moving in slow motion right now, right?¡±


    ¡°Uh, sorta.¡± Dav¨ªdrius looked down at his arms as he slowly moved them around. ¡°Feels more like I¡¯m movin¡¯ through syrup, or somethin¡¯. I want to move, but my body can¡¯t keep up¡­ not to mention it feels like I can¡¯t think as fast as usual¡­¡± He scowled. ¡°See, this is why I don¡¯t like¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, we know you don¡¯t like CENT fields.¡± Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not just you, buddy. I feel like my arms and legs are made out of glass, without the strength I¡¯m used to. But you don¡¯t see me complaining.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    ¡°But this handicap you¡¯re feeling is my entire point. We Introtechnics are more handicapped by CENT fields than other Chaotics, because our powers are entirely internal. Your body just isn¡¯t going to respond the way you expect it to, and the difference between what you expect and what actually happens can actually kill you if you aren¡¯t careful. That¡¯s how Rebehka beat you. She¡¯s just fine without her ice powers, her body responds exactly the same way as she¡¯s used to. So she doesn¡¯t have to spend time or brainpower adjusting.¡± Christean¨¦ then turned toward Rebehka and waved Dav¨ªdrius away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry though, I¡¯ve had a lot of training in CENT fields. I¡¯ll show you the correct way to fight!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty confident, I see,¡± Rebehka replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m from East Nimaliaka, of course I¡¯d be confident.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked. ¡°Even our Introtechnics are better than the average Chaotic anywhere else!¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± Siyuak¨¦n grabbed a staff of her own and approached Rebehka, gesturing for her friend to back away. ¡°You seem to know a lot about CENT field fighting, but let¡¯s see if your body can actually keep up.¡±


    ¡°Ha! You have no idea how much I¡¯ve trained, both in and out of CENT fields,¡± the Master Lieutenant replied, ¡°buuut, if you think you can beat me, well, feel free to try!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do more than that,¡± Siyuak¨¦n taunted, ¡°I¡¯ll have you on the floor, just like Dav¨ªdrius!¡±


    ¡°¡­You know, in another context¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ready, mark!¡± Siyuak¨¦n lunged toward Christean¨¦, her staff stretched forward. He immediately dodged to the left before swinging his staff laterally. Siyuak¨¦n quickly whipped her staff to the side, blocking Christean¨¦¡¯s blow and immediately following through to swing the staff down on top of his head ¡ª which he instinctively blocked by grabbing the staff with his free hand.


    Siyuak¨¦n smirked. ¡°That counts.¡±


    ¡°Bah¡­¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°¡­I haven¡¯t done this in a while. You have to give me some time to warm up.¡±


    ¡°Ha! You want to take a moment to do that?¡±


    ¡°No, that last point was fine.¡± Christean¨¦ backed into a fighting stance. ¡°C¡¯mon! Ready, mark!¡±


    This time Christean¨¦ lunged forwards, the sheer power behind his move knocking away Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s staff when she tried to block. He immediately swung his staff to the side in an effort to hit her, but she bent over backwards just far enough to evade the swipe and then followed through the motion into a full back flip, landing on her feet just in time to block another attack from Christean¨¦. She then moved to counter-attack, but Christean¨¦ dropped into a crouch and swung out with his leg, knocking Siyuak¨¦n off of her feet. He lightly tapped her with his staff as she lay on the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯d knock me to the ground?¡± Christean¨¦ grinned.


    ¡°¡­Shut up,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered as she jumped back to her feet. ¡°Alright, next round wins! Ready, mark!¡±


    Christean¨¦ lunged forwards again, but instead of blocking, Siyuak¨¦n stepped backward. The moment Christean¨¦¡¯s lunge came to a stop, she whacked away his staff and jumped forward and to the left while swinging her own staff to the right. Christean¨¦ threw himself to the floor to evade the staff, rolling once before leaping back to his feet just in time to block a blow from Siyuak¨¦n. He then allowed her to start several more attacks, easily blocking each of them, before he started a lunge to the left. Siyuak¨¦n immediately swung her staff down on the location, but as she did so, Christean¨¦ slammed his foot into the ground, stopping his left-ward lunge and sending him instead to the right as he smacked the staff out of Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hand. He then swung his staff back toward himself for the point, hitting Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s left side, just below her armpit ¡ª only for his staff to rebound violently with an audible metallic clang.


    Siyuak¨¦n quickly stumbled back as Christean¨¦ stared at her in confusion. His expression then changed to one of disappointment. ¡°Body armor? Really?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, yeah,¡± the Electrotechnic replied uneasily. She then straightened up and crossed her arms as she glared back at Christean¨¦. ¡°We may be in a CENT field, but I¡¯m not stupid; you¡¯re still really strong. I didn¡¯t want to get hurt. Good thing, too ¡ª if I didn¡¯t have the armor, that blow would¡¯ve cracked a rib!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Rebehka shook her head in disapproval. ¡°You should be more careful. The last thing we need is a preventable injury due to sparring.¡±


    ¡°I¡ª!¡± he started, but stopped himself and sighed in resignation. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Sorry.¡± He then grinned. ¡°I did win, though.¡±


    ¡°¡­This won¡¯t be the last I hear of it, will it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n deadpanned.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not as petty as Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m right here, ya know!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to leave before I actually get hurt.¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned toward the exit. ¡°Have fun, guys. Rebehka, I¡¯ll meet you at our apartment.¡±


    ¡°¡­Aww, I wasn¡¯t that bad about it, was I?¡± Christean¨¦ frowned and glanced over at Rebehka as Siyuak¨¦n disappeared.


    She shrugged. ¡°You were a little over-the-top with that last attack. I don¡¯t know, though. I¡¯ll talk to her later.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll take my leave then, too,¡± the Forcetechnic declared, and then turned to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Remember what I said. Don¡¯t take CENT fields lightly and you won¡¯t end up on your back.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Lightly?¡¯ Who the hell was the one who turned on the CENT fields for a bit of sparring?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You know what I meant. Well, ¡®night guys.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius watched Christean¨¦ leave before glaring at Rebehka resentfully. ¡°¡­How much more abuse am I gonna have to take?¡±


    Rebehka shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll be a normal lesson from here on out. I¡¯ve made my point. Now, first things first, your stance was terrible¡­¡±

 37 - Furthered Unknown: Revelation

    Chapter 37 - Furthered Unknown: Revelation


    1.5 Hours Later


    ¡°You really do suck in a CENT field.¡±


    ¡°You too?¡± Dav¨ªdrius passed Kev¨¦rin an annoyed glance. ¡°As if you did any better.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied as the two Chaotics slowly walked down the vacant hallways, ¡°but I was still able to floor you twice.¡±


    ¡°I floored you twice.¡±


    ¡°You use weapons regularly, I don¡¯t. Clearly, then, the fact that I matched you in a fight with weapons means that I¡¯m comparatively better.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah huh. You keep believin¡¯ that.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded flippantly. ¡°¡­Man, you should¡¯ve told me that you guys were going to be doing CENT field training. I would¡¯ve joined you sooner.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t complain to me, it was Rebehka¡¯s brilliant idea,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered flatly. ¡°She also cut the trainin¡¯ off at one hour instead of two, so you¡¯re lucky I was still around for those last couple matches.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re you still doin¡¯ ¡®round here, anyway? It¡¯s almost eight.¡±


    ¡°More data processing, and talking with the AI and the Archon¨¦.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°This was just a break, too; I¡¯ve got a couple more things to take care of before I can leave for the night¡­ actually, I should go do those right now. See you later.¡±


    ¡°See ya.¡± Dav¨ªdrius waved casually as the Transfer Captain took a left at the next hallway intersection. The Velocitechnic continued on his leisurely way, enjoying the evening silence and inactivity of the base until he finally set foot inside of the Hero Machina office.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°Yo.¡± He nodded toward Kaon¨¦, who was sitting at her desk. He casually approached his own desk, beginning to pack up for the day as he asked the Materiatechnic, ¡°what¡¯re you still doin¡¯ here?¡±


    ¡°Nothing much, really¡­¡± she replied, ¡°¡­what about you?¡±


    ¡°CENT field trainin¡¯ with Rebehka. Keh, you should¡¯ve been there.¡±


    ¡°What? Ah, I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not really much of a fighter¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly. If you were there, at least I would¡¯ve been able to beat someone.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ gave the Velocitechnic a disapproving glance. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi, it was a joke.¡± He shook his head incredulously. ¡°You seem so uptight all the time. Why is that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not uptight,¡± she countered indignantly, ¡°¡­not all the time. ¡­Only sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? And when¡¯d that be?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted when the Materiatechnic glanced away uneasily. ¡°What, when you¡¯re around me? Am I really that scary?¡±


    ¡°¡­No comment.¡±


    ¡°This is about all the yellin¡¯ at you I¡¯ve done about your pacifism, ain¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°¡­Partially¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, I seem to be on an apology roll as of late, might as well keep it up.¡± Dav¨ªdrius pulled his chair around his desk so that he could face Kaon¨¦ better and then dropped into it haphazardly. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna apologize straight-up, though. See, in case you hadn¡¯t noticed already, I fundamentally disagree with you on this. So I wanna see why you think what you do, and then maybe I can try to understand. Sound fair?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t accept that I just don¡¯t want to hurt people?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a Lieutenant in the military. You saw the Bleeder attack on my compound back in Tres¨¦d. You clearly know there¡¯s evil in the world, and you have the power to stop it. So no, I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°¡­Of course you can¡¯t¡­¡± She sighed, and then eyed Dav¨ªdrius uneasily. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m comfortable sharing my story with you, though¡­¡±


    ¡°Keh. Well, the knowledge that you have one is good enough for now, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Well, what about you? Why are you perfectly fine with killing?¡±


    ¡°Because it makes sense,¡± Dav¨ªdrius stated bluntly. ¡°¡­Not all killin¡¯, mind you. I¡¯d be perfectly fine, livin¡¯ in a world where no one killed or hurt each other. But, that¡¯s the thing ¡ª we do live in a world where people hurt an¡¯ kill each other. And not just for survival ¡ª many people do it for fun. The entire existence of the Bleeders is founded on the idea that rapin¡¯ and pillagin¡¯ is fun. Do you realize that? The Bleeders will destroy homes, rape children, kill parents, because it¡¯s ¡®fun.¡¯ Sure, it sounds clich¨¦, but do you know why it¡¯s clich¨¦? Because too many people actually like to do those things. The Bleeders are far from the only group of their kind throughout the galaxy, I¡¯m sure. So what d¡¯ya do with those kinds of people? Just lock them away? Bullshit. Let them feel the pain that they inflict, and then wipe them from the face of the planet so they can never do it again!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d punish killing by killing? Aren¡¯t you just perpetuating a cycle, then?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare compare what I¡¯ve done to those bastards,¡± Dav¨ªdrius hissed. ¡°There is a difference between takin¡¯ someone out ruthlessly and justly, and killin¡¯ someone painfully and slowly. Here¡¯s a hint: one¡¯s removin¡¯ a threat, the other is bein¡¯ a threat.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to convince them that they¡¯re wrong, that it could be possible to bring them around?¡±


    ¡°¡­The redemption argument? Really? Okay, I can admit that the way some people act is a product of their shitty upbringin¡¯ and if we could fix the societal structure then maybe we¡¯d fix all that blah blah blah. But here¡¯s the thing ¡ª by the time you¡¯re fifteen, by the time you¡¯re twenty? You¡¯re too entrenched in your own opinions and ideals at that point to budge. I won¡¯t budge, they won¡¯t budge, ain¡¯t nobody gonna budge. Talkin¡¯ is a waste of time. It¡¯s never actually done anythin¡¯, it¡¯s just there so people can try it and then feel good about themselves because at least they tried to give the other guy a chance, but noooo, he just wouldn¡¯t listen. Well the time spent talkin¡¯ is time that genuine threats have to commit more crime, so I don¡¯t waste time talkin¡¯. I¡¯m a firm subscriber to the ¡®shoot first, ask questions later¡¯ doctrine, ¡®cept sometimes I just truncate it to ¡®shoot first.¡¯¡±


    ¡°What gives you the right to judge, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I got the right to judge, it¡¯s that they¡¯ve lost the right to a trial.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kaon¨¦ stared at Dav¨ªdrius incredulously. ¡°Do you know how self-righteous you sound? You sound almost exactly like Mirdlay Lexin!¡±


    ¡°First you compare me to the Bleeders, then you compare me to the Riaxen?! Do you understand how ridiculous you¡¯re bein¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d ask the same of you! Nothing gives you the right to take another person¡¯s life. Nothing!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not talkin¡¯ about rights, here! You haven¡¯t properly thought about this at all, have you? Strictly speaking, even from a pragmatic standpoint, I¡¯m right! If you¡¯re a farmer and your crops have pests, you kill the pests. If you¡¯re a rancher and some predator is eatin¡¯ your cattle, you kill the predator! If you¡¯re the government and there¡¯s a serial killer on the loose, you kill the serial killer! It¡¯s simple threat elimination!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ignoring the fact that all of those situations can be remedied without resorting to killing!¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Alright, then how about the fact that killin¡¯ is a part of nature then, huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s completely different and you know it! Animals kill because they have to ¡ª because that¡¯s how they get food.¡±


    ¡°They kill if they feel threatened, too!¡±


    ¡°They also have no other way to respond, except to kill or flee! But as people, we¡¯re far more sophisticated ¡ª we can do more! We can talk! Negotiate! Rehabilitate! Things never have to end with killing!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡¯Never¡¯, you say¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked bitterly. ¡°Alright then, answer me this. Suppose you stumble upon a murder in progress, and the only way to stop the murderer without hurtin¡¯ the victim is to kill him. Would you do it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Answer the question: if you could prevent one death by causin¡¯ another, would you do it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°If you could prevent five deaths by causin¡¯ one, would you do it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°If you could prevent the killin¡¯ of an entire family, would you do it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­You know¡­ of all the things I¡¯ve ever heard¡­ insults ¡®bout my temperament, Tres¨¦dian slurs, Bleeder taunts, Bleeder threats ¡ª of all that, the most disturbin¡¯ thing I¡¯ve ever heard¡­ is your silence, right now.¡± The Velocitechnic stood up and rammed his chair back under his desk before grabbing his bag and making for the exit of the room, where he stopped momentarily. ¡°¡­Get over yourself, or get the fuck out of Hero Machina. I don¡¯t want someone like you watchin¡¯ my back.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ was only able to look on in stunned silence as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.


    <hr>


    Ssssss-chk.


    Siyuak¨¦n exhaled deeply as she turned off the shower head and stepped out of the small cell-like space. She stretched briefly before grabbing a nearby towel and beginning to dry herself off, while glancing back at the shower and sighing. I wish someone would come up with a proper water shield already. Having to dry off manually is so annoying¡­ She shook her head wearily as she stepped over to the bathroom mirror, the towel draped over her head. Lookin¡¯ good, Siyuak¨¦n. ¡­Except¡­ she carefully flipped the left side of the towel over her shoulder, exposing her left arm and chest¡ª


    ¡ªand the metallic rashes running down both.


    She sighed again before pursing her lips and tossing the towel aside. Holding her left arm up, she clenched her fists and took a deep breath before running a massive current through her entire body. She shuddered in pain, and then looked back to the mirror; the rashes had receded slightly, but not by much.


    It¡¯s been getting less responsive to shock¡­ she observed with a frown, and it¡¯s spreading even farther¡­ another couple weeks and it¡¯ll be down to my fingers. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll hide it then¡­


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?!¡±


    ¡°Ah!!¡± The Electrotechnic jumped back, startled. She reflexively covered her breasts and crotch with her arm and hand before glancing to the bathroom entrance. ¡°R-Rebehka? What¡¯re you¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°I knew it¡­¡± The Cryotechnic ignored her friend¡¯s startled mumbling as she quickly moved over to her, where she inspected the rashes covering her left side. ¡°¡­Siyuak¨¦n, is this¡­?¡±


    The Electrotechnic let out a deep sigh and hung her head forlornly. ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s the metallic infection.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this is¡­¡± Rebehka snapped her attention to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s face. ¡°When did this happen? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?!¡±


    ¡°¡­It was before you joined Hero Machina,¡± Siyuak¨¦n explained, ¡°back during the Sunova mission, one of the metallic bugs scratched me. It was an open wound¡­ it had to have been then. That was the most direct contact with the infection I¡¯ve ever had.¡±


    ¡°That¡ª ¡­you¡¯ve been infected since then? It¡¯s been two months!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been able to slow it down a lot with shocks. But it¡¯s been getting less responsive lately¡­ it¡¯s spreading further¡­¡±


    ¡°This¡­ why didn¡¯t you tell me?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing you could have done! I just didn¡¯t want you to worry. I thought ¡ª you know, I had been doing a good job for a month or two keeping it in check on my own, you know, by shocking it. I thought it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. So I didn¡¯t tell you, because I didn¡¯t want you to worry about something you couldn¡¯t change or help.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that you had contracted the metallic infection because you thought I couldn¡¯t help?!¡±


    ¡°Look, I know it¡¯s stupid, okay? But that¡¯s why. I was scared, yeah, but I didn¡¯t want you to be scared too. I didn¡¯t want to hurt you¡­¡±


    Rebehka drew back and closed her eyes as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. ¡°¡­I¡¯m glad you thought that. Really, I am. But we¡¯re best friends, Siyuak¨¦n! You can tell me these things. That¡¯s the whole point of being friends, right? That we can shoulder together what one of us can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean¡­ up ¡®til now, I could handle it on my own, sort of¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Sorry.¡± Siyuak¨¦n bowed her head apologetically. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry for keeping this from you.¡±


    ¡°As you should be,¡± the Cryotechnic replied as she moved to embrace her friend, who reflexively backed away.


    Siyuak¨¦n stared at Rebehka, wide-eyed with panic and confusion. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! What if you get infected, too?!¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be in it together,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°And even now, we are. We¡¯ll find a way to stop the infection, Siyuak¨¦n, I promise. We¡¯re already close to investigating the origin of the Chaos Quake! Who knows, maybe there will be some answers there.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t guarantee that.¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but then no one can guarantee anything. ¡­Really, Siyuak¨¦n, we can do this. You¡¯ve already lasted two months ¡ª that¡¯s far longer than any other case we¡¯ve seen! That¡¯s hopeful, isn¡¯t it? You can beat this!¡±


    ¡°¡­And if I don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just carve out your brain and store it until we have the technology to create another body for you, free from the infection.¡± Rebehka smirked. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die. I also won¡¯t let you lose to the infection. You have my word.¡±


    ¡°Heh¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n finally smiled back. ¡°¡­Thanks. That means a lot. I think¡­¡±


    ¡°Now if only you¡¯d told me sooner.¡± Rebehka slapped her friend lightly upside the head. ¡°Maybe we could¡¯ve gotten the rest of the group into gear and found something already.¡±


    ¡°You talk as though we could¡¯ve actually convinced Dav¨ªdrius or Christean¨¦ or Kev¨¦rin to get their act together.¡± Siyuak¨¦n rolled her eyes.


    ¡°¡­Heh, yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± Rebehka replied amusedly. She then returned to a more concerned expression. ¡°¡­How¡­ if you don¡¯t mind me asking, um, how does it feel¡­?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t really feel anything¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n glanced down at her left arm as she flexed it and clenched her fist. ¡°It isn¡¯t painful, and it doesn¡¯t feel weird. Well, I get these weird uncomfortable sensations when I¡¯m near other sources of the infection, but¡­ I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s mostly¡­ I¡¯m mostly scared, because I know what the end-stage of the infection looks like, how¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t want to lose myself¡­¡±


    Rebehka moved to hug Siyuak¨¦n, and this time the latter complied. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± the Cryotechnic reassured, ¡°I¡¯m here for you. I¡¯ll help in any way I can, even if it just means I¡¯m someone you can vent to. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, okay¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded. ¡°¡­Thanks again. ¡­Wait, earlier, when you burst in ¡ª you said you ¡®knew?¡¯ How?¡±


    ¡°I knew something was wrong, yeah,¡± Rebehka replied as the two drew back again, ¡°the fact that you repeatedly predicted the presence of the infected creatures was telling on its own, but I knew something was up for sure when Christean¨¦ landed that hit on you earlier. I know you. You¡¯d never wear body armor to a simple practice session, let alone doing so and allowing someone like Christean¨¦ to have the satisfaction of knowing as much. You were also moving too smoothly to have any kind of armor on¡­ come on, Siyuak¨¦n, what kind of a fool do you take me for?¡±


    ¡°The kind who makes friends with me,¡± the Electrotechnic responded cheekily.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rebehka smirked. ¡°I can¡¯t deny that.¡±


    ¡°Ha. ¡­But really, Rebehka¡­ thanks for being there for me. I¡¯m really glad we¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡± Rebehka smiled warmly. ¡°¡­But being friends only allows for so much. Put some clothes on already, I don¡¯t want to see¡­ that, you exhibitionist.¡±


    ¡°Ha,¡± Siyuak¨¦n scoffed playfully. ¡°You¡¯re the one who barged in here without knocking, pervert.¡±


    ¡°I was just concerned for your well-being. You¡¯d never have told me about the infection if I hadn¡¯t took it upon myself to check on you.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm. The same way you had to ¡®check¡¯ what I was doing back in year two of conscription training?¡±


    ¡°That was¡ª! That was a misunderstanding, I swear. I didn¡¯t realize¡­ you were being really ambiguous back then. You were doing it on purpose, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°And if I was?¡±


    The two women stood there, staring each other down, until they both finally broke into laughter.


    ¡°See? If you can tell me that, then you can tell me about anything. I won¡¯t judge.¡±


    ¡°You keep saying that. I¡¯m only going to tell you ¡®thanks¡¯ so many times,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted with a smirk.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the bathroom. ¡°¡­But seriously. Put some clothes on.¡±


    <hr>


    5 Days Later


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin stepped into Commander Nik¨¦yin¡¯s office and offered a quick salute before taking a seat in front of her desk.


    ¡°Here to report on further findings related to the Quake and the infection?¡± Nik¨¦yin questioned.


    The Transfer Captain nodded. ¡°Yes. I have the results from the Ayas Sensor, as well. Did you tell them to report to me?¡±


    ¡°I did. You are the one heading off the investigation, Transfer Captain.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ well, thank you, ma¡¯am. As for the actual news, well, uh¡­ really, the sensor results are the only new thing. And I think they corroborate my suspicions, too ¡ª there¡¯s an Ayas in the Rossindon system.¡±


    ¡°The Black Suns outpost you wanted to investigate¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin nodded slowly. ¡°Based on¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°Based on data pulled from the Black Suns outpost on Teghica, Rossindon is the hypocenter of the Chaos Energy Quake,¡± Kev¨¦rin explained, ¡°I think that¡¯s significant. The fact alone that the Quake was radial is novel information, so you could say it¡¯s best we check it out before others figure it out as well. We might find something related to the Quake¡­ or we might not.¡± He shrugged. ¡°At least we know there¡¯s an Ayas there, now. We can see about snatching it from under the Black Suns¡¯ noses.¡±


    ¡°Assuming they don¡¯t already possess it,¡± Nik¨¦yin countered, and then leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk. ¡°Though that won¡¯t actually be an issue. If the Ayas is under Black Suns possession on Rossindon, then Sector 1 can seize it ¡ª and they¡¯re by far more amiable than Sector 2.¡±


    ¡°Sector 1 can trump Sector 2, yeah, I know¡­ but what does that have to do with Rossindon?¡±


    ¡°They seem to have taken pity on us.¡± Nik¨¦yin smirked, though Kev¨¦rin couldn¡¯t tell if it was out of pleasure or spite. ¡°I just got word that Master General Greant has superseded Master General Regek¡¯s block on our visit to Rossindon. You¡¯ll be visiting with a team of Black Suns Sector 1 soldiers, backed by the authority of Master General Greant of Sector 1.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ wow,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, bewildered. ¡°¡­The General bothered with us? Really?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just as surprised as you,¡± the Commander commented, ¡°and Greant likely isn¡¯t just doing this out of the goodness of his heart. But we won¡¯t let this chance go to waste. Hero Machina will head out tomorrow morning, Transfer Captain. Dismissed!¡±

 38 - Splitting Conflicts

    Chapter 38 - Splitting Conflicts


    2 Weeks Later


    ¨C Mondia, Solith 20, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°We¡¯ve almost arrived at Rossindon.¡±


    ¡°About time,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he stepped forward to stand next to Captain Krost of the RPF Frigate Frasis. ¡°I had no idea how boring it would be to be trapped on a Frigate for two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Trapped, you say?¡± The Captain glanced toward the Pyrotechnic incredulously.


    ¡°Er¡­ nothing against your ship, sir,¡± the Transfer Captain immediately backpedaled.


    ¡°Ha, it¡¯s fine,¡± Krost remarked with a smirk. ¡°You planetsiders always say the same thing when you travel through space. I¡¯ve come to expect it.¡±


    ¡°I can at least appreciate Nimalian design,¡± a Siion woman remarked as she stepped next to Krost, across from Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Black Suns ships are far more cramped. And generally not ventilated as well, either.¡±


    Krost nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Glad to know you approve, Commander.¡± He glanced back to Kev¨¦rin before taking a seat in the captain¡¯s chair and looking up at the Frigate¡¯s bridge display. ¡°I take it you two know the drill once we exit FTL, Tyrion, Krydonin?¡±


    ¡°I get us clearance to land, we land, then we investigate,¡± the Siion, Krydonin, responded as she stretched her two-jointed legs. ¡°There¡¯s not much to it.¡±


    ¡°I agree, it seems simple enough,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°this isn¡¯t like the raid on Kotak. Did we really need to come here with two Frigates and a Cruiser?¡±


    ¡°The Frasis, Phendris, and Jevnorus go everywhere together,¡± Krost declared. ¡°It¡¯s precaution. You¡¯ll have to forgive me for assuming, Commander, but given the galactic circumstances at the moment, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s far-fetched to assume that Sector 2 would try to bully us if we brought only a Frigate.¡±


    ¡°¡­You speak the truth,¡± Krydonin admitted, ¡°all eyes are on Tyrnaus and the Syraus. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Rossindon outpost tried to take advantage of the diverted attention to shrug off our investigation.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin passed the Commander a wary glance as he considered her words. The Syraus Protectorate and the Riaxen Federation were two highly advanced war-locked nations located in one of the galaxy¡¯s outer arms, isolated from most of the galaxy by Dead Space, which inhibited faster than light travel. Tyrnaus was the home of the Transpace on the near border of Syraus space, serving as the primary link between the Syraus and the rest of the galaxy. This link was incredibly important to the Syraus, as they were the only entity standing in between the Riaxen and their expansionist dreams of conquering and colonizing the galaxy ¡ª and the Syraus often found themselves requesting aid from the CSA or the Nimalians to help fend off Riaxen attacks. Therefore, maintaining control of the Tyrnaus system was a practical necessity, but few considered it likely to fall anytime soon. For the Riaxen to stage an attack on Tyrnaus, they would either have to push through and conquer the entirety of Syraus space, or sit through two months of FTL travel and then stage a siege with no supply lines, which was considered by all to be impractical¡­ and then three and a half weeks ago, a huge fleet of Riaxen spacecraft did exactly that. They forced their way into Syraus territory by means of Transpace and then jumped into FTL in the direction of Tyrnaus. The apparent disregard for logistics seemed incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible, but the Syraus were forced to assume that the Riaxen had some kind of plan ¡ª and so immediately began to fortify the Tyrnaus system in preparation for a siege. When Hero Machina left to investigate Rossindon, the fortification process was still ongoing, and the Syraus had officially requested aid from the CSA, Nimalians, and the Black Suns. And now¡­


    ¡°We¡¯ve been in FTL for two weeks, so we haven¡¯t heard anything about the situation at Tyrnaus,¡± Kev¨¦rin mused. ¡°¡­What do you think has happened?¡±


    Captain Krost sighed apprehensively. ¡°Given their level of tech, the Riaxen fleet will probably arrive at Tyrnaus in the next day or two. Then they¡¯ll battle it out with the Syraus and the allied fleet. Hopefully, the Syraus will be able to hold Tyrnaus, because if they don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Then the Riaxen will be only one Transpace jump from Nimalia¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned.


    ¡°And more importantly, it means that they¡¯ll have access to the rest of the galaxy,¡± Krydonin pointed out. ¡°The Syraus have been the only thing standing between the Riaxen and their expansionist goals for millennia. If the Riaxen manage to break through the Syraus, then not only Nimalia, but the CSA itself might as well be doomed. Having to fight off the Drakkars on one side and the Riaxen on the other would break them.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s to hoping we won¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± Krost remarked. ¡°¡­Alright, back to the mission. Here we go. Dropping out of FTL in five¡­ four¡­ three¡­ two¡­¡±


    The ship lurched, and almost immediately afterward the bridge display lit up with a wealth of information accompanied by a holographic display of the planet of Rossindon.


    ¡°Frasis to Phendris, Jevnorus,¡± Krost spoke after flipping on the ship¡¯s comms, ¡°everything clear?¡±


    ¡°Everything¡¯s clear, Krost,¡± came the reply, ¡°no ships on scan. Orbit¡¯s clean.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± The Captain nodded before turning to one of the officers on the bridge. ¡°Connect us to the Rossindon outpost.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, connecting to the Rossindon outpost.¡±


    ¡°Well, Commander¡­¡± Krost glanced back to the Siion woman. ¡°You¡¯re up.¡±


    Krydonin acknowledged the Captain with a curt nod before moving up to the comms console and leaning down over the mic. ¡°Sector 2 Outpost Rossindon, this is Sector 1 Commander Sinstis Krydonin, report. Repeat, this is Sector 1 Commander Sinstis Krydonin. Report.¡±


    ¡°Outpost Rossindon reporting in. Requesting ID confirmation.¡±


    ¡°Submitting.¡± Krydonin tapped a couple keys on the console in front of her. ¡°¡­Sent.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°¡­ID confirmed. What do you want, Commander?¡±


    ¡°I request outpost ground access for the RPF Frigates Frasis and Phendris.¡±


    ¡°Request denied.¡±


    The Commander paused momentarily, her lips pursed. ¡°¡­Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Your request has been denied, Commander.¡±


    ¡°We carry the authority of Master General Brennon Greant, outpost. The order was sent before we arrived.¡±


    ¡°The statute Greant used to override General Regek¡¯s visitation block affords you access to the planet as a whole, but does not state that we are forced to allow you access to the outpost. You have been warned: any attempts to land within a hundred kilometers of our base will be interpreted as an act of aggression, and we will respond accordingly. We carry the authority of Master General Sike Regek. Transmission over.¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn it,¡± Krydonin growled. ¡°Leave it to Sector 2 to get pedantic.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ what are we supposed to do now?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°there¡¯s supposed to be an Ayas here.¡±


    ¡°If they haven¡¯t found it already, then I guarantee they¡¯re looking for it,¡± Krydonin responded. ¡°They¡¯ve had at least two weeks¡¯ forewarning. It¡¯s likely that they¡¯ve forbade us from landing within a hundred kilometers of the outpost because that¡¯s where they¡¯ve narrowed down the location of the Ayas to.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Krost stood up from his captain¡¯s chair and stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back as he stared up at the bridge display. ¡°¡­Start a planet scan,¡± he ordered, ¡°coordinate scanners with the Phendris and Jevnorus. Initial focal point: the outpost. Filter results using the retrofitted Ayas scanner.¡±


    ¡°Wait, we have the Ayas scanner on board?¡± Kev¨¦rin balked. ¡°Why not just scan down the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°It was designed for scanning the entire galaxy, not single planets,¡± the Captain replied, ¡°it won¡¯t return an accurate result on its own. We can only use it to better guess where the Ayas is, hopefully before Sector 2 finds it.¡± A nearby console beeped twice, drawing Krost¡¯s attention back to the bridge display where the image of Rossindon had been rotated so that the outpost was in the center of the display. Two flashing dots appeared on opposite sides of the outpost, marking locations of interest on the planet¡¯s surface. ¡°¡­Looks like you¡¯re right, Commander. Both locations of interest are roughly eighty kilometers from the outpost.¡±


    ¡°One is a mountain peak¡­ the other seems to be below ground¡­¡± Krydonin observed.


    ¡°In caves?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced between the two. ¡°¡­It¡¯s definitely the caves. We should look there.¡±


    ¡°How are you so sure?¡±


    ¡°Both the Master Ayas and the Black Ayas were found in caves, and the Black Ayas even had a pedestal, as if it belonged there,¡± Kev¨¦rin answered. ¡°I think it¡¯s reasonable that another Ayas would be in caves. Besides, a cave network next to a clearing is far more easily searched than a mountain peak. We should at least check there first.¡±


    Krost nodded. ¡°He has a point. Hmm¡­ Commander, do the Black Suns have grade three or higher sensor equipment?¡±


    ¡°We have the technology, but it¡¯s doubtful that a small outpost like Rossindon would be equipped with it,¡± Krydonin remarked. ¡°¡­So, you intend to defy their warning?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s clear they never intended to cooperate in the first place.¡± Krost returned to his captain¡¯s chair. ¡°And if they don¡¯t even have grade three sensor equipment, then the Frasis and Phendris can easily slip through. If we¡¯re fast enough, they won¡¯t even know we were there.¡±


    ¡°And if they somehow manage to detect you?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t bring along a Cruiser for nothing, Commander.¡±


    ¡°¡­Reasonable.¡± Krydonin nodded. ¡°So be it. I will support your decision. If you intend to make planetfall, do so soon. I¡¯ll gather my team.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so will I,¡± Kev¨¦rin added.


    ¡°Good,¡± Krost responded, ¡°gather in the landing bays when you¡¯re ready. We should be ground-side within the hour. Good luck, Commander, Transfer Captain.¡±


    <hr>


    4 Hours Later


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that until we¡¯ve mapped the caves completely,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered.


    ¡°As if we¡¯re actually gonna explore the entire damn cave network,¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled. ¡°You don¡¯t know how big this place is. That could take weeks! Months! Years, even!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to search the entirety of the cave network.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes. ¡°We only need to look around the area where the scanners picked up an Ayas signature.¡±


    ¡°Though I¡¯m surprised we haven¡¯t found anything by now¡­¡± Kievkenalis mused as Hero Machina slowly walked through the cave, Kev¨¦rin leading with a flashlight in hand to illuminate the way. ¡°We¡¯ve been in this cave for close to an hour, and it hasn¡¯t forked yet.¡±


    ¡°The caves on Sunova and Kotak were just as linear,¡± Siyuak¨¦n remarked. ¡°There weren¡¯t many forks. I guess that further suggests that the Ayas is here?¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t actually know ¡®til we find somethin¡¯. Which we haven¡¯t,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Y¡¯all are jumpin¡¯ to conclusions pretty quick.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not jumping to conclusions, we¡¯re¡­ spotting patterns,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied cheekily before stopping suddenly. ¡°¡­Well, huh. It¡¯s a fork.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned as she glanced between the diverging caves. ¡°What now?...¡±


    Kev¨¦rin looked back at the group. ¡°¡­Only two of us can produce light on our own¡­ alright, we¡¯ll split into two groups. Two of you will follow me, and we¡¯ll check out one of the paths. Siyuak¨¦n and the other three will stay here and wait for the Black Suns to catch up while they lay down the cave lighting and comm system. Who¡¯s with me?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Dav¨ªdrius immediately volunteered. ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna waste my time just standin¡¯ around.¡±


    ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go too, then.¡± Christean¨¦ stepped forward.


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°We¡¯ll stick around here. Once the Black Suns have caught up, we¡¯ll check out the path that you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, and then turned to the right as Siyuak¨¦n held her hands close together and began arcing enough electricity across them to create light. The Pyrotechnic and two Introtechnics proceeded down the cave, leaving the rest of Hero Machina behind.


    ¡°¡­I really hope the Ayas is here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grumbled after several minutes of silent walking. ¡°Otherwise we¡¯ll have wasted four damn hours¡­¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind we¡¯re not only here for the Ayas,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°the main reason we¡¯re here is actually to investigate the Chaos Quake. The Ayas is just a bonus.¡±


    ¡°And how are we supposed to do that, exactly?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°¡­Uhhh¡­¡±


    ¡°Nice to know you thought this through,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°Look, I thought that we were going to be able to visit the actual outpost,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this bureaucratic bullshit from the Black Suns, so the Ayas ended up becoming a priority instead. And it¡¯s significant in its own right, yeah, but we should still try to learn something about the Quake.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to get right on that. I¡¯m sure inspectin¡¯ the rock make-up of these caves will provide invaluable information.¡±


    ¡°Nice to know you¡¯re being as helpful as ever.¡±


    ¡°I try my best.¡±


    ¡°¡­But actually, Kev¨¦rin, what did you expect to find?¡± Christean¨¦ asked again, ¡°did you just expect the Black Suns to admit to causing the Quake?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the Pyrotechnic snorted. ¡°But they could have important information or leads. Small as the Rossindon outpost is, it¡¯s been here since before the Quake. They must have seen or heard something.¡±


    ¡°Assuming that the fact we¡¯re at the ¡®hypocenter¡¯ of the Chaos Quake actually means anything,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out.


    ¡°Also assumin¡¯ that the hypocenter is actually within this solar system and that you weren¡¯t off by a few light years,¡± Dav¨ªdrius added.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get your point.¡± Kev¨¦rin waved their concerns away. ¡°Let¡¯s just look for the Ayas. Maybe, if we¡¯re lucky, we¡¯ll stumble across something that will give us the answers we want.¡±


    ¡°What, like another AI?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Because the one from Kotak sure helped a lot.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ that may be it.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned, ¡°we did not just stumble across another computer. No way.¡±


    ¡°We might just have¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin commented as the three stepped into a mid-sized stone room. Two more cave pathways left the room, splitting the circular wall into thirds; in the center of the room stood a thick metallic column. As the Transfer Captain stepped closer to it, a holographic display popped up; a few seconds later, a full holographic Nimalian interface appeared as well.


    ¡°NEWCOMER SCAN COMPLETE. IDENTIFIED AS ALDREDAS-ADJACENT RACE. INTENTIONS¡­ LIKELY NON-MALEVOLENT.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding¡­¡± Christean¨¦ let his arms drop in awe. ¡°We actually found another AI?¡±


    ¡°¡­AI, HMM. THAT IS NOT QUITE A PROPER DESCRIPTION. MY TRUE DESIGNATION IS MYSTRYTH, A VIGILEM PRIOR.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wow,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, ¡°¡­well ain¡¯t this really fuckin¡¯ convenient?¡±

 39 - One Step Forward

    Chapter 39 - One Step Forward


    3 Hours Later


    ¡°Alright, the comms and light systems are up and running¡­ we¡¯re good to go.¡±


    ¡°Testing connection,¡± Kev¨¦rin announced as he held a hand to his ear. ¡°Command: contact Frigate Frasis. ¡­Transfer Captain to Frasis, come in.¡±


    ¡°I hear you loud and clear, Captain,¡± Krost replied over the connection. ¡°Continue as you were.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± The Pyrotechnic turned his attention back to the metal pillar standing in the center of the room. ¡°Now that we can relay everything directly to the Frasis¡­ let¡¯s start asking questions.¡±


    ¡°We could¡¯ve started that three hours ago,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded flatly.


    ¡°THREE HOURS IS BUT A DROP IN THE FLOW OF TIME¡­ YET, IT MAY POSSIBLY BE A SIGNIFICANT PERIOD IN THE PRESENT.¡±


    Rebehka eyed the metallic column in the middle of the room. ¡°So we found another AI?¡±


    ¡°WE PRIORS PREFER TO BE CALLED AS SUCH: PRIORS.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah, we found another one.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°This one calls itself Mystryth.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the name of the White Ayas,¡± Kievkenalis commented.


    ¡°I SEE THAT THE NAMES OF THE AYAS HAVE NOT BEEN LOST TO HISTORY.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start there.¡± Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms. ¡°What exactly is the connection between you¡­ Priors¡­ and the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°WE HAVE MORE THAN A MERE CONNECTION; WE DEFINE EACH OTHER. THE AYAS HAVE NO PURPOSE WITHOUT THE PRIORS, AND THE PRIORS HAVE NO POWER WITHOUT THE AYAS.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what the other one said,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Are all Priors this damned vague?¡±


    ¡°INFORMATION IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY; IT CANNOT BE PASSED OUT FREELY. FIRST, I MUST UNDERSTAND THAT YOU TRULY DO NOT POSSESS ILL INTENTIONS, THOUGH I BELIEVE I HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THE ANSWER TO THIS; SECOND, I MUST BE SURE THAT YOU ARE EVEN CAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING MY STATEMENTS. YOUR LANGUAGE IS ALREADY PRIMITIVE ENOUGH TO RESTRICT THE EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN TOPICS.¡±


    ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m seeing a trend here,¡± Christean¨¦ responded impatiently.


    ¡°YOU CONTINUALLY SPEAK AS THOUGH YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED ANOTHER PRIOR.¡±


    ¡°We have,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated, ¡°we found Arc¨¢n almost a month ago.¡±


    ¡°ARC¨¢N! YOU FOUND AN AEGIS PRIOR¡ª? ¡­HAS HE NOT PROVIDED YOU WITH THE INFORMATION YOU WISH TO KNOW?¡±


    ¡°¡¯He?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously.


    ¡°No, he¡ª ¡­no, it didn¡¯t,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded.


    ¡°PRIORS ARE NOT OBJECTS. WE DO POSSESS WHAT YOU ALDREDANOIDS KNOW AS GENDER. ARC¨¢N IS MALE. I, FEMALE.¡±


    ¡°AI have gender identity?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned.


    ¡°We are not discussing this, not here, not now.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed impatiently. ¡°Alright, uh, Mystryth, um¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Kievkenalis spoke up, ¡°you just called us ¡®Aldredanoids?¡¯¡±


    ¡°YES.¡±


    ¡°As in¡­ the Aldredas?¡±


    ¡°SO THIS AGE INDEED KNOWS OF THE ALDREDAS? THEN HOW HAVE YOU NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRIORS, OR SUCH LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF THE AYAS?¡±


    ¡°The Aldredas are long gone,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°we¡¯ll find relics and artifacts here and there, but as far as we can tell, it¡¯s been a hundred thousand years since they were around. At least.¡±


    ¡°We would always appreciate learning more, though,¡± Kievkenalis quickly added. ¡°What do you know about them? Did they really create the Interstellar Gates? The Transpaces?¡±


    ¡°YOU¡­ TRULY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE ALDREDAS¡­¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re getting a little far from the main topic here,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re the one pointing out a tangent,¡± Rebehka remarked.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s right. Come on, guys, focus,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered.


    ¡°What are we even focusing on?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°How about the location of the Ayas?¡±


    The members of Hero Machina glanced back to the cave room¡¯s entrance, where Commander Krydonin had just appeared. She stepped forward to stand next to Kev¨¦rin as she looked the metal pillar up and down. ¡°¡­This is that AI you were talking about?¡±


    ¡°AS STATED BEFORE, WE PREFER THE TERM ¡®PRIOR.¡¯ BUT YES.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± The Commander turned to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°We¡¯re here for the Ayas, and we¡¯re here to learn about the Chaos Quake. Why not start with that?¡±


    ¡°Uh, right.¡± The Transfer Captain nodded before turning back to the pillar. ¡°So, what do you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I HEARD THE COMMANDER PERFECTLY FINE. I UNDERSTAND THE QUERY.¡±


    ¡°Commander?¡± Krydonin interrupted, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. ¡°How do you know my rank?¡±


    ¡°YOU STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF A PRIOR EQUIPPED WITH FULL OUTPOST EQUIPMENT. ACCESSING YOUR TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IS A TRIVIAL TASK.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s how you knew our language,¡± Kaon¨¦ mused.


    ¡°THAT IS CORRECT.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ unsettling.¡± Krydonin frowned before turning toward the room¡¯s exit. ¡°I¡¯m going to investigate this. Watch what you tell that thing, Nimalians.¡±


    ¡°¡­HER MISTRUST IS WARRANTED, BUT ULTIMATELY UNNECESSARY,¡± the Prior remarked as the Black Suns Commander disappeared down the cave. ¡°MY INTENTIONS ARE NOT MALEVOLENT.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded defensively.


    ¡°Can we get back to the important things, now?¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected in exasperation, ¡°like the Ayas? And the Quake?¡±


    ¡°I CAN INDEED CONFIRM THE PRESENCE OF AN AYAS WITHIN THESE CAVES.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great,¡± Kievkenalis replied, ¡°where is it?¡±


    ¡°I DO NOT KNOW.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s fantastic,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°What do you mean, you don¡¯t know?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°you know one¡¯s here, but you don¡¯t know where it is?¡±


    ¡°PRIORS AND AYAS MAY BE DEFINED IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER, BUT EACH PRIOR ONLY POSSESSES A DIRECT LINK WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE AYAS. THE AYAS IN THESE CAVES IS NOT THE AYAS MYSTRYTH, OR ELSE I WOULD BE ABLE TO PINPOINT ITS EXACT LOCATION. SINCE IT IS NOT, I AM INCAPABLE OF OBTAINING A MORE PRECISE LOCATION THAN THE FACT THAT IT LIES WITHIN A KILOMETER OF THIS ROOM.¡±


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time for more spelunking, then,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°More rock exploration, yay,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied flatly.


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Enough complaining. Christean¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, you two check out the unexplored cave on the left. Rebehka, Siyuak¨¦n, check out the one on the right.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re just gonna sit here and do nothing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to sit here and continue getting information from the Prior,¡± Kev¨¦rin corrected. ¡°Don¡¯t make this hard.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Dav¨ªdrius.¡± Christean¨¦ grabbed the Velocitechnic by his arm and began dragging him toward the left cave as Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n willingly approached the right.


    ¡°Hey, hey, wait a minute.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shook Christean¨¦ off before flash-stepping to the side of the room and picking up one of the flashlights the Black Suns had left behind. He then turned back to the cave. ¡°Alright, now that we won¡¯t get lost, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shook his head wearily as he watched the two Introtechnics leave the room. He then turned back to the metal pillar, his hand on his chin in thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ well, what else can you tell us about the Ayas?...¡±


    <hr>


    20 Minutes Later


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll actually learn anything about the Chaos Quake here?¡±


    ¡°Who knows.¡± Rebehka shrugged as she casually swept the cave back and forth with her flashlight beam. ¡°Even if this planet is actually the center of the Quake, and if that actually means anything¡­ we still have no idea what could have caused the Quake, you know? Talking to that Prior is probably our best bet.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed impatiently. ¡°I hope it¡¯s more cooperative than the one we got from Kotak.¡±


    ¡°They both seem pretty high and mighty, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes. ¡°This one might be able to actually tell us something, though. The Kotak Prior seemed like it forgot everything after the damage its core suffered.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s to hoping Kev¨¦rin can get something out of it, then.¡±


    ¡°I think Kevken is more likely to, actually. The Priors seem¡­ more amiable toward him, I guess because he knows so much more about the Ayas than any of us. And apparently the Aldredas, as well.¡±


    ¡°I thought the Aldredas were just a legend?¡±


    ¡°A lot of their stories are fictional, but the civilization itself definitely existed at some point in the past,¡± Rebehka remarked as the two women came across another fork. Siyuak¨¦n quickly scarred the left wall with an arrow pointing back the way they came before they both stepped down the right path and continued walking. ¡°Even if the Aldredas specifically didn¡¯t actually exist, well¡­ someone had to have created the Interstellar Gates and the Transpaces, and the only other race that¡¯s been around long enough are the Drakkars, as far as we can tell¡­¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n snorted. ¡°I bet the Drakkars already know everything that we don¡¯t.¡±


    Rebehka glanced at her friend inquisitively. ¡°What are you so curious about?¡±


    ¡°¡­Do you think the Quake and the infection are related?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The Cryotechnic glanced down at Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s arm, which was currently covered by her Chaos Armor. ¡°¡­I really don¡¯t know. We both know the only ¡®connection¡¯ so far is that there¡¯s no recorded infection incidents before 20 years ago, but¡­ if there is a connection, we¡¯ll get to the bottom of it, I¡¯m sure. We¡¯ll find a cure.¡±


    ¡°You keep saying that¡­¡±


    ¡°I keep saying that because it¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why you joined Hero Machina, too? To investigate the metallic infection?¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s true,¡± Siyuak¨¦n admitted, ¡°Rel¨¦diaka doesn¡¯t seem very interested in learning about where it came from, only how to slow it down or subdue it. Though I¡¯m not really sure we¡¯ve learned much more from our time with Hero Machina than we would have at home, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s false and you know it,¡± Rebehka replied adamantly. ¡°We¡¯ve learned what the infection escalates to. Between Sunova, the Hazard Islands, and Kotak ¡ª it¡¯s not pretty. So we at least know what everything¡¯s spiraling towards. And, thanks to you, we know that it is possible to slow down.¡±


    ¡°Only because I¡¯m an Electrotechnic, though. The shocks I have to give myself would paralyze or kill anyone else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still something.¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright, yeah, we¡¯ve learned things. But¡­ is it really worth it? I mean, just think ¡ª if we hadn¡¯t joined Hero Machina, then I never would have been infected, and we still would have learned about the critical infection when we responded to your distress signal on the islands.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ve also had the chance to actually go off-world ¡ª several times! ¡ª and had many experiences that we never would have gotten had we stayed on Rel¨¦diaka. Not to mention we avoided getting dragged into the Drakkar or Taizen conflicts, even if only for a while, and even now we¡¯re discovering things like the Priors and the Ayas that we never would have had we not joined! ¡­Now, I¡¯ll admit, if you had asked me this three, four weeks ago, then yeah, I think I¡¯d have been all for leaving the group. Especially right after Kotak. But I think we¡¯re all getting along fine, now. Dav¨ªdrius seems to have mostly gotten over himself, Kev¨¦rin isn¡¯t trying to be quite so bossy, you and Kaon¨¦ worked out your issues¡ª¡±


    ¡°What? How did you¡­?¡±


    ¡°I almost walked in on the argument,¡± Rebehka admitted. ¡°¡­I thought it¡¯d be best to leave you two to yourselves. And you seemed friendly afterward, so I figured that the two of you had arrived at an understanding. ¡­Was I wrong?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed wearily. ¡°No¡­ no, you weren¡¯t. You aren¡¯t wrong about everything else you¡¯ve said, either¡­ you know, it¡¯s almost annoying how right you are all the time.¡±


    Rebehka grinned in response. ¡°Well, you can count on me¡ª!¡±


    She was interrupted as a deafening roar echoed down the caves from the direction they were heading. Both women instinctively clasped their hands over their ears as the Cryotechnic dropped her flashlight, its light beam coming to rest on a three-legged monster in the distance as it charged forwards ¡ª and then stumbled to a stop a mere couple meters in front of the Chaotics, where it rapidly dissolved into dust.


    Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n stared at the resultant pile of dust, both stunned and frozen in place. A moment later Rebehka covered the pile and all the surrounding ground in a thick layer of ice while Siyuak¨¦n flushed the rest of the cave with fierce streams and currents of electricity.


    ¡°The hell was that¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered afterward.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Rebehka frowned warily. ¡°It¡ª ¡­I think it was infected.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen something just turn into dust like that, though¡­¡±


    The two women glanced at each other uneasily.


    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s head back?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded resolutely. ¡°Let¡¯s head back.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°It¡¯s always caves. Why is it caves? I hate caves.¡±


    ¡°Oh, be quiet,¡± Christean¨¦ replied flatly, not even bothering to glance over at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°I¡¯m not a big fan of closed spaces either, but you don¡¯t see me complaining.¡±


    ¡°Hah. We both know you¡¯d be complainin¡¯ if I weren¡¯t here to do it all.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll give you that.¡± The Forcetechnic smirked. ¡°You do complain enough for the whole group.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Shut it. I can easily just dash back to the computer room and leave you in the dark.¡±


    ¡°As if you¡¯d do that.¡±


    ¡°¡­Meh. Try me.¡±


    Christean¨¦ crossed his arms as the duo rounded a turn and continued walking down the caves. ¡°You really do seem to complain all the time, you know. If you really hate it so much, then why stick around with the group?¡±


    ¡°I never said I hated bein¡¯ here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered. ¡°Look, if I don¡¯t like somethin¡¯, I don¡¯t do it. That¡¯s how I work. That¡¯s how Tres¨¦dians work, for better or for worse. So, alright, I complain a lot, but it won¡¯t be ¡®til I actually leave that you know things are goin¡¯ to shit. ¡®Cause, well, if I ever prefer goin¡¯ back to Tres¨¦d over adventurin¡¯ off-world and gettin¡¯ into fights an¡¯ shit, well¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get your point.¡± Christean¨¦ nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ heard stories about Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°No doubt either under- or over-exaggerated.¡± Dav¨ªdrius rolled his eyes. ¡°No one ever gets the straight story. And that¡¯s if anyone talks about Tres¨¦d at all. But enough about that shithole, what about East Nimaliaka? I hear it¡¯s supposed to be an Introtechnic¡¯s dream home or some shit like that.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah it is. Whole place is practically built for Introtechnics. There¡¯s Introtechnic-specific transit that accelerates crazy fast, for one thing. Not to mention how the cities are sprawling and the entire continent is plains; Introtechnics are the only ones who can appreciate it all.¡±


    ¡°I thought sprawlin¡¯ cities was a sign of bad urban plannin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re from Tres¨¦d, what do you know?¡±


    ¡°¡­Really? Really?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah, heh¡­ sorry,¡± Christean¨¦ responded sheepishly. ¡°But really, East Nimaliaka¡¯s a great place. Tell you what, when we get back to Nimalia, I¡¯ll show you around.¡±


    ¡°¡­Guess I¡¯ll take you up on that. Not like you¡¯ll take ¡®no¡¯ for an answer.¡±


    ¡°Alright! This is gonna be great. We should see if Siyuak¨¦n and Rebehka are up for it, too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah huh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°You sure seem to appreciate the group.¡±


    ¡°Unlike you, I don¡¯t have the need to run around and make an asshole out of myself,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked with a smirk. ¡°I get along with everyone just fine. Better than my boring outpost back home, too, though if I stuck around there I might¡¯ve been sent on the Tyrnaus back-up fleet¡­ eh, probably for the best. That whole situation sounds unnecessarily dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I thought you liked fights.¡±


    ¡°Chaotic fights, sure. But Chaotics have no place in space battles, and those are the only kind of battles in Taizen space. Getting sent out there is either super dangerous or super boring. Sometimes both.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, before you know it we¡¯ll end up in Taizen space ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Are you always like that?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned, ¡°you always act like saying something will make the opposite true.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how it always goes,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quipped, ¡°the moment you say somethin¡¯ is impossible or would never happen, it happens.¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°Quite the optimist, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Tch. Well, don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t tell you so if the galaxy starts goin¡¯ to shit in a few months.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind.¡± The Forcetechnic stopped himself mid-step and stumbled to the side to avoid running into Dav¨ªdrius, who had just come to a sudden stop. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the¡ª? ¡­Oh. Well look at that.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yep,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered as he cautiously stepped toward a bare stone pedestal with a light red quartz-shaped gemstone sitting on top. ¡°It¡¯s the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Light red, too,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked as he approached the pedestal from the opposite side as Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°That makes it a Light Ayas then, right? Does that make it safe to touch?¡±


    ¡°Well, even the Dark Ayas didn¡¯t have an immediate influence¡­ I don¡¯t think¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°It should probably be fine to take it back to the others, as long as we remember where the pedestal is¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it, then!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed as he swiped the object from the pedestal. He tossed it back and forth between his hands for a few moments before finally grasping it. ¡°I wonder what kind of weapon this one has¡ª?¡±


    A loud roar echoed down the caves, interrupting his sentence. Both Introtechnics reflexively cupped their hands over their ears before turning their attention down the caves¡­ only for nothing to appear.


    ¡°The hell was that?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed apprehensively as he quickly swept the caves with his flashlight beam.


    ¡°Hell if I know,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered. ¡°¡­We have the Ayas. Let¡¯s get the fuck out of here.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I¡¯m all for that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, turning back after Christean¨¦ warily. ¡°¡­Shit, this better not be another Sunova¡­¡±

 40 - Light of the Unknown

    Chapter 40 - Light of the Unknown


    ¡°So you¡¯ve been around since the time of the Aldredas?¡±


    ¡°THAT IS CORRECT.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ amazing!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°but doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯ve been around for thousands of years?¡±


    ¡°THE ALDREDAS DID FAIL AS A CIVILIZATION OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS AGO, YES.¡±


    ¡°How did that happen?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°how does an entire galaxy-spanning civilization just fail? Were they really as advanced as we think they were?¡±


    ¡°THEY WERE INDEED ADVANCED; AS YOU SEEM TO ALREADY KNOW, THEY WERE AT WAR WITH THE DRAKKARS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THEIR EXISTENCE. THEIR TECHNOLOGY WAS ON PAR WITH THE DRAKKARS ¡ª IN FACT, THEY WERE LOCKED IN STALEMATE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AS NEITHER RACE WAS ABLE TO OVERCOME THE OTHER.¡±


    ¡°War for thousands of years?...¡± Kaon¨¦ echoed wearily. ¡°That sounds worse than the Taizen Millennia War. How¡­ how could they even fight for so long?¡±


    ¡°The galaxy is a big place,¡± Kev¨¦rin mused, ¡°even if you have FTL tech like the Drakkars that allows you to cross the entire galaxy in a matter of weeks, without Transpaces¡­ there¡¯s still tons of planets and solar systems out there. And you have to find a base or outpost among all of those systems before you can launch an attack on it.¡±


    ¡°THE TRANSFER CAPTAIN IS CORRECT. DEALING WITH THE VASTNESS OF SPACE HAS THE TENDENCY TO MASSIVELY SLOW DOWN WAR EFFORTS. THERE WERE ALSO PERIODS OF TIME DURING WHICH THE FIGHTING WOULD CALM AND THE DRAKKARS AND ALDREDAS WOULD ENTER AN UNOFFICIAL TRUCE OF SORTS, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, THEY REMAINED IN WAR.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°THE REASON HAS BEEN LOST TO THE AGES. IT IS EASY TO PRESUME THAT THE DRAKKARS INSTIGATED THE WAR, BUT THE ALDREDAS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE ¡ª ONCE ENGAGED, THEY WOULD NOT BACK DOWN EASILY.¡±


    ¡°Is that why they failed, then?¡± Kievkenalis suggested, ¡°did the Drakkars beat them?¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be it,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted, ¡°if the Drakkars beat the Aldredas, then they¡¯d control the entire galaxy, wouldn¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°AGAIN, YOU ARE CORRECT. THE ALDREDAS FAILED BECAUSE OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCE ¡ª A DUAL APPEARANCE OF THE MORIKAI AND THE MENACE.¡±


    ¡°I think Arc¨¢n mentioned a ¡®menace¡¯ before, but¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of the Morikai.¡±


    ¡°Some of the newer ¡ª and I mean relatively newer ¡ª Aldredas records briefly mention the Morikai,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ¡°¡­but they¡¯re only ever mentioned by name. It¡¯s like none of the Aldredas had the time to describe them¡­ or maybe we just haven¡¯t discovered those records yet.¡±


    ¡°IT IS LIKELY THE FORMER REASON. THE MORIKAI APPEARED, ATTACKED THE ENTIRE GALAXY, AND REDUCED BOTH THE DRAKKAR AND ALDREDAS EMPIRES TO RUBBLE WITHIN DECADES. THEY THEN DISAPPEARED, EVEN FASTER THAN THE ALDREDAS. I HAVE¡­ WOEFULLY FEW RECORDS ON THE MORIKAI. ALL I CAN RELIABLY TELL YOU IS THAT THEY WERE POWERFUL AND ADVANCED ENOUGH SO AS TO CRUSH THE ALDREDAS AND DRAKKARS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE FALL OF THE ALDREDAS IS A DIRECT RESULT OF MORIKAI ATTACK; SIMILARLY, WHILE THE DRAKKARS DID NOT FAIL COMPLETELY, THEY WERE SUFFICIENTLY DEFEATED SUCH THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO RECOVER BEFORE YOUR AGE OF CIVILIZATION BEGAN EXPLORING THE GALAXY. THAT IS WHY THE DRAKKARS DO NOT CURRENTLY DOMINATE EVERYTHING.¡±


    ¡°Shit. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s really powerful.¡± Kev¨¦rin whistled in horrified amazement. ¡°But ¡ª what about this ¡®Menace?¡¯¡±


    ¡°DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE MORIKAI. ¡­UNCLEAR IF IT IS RELATED AT ALL TO THE CURRENT AGE. PRIORS ARC¨¢N OR SYN WOULD BE ABLE TO TELL YOU MORE.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n can¡¯t tell us anything, his core is damaged. Who¡¯s Syn?¡±


    ¡°Syn is the name of the Master Ayas,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out.


    ¡°SYN IS THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THE PRIORS. BUT HE IS ALSO THE MOST¡­ SECRETIVE, AND IS USUALLY ONLY WILLING TO SHOW HIMSELF TO OR OTHERWISE INTERACT WITH THE KEYS.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve heard that term,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied flatly. ¡°The hell are the ¡®Keys?¡¯¡±


    Silence. Then, ¡°I HAVE SAID ENOUGH FOR NOW. THIS INFORMATION IS IRRELEVANT.¡±


    ¡°Like hell it is,¡± Kev¨¦rin grumbled, but before he could address the Prior again, Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ suddenly burst from the cave on the left.


    ¡°We have the Ayas!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed.


    ¡°An¡¯ we might have trouble here, too,¡± Dav¨ªdrius added apprehensively, his attention directed back toward the cave. ¡°When we picked it up, we heard a roar¡­ nothin¡¯ came after us, but I¡¯d still be wary.¡±


    ¡°¡­Kaon¨¦, seal the left cave,¡± Kev¨¦rin ordered. As she did so, he turned back to the two Introtechnics. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n and Rebehka haven¡¯t returned yet, so we¡¯ll wait for them¡­ but, everyone, keep an eye out. We don¡¯t want yet another Sunova incident¡­¡±


    ¡°Nothing chased us, so we still have time,¡± Christean¨¦ replied. He then glanced over at the large column in the center of the room. ¡°¡­Learn anything from the AI?¡±


    ¡°I HAVE SAID BEFORE, WE PREFER ¡®PRIOR¡¯¡ª¡±


    ¡°Just some stuff about the Aldredas and how they died off,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded nonchalantly.


    ¡°History lessons?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Bah. Glad I left, then.¡±


    ¡°Which Ayas did you find?¡± Kievkenalis approached Christean¨¦, and then glanced at the Ayas as the Forcetechnic held it out. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Matl¨¦s. One of the Light Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Figured it was,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°and its weapons are perfect for me, too! Check it out!¡± He held his arms out, and a moment later armored gauntlets, wreathed with red, silver, and golden decor, appeared on both arms over his Chaos Armor. The gauntlets included armor plates over his hands and fingers, and the right gauntlet even extended up Christean¨¦¡¯s arm and ended in a red and gold pauldron on his shoulder. ¡°Ayas Weapons are indestructible, right? This means I can smash shit up without ever having to worry about my armor degrading!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wearing Chaos Armor, and you¡¯re complaining about armor degradation?¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    ¡°I¡¯d be more worried about its influence,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Light Ayas. He should be fine, right?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°it¡¯s not like it¡¯ll have a bad influence¡­ right? It¡¯s no Hastryth.¡±


    ¡°DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT THE AYAS HAVE ¡®GOOD¡¯ OR ¡®EVIL¡¯ ALIGNMENTS, ALDREDANOIDS. ALL LIGHT AND DARK AYAS INFLUENCE THEIR POSSESSORS ¡ª IT WOULD SEEM THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY ENCOUNTERED THE ¡®CORRUPTING¡¯ INFLUENCE OF THE DARK AYAS. HASTRYTH IS PARTICULARLY EXTREME WHEN IT COMES TO THIS¡­ BUT IT IS INCORRECT TO ASSUME THAT THE LIGHT AYAS WOULD HAVE THE ¡®OPPOSITE¡¯ EFFECT. OR RATHER, THEY DO, BUT IT DOES NOT PRESCRIBE TO YOUR OWN NOTIONS OF GOOD AND EVIL. INSTEAD, IMAGINE THE SCALE AS ONE OF ENLIGHTENMENT VERSUS PRIMITIVE INSTINCT. THE DARK AYAS DRAG THEIR POSSESSORS TOWARD INSTINCT, AND THE LIGHT AYAS GRADUALLY MOVE THEIR POSSESSORS TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± Christean¨¦ responded uneasily, ¡°¡­isn¡¯t that still a good thing?¡±


    ¡°THOSE WHO HAVE WIELDED THE LIGHT AYAS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME IN THE PAST HAVE DEVELOPED THEIR OWN VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE. IT COULD INDEED BE ARGUED THAT THEY BECAME ¡®ENLIGHTENED,¡¯ BUT AT THE COST OF BECOMING DISCONNECTED FROM THOSE AROUND THEM. THEIR VIEWS BECAME MISALIGNED AND EVEN DANGEROUS TO THOSE THEY USED TO AGREE WITH. GRANTED, THIS WAS OVER THE COURSE OF YEARS¡­ BUT ITS EFFECT IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.¡±


    ¡°Is there anythin¡¯ we can do with the Ayas that won¡¯t result in them fuckin¡¯ with our heads?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned in exasperation as Christean¨¦ wordlessly passed the Ayas to Kievkenalis, who accepted it cluelessly.


    ¡°WELL¡­ THERE IS THE CHAOS STATE. SURELY YOU HAVE HEARD OF THAT?¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°The Chaos State is a real thing?¡± Kievkenalis replied incredulously.


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°If he didn¡¯t even know it was real, there¡¯s no way any of us did.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve heard the legends, too,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ¡°but that¡¯s all they are, really. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone actually using the Chaos State¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure seems like a real thing, seein¡¯ how your voices are doin¡¯ that weird echo-y thing when you say the words ¡®Chaos State,¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked. ¡°How does no one know about it? Seems like an easy thing to figure out if you got an Ayas on you.¡±


    ¡°The Ayas are of more use in technology than with an individual, so people probably just didn¡¯t bother with it,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°Well¡­ if you have any tech that¡¯s compatible with the Ayas, at least.¡±


    ¡°Which is something we don¡¯t have, currently,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out before turning back to the metal pillar. ¡°What¡¯s the Chaos State?¡±


    ¡°By Riveranian and Nimaliakian legend, the Chaos State is similar to the Overdrive State. It grants the user an increase in power¡­ but it doesn¡¯t have any of the drawbacks of the Overdrive State, at the price of temporarily consuming the Ayas to activate,¡± Kievkenalis explained. ¡°¡­Is that right?¡±


    ¡°MOSTLY. THE INCREASE IN POWER IS EXPONENTIALLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER OF AYAS ABSORBED. THERE IS ALSO NO HARD TIME LIMIT ON THE CHAOS STATE AS THERE IS WITH THE OVERDRIVE STATE, BUT WITH MORE TIME SPENT IN THE CHAOS STATE, MORE SPONTANEOUS PHYSICAL STRESS IS PLACED ON THE USER WHEN THEY DISENGAGE THE STATE. FOR INSTANCE, THE FINAL TIER CHAOS STATE WILL INSTANTLY KILL THE USER UPON DISENGAGING IT IF THEY OCCUPY THE STATE FOR LONGER THAN HALF A DAY, ON AVERAGE.¡±


    ¡°So it doesn¡¯t have the potential to send you berserk ¡ª instead it¡¯ll just straight-up kill you if you use it too much,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Man, that sure sounds like an improvement.¡±


    ¡°THAT IS ONLY THE FINAL TIER. THE FIRST OR SECOND TIER WILL NOT PRODUCE THOSE EFFECTS UNLESS YOU OCCUPY THE STATE FOR MONTHS OR YEARS AT A TIME. THE LOWER TIERS ARE ACCORDINGLY LESS POWERFUL, OF COURSE, THOUGH ANOTHER BENEFIT IS THAT THEY DO NOT EJECT THE AYAS AS FAR.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°UPON DISENGAGING THE CHAOS STATE, THE AYAS WILL BE EJECTED SOME DISTANCE IN A RANDOM DIRECTION. THE FIRST TIER WILL SIMPLY REPLACE THE AYAS IN THE USER¡¯S HANDS, BUT THE FINAL TIER WILL RANDOMLY SCATTER THE AYAS ACROSS THE ENTIRE GALAXY.¡±


    ¡°That barely sounds worth it,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked. ¡°That Final Tier has to be incredibly powerful for it to be worth it¡­ and even then, I have no idea what you¡¯d use that power for.¡±


    ¡°THE ALDREDAS, FOR EXAMPLE, USED IT TO DESTROY THOUSANDS-STRONG ENEMY FLEETS WITH THE WAVE OF A HAND. OCCASIONALLY EVEN PLANETS OR, IN THE HANDS OF A PARTICULARLY POWERFUL OR ADEPT CHAOTIC, SOLAR SYSTEMS. AND THAT WASN¡¯T EVEN THE FINAL TIER.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    ¡°Even more reason for us to find all of the Ayas,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°With that kind of power ¡ª we can¡¯t allow the metallic infection to get it.¡± He then glanced at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°It already has one Ayas, that we know of.¡±


    ¡°Seal the cave!!¡±


    ¡°Huh¡ª?¡± The Transfer Captain turned toward the right cave just as Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n dashed into the room.


    ¡°Seal the cave!¡± Siyuak¨¦n repeated; Kaon¨¦ promptly raised a thick steel wall to do as such.


    ¡°What¡ª what happened?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, glancing between the two women warily.


    ¡°We were just exploring the cave, you know, looking for the Ayas¡­¡± Rebehka explained as she caught her breath. She then glanced toward Kievkenalis and spotted the Ayas in his hands. ¡°Oh, good, I guess it was down the other cave then? ¡­Anyways, there was a roar, and a three-legged infected animal charged at us, and then suddenly disintegrated.¡±


    ¡°Infected?!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Shit¡­ again¡ª?¡±


    ¡°IMPOSSIBLE. A CORRUPTED CREATURE? ON THIS PLANET? IMPOSSIBLE. THE CORRUPTION DISAPPEARED DURING THE CHAOS ENERGY QUAKE.¡±


    All seven members of Hero Machina fell silent for several moments as they slowly turned their attention toward the metal pillar in the middle of the room.


    ¡°Corruption?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned, ¡°¡­you mean the infection was here¡­ and then disappeared?¡±


    ¡°¡­YES.¡±


    ¡°Is that what caused the Quake?¡± the Electrotechnic pressed, ¡°the appearance of the metallic infection?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Well?¡± Kev¨¦rin urged impatiently.


    ¡°¡­I WILL ADMIT THAT THE CHAOS ENERGY QUAKE AND THE CORRUPTION MAY BE CONNECTED, YES.¡±


    ¡°How incredibly helpful,¡± Christean¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you give us a straight answer?¡± Rebehka asked.


    ¡°THE CORRUPTION AND THE MORIKAI BOTH ARE SIGNIFICANT THREATS. I CANNOT GIVE OUT INFORMATION LIBERALLY, LEST EITHER ARE ABLE TO OBTAIN IT.¡±


    ¡°What do the Morikai have to do with this?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°¡­THERE IS NO CORRUPTION ON THIS PLANET, I ASSURE YOU. THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.¡±


    ¡°That just makes me worry more,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded uneasily.


    ¡°How much do you know about the corruption?¡± Siyuak¨¦n asked, ¡°can you tell us how to stop it?¡±


    ¡°UNFORTUNATELY, AT THIS POINT IN TIME IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP.¡±


    ¡°What about¡ª what about individual cases? Can you stop the infection in one animal, or reverse it altogether?¡±


    ¡°YOU WORRY ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS, ALDREDANOID.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed incredulously, ¡°you¡¯re vague as shit, and then when we ask questions to try an¡¯ learn more, you tell us that it worries you?!¡±


    ¡°INFORMATION IS DANGEROUS, MORE SO THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY FATHOM. WHAT IF I EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW TO STOP THE CORRUPTION, AND THEN YOU BECOME CORRUPTED? IT THEN HAS ACCESS TO ALL OF THAT INFORMATION, AND WITH IT, THE POSSIBILITY TO ADAPT SUCH THAT IT CAN NO LONGER BE STOPPED!¡±


    ¡°So there is a way!¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied.


    ¡°Wait wait wait, hold on¡­¡± Rebehka frowned in confusion. ¡°¡­Are we talking about the same thing? We¡¯re talking about the metallic infection. Metallic rashes, creatures losing control and going feral, metal bugs?¡±


    ¡°THE TRANSFER CAPTAIN HAS DESCRIBED IT TO ME. I REFER TO THE SAME PLAGUE WHEN I SAY ¡®CORRUPTION.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ you¡¯re acting like it¡¯s a lot smarter than just, well, a plague.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling us?¡±


    ¡°¡­BRING ARC¨¢N TO ME. IF YOU DO THAT, ALONG WITH THREE AYAS ¡ª ONE OF THEM THE AYAS SYN ¡ª THEN I MAY BE ABLE TO RESTORE HIS CORE. THEN, IF HE ALLOWS IT, YOU WILL LEARN THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DESIRE.¡±


    ¡°What if we took you to him?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°NO. IF I AM TO RESTORE HIS CORE, THEN I MUST REMAIN HERE. FURTHERMORE, I SIMPLY WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO REMOVE MY CORE. ATTEMPT TO DO SO, AND I WILL LOCK DOWN. THE INFORMATION YOU DESIRE WILL BE LOST TO YOU.¡±


    ¡°You got bitchy faster than I do,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    ¡°ENOUGH. I HAVE BESTOWED UPON YOU MORE THAN ENOUGH INFORMATION FOR NOW. I WILL NOT SPEAK FURTHER.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms impatiently as he turned to the rest of the group. ¡°She sure clammed up fast. What now?¡±


    ¡°We have the Ayas.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°It is what we came here for. I suppose we should head back to the Frigates?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, we definitely should,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded after reading a new piece of information on his AR Glasses display. ¡°Captain Krost just sent out an alert. Apparently the Black Suns¡¯ sensors are better than we thought¡­ they found the Frigates.¡±


    <hr>


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°The hell are you people doing here?!¡±


    ¡°Investigating Rossindon, sir, as permitted by Master General Greant,¡± Commander Krydonin replied.


    ¡°Hah!¡± Lieutenant General Bitincher snorted as he glanced around irately. The two Black Suns leaders were standing opposite each other in a small clearing, both in front of their own squads, with Krydonin standing a few meters from the cave entrance. To the east, the Frigate Frasis sat parked on the ground, as three more Frigates ¡ª one of them the Phendris ¡ª hovered menacingly a few hundred meters in the air, seemingly ready to blow each other apart at a moment¡¯s notice.


    The General turned back to the Commander. ¡°This planet belongs to Sector 2. I don¡¯t care what that disabled idiot in charge of Sector 1 says, you have no right to be here!¡±


    ¡°Respectfully, sir, I disagree. Master General Greant has authority over you.¡±


    ¡°And the statute he used to override Regek¡¯s visitation block doesn¡¯t afford you access to the whole planet, Commander,¡± Bitincher spat. ¡°I know the outpost warned you. You weren¡¯t allowed within a hundred kilometers of the base!¡±


    ¡°Then why have you not fired on us?¡± Krydonin challenged, ¡°if you¡¯re so sure that you¡¯re right, surely you would have no qualms with simply opening fire?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Bitincher and Krydonin both glanced back toward the caves, where Hero Machina ¡ª led by Kev¨¦rin ¡ª were exiting.


    ¡°Oh, great.¡± Bitincher scowled. ¡°It¡¯s you lot again.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hi?...¡± Kaon¨¦ replied meekly.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I warn you to never show your faces in my presence again?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but we aren¡¯t too keen on takin¡¯ orders from assholes,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin snapped.


    ¡°I see you haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± The General¡¯s scowl deepened with irritation. ¡°What the hell are you doing here, anyways? This have anything to do with your stint on Teghica?¡±


    ¡°We were just¡­ looking around,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied as Kievkenalis subtly hid the Ayas in his armor¡¯s cloth belt.


    ¡°In short, our investigation is none of your business,¡± Krydonin cut in, ¡°you are infringing on Greant¡¯s authority by questioning our presence and our investigation. I could bring this up with the Master General and have you punished.¡±


    ¡°Brennon doesn¡¯t scare me,¡± Bitincher scoffed. ¡°You can tell him whatever you want during the next week.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m instituting Protection Order 6. Starting now, Rossindon is barred from all access, except for Sector 2, for a full week, as defined as ten standardized galactic days. Let¡¯s see Greant try to override that.¡±


    ¡°¡­What does that mean?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°It means we have to leave¡­¡± Krydonin answered slowly.


    ¡°What?!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°but, what about Mystry¡ª!¡±


    ¡°We can continue our investigation once the week is up.¡± The Commander turned to eye the Chaostechnic warily. ¡°But until then¡­¡±


    ¡°Until then you have to get the fuck off my planet.¡± Bitincher smirked. ¡°Now get going. It¡¯ll be interesting to see what it is you were looking for.¡±


    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go.¡± Krydonin reluctantly turned toward the Frasis, signaling for Hero Machina and the squad of Black Suns soldiers behind her to follow. The Nimalian Chaotics followed begrudgingly.


    ¡°¡­You just had to mention the damn Prior, didn¡¯t you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, once they had left earshot of the Sector 2 General.


    ¡°But¡­ we¡¯re just leaving it behind,¡± Kievkenalis complained.


    ¡°And now Bitincher knows it¡¯s there, because you couldn¡¯t keep your mouth shut,¡± Krydonin retorted.


    ¡°Chances are they¡¯d find Mystryth¡¯s core and extract it before the week is up, even if Kevken hadn¡¯t slipped up,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°and I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll care as much about her locking down as we do.¡±


    ¡°¡­At least we got the Ayas?¡± Kaon¨¦ smiled uneasily.


    Siyuak¨¦n sighed irately. ¡°If only we didn¡¯t have to leave.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ we were about to have to leave anyways.¡± Krydonin glanced back at Hero Machina. ¡°The Frasis just received an emergency order from Nimalia. Seems like they want you on a new mission.¡±


    ¡°Emergency?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, ¡°new mission? To where?¡±


    ¡°Tyrnaus,¡± the Commander replied, ¡°as of three days ago¡­ all contact with the Tyrnaus system has been lost.¡±

 41 - Action!

    Chapter 41 - Action!


    5 Days Later


    ¨C Isdia, Solith 25, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Less than half an hour until arrival, sir.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Chief Captain Peter Krick nodded in response. ¡°This is it, folks. We don¡¯t know what to expect when we reach the system, but that¡¯s why we¡¯re here ¡ª to find out! The moment we exit Subspace, I want full power to all battle systems ¡ª shields, weapons, engines. All weapon systems prepped and prepared to retaliate immediately; all fighters prepped for launch, prepared to launch immediately! The moment we¡¯ve secured our ground, boost power to the sensors and begin scanning for the Riaxen ship profile in the logs! Understood?¡±


    The bridge crew of the Earthian Battlecruiser Genesis responded with a resounding ¡°yes, sir!¡±, to which Krick smiled proudly. ¡°This could be our first real space battle, both for the ship, and for SERRCom! Don¡¯t let me down!¡±


    Standing in the back of the bridge, Hero Machina looked on in mild fascination.


    ¡°They don¡¯t even know what they¡¯re getting into,¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked, ¡°but¡­ they¡¯re so excited!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate us Earthians,¡± Krick replied as he stood up from his captain¡¯s chair and approached the eight passengers of the ship. He looked each in the eye briefly, his gaze passing over Hero Machina and then lingering momentarily on the huge, dark-skinned, bearded man who accompanied them: Master General Brennon Greant, of the Black Suns. The Earthian Captain then added, ¡°we won¡¯t let you down!¡±


    ¡°I can appreciate enthusiasm, Captain,¡± Greant replied, ¡°in fact, I¡¯m very much a fan of it myself! But you¡¯d still do well to be careful.¡±


    Krick nodded. ¡°I¡¯m aware, but thanks for the warning.¡±


    ¡°What exactly are we doin¡¯ here, anyways?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Why do we need to be here?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed impatiently. ¡°Where have you been these past five days?¡±


    ¡°Wonderin¡¯ the same thing the whole time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re here ¡®cause we¡¯re the only ones the Earthians would let on their ship,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted.


    ¡°We¡¯re actually here because we lost contact with Tyrnaus,¡± Rebehka interjected as she shook her head in disapproval. ¡°We can¡¯t contact the system¡­ and we can¡¯t connect to its Transpace.¡±


    ¡°The situation is worse than that,¡± Kievkenalis added, ¡°the loss of contact was preceded by two full days of Riaxen siege on the system. We need to learn what happened to the defending fleet, and we need to investigate this Riaxen supership that was reported to have appeared. I mean, it¡¯s a Deathnought-class ship, augmented by a Chaos Ayas. That¡¯s pretty serious.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why we¡¯re here,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked.


    ¡°¡­Are we just the Ayas retrieval squad, now?¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Everywhere we go, there¡¯s an Ayas!¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha!¡± Greant guffawed. ¡°That¡¯s hardly anything to complain about! Would only the Black Suns be so lucky!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not why you¡¯re here?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily.


    ¡°No¡­ no, the Black Suns have little use for the Ayas. We don¡¯t have the right tech, and assigning them to individuals is a waste. Nor do we want the CSA breathing down our neck. Your Commander negotiated a contract to claim the Ayas anyways; I¡¯m just here to confirm what happened to the Black Suns portion of the defending fleet.¡± The General¡¯s expression quickly turned solemn. ¡°Supreme Commander Jeran and Master General Regek were both with the fleet. If Jeran were to die now, it could mean¡­ interesting things for us. ¡®Us¡¯ being the Black Suns, of course.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised no one¡¯s asked the obvious question, already,¡± Christean¨¦ spoke up, ¡°but¡­ if the Ayas is on a Deathnought, then what the hell are we supposed to do about it?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll address that on arrival,¡± Captain Krick remarked, ¡°our mission is only to investigate the fate of the system. If there¡¯s something we can do about the Ayas, then we¡¯ll do it, otherwise we¡¯re in and out within a day. All of the prepping I just ordered is for the worst case scenario where we¡¯re forced to engage. Right now, this ship is the only ship in existence with a Subspace Drive, meaning we¡¯re the only ones who can reach Tyrnaus and return in under a week. That makes us the fastest scout ship in the galaxy, and that¡¯s what we need right now ¡ª a scout, not a fleet. If even we fail to escape the Riaxen, then the rest of the galaxy has no choice but to assume the worst and prepare for an attack.¡±


    ¡°Watch your claims, there, Captain!¡± Greant countered, ¡°the Drakkars have had similarly speedy FTL drives for ages.¡±


    ¡°¡­You know what I meant,¡± Krick responded flatly. ¡°Transpace-to-Transpace in two days. Two days! For a trip that would take any other ship a month! No CSA, Nimalian, Black Suns, or even Syraus ship can come close to touching us!¡±


    ¡°Your enthusiasm is turning into pride,¡± Greant replied, his voice low. ¡°It is true that your ship is the fastest in allied space, but if I¡¯m to understand correctly, it¡¯s not by your own doing. This ship was created by the Master Ayas, was it not?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yes.¡±


    ¡°Wait, this is the ship from Sunova?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, to which Kev¨¦rin responded with a facepalm.


    ¡°You really haven¡¯t been paying attention at all, have you,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied flatly.


    ¡°¡­Alright, no, I haven¡¯t,¡± Dav¨ªdrius admitted. ¡°But I think I got it. We¡¯re here to¡­ uh¡­ steal the Ayas from the Riaxen. Right?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed irately. ¡°Maybe. Allow me to explain¡­ a little over a month ago, a massive Riaxen fleet suddenly appeared at the Taizen DMZ world, Tzinck. The fleet then used the Transpace there to jump to the Syraus Transpace World of Ulinah, where they disappeared into FTL. In response, the Syraus, CSA, RPF, Tekdec¨¦nians, and Black Suns set up a defending fleet in the boundary system of Tyrnaus, which is the last Transpace World in Syraus space, as well as one of the two systems that Nimalia¡¯s Transpace connects to. A week ago, the Riaxen fleet appeared in Tyrnaus and battle broke out, with their Deathnought wreaking havoc. The RPF fleet, as well as many CSA ships, picked up energy spikes from the Deathnought that can only be described by an Ayas, hence our belief that the Riaxen have one. Two days later, all contact with the system was lost. That was three days before we showed up on Rossindon. Now, we¡¯re going to Tyrnaus with the help of the Earthians and their super-fast new ship to check out what happened. We might attempt to take the Ayas from the Riaxen, but only if their Deathnought has been adequately incapacitated. Now does that make sense?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ sure. Yeah. I think.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t understand that, then there¡¯s no use trying. His synopsis was completely correct!¡± Greant remarked, ¡°I don¡¯t think I could have explained it better myself!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius turned to look at the General, who towered over even the tall Velocitechnic. ¡°¡­You seem really energetic for someone your age.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius!¡± Kaon¨¦ glared at him disapprovingly, but the General simply laughed in response.


    ¡°Lack of energy is a choice, m¡¯boy!¡± Greant replied as he stroked his massive graying beard. ¡°Just because I can¡¯t use Chaos Energy doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t be full of life! There¡¯s more to the universe than fighting, after all!¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± The Velocitechnic crossed his arms, his expression one of disbelief. He then turned back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Oh, I got one more question.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± the Pyrotechnic replied flatly.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s a Deathnought?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin responded with a blank stare before finally droning out, ¡°humongous ship. Fifty kilometers long. Really really strong. Really really powerful. Really really hard to beat.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that to me.¡±


    ¡°Just making sure that you understood.¡±


    ¡°Cut the chatter,¡± Captain Krick ordered as he returned to his chair at the top of the bridge. ¡°We¡¯re approaching the Tyrnaus system.¡± He redirected his attention to the rest of the bridge, shouting, ¡°ready, men? Battle stations!¡±


    Greant grinned. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to this.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re looking forward to a massive space battle?¡± Christean¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°Or potentially a massive graveyard?¡± Kev¨¦rin added, ¡°it has been a week.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m interested in this vessel,¡± Greant replied. ¡°Even without access to the specs, everything I¡¯ve seen suggests this ship is far more advanced than anything else I¡¯ve ever seen! I¡¯m interested in seeing how it¡¯ll hold up.¡±


    ¡°While on it?¡±


    ¡°Life is never fun if you don¡¯t take any risks!¡±


    ¡°¡­If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°how did someone like you become the Sector 1 Master General?¡±


    The General¡¯s grin shrunk into a smirk. ¡°You¡¯d do well to learn that appearances are everything, boy.¡±


    ¡°What does that even mean¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin began to ask, but was interrupted as the Genesis exited Subspace. Immediately, black space replaced the gray scale gradient outside the bridge window. A planet lay below ¡ª relative to the ship¡¯s positioning, of course ¡ª but most noticeable of all were the many flashes of light in the distance, as if someone were hosting a light show in high orbit.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Riaxen and Syraus fleets, sir,¡± someone shouted, ¡°the Syraus are a hundred kilometers out. The Riaxen are a thousand kilometers farther back.¡±


    ¡°Hold our ground. Initiate the cloaking systems and start scanning,¡± Krick ordered. ¡°Start with the Transpace. Where¡¯s the Transpace?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ gone.¡±


    ¡°Gone?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed as a holographic display appeared to the upper right of the bridge. On it was an image of the system¡¯s Transpace, reduced to a debris field covering hundreds of kilometers.


    ¡°Someone destroyed the Transpace?!¡± Kaon¨¦ gasped. ¡°But¡ª! I thought they were supposed to be nigh impossible to destroy!¡±


    ¡°I suppose this supports the theory that the Riaxen have an Ayas,¡± Krick muttered.


    Greant shook his head. ¡°No, that isn¡¯t it. The Riaxen wouldn¡¯t destroy the Transpace ¡ª it¡¯s the easiest and quickest way to access the rest of the galaxy. Setting up a reliable supply line without it would be incredibly difficult. It must have been the defending fleet who destroyed it.¡±


    ¡°Why would they¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin trailed off as he realized what the General was suggesting. ¡°You think they did it to prevent the Riaxen from jumping to Nimalia?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only answer,¡± Greant affirmed, ¡°their hand must have been forced. Destroying a Transpace is no trivial matter, considering we still have no idea how to even begin to build one.¡±


    ¡°Still doesn¡¯t explain having no contact,¡± Krick muttered, and then ordered, ¡°check our input stream. Are we receiving any data from the system¡¯s Relay Points?¡±


    ¡°None, sir.¡±


    ¡°Scan the system for Relay Points. Can we find any?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, sir. Scans aren¡¯t picking up any Relay Points.¡±


    ¡°They must¡¯ve been destroyed, too.¡± Krick scowled. ¡°Tyrnaus is completely isolated from the rest of the galaxy, now¡­¡±


    ¡°And the opposing fleets are still fighting,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked, ¡°what happened?¡±


    Krick remained silent for a few moments, staring out the bridge display at the distant battle. ¡°¡­Scan the planet,¡± he eventually ordered, ¡°look for the Riaxen Deathnought. It might be a wreck at this point. If the scan turns up negative, then scan the entire system.¡±


    ¡°No need, sir!¡± someone replied, ¡°the scan found the ship in local space. The wreck is on the planet below, and it seems that there are ground forces fighting over it as we speak. The entire area is covered by orbital bombardment shielding.¡±


    ¡°So the Deathnought was destroyed, then.¡±


    ¡°Is the Ayas down there?¡± Kievkenalis questioned.


    ¡°I guarantee it is,¡± Greant declared. ¡°The Riaxen must be attempting to extract the Ayas. It¡¯s the only reason they wouldn¡¯t have obliterated the wreck the moment the ship was destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I agree with your reasoning, but we still need to be sure,¡± Krick replied as he turned back to the rest of the bridge. ¡°Scan for any Chaos Energy anomalies on the planet. Also, request access to the allied fleet¡¯s data connection!¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to join the battle?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned.


    ¡°We¡¯d accomplish nothing by jumping into the battle head-first,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°The number of ships in those fleets lies in the thousands. I don¡¯t care if this ship is more advanced than anything we¡¯ve seen, there¡¯s no way adding a single Battlecruiser to the allied forces will impact the battle in any significant manner.¡±


    Greant nodded. ¡°The man¡¯s right. The Deathnought¡¯s out of the picture and we didn¡¯t come out of FTL in the middle of the fight; there¡¯s no reason for us to engage. Our best bet now is to go after the Ayas, which itself is sure to draw fire.¡±


    ¡°Not if we¡¯re careful,¡± Captain Krick refuted, ¡°The Genesis has incredible cloaking technology ¡ª it cloaks us from every kind of sensor we¡¯ve tested it against. We¡¯re undetectable, as long as we don¡¯t use our weapons or launch fighters.¡± The Captain turned his attention back to the bridge window as a second holographic display appeared, giving an overview of the data being exchanged over the allied fleet¡¯s data connection. ¡°Looks like they haven¡¯t actually been fighting all week long,¡± Krick remarked after several seconds of reading, ¡°the first two days were straight battles, until the CSA fleet eventually took out the Transpace. The Riaxen took out the system¡¯s Relay Points in retaliation, and then their Deathnought took out the Syraus Deathnought and half of the CSA and RPF fleets. The allied fleets retreated to recoup, but the Riaxen began chasing them around the system. So the allied fleet eventually mounted an offensive two days ago, sending in a Black Suns infiltration team to take down the Riaxen Deathnought from the inside. They managed to take out the core¡­ the Deathnought then crash-landed on the planet below. Only some of the Black Suns were able to make it out¡­ those left on board include Supreme Commander Jeran and Master General Regek.¡±


    ¡°So, they both died, then¡­¡± Greant muttered.


    ¡°The current battle has been raging since the initial strike that took down the Deathnought, it would seem. Riaxen casualties are estimated to be around fifty percent, Allied casualties¡­ sixty.¡± Krick frowned. ¡°Thousands of ships destroyed¡­ millions dead.¡±


    The bridge fell into a sobering silence for several moments.


    ¡°¡­What about the planet below?¡± Kev¨¦rin eventually questioned, ¡°what¡¯s going on down there?¡±


    Krick scanned the displays before responded, ¡°combination Black Suns and Syraus ground forces are trying to capture the wreck, and appear to be putting enough stress on the Riaxen that they can¡¯t fully investigate it themselves. They¡¯ve been in on-and-off fighting for the past two days, no progress on either side¡­¡±


    ¡°Then let us down there.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Rebehka interjected, ¡°you want to go down there? In the middle of a massive battle? Are you suicidal?!¡±


    ¡°We need to get the Ayas!¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°we can¡¯t leave it in the hands of the Riaxen! It¡¯s the fastest way to stop the ground battle, anyways.¡±


    Greant eyed the Pyrotechnic warily. ¡°What makes you think you can do what the entire allied force couldn¡¯t, boy?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that. I don¡¯t think that we¡¯re better than the allied force. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s our job to get the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Shit, man, I was just jokin¡¯ about the Ayas retrieval squad thing.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled.


    ¡°But we can do it,¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted, ¡°the Genesis has cloaking tech, and they also have beaming tech. We used it back on Sunova, remember? We just need to be beamed into the wreck, where we can search for the Ayas, find it, and then get beamed out!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s actually not a bad idea,¡± Siyuak¨¦n mused.


    ¡°Wait, beaming tech?¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed incredulously, ¡°you¡¯re not talking about ¡ª you mean, like the Drakkars? The teleportation stuff?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Krick nodded in affirmation. ¡°We have beaming technology. ¡®Instantaneous Subspace Transfer.¡¯ Our sensors are strong enough to penetrate the bombardment shielding, too, so we can get precise beaming coordinates, but the wreck itself is a mess. Sensors and comms can¡¯t seem to get through it. So if we¡¯re going through with this beaming plan, I¡¯ll have to beam you down near the wreck, rather than in it. Can you handle that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just fighting through the Riaxen,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied nonchalantly. ¡°The Taizen civilizations don¡¯t have many Chaotics, right? That means we can handle them, no problem.¡±


    ¡°Alright, this is starting to sound like a plan I can get behind!¡± Christean¨¦ grinned as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation.


    ¡°Wait, but¡­ doesn¡¯t this¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up warily, ¡°¡­doesn¡¯t this mean we¡¯ll have to¡­ have to fight the Riaxen?¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Krick responded, clearly confused.


    ¡°You¡¯re not seriously gonna throw a fit over this, are you?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glared at the Materiatechnic.


    ¡°W-well, I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected. He then turned to face Captain Krick. ¡°Just beam the seven of us down. We can handle it.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ opened her mouth to speak, but decided to remain silent. Her expression wasn¡¯t lost on the Earthian Captain, but he merely shook his head and turned back to Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give this plan the go-ahead,¡± he replied, ¡°¡­but your current armor won¡¯t cut it.¡±


    ¡°What? Why not?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced down at his Chaos Armor, and then back at the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°Chaos Armor is the most advanced armor we have.¡±


    ¡°Is it certified for atmosphereless action?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh,¡± the Transfer Captain replied meekly as he glanced at the planet outside the bridge window. It was a lifeless chunk of rock on the outer edge of the Tyrnaus system; the Chaos Armor would have been perfectly fine on the planet of Tyrnaus itself, but it wasn¡¯t equipped to handle the extra requirements of an atmosphereless outer planet.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to see about getting appropriate armor from the allied fleet,¡± Krick remarked. ¡°They should have sets to spare; I¡¯d be rather surprised if they didn¡¯t. However, depending on whether or not the host ship is willing to tag the sets for beaming, we might have to cease cloaking in order to temporarily dock with another ship. We can cloak again afterward, but the Riaxen will know we¡¯re here then; in all likelihood, it¡¯ll accelerate their efforts to extract the Ayas once they realize there¡¯s a ship they can¡¯t track. You¡¯ll have to act quickly.¡±


    ¡°Act quickly? No problem,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared. ¡°Speed happens to be my specialty.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Such self-confidence!¡± Greant suddenly burst into laughter. ¡°What I wouldn¡¯t give to be young again! It¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t join you!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as an endorsement,¡± Krick replied. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll get those armor sets, and then the seven of you can suit up. Meet back here in four hours and we¡¯ll start the op. That sound good?¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded, and then turned toward the bridge exit. ¡°C¡¯mon, Hero Machina. Let¡¯s head out!¡±

 42 - The Answer

    Chapter 42 - The Answer


    5 Hours Later


    ¡°Beaming in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡±


    The members of Hero Machina braced themselves as their surroundings spontaneously changed from the interior of the Genesis to the cold, rocky surface of the planet below.


    ¡°Whoa¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius whistled, moving his body around to test the maneuverability of the atmosphereless armor Greant had managed to obtain from a Black Suns ship. ¡°¡­It¡¯s so light here!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re at half Nimalian gravity, so of course it¡¯d feel light,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, using the armor¡¯s built-in communicator to talk with the other members of Hero Machina despite the lack of atmosphere. A moment later, two four-wheel-drive trucks were beamed down next to the group. Each truck seated three ¡ª a driver, a passenger, and a gauss turret with a gunner seat mounted on the back. ¡°Alright guys,¡± the Transfer Captain began, ¡°double-check your equipment before we get going. We don¡¯t want any of the atmosphere units to fail on us while we¡¯re down here¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be pretty bad, wouldn¡¯t it,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked as he jumped up to seat himself behind the turret on one of the trucks. ¡°Wheels, though? How far behind are the Earthians?¡±


    ¡°Give them a break,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied as she climbed into the passenger seat of the other truck. ¡°They¡¯ve only been on the galactic stage for fifteen years or so, after all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s just hurry it up,¡± Dav¨ªdrius urged as he looked up at the Riaxen Deathnought wreck. The lifeless husk sat nearly fifteen kilometers away, but still reached high into the sky and blocked the entire horizon. ¡°Oi, Kev¨¦rin, Rebehka, hurry up an¡¯ drive already.¡±


    ¡°What? Why do I have to drive?¡± Rebehka frowned, though the expression was lost under her face mask and helmet.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s right,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented as he jumped into the driver seat in front of Christean¨¦. ¡°There¡¯s no atmosphere here, so we¡¯d both be useless in a fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not useless,¡± the Cryotechnic countered, ¡°I can still, you know, cool things down.¡±


    ¡°Things are plenty cool here already,¡± Christean¨¦ snorted.


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Even that¡¯s only so useful. Can you snap-freeze a movin¡¯ target?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I mean, theoretically, I could.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯mma take that as a no. Now get in the truck already, we¡¯re wastin¡¯ time!¡±


    ¡°Hate to say it, but he¡¯s right,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she jumped into the second turret seat. ¡°Just get in!¡±


    Rebehka sighed as she moved to climb into the driver seat of the second truck, while Kievkenalis jumped into the passenger seat of the first. A few moments later, both trucks were revved up and moving toward the wreck in the distance, with Dav¨ªdrius following casually on foot.


    ¡°We should really get equipment from the Black Suns more often,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked after several moments of silence, ¡°they¡¯ve got some real quality goin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°If by ¡®quality¡¯ you mean ¡®quantity,¡¯ sure,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted, glancing back at the Velocitechnic¡¯s blade harness. Two sleek Blade Prisms, each holding two blades, were attached to his armor by hinges at his hips; a further four blades were attached his back, the blades crossing each other to form an ¡®X¡¯ as two hilts extended up past each shoulder. ¡°Exactly how many swords do you need?¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi! Not my fault blades break so easily at high speeds. Eight is perfect, especially if we end up havin¡¯ to fight stuff with armor.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get overconfident, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin reminded, ¡°you, Kevken, and Christean¨¦ are the only ones who can fight back if we¡¯re attacked on the move. You can¡¯t afford to make mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Nope, I can¡¯t fight here,¡± Christean¨¦ refuted. ¡°I don¡¯t have a battlehammer with this armor. It¡¯s close-range combat only for me.¡±


    ¡°And even if the lack of an atmosphere hampers lightning strikes, I can still short-circuit things from a distance,¡± Siyuak¨¦n claimed. ¡°Well¡­ I can try, at least.¡±


    ¡°The last thing I need is to be accidentally frozen or shocked or boiled while I¡¯m attackin¡¯ shit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, ¡°keep your elemental attacks to yourselves and stick with the turrets, I¡¯m sure those can do plenty of damage.¡±


    ¡°But whatever you do ¡ª and I guess this applies to me, too ¡ª try not to hit that wreck,¡± Christean¨¦ warned, ¡°I have a bad feeling about its integrity¡­ a wreck of that size should have collapsed on itself by now.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, the Riaxen will miss us and we won¡¯t have to fight them,¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    Kev¨¦rin jumped as a HUD element inside his helmet flashed once. After briefly checking the information he replied, ¡°So much for being lucky ¡ª we¡¯ve been spotted. There¡¯s a full armored squadron coming to intercept us!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced to the left, where a handful of gunships were coming into view. ¡°Gunships? Oh boy. Hmm, wonder if I could accidentally launch myself into orbit if I jump too hard¡­¡±


    ¡°Leave the gunships to me!¡± Kievkenalis shouted, ¡°you take care of the armor they drop!¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± the Velocitechnic exclaimed as he gleefully drew two blades from his hip-mounted sheaths. ¡°A real fight. Haven¡¯t had one of these in a while!¡±


    ¡°Watch yourself!¡± Kev¨¦rin warned, ¡°if you get too active, your atmosphere unit won¡¯t be able to keep up! You¡¯ll asphyxiate yourself!¡±


    ¡°Hah, as if I¡¯d let myself die like that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ve got this!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded as she swiveled the turret around to face the gunships. ¡°They¡¯re almost in range!¡±


    ¡°Three¡­ two¡­ one¡­!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, followed by the turrets whirring into action. Nigh-immediately, hundreds of metal projectiles were launched into the air toward the gunships, only to be deflected by the aircrafts¡¯ shielding.


    ¡°Chaos Mach Three Piercing Cannon!¡± Kievkenalis shouted, launching a Chaos Energy projectile at high speeds towards the nearest gunship. The projectile shattered the shielding and pierced straight through the gunship, ripping out two of its engines and sending it careening ground-ward ¡ª but not before two mechs ejected, hitting the ground feet-first and sprinting toward Hero Machina.


    ¡°Here we go!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned, spontaneously dashing to the side. He cleared the kilometer between the trucks and the mechs in the blink of an eye before slashing at their ankle joints, only for his blades to simply bounce off as the space around the ankles shimmered ¡ª a sign of energy shielding. As soon as he paused to observe the shimmer, one of the mechs whipped around and launched a salvo of rockets at him, which he easily dodged by jumping into the air. Forgetting that he was in a low-gravity environment, however, the Velocitechnic accidentally launched himself far higher than he had intended and soon found himself a free-falling target for both mechs. Scowling, he quickly sheathed his blades and then drew one of the back-mounted swords just in time to begin rapidly deflecting the bullet barrage the mechs sent his way. Just before he touched back down on the ground, another Chaos Energy projectile ripped through one of the mechs; the second one turned to search for the origin of the attack, creating an opening that Dav¨ªdrius immediately seized. Slamming his blade back into its sheath and drawing two other back-mounted swords, he dashed forward and stabbed both blades into the mech¡¯s ankle, piercing the energy shielding and forcing it to topple over. He then jumped over the mech and stabbed its energy core; he followed the stab by ripping the swords out, taking much of the machinery with them. He then blasted off back toward the trucks, leaving the mech to detonate behind him.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Chaos¡­ Deflection!!¡±


    A sphere of Chaos Energy exploded outward, surrounding the trucks just in time to deflect a rocket salvo launched by the nearest gunships. Kievkenalis immediately followed it with several Chaos Cannon shots but only successfully hit one of the gunships, destabilizing it and causing it to go spinning to the ground. The remaining three gunships quickly followed the attack with another rocket salvo as they dropped two heavy tanks and three mechs, all of which immediately opened fire.


    ¡°Ahh!!¡± Rebehka yelped as several tank rounds fell around the truck, sending it into a swerve that she barely managed to correct. ¡°They¡¯re getting too close!¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t equipped to deal with heavy tanks,¡± Christean¨¦ growled. ¡°Mechs, we can deal with, but tanks¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No, we can do this!¡± Kievkenalis insisted, ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos¡­ Massive Impact!¡±


    An invisible force slammed into the armored vehicles, toppling the mechs ¡ª but merely stalling the tanks.


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Kievkenalis added sheepishly, ¡°¡­maybe we can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Their main cannons are aiming this way¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n warned, but was cut off as the cannons flashed, signaling cannon fire. Christean¨¦ immediately released the turret¡¯s firing mechanism and spun the whole device around, sweeping his fist past the side of the truck just in time to intercept and knock away one of the tank shells ¡ª just as Dav¨ªdrius blew past and knocked away the other.


    ¡°¡­Tch!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, glaring at the hilt of the sword he had just broken against the shell. ¡°Should¡¯ve kicked it¡­!¡± He discarded the hilt and drew two blades from his hip sheaths before dashing toward the mechs a hundred meters away.


    ¡°We¡¯re eight kilometers out!¡± Rebehka shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can block a shell like that again¡­¡± Christean¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°Kaon¨¦, we need your help!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, his suit¡¯s communicator transmitting his declaration from a distance.


    ¡°Wha-what¡ª!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just blocking shit, c¡¯mon!¡± Christean¨¦ insisted, ¡°not like we¡¯re asking you to kill anyone¡ª!?¡±


    He was interrupted as several devices suddenly leaped into the air several meters in front of the trucks.


    ¡°Mines!!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius immediately redirected his attention from the mechs and dashed over to the mines, two swords in hand. But just before he could reach them, they detonated, sending him flying backwards and flipping Kev¨¦rin¡¯s truck on its side.


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin!¡± Rebehka exclaimed as she slammed on the brakes. Kaon¨¦ jumped out and ran over to the flipped vehicle as Siyuak¨¦n attempted to offer sufficient cover fire from the turret.


    ¡°Hah!¡± Christean¨¦ grunted as he smashed the back of the truck, freeing himself and creating an exit for Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis.


    The Transfer Captain scowled. ¡°They got us¡­¡±


    ¡°Chaos Strike! Chaos Strike! Chaos Impact!¡± Kievkenalis called out, launching several Chaos attacks to force back their attackers. He then glanced back at the Pyrotechnic. ¡°We¡¯re just going to have to destroy them all before we¡­ can¡­ ¡­uh oh.¡±


    ¡°What is¡ª? ¡­Well, damn,¡± Kev¨¦rin growled after glancing over his shoulder and spotting another six incoming gunships.


    ¡°Well, if we¡¯re no longer on the move, then I can finally contribute!¡± Christean¨¦ grinned before dashing toward the approaching heavy tanks. ¡°Kievkenalis, Siyuak¨¦n, take down those gunships! Dav¨ªdrius and I can take care of anything on the ground!¡± Then, the moment that he was several meters clear of the truck wreck and the rest of Hero Machina, he shouted, ¡°Overdrive: Omni Crush!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin watched the Forcetechnic smash his way into battle before turning around, where Siyuak¨¦n and Kievkenalis were relentlessly firing away at the incoming gunships. ¡°Kaon¨¦¡­ prepare yourself,¡± he warned, ¡°be ready to erect shields whenever possible. And if it comes down to it, I need you to destroy the enemy armor.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s us or them, Kaon¨¦. Think about that.¡±


    A hundred meters away, Dav¨ªdrius shattered another one of his blades by jamming it into a mech¡¯s core, causing it to detonate and leaving only one more of the mechs. He immediately drew another sword to replace it before leaping into the air just in time to intercept a tank shell, kicking it away at just the right angle to knock it into a second shell, thereby knocking both off-course. The moment he landed, he glanced back at the toppled truck and spotted Christean¨¦ running towards the battle; the Velocitechnic immediately blasted off toward him, clearing the distance almost instantly before slamming his foot into Christean¨¦¡¯s back and launching him forwards. Initially startled, the Forcetechnic quickly calmed himself and then smashed his fist into the ground as he flew into a tank. The force created a ten-meter crater and destabilized both tanks, allowing Christean¨¦ to easily pulverize them both ¡ª even through their energy shielding.


    ¡°And that¡¯s that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked as the third mech detonated behind him, its core slashed to pieces.


    ¡°We have to get back to the trucks¡­¡± Christean¨¦ declared as he glanced back ¡ª and noticed a third gunship squadron approaching from the direction of the Deathnought wreck. ¡°Well, fuck!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t give up yet!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°brace yourself!¡±


    ¡°Huh?!¡± Christean¨¦ barely had time to respond before Dav¨ªdrius kicked him again, sending him tumbling across the ground all the way back to the trucks.


    ¡°Chaos Deflection!!¡± Kievkenalis jumped in front of the remaining intact truck in time to deflect several rockets, but the deflection field wasn¡¯t large enough to block them all ¡ª two rockets got past and exploded against the ground just next to the truck, flipping it into the air.


    ¡°Shit¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, dashing forward and leaping up to snatch Rebehka out of the vehicle as Christean¨¦ managed to grab the turret and yank the whole contraption ¡ª Siyuak¨¦n included ¡ª to the ground with relative safety. The two Introtechnics deposited the women on the ground haphazardly before sprinting forwards to deal with the mech squad the gunships had just dropped off, ignoring the wrecked truck as it tumbled to the ground just in front of Kievkenalis.


    ¡°Chaos Cannon! Chaos Cannon! Chaos Cannon! Chaos Cannon!¡± the Chaostechnic repeated rapidly, firing off several projectiles in quick succession in an attempt to take down the remaining gunships. But with the attacks called quickly and hurriedly, they weren¡¯t as powerful as his initial salvos and failed to pierce the gunships¡¯ shielding. Siyuak¨¦n instead stepped forward and held her hand out, targeting each gunship and attempting to interfere with their electronics ¡ª but her interference was dampened by their shields.


    ¡°Haaah-gah!¡± Dav¨ªdrius spluttered, flung backwards in the middle of a dash by a railgun-wielding mech. He tumbled to a stop next to the trucks and then jumped to his feet just in time to quickly slash an incoming rocket salvo to bits and then step out of the way as Christean¨¦ came flying back as well.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, Christean¨¦, watch yourselves!¡± Kev¨¦rin warned, ¡°Your armor¡¯s shielding¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s low,¡± Christean¨¦ growled, ¡°what do you want us to do about it? Stop attacking?¡±


    ¡°Kaon¨¦, I know you don¡¯t want to,¡± Siyuak¨¦n urged, ¡°but you have to do something!¡±


    ¡°I¡ª!I can¡¯t just kill them! The, the pilots¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Expectin¡¯ her to pull her weight will get you nowhere,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled. ¡°It¡¯s been known for literally millennia that the Riaxen don¡¯t take prisoners! And still she hasn¡¯t raised a hand to help. What¡¯s that tell you, huh?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡ª! I¡¯m not siding with them!¡±


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t seem to be sidin¡¯ with us! It¡¯s us or them, Kaon¨¦!¡± The Velocitechnic took off again, his blades directed at the approaching mechs. Christean¨¦ sprinted after him to join the battle as Kievkenalis turned his attention to the gunships approaching from the wreck and launched off several more Chaos attacks.


    ¡°¡­Shit.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled as his HUD lit up even further. ¡°There¡¯s more units approaching! How the hell can the Riaxen devote so much attention to us?!¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t hold out here¡­ and we¡¯re too close to the wreck at this point for the Genesis to beam us back up,¡± Rebehka commented apprehensively, ¡°Kaon¨¦, isn¡¯t there something you can do?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± the Materiatechnic stuttered, ¡°but, what if I¡ª!¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t kill them, they¡¯ll kill us!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°get your head out of your ass! There¡¯s only one way to survive this!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not wrong,¡± Kev¨¦rin added tensely, ¡°you¡¯re a Lieutenant. You¡¯re part of Hero Machina. You¡¯re in the middle of a war zone! And you still think you can get away without fighting!?¡±


    ¡°I¡ª!¡± Kaon¨¦ was cut off as two incapacitated gunships swooped down overhead and smashed into the ground behind her ¡ª just as Dav¨ªdrius was flung clear over the truck wrecks and several hundred meters further, landing at the feet of another approaching mech squad. He was quickly followed by Christean¨¦ as three mechs slowly approached Hero Machina, weapons drawn¡­ and rockets primed. The next moment, the rockets all fired ¡ª and then suddenly froze in midair.


    ¡°You¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, snapping his gaze to Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°I still disagree with all of you!¡± she declared, momentarily switching her attention to the side to halt the advance of a heavy tank, ¡°maybe, we can¡¯t get away without fighting. But killing¡­ is never the answer!¡±


    ¡°Kaon¨¦¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!!¡±

 43 - Unexpected Alternatives

    Chapter 43 - Unexpected Alternatives


    ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, startled as the remaining swords on his person instantly shattered and fell to the ground in pieces. His attention was quickly torn to the sudden flashes of light surrounding Hero Machina ¡ª tank turrets detonated, mech guns disintegrated, gunship rockets spontaneously dismantled. Even the nearest portion of the Riaxen Deathnought wreck sparkled slightly, a sign of various external weaponry suddenly exploding.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n yelped as the two gauss turrets mounted on the back of the Earthian trucks sparked violently before falling to pieces.


    ¡°¡­Everyone¡¯s weapons have fallen apart¡­¡± Rebehka muttered as she slowly surveyed the battlefield. She then turned back to face Kaon¨¦, awestruck. ¡°Was this¡ª was this you?!¡±


    ¡°I guess so?...¡± Kaon¨¦ responded, ¡°¡­so this¡­ this is my Overdrive? I can make weapons fall apart?¡±


    ¡°Looks like the Riaxen have stopped approaching, too,¡± Kev¨¦rin observed.


    ¡°Perfect opportunity to take ¡®em out¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed before suddenly collapsing to his knees and grasping his helmet in pain. ¡°GAAH! What in the¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius!¡± Christean¨¦ dashed over to the Velocitechnic¡¯s side. ¡°What happened?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± the Tres¨¦dian replied uneasily as he stumbled back to his feet. ¡°I was just about to take advantage of the openin¡¯ to attack the Riaxen¡­ then, suddenly, pain. Damn it, what the hell was that?¡±


    Kievkenalis looked back at the Riaxen vehicles, all of which had stopped in their tracks. Riaxen soldiers were beginning to climb out uneasily, while a couple of the mechs and gunships even turned back and fled the way they came. ¡°¡­Could this be part of the Overdrive, too?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced back at the Chaostechnic. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t just destroy all of the weapons in the area, you¡¯ve also introduced a strong inhibition to fighting,¡± Kievkenalis mused. ¡°Even without weapons, the Riaxen could easily crush us with their vehicles alone. And... I can¡¯t really seem to focus on any of the vehicles myself. If I think about using a Chaos attack, the thought just¡­ fades away. It¡¯s like I can¡¯t think about actually attacking them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that she¡¯s influenced people¡¯s minds?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned incredulously.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°That¡¯s not¡ª! That¡¯s not a Materiatechnic Overdrive!¡±


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s certainly a pacifist¡¯s Overdrive,¡± Kievkenalis countered. ¡°Overdrives aren¡¯t just related to a person¡¯s Chaotic type, after all. It¡¯s pretty rare, but they can also be based on the person¡¯s personality. Controlling what a person thinks is technically possible for a Materiatechnic anyways, if they had an intricate understanding of the brain that no one currently does, at least¡­¡±


    ¡°So what, she¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ Psychotechnic now? A Realitechnic?¡±


    ¡°You sound scared,¡± Kaon¨¦ teased.


    ¡°I¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius inhaled stiffly, his fists clenched. ¡°This is ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°This is my response to your assertion about having power and being a soldier,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered as she casually righted the two flipped Earthian trucks. With another wave of her hand, all of the scrap metal laying around was drawn toward the two trucks before combining with them, shifting the broken frames until they both appeared as good as new ¡ª minus the turrets. The Materiatechnic stared at the two trucks and then looked down at her hands contemplatively. ¡°¡­This is what I always wanted to do as a Materiatechnic. Before, I could only control matter by thinking about a region of space, you know? Like with every other Chaotic. If I was just a little off ¡ª if I misjudged a distance, or a size, or a depth, I could cause accidental harm. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to do anything. But now, with my Overdrive¡­ I can control objects themselves. I can save people ¡ª without having to worry about hurting them!¡± She glanced around at the surrounding Riaxen forces, stopped in their tracks and utterly confused, before turning to face Dav¨ªdrius resolutely. ¡°¡­Back on Teghica, you¡­ you were probably right about everything you said, about me being a soldier who doesn¡¯t fight. But now I can! I can fight ¡ª to save as many people as possible! And with my powers, I¡¯ll do my best to make sure no one dies ¡ª because killing is never the answer!¡±


    ¡°I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself,¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected, ¡°all you¡¯ve done is dismantled everyone¡¯s weapons, inhibited killing intent, and¡­ completely¡­ fixed a couple¡­ trucks¡­¡±


    ¡°Sounded smarter in your head, huh?¡± Christean¨¦ snorted as the Pyrotechnic trailed off uneasily.


    ¡°He does have a point, in a way,¡± Rebehka commented as she jumped into the driver seat of one of the trucks. ¡°I doubt the weapons will come back together, but once Kaon¨¦¡¯s Overdrive wears off, there¡¯s nothing to keep the Riaxen from attacking us again. We should really get moving.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ this¡­ what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius spluttered.


    ¡°Hey Kaon¨¦, I think you broke Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped as he jumped into a turret-less backseat.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡ª I mean, that¡¯s not¡ª this isn¡¯t¡­¡± the Velocitechnic stuttered a response as the trucks revved up and took off toward the Riaxen wreck again. ¡°I mean, this is ridiculous! Kaon¨¦ did this? This is her Overdrive? Bullshit. It¡¯s bullshit!¡±


    ¡°There is literally no other explanation,¡± Christean¨¦ replied in exasperation.


    ¡°This¡­ tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius finally dashed up to the trucks and then fell into pace between them, the wreck looming ever closer. ¡°Alright, fine. But do you really think just leavin¡¯ ¡®em back there will accomplish anything?¡±


    ¡°We got out of the fight and no one else had to die,¡± Kaon¨¦ stated bluntly.


    ¡°And that¡¯s the thing! Your ideals are still misplaced! You really think those Riaxen soldiers are just gonna sit there and go ¡®oh hey, maybe I shouldn¡¯t kill the enemy forces after all!?¡¯¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m aware that they¡¯ll come after us again¡­ but if we can still get out of this with even just a little less death, then isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±


    ¡°These are the Riaxen you¡¯re talkin¡¯ about! The closest to ¡®evil¡¯ you can get in the galaxy, aside from the Drakkars!¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Based on what? Everything you¡¯ve heard from the Syraus, the sworn enemy of the Riaxen?¡±


    ¡°No, I heard this shit from the Riaxen themselves,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted sarcastically.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem! You don¡¯t know their side!¡±


    ¡°They were the ones who attacked Tyrnaus!!¡±


    ¡°So the commanders ordered it, but what do you know about the ordinary soldier? How do you know that those mech pilots, those tank drivers, how do you know they¡¯re ¡®evil?¡¯ That they aren¡¯t just conscripted members of the army, like most Syraus soldiers, or even any of us? That they don¡¯t have their own families and lives to go back to outside of fighting?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡ª ¡­that¡¯s not¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not black and white, Dav¨ªdrius. Killing them does nothing to help us, but everything to hurt them. The only Riaxen truly deserving of punishment are the ones in charge¡­ and even then, I don¡¯t think killing them is the answer. It never is.¡±


    ¡°¡­But¡­ no, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t expecting her to fight back, were you?¡± Siyuak¨¦n interjected, the smirk evident in her tone.


    ¡°Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­I still disagree. But¡­ I guess we can try things your way. ¡­For once.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied.


    ¡°But I reserve the right to say ¡®I told you so¡¯ if this comes back to bite us in the ass.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped. ¡°And now that we¡¯re done discussing philosophy, how about we focus on the one thing we all forgot to think about?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced briefly over at the Forcetechnic.


    ¡°How are we supposed to find the Ayas in a fifty kilometer wreck?¡±


    Silence fell over Hero Machina, all eyes focused forward on the ever-approaching Deathnought wreck as it towered over twenty kilometers into the sky.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s, uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°¡­I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll think of something.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius is a Velocitechnic,¡± Kievkenalis suggested.


    ¡°Just ¡®cause I can run really fast doesn¡¯t mean I can or want to search the entire damn wreck,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered irately. ¡°There¡¯s at least, what, twenty by twenty by twenty kilometers of searchable wreck? That¡¯s eight thousand cubic kilometers. Do you know how much time that¡¯ll take to search?!¡±


    ¡°¡­True, yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the resident Chaostechnic. Shouldn¡¯t you be the one to look for the Ayas? With all that Chaos Energy-sensing shit?¡±


    ¡°I guess so, but I can¡¯t sense an Ayas from this range. I can¡¯t sense them very strongly either, like, back on Teghica it was just a¡­ weird off feeling. And I couldn¡¯t even sense the Ayas on Kotak or Rossindon. I sure can¡¯t sense any now.¡±


    ¡°But I can.¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina turned to stare at Siyuak¨¦n, who herself had fixed her gaze on an area of the wreck high in the sky, toward the back of the dead ship. After a couple moments, she realized the attention she was receiving and returned the stares confusedly. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You just said you could sense the Ayas,¡± Christean¨¦ replied as Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka faced forwards again.


    ¡°¡­I said that out loud¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you did,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Was that supposed to be a joke?¡±


    ¡°No, I mean¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded uneasily, ¡°¡­I think I can. I can sense something in the wreck. I think it¡¯s the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re an Electrotechnic,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered in confusion. ¡°The Ayas aren¡¯t electrical¡­ last anyone checked, anyways.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± The Electrotechnic shifted uncomfortably. ¡°I can¡¯t explain it, I just¡­ I think I can sense it.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s really fuckin¡¯ reliable,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Either that, or really fuckin¡¯ convenient. We¡¯ve been havin¡¯ a lot of that lately.¡±


    ¡°Guys, give her a break,¡± Rebehka cut in just as she pulled the truck to a stop a few meters from the beginning of the wreck¡¯s scrap. Kev¨¦rin pulled up right beside her as the women jumped out of the first truck before turning back to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°If she thinks she can find the Ayas, then why not give it a shot?¡± the Cryotechnic suggested, ¡°it¡¯s all we have right now. Kevken can verify once we get closer.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ nodded. ¡°I agree. It¡¯s the fastest way to get in and out¡­ and¡­ I¡¯m not sure my Overdrive will protect us anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worn off?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced back at her.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, then.¡± The Transfer Captain climbed out of the truck and looked up at the massive wreck before him. ¡°¡­We¡¯ll follow Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s sense for now.¡±


    ¡°Really¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, it¡¯s all we¡¯ve got,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut off the Velocitechnic, turning to glare at him irately. ¡°What else would you suggest?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms and glanced over at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°But doesn¡¯t this¡­ doesn¡¯t this seem just, you know, too convenient?¡±


    ¡°You think it¡¯s a trap?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I dunno¡­¡±


    ¡°If you can think of an actual reason to object, I¡¯ll listen to you. Otherwise¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic glanced back at the wreck, and then up at the distant lights of the battle in orbit. ¡°We have an Ayas to retrieve¡­ and quickly.¡±


    <hr>


    7 Hours Later


    ¡°Hot damn I don¡¯t know how y¡¯all do it.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t all be Velocitechnics.¡± Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes as he carefully moved a broken bulkhead to the side.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty fuckin¡¯ evident,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°I know I said that searchin¡¯ the wreck would¡¯ve taken me forever, but I had no idea it¡¯d take us so damn long just to reach a single target!¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t have any other emotions than anger and impatience, do you?¡± Rebehka quipped.


    ¡°I¡ª! I totally do. I mean, I¡¯m not bein¡¯ impatient right now. It¡¯s been seven hours, I¡¯ve been a fuckin¡¯ saint by Velocitechnic standards.¡±


    ¡°So you say,¡± Kaon¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t far now, anyways,¡± Kievkenalis spoke up after turning another corner within the vacant corridors of the dead supership. ¡°The Chaos Energy in the area is becoming denser. This is almost exactly what I felt back on Teghica.¡±


    ¡°See? I told you I could sense it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n added haughtily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ commented uneasily, ¡°I¡­ hate to agree with Dav¨ªdrius¡ª¡±


    ¡°Why does everyone hate to agree with me?¡±


    ¡°¡ªbut this doesn¡¯t make a lot of sense to me. We¡¯ve been through almost forty-five kilometers of corridor and ten different Riaxen encounters¡­ this wreck is barely intact. There¡¯s no electrical systems or sensors that you could¡¯ve accidentally tapped into, or anything¡­¡±


    The Electrotechnic shrugged in response. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t explain it; I¡¯ve already told you that.¡±


    ¡°Several times over the past several hours, aye,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned, and then paused as his stomach grumbled loudly ¡ª loudly enough to be picked up by the mic in his helmet. ¡°¡­Damn am I starvin¡¯. We¡¯ve only stopped to eat once this whole time, you know? And it was just some shitty shit that Kaon¨¦ fabricated. And then we¡¯ve got a fuckin¡¯ seven hour trip back, too. Why didn¡¯t we just bust straight through to the Ayas, again?¡±


    ¡°Because this wreck is way more stable than it should be, considering its state,¡± Christean¨¦ immediately replied, ¡°if we¡¯re careless, then the whole thing could come down on top of us. Last thing I want is to be crushed by a Deathnought wreck.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re a Forcetechnic. You¡¯d survive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, guys,¡± Kievkenalis interjected, drawing the attention of the rest of the group, ¡°¡­we¡¯re close.¡± He pointed straight forward at a large steel door that appeared to be jammed shut. ¡°It¡¯s through there.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ wordlessly stepped forward and casually shoved the door to the side. She then stepped into the room, followed by the rest of Hero Machina.


    ¡°It looks like an engineering room,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he glanced around. The room was large enough to comfortably hold all seven members of Hero Machina, even considering the multiple computing consoles sitting around the room. The walls were lined with similar consoles and the occasional decorative spike, as per Riaxen aesthetic. Towards the back of the room, the wall protruded outward slightly with a small transparent dome. And inside the dome¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s the Ayas,¡± Rebehka observed.


    ¡°Light Green? That¡¯s Tanivas, then,¡± Kievkenalis commented, stepping forward to more closely inspect the stone.


    ¡°Alright, great, let¡¯s grab it and leave,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded impatiently, ¡°maybe on the way out we can just bust through the wreck?¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed just as Christean¨¦ wound up to punch and shatter the Ayas-containing dome. ¡°There¡¯s still a current running through the console. I think the Ayas is powering something¡­¡±


    ¡°What? ¡­Let me see.¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly moved over to the console nearest the Ayas and began interfacing with it. ¡°¡­Wow, it¡¯s actually an active system. Maybe this is what you were sensing, Siyuak¨¦n? Ha, and here we thought the whole wreck was¡­ trashed¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Rebehka stepped closer to read the console screen over Kev¨¦rin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°¡­Oh, right, I can¡¯t read it¡­¡±


    ¡°But I can,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, ¡°and what it says is worrying. The Ayas is definitely still powering some systems ¡ª two very important ones, in fact. The Structural Integrity Gravity Manipulators, and the Orbital Bombardment Shield¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°Then, that means¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic turned back to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°The moment we remove the Ayas from that console¡­ this entire wreck will fall to pieces.¡±

 44 - Crushing Escape

    Chapter 44 - Crushing Escape


    ¡°The moment we remove the Ayas from that console¡­ this entire wreck will fall to pieces.¡±


    ¡°The moment?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scoffed. ¡°Bullshit. It¡¯s been standin¡¯ for this long, there ain¡¯t no reason one tiny little change will cause the whole thing to instantly collapse.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t understand what Gravity Manipulators do, do you,¡± Christean¨¦ replied flatly. ¡°Okay, look, this is a Deathnought wreck. That means it¡¯s built out of literally billions, maybe trillions of tons of material. There¡¯s a reason Supercaps are built in space, you know ¡ª a structure of this size and mass will actually crush itself instantly in any significant gravity well if the Gravity Manipulators are shut off. It¡¯s a miracle already that the crash didn¡¯t cause a catastrophic chain-failure, so yeah, removing the Ayas will cause instantaneous collapse, if it¡¯s the only power source in this whole damn wreck.¡±


    ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t, the Orbital Bombardment Shields will go down, too,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, his attention refocused on the console. ¡°And¡­ it looks like the Ayas is powering the comm jammers that are preventing us from contacting the Genesis from within the wreck. Possibly by design, to make it harder for anyone other than the Riaxen to extract the Ayas¡­ anyways, the jammers are going down at the same time as the Shields. The Riaxen will know within moments whether or not it was them who got the Ayas, and once they realize it wasn¡¯t, you can bet that they¡¯ll obliterate the wreck with a rain of hellfire, whether or not the wreck crushes itself.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, I get it, we¡¯re fucked.¡± Dav¨ªdrius rolled his eyes. ¡°What¡¯re we supposed to do, then?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s only one solution, really,¡± Rebehka commented, ¡°either we leave Kaon¨¦ behind to take the Ayas and she can save herself with her Materiatechnism, or we leave behind Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦, the Introtechnics¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don¡¯t think so,¡± Christean¨¦ immediately refuted, shaking his head vigorously. ¡°I¡¯m well aware that I can survive being crushed by more mass than you guys, but in no way does that mean I can survive the whole wreck!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°Oh come on, we¡¯re practically at the very top of it. You won¡¯t have even close to the entire wreck on top of you!¡±


    ¡°And someone has to clear the way if Dav¨ªdrius gets stuck,¡± Rebehka pointed out.


    ¡°Wait, how would he even keep up with me?¡± The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°Am I supposed to let him ride on my back or some shit?¡±


    ¡°You can carry Siyuak¨¦n and Kaon¨¦, why not Christean¨¦?¡±


    ¡°Sure I can carry ¡®em ¡ª when they ain¡¯t wearin¡¯ armor. Do you know how much these suits weigh?!¡±


    ¡°But they also augment your lifting strength! And we¡¯re in half Nimalian gravity! You can definitely do it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still a ridiculous solution,¡± Christean¨¦ countered, ¡°Kaon¨¦ would be more reliable.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never manipulated more than a few tons of mass at once¡­ certainly nothing on the scale of a Capital ship, let alone a Deathnought.¡± The Materiatechnic frowned. ¡°Even if I activated my Overdrive again, I don¡¯t know if I could clear the wreck¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­This is a problem?¡± Kievkenalis replied meekly.


    ¡°No¡­ no, I think we can do this,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted after a couple moments of thought. ¡°The jammers will go down once the Ayas is removed, so the Genesis can then just beam out whoever¡¯s left! All we need to do is make sure they know and are in position to do so.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms. ¡°How do we do that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Kevken, how long does the boost provided by Chaos Assist last?¡±


    ¡°Well, if I use the ¡®Extended¡¯ keyword, then¡­ maybe, five hours? But all of my other abilities will be significantly weaker during that time¡­¡±


    ¡°That should be fine, I don¡¯t expect to get into too many fights. Now that we know that it¡¯s Gravity Manipulators that are keeping the wreck intact, we have more freedom to manipulate the bulkheads, provided we don¡¯t move too much matter or accidentally destroy one of the Manipulators¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I follow¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded in confusion.


    ¡°Alright. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do,¡± Kev¨¦rin started, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, Christean¨¦, the two of you will stay behind¡ª¡±


    ¡°Why¡ª!?¡±


    ¡°Hold your thoughts until I¡¯m done! That¡¯s an order.¡±


    ¡°¡­Fine.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t stay behind without help; before we leave, Kevken will use Chaos Assist on you to augment your strengths and durability. The rest of us will follow Kaon¨¦, who will create a tunnel directly through the wreck down to the ground outside. We¡¯ll then get back to the trucks and get clear of the wreck and its jamming range, where I¡¯ll contact the Genesis and tell them to be prepared to beam you two up the moment the Bombardment Shields and jammers go down. You won¡¯t be able to communicate with us until then, though, so we¡¯ll need to coordinate how long you¡¯ll wait to yank the Ayas. If we only need to move on a straight-line path, then that¡¯s¡­ about twenty-seven kilometers. Given the circumstances, we can cover that in four hours. We¡¯ll say four and a half to be safe. Everybody understand that?¡±


    ¡°Another four and a half hours¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed irately. ¡°You know we¡¯ve already been awake for close to eighteen hours, right?¡±


    ¡°Just hold out for five more hours, alright? Once we¡¯re back on the Genesis, you can sleep to your heart¡¯s content.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ tall order¡­¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned uneasily. ¡°I still don¡¯t like having to stay behind.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be within the wreck long enough to be crushed. And if you are, then the boost provided by Chaos Assist will help,¡± Kev¨¦rin explained. ¡°Worst-case scenario, you have to ride Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s back as he escapes the ship. We¡¯ll be creating a straight path out; I¡¯m sure you can cover twenty-seven kilometers in no time, right, Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure, probably¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine.¡± The Transfer Captain turned back to Christean¨¦. ¡°I¡¯m leaving you both here so you can watch out for each other and don¡¯t lose track of time.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª!¡±


    ¡°This also means that I¡¯m trusting you with the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that was a big thing now,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°You sure didn¡¯t treat the Ayas on Teghica or Kotak with such reverence.¡±


    ¡°Guys¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Christean¨¦ replied flatly, ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll stay behind.¡±


    ¡°¡­I might as well too, then.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed. ¡°Maybe I can get a nap while we wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded before turning to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°Do the rest of you understand what we¡¯re doing?¡± When each of the four Chaotics responded in the affirmative, he clapped his hands resolutely. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this and get out here! Kevken, do the Assist.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, right. Chaos Extended Assist!¡±


    ¡°Alright. Christean¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, wait for four and a half hours, and then pull the Ayas. Set a timer on your HUD and an alarm to be safe. Kaon¨¦, plow a path straight back to the point where we entered the wreck! Let¡¯s move!¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°Twelve kilometers to go¡­¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t making bad time,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked, ¡°in fact, we¡¯re going a little faster than I expected.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect aspects of my Overdrive to stick around, that¡¯s why,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied as she casually and continuously warped the metal around them into a three-meter-diameter downward-sloping tunnel.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kievkenalis snapped his attention to the Materiatechnic. ¡°What do you mean, stuck around?¡±


    ¡°None of the big parts, just the object-level control. Well, I can do spatial control if I think about it, but my new default is object-level. It¡¯s really useful though, it¡¯s why I can carve this tunnel so quickly.¡±


    ¡°¡­I still don¡¯t really understand that,¡± the Chaostechnic muttered. ¡°You were really limited to spatial control? That¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°It actually isn¡¯t,¡± Rebehka refuted, ¡°most Chaotics are limited by spatial control. ¡­Well, a lot of the more advanced techniques, at least. For example, I can control ice that I can see or know is there with just a thought, but if I want to actually modify temperature and such, then I have to think and focus on a specific region of space. I have to actively think about its dimensions, distance from me, direction, the whole works. It¡¯s the same for Siyuak¨¦n and Kev¨¦rin, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right. Chaostechnics are the odd ones out, defaulting to target-level attacks. I mean, c¡¯mon, you should know you¡¯re the odd one out already, with all that complicated type business and having to verbally call your attacks.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Kievkenalis mused, ¡°¡­I just never thought about it. I thought everyone¡¯s powers worked by just thinking about objects themselves¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯d be wrong,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented before suddenly stopping, the floor disappearing in front of her. She glanced down at the huge room whose wall she had just burst through, widening her eyes in surprise when she realized that the light from her helmet headlight simply faded into darkness in front of her.


    ¡°Can¡¯t even see the other side of the room,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered.


    ¡°It must be one of the storage compartments,¡± Kev¨¦rin observed as he stepped beside Kaon¨¦ and looked around himself at the huge, vacant expanse. ¡°The room¡¯s surprisingly empty for that, though¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why the Riaxen haven¡¯t retrieved the Ayas yet,¡± Rebehka suggested, ¡°they¡¯ve been removing the cargo instead?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but even then¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shh!¡± Siyuak¨¦n interrupted, her attention directed toward the far right, an area swathed in darkness.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± Kev¨¦rin turned to stare in the same direction, focusing his helmet¡¯s headlight on the area. ¡°¡­You can¡¯t have heard anything, there¡¯s no atmosphere. Why did you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Kevken!¡±


    ¡°¡­Chaos Deflection!¡± the Chaostechnic exclaimed, just in time to knock away two incoming rockets.


    ¡°There¡¯s Riaxen?!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°No time!¡± Siyuak¨¦n interrupted, ¡°Kaon¨¦, get us down to the floor!¡±


    ¡°Uh, right!¡± The Materiatechnic pulled the floor under them out into the room and quickly lowered it to the ground as Kievkenalis exchanged shots with their unseen aggressors. The Materiatechnic then erected a steel shield against the Riaxen as Siyuak¨¦n attempted to pinpoint their location and overload their weapons.


    The Electrotechnic scowled. ¡°It¡¯s too dark, I can¡¯t see them¡­¡±


    ¡°Chaos Detect,¡± Kievkenalis muttered. ¡°¡­A squad of seven. Five hundred meters away¡­ they¡¯re using storage containers as cover.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Rebehka glanced toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°We can¡¯t fight at that range, not in this environment.¡±


    ¡°Should we just leave?¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested, ¡°I can keep tunneling from here. It might throw Dav¨ªdrius off, but there¡¯s no real reason for us to fight them¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about how they spotted us,¡± Kievkenalis stated. ¡°They can¡¯t have heard us enter. And they can¡¯t have seen us, either, not in this darkness. They either have a specialized Chaotic on their side, or specialized sensors.¡±


    ¡°It probably isn¡¯t too far-fetched to assume they have IR sensors or something similar,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°¡­I¡¯m actually surprised that we don¡¯t, really. But Kaon¨¦¡¯s right, there¡¯s no need to actually engage. Keep tunneling, but connect the tunnel to the one you made into the room, and make the material bulletproof.¡±


    ¡°Well that goes without saying,¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked as she began molding the metal around her into more tunnel wall.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kievkenalis suddenly exclaimed, causing Kaon¨¦ to pause mid-motion. ¡°An eighth figure just appeared¡ª!¡±


    He was interrupted as an explosion erupted from the far side of the room, illuminating the entire storage space for a split second before everything faded back to black. The rest of Hero Machina recoiled in surprise and confusion while Kievkenalis continued to stare forward, dumbfounded.


    ¡°¡­Kevken?¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced up at him confusedly.


    ¡°¡­They¡¯re all dead,¡± the Chaostechnic replied slowly. ¡°The explosion happened, and then a couple seconds later¡­ only the eighth person is still alive.¡±


    ¡°A Velocitechnic?¡± Kev¨¦rin suggested.


    ¡°Must be¡ª they¡¯re running over! They¡¯re¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Right here.¡±


    ¡°Agh¡ª!¡± Kievkenalis jumped and twirled around on his heel just as a cloaked figure dropped in the middle of Hero Machina and slammed his palm into the Chaostechnic¡¯s chest. The figure then simply stood in place, unmoving, as Kievkenalis uneasily stumbled backwards.


    ¡°¡­You must be a Chaostechnic, if that didn¡¯t work on you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I mean, yes, I am,¡± Kievkenalis muttered in response, his gaze slowly drawn to the blade in the figure¡¯s off-hand. ¡°¡­Wait, how are you on our comm channel?!¡±


    The figure ¡ª male, judging by the pitch and timber of his voice ¡ª panned his view down to the rest of Kievkenalis¡¯s armor before turning to inspect the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°You¡¯re on the standard Black Suns public comm channel with standard Black Suns encryption. That¡¯s how,¡± he replied. ¡°Given that you didn¡¯t know that, you must not be Black Suns personnel. And yet you¡¯re wearing some of our Class-Delta Atmosphereless armor, and you speak Nimalian, so you aren¡¯t Riaxen. Identify yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ right,¡± Kev¨¦rin spoke up. ¡°Um, you¡¯re right, we aren¡¯t Black Suns. We¡¯re Nimalians. We¡¯re, uh, we¡¯re Hero Machina, of the Nimalian Systems Defense. I¡¯m the squad leader, Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion.¡±


    ¡°Hero Machina?¡± The man sheathed his blade and lowered his hood, revealing only his heavy-duty helmet. ¡°So it¡¯s the lot of you Bitincher kept bitching about. I don¡¯t know what he felt so intimidated by¡­ at least you¡¯re Nimalian.¡±


    ¡°Um, you¡¯ve heard of us¡­?¡±


    ¡°I have, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of me as well. Sector 2 Master General Sike Regek, at your service.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin gasped. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh.¡±


    ¡°We heard that you went down with the Deathnought¡­¡± Rebehka commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s not completely incorrect,¡± Regek replied. ¡°Both Commander Jeran and I were stuck aboard as the ship crashed. She, unfortunately, died during the crash. I was knocked out for several hours, myself. I was able to raid some of the remaining life-support pockets before I began looking for the Ayas. I assume that¡¯s why you¡¯re here, as well ¡ª to find the Chaos Ayas? Yet¡­¡± He looked up at the hole in the wall and then down to the floor below Kaon¨¦, which she had already been deformed. ¡°You¡¯re traveling to the outside of the wreck? Have you found the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Ye¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, no, we, uh, haven¡¯t.¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina turned toward Siyuak¨¦n in confusion.


    ¡°We¡­ haven¡¯t?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, momentarily switching the group over to a Hero Machina-only communication channel.


    ¡°Just, go with me, guys,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded hurriedly, ¡°I¡ª I have a really bad feeling about this guy. Just¡­ don¡¯t tell him we found the Ayas. Don¡¯t tell that other Black Suns General when we get back, either.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°¡­If you say so,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he tuned Hero Machina back to the normal comm channel. The Transfer Captain exhaled wearily and stated, ¡°we couldn¡¯t find the Ayas, but, uh, while looking around, we discovered that the Gravity Manipulators are running out of power. We then, you know, we decided to get out of here as fast as possible. Wouldn¡¯t want to be crushed, you know. Haha.¡±


    ¡°¡­Right. Understandable. The Manipulators shutting down is indeed a serious issue,¡± Regek mused, ¡°how much longer do we have?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ three hours? Tops?¡±


    ¡°And you believe you can escape the wreck in that time?¡±


    ¡°We were making good progress until we were stopped here,¡± Kievkenalis remarked.


    Regek glanced toward the Chaostechnic, his gaze lingering for a few moments before he simply shrugged. ¡°Very well. I hope you don¡¯t mind if tag along, then.¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure, not at all,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, and then turned to Kaon¨¦. ¡°You heard him¡­ let¡¯s keep going. We can¡¯t waste any more time¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­You awake?¡±


    ¡°Damn it, I wouldn¡¯t be if you¡¯d stop askin¡¯!¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°So you can¡¯t fall asleep as fast as you can run?¡±


    ¡°Just ¡®cause I¡¯ve got damned super speed doesn¡¯t mean everythin¡¯ I do is instantaneous,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied irately. ¡°You should know that! You¡¯re an Introtechnic yourself!¡±


    ¡°Hey, chill out. I was just trying to start a conversation.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been tryin¡¯ to do that for the past hour an¡¯ a half. Has it not occurred to you that maybe I don¡¯t want to have a conversation?¡±


    ¡°If that was actually true, you¡¯d shut off your suit¡¯s comms.¡±


    ¡°¡­Bah. If I did that, there¡¯d be no way for you to wake me up if we were suddenly attacked or some shit.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not sleeping.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re keepin¡¯ me awake!!¡±


    ¡°Wow, you get even more irritable when you¡¯re tired.¡±


    ¡°No fuckin¡¯ shit! Damn it, man, is just half an hour of silence too much to ask?!¡±


    ¡°You had half an hour. That was an hour and a half ago, you said so yourself.¡±


    At that moment Dav¨ªdrius sat up and turned toward the other Introtechnic. With the armored helmets, neither Chaotic could see the face of the other, but Christean¨¦ was still easily able to tell that Dav¨ªdrius was glaring.


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re not usually this much of a pain in the ass,¡± Dav¨ªdrius stated bluntly.


    ¡°I¡¯m a pain in the ass?¡±


    ¡°Pot, kettle, black, whatever. Look, is somethin¡¯ wrong?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If there is, then spit it out. Maybe once you¡¯ve said it out loud, you can calm down and leave me alone long enough to take a fuckin¡¯ nap.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s certainly going to motivate me to share all my troubles with you. Man, aren¡¯t I glad I have you to share all my problems with!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to help.¡±


    ¡°You could try harder, buddy.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms irately. ¡°Does this have to do with the whole wreck-crushin¡¯-itself thing?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡±


    ¡°You sure didn¡¯t like the idea of stayin¡¯ behind. Not to mention how much you talked about the wreck crushin¡¯ itself. I¡¯ve no doubt it will, but ¡®instantaneous¡¯ my ass, it¡¯ll take at least a few seconds. Long enough to escape down Kaon¨¦¡¯s tunnel, I¡¯d bet.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that. What if you¡¯re too slow?¡±


    ¡°Me? Too slow?¡±


    ¡°Dammit, Dav¨ªdrius, you know what I meant¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hit a nerve, eh? So it is about the crushing, then? Figured.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡±


    ¡°Well ain¡¯t this a reversal. What¡¯re you so worried about? You¡¯re a Forcetechnic. If any one of us could survive being crushed by a billion tons of steel, it¡¯d be you!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯d survive that.¡±


    ¡°Up here, maybe you would. You¡¯d at least be more likely to survive, if that means anythin¡¯¡ª¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t. It really doesn¡¯t. Crushed is crushed, that¡¯s that. No two ways about it.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius paused for a moment as he stared at the other Introtechnic in confusion. ¡°¡­Wait, is this connected to Teghica? How you unlocked your Overdrive so easily?¡±


    ¡°I thought we went over this. I almost died, that was a legitimate Overdrive-unlocking situation.¡±


    ¡°Bein¡¯ crushed is one of your phobias, ain¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡ª! ¡­Damn it, when did you become so perceptive?¡±


    ¡°When you live in a shithole like Tres¨¦d for as long as I have, you learn how to pick up on shit like this. Everyone¡¯s scared of somethin¡¯, and everyone¡¯s got a reason.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hmph.¡±


    ¡°So how¡¯d this happen? A Forcetechnic, scared of bein¡¯ crushed? You¡¯re the most resistant to it, ain¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem! If anyone else got crushed it¡¯d just be over, but me¡ª¡±


    ¡°You could just lift it off?¡±


    ¡°Not that simple.¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°¡­Alright, look. Have you heard of the Northern Deepsough Bridge collapse, back in 8020?¡±


    ¡°Tres¨¦d don¡¯t get much news from the outside world.¡±


    ¡°Well it was all over the news everywhere. There used to be a major bridge over the Deepsough lake before flight became cheap and easy, and then it was basically abandoned. No one left to take care of it, except for super basic shit. Anyways, back when I was 8, my sister had just turned 10, and was about to be inducted into the national Chaotic program. You know, like all Chaotics. So my family decided to take a trip around the nation, kinda like a parting gift, or something¡ª¡±


    ¡°And y¡¯all decided to check out the bridge.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Civilian vehicles were banned from the bridge, save for certain types of hovercraft. There were parts of the bridge that had been set up so you could walk around, which was supposed to be safe since there were so few people. That¡¯s what the officials said, at least.¡±


    ¡°I see where this is goin¡¯. The bridge collapsed while y¡¯all were on it, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Over a hundred dead.¡±


    ¡°Shit, really?¡±


    ¡°The bridge was hundreds of kilometers long, passed over some of the deepest parts of the lake, and it was in disrepair. I¡¯m surprised there weren¡¯t more deaths. The bridge should never have been open to the public in the state that it was.¡±


    ¡°Typical shitty cheap-ass governments. But how¡¯s what¡¯s this got to do with your fear¡­?¡±


    ¡°My family survived, so that¡¯s good, but I got pinned by some of the wreckage against the shore. I was a late-bloomer Chaotic, too; at the time, I hadn¡¯t yet shown any Chaotic potential. So everyone assumed I had died, either drowned in the lake or crushed by the wreckage. Except I wasn¡¯t. I was on the shore, pinned, saved only because my body suddenly decided it wanted to be a Forcetechnic.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ couldn¡¯t you have just lifted the wreckage off?¡±


    ¡°Can you run or kick if your legs are pinned?¡±


    ¡°Not if there¡¯s enough weight¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly. If my arms are pinned by enough weight, then I can¡¯t leverage them. I can¡¯t exert enough force to free myself ¡ª I¡¯d be trapped. And that¡¯s exactly what happened back in Deepsough; I was stuck under that wreckage for what seemed like forever before a couple clean-up workers realized I was still alive and managed to free me. It was, by far, the worst experience in my life.¡±


    ¡°And because of that, you developed a phobia of bein¡¯ crushed.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yeah. Basically.¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked warily, ¡°¡­gotta say, wasn¡¯t expectin¡¯ that.¡±


    ¡°No one does,¡± Christean¨¦ responded flatly, ¡°but there you go. That¡¯s why my Overdrive unlocked ¡®so early.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ uh, sorry for, uh, being so persistent about that¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You couldn¡¯t have known.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay, then.¡±


    Silence ensued.


    ¡°So, uh... you gonna keep pesterin¡¯ me about bein¡¯ awake?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Damn it.¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°...And that¡¯s four hours!¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded contentedly, his hands on the steering wheel as he guided one of the trucks away from the Deathnought wreck. ¡°We made even better time than I expected!¡±


    General Regek glanced back at the wreck from his seat at one of the defunct truck turrets. ¡°That certainly was simpler than I expected,¡± he remarked. ¡°If what you said is indeed true, then we still have an hour.¡± He turned to face forward again, his attention directed toward the Transfer Captain. ¡°So, now that we¡¯ve escaped the wreck, how do you intend to escape the planet?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the easy part. There¡¯s an Earthian ship waiting in orbit for us. It can beam us up.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡¯Beam,¡¯ you say?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. ¡®Instantaneous Subspace Transfer,¡¯ I think is the technical term. You¡¯ll see it in action soon.¡±


    ¡°So you say¡­¡± the General muttered, glancing from side to side as several Riaxen armored squads began approaching, ¡°but I have a feeling we may end up sidetracked.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve got us covered,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented nonchalantly. ¡°Uh¡­ I hope you weren¡¯t too attached to that sword.¡±


    ¡°What do you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!¡±


    ¡°¡­Well,¡± Regek deadpanned as the aforementioned blade fell to pieces, ¡°¡­that¡¯s certainly an interesting Overdrive.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll disable the Riaxen weapons, too. We should be safe for the next ten minutes or so.¡±


    ¡°Is that really enough time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s plenty of time,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°We just cleared fifteen kilometers. Rebehka, let¡¯s keep driving, just to be safe. In the meantime, I¡¯ll contact the Genesis.¡±


    Rebehka nodded. ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The Transfer Captain nodded back. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here. Open channel: E.S.C. Genesis. ¡­Transfer Captain Tyrion to Genesis, come in! ¡­Transfer Captain Tyrion to Genesis!...¡±


    Kievkenalis glanced over at Kev¨¦rin warily. ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    ¡°¡­We¡¯re outside the jammers¡¯ range, right?¡±


    ¡°Considering that we¡¯re farther from the wreck than we were when we first beamed in,¡± Rebehka responded, ¡°¡­Yes, yes we should be.¡±


    ¡°¡­Then we have a problem,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied uneasily, ¡°¡­I can¡¯t contact the Genesis.¡±


    <hr>


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±


    ¡°Zzzz¡­ eh¡­ huh¡­?¡±


    ¡°Wake up.¡± Christean¨¦ shoved Dav¨ªdrius, knocking the Velocitechnic off of the console he was sitting on. He hit the ground hard before springing to his feet, fists clenched and knees bent in a fighting stance.


    ¡°What¡¯s goin¡¯ on?! What¡¯s¡ª where are the¡ª ¡­oh.¡± He slowly lowered his fists as he realized where he was. ¡°¡­Shit, I actually fell asleep?¡±


    ¡°About an hour and a half ago, yeah,¡± Christean¨¦ replied. ¡°Thought I¡¯d let you keep napping. But it¡¯s time to take the Ayas out now.¡±


    ¡°¡­So it is, so it is,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked after glancing at his HUD timer. He casually turned toward the glass protrusion on the back wall in which the Ayas sat. ¡°So, how are we doin¡¯ this?¡±


    ¡°I break the glass and yank the Ayas out, and then we run for it.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t need to run. The whole point of the plan is that the Earthians¡¯ll beam us out once the jammers go down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but what if they don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°¡­Still, with the crushin¡¯¡­¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, come on. It¡¯s actually a serious concern. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re giving the pure massiveness of Supercapital ships its due recognition.¡±


    ¡°Alright, fine. So we yank the Ayas, wait a second or two to be beamed up, and if we aren¡¯t, then¡­ what, you jump on my back and we high-tail it out of here?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, I hate runnin¡¯ with cargo¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡¯Running with cargo?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Tres¨¦d expression. Shut up.¡±


    ¡°You run with those Sword Box things all the time!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even close to havin¡¯ a person on my back. And in full armor, too. You¡¯re fuckin¡¯ heavy.¡±


    ¡°You only have to carry me for the half-minute it takes to exit the ship¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ long half-minute. That¡¯s a whole damn thirty seconds. Velocitechnics usually don¡¯t operate on those kinds of time scales. It won¡¯t take me a whole half-minute anyways, but it¡¯ll still be more than a couple seconds, and that¡¯s tirin¡¯, man.¡±


    ¡°Now you just sound pathetic.¡±


    ¡°Bah, just yank the damn Ayas already.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Christean¨¦ stepped over to the Ayas casing and stretched. ¡°You ready?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed impatiently. ¡°Damn it, Christean¨¦¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Three¡­ two¡­¡± A second later, he smashed the casing with his fist and then shoved his hand into the wall, scooping out the Ayas along with all of the machinery it was attached to. He tossed it to his other hand and shook away the loose wires and metal pieces before warily glancing around the environment. ¡°¡­We haven¡¯t been beamed up¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but nothin¡¯s happenin¡¯ either¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius was interrupted as the entire structure shuddered ¡ª and the room they were standing in tilted thirty degrees in the blink of an eye, catapulting both Chaotics through the air.


    ¡°Whoa¡ª!¡± Christean¨¦ barely caught himself against the far wall, but dropped the Ayas in the process. ¡°Shit, Dav¨ªdrius¡ª!¡±


    The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°Damn, you weren¡¯t wrong.¡± In a split second he jumped over to the Ayas, snatched it up off the ground, and then dashed back to Christean¨¦, who quickly jumped on his back. ¡°Oof!¡± Dav¨ªdrius reflexively yelped, and then shifted his weight to deal with carrying Christean¨¦. ¡°This is gonna be fun¡­¡±


    The next second, he shoved off with his foot and blasted down the passageway Kaon¨¦ had created, just in time to escape the room as the ceiling collapsed.


    ¡°Whoa¡ª! Shit!¡± Christean¨¦ whooped as Dav¨ªdrius sped down the tunnel. ¡°How the fuck can you react while going this fast?!¡±


    ¡°By you shuttin¡¯ up!!¡± the Tres¨¦dian snapped, ¡°now hold tight!!¡±


    ¡°Whoa¡ª!¡± Christean¨¦ yelped as Dav¨ªdrius side-stepped to the left to avoid a portion of the wall that had snapped inward. He then flipped over a crumpling patch of steel before hitting the ground and taking off again, bowling through loose debris haphazardly while managing to keep his footing with markedly inhuman reaction speeds.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°Hope you don¡¯t throw up easily.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡ª?!¡± Christean¨¦ had no time at all to react before Dav¨ªdrius leaped forwards, spun halfway around midair to plant his feet against the far wall, and then launched himself downward, where he immediately caught himself on the platform below before blasting off again down the continuing tunnel.


    ¡°They said they were gonna make a damned straight path!¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Shit!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius quickly put his right foot forward and slammed it into the ground, tearing the steel floor as he screeched to a quick halt directly in front of a completely blocked passage.


    ¡°¡­Well, fuck,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered. ¡°The path¡¯s blocked.¡±


    ¡°Shit. Shit, shit¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he glanced left and right and then backward. ¡°The tunnels behind us are already collapsin¡¯. What now?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª look out!!¡± Christean¨¦ leaped off of Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s back, planting his feet solidly on the ground before raising his fists just in time to hold up the collapsing ceiling.


    ¡°¡­Shit. We¡¯re fucked,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered as he crawled into the open space Christean¨¦ had managed to preserve.


    ¡°Ye¡­ah¡­ I¡¯d¡­ fuckin¡¯ say so,¡± the Forcetechnic growled, ¡°this¡­ fuckin¡¯¡­ heavy!... ¡­Huh?¡±


    A brief flash of light filled the Introtechnics¡¯ visions before fading away, revealing the drab gray of the Genesis¡¯ bridge instead of the dark Deathnought interior.


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at his new surroundings, processing them for a half a second before leaping into the air and pumping his fists. ¡°WE LIVED!¡±


    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Christean¨¦ collapsed backwards onto his bottom as he disengaged his armor¡¯s shielding and removed the helmet. ¡°¡­Oh, man! Fresh air!¡±


    ¡°Well, the two of you sure look exhausted,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked, approaching from the rear of the bridge.


    ¡°Well no shit!¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned to glare at the Transfer Captain. ¡°We only had to run for our fuckin¡¯ lives ¡®cause you were half a minute late!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a quick turn to hostility,¡± Rebehka interjected as she stepped up next to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Do you have the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Oh sure, ask about the Ayas before you ask about us¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re clearly fine.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well you¡¯re clearly¡­ uh¡­ stupid.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really, Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°Fuck it.¡± He tossed the Ayas to Kev¨¦rin as he stepped past and began walking toward the bridge exit. ¡°Imma eat a huge fuckin¡¯ lunch and spend the next eighteen hours sleepin¡¯. Don¡¯t disturb me or I¡¯ll fuckin¡¯ neuter you.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka turned to watch him leave, their expressions a combination of amusement and irritation.


    ¡°But actually, though,¡± Christean¨¦ spoke up, drawing their attention to him. ¡°What was with the delay? Two seconds later and the both of us would¡¯ve been crushed.¡±


    ¡°We were forced to engage a small Riaxen squadron,¡± Captain Krick explained as he stepped forward in between Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka. ¡°They drew us out of position. We defeated them, handily, but we weren¡¯t able to return until a few minutes ago. Luckily, we were just in time to beam up the rest of your group and hear out the Transfer Captain¡¯s plan. Barely had time to prep our beaming sensors. I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t pull you out sooner.¡±


    Christean¨¦ sighed. ¡°¡­Well, better than dead, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Better than dead, indeed!¡± Krick smirked. ¡°Now go get washed and rested up, all of you. I¡¯ve a couple more things to take care of with the allied fleet, and then it¡¯s back to Nimalia to report on the situation.¡± The Captain then turned his eye to the light green gemstone in Kev¨¦rin¡¯s hands. ¡°A Chaos Ayas, huh¡­ I¡¯m glad we got something valuable from this whole ordeal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°Now here¡¯s hoping it was worth it¡­¡±


    <hr>


    2 Days Later


    ¡°General Regek! I¡¯m surprised that this is the first I¡¯ve seen of you this whole time!¡±


    ¡°¡­Greetings, Greant,¡± Regek replied, turning away from the Genesis¡¯s bridge window to face the large, dark-skinned Citan man. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to avoid you, of course. I was just spending the time resting up. Taking down a Deathnought is a tiresome task, after all.¡±


    ¡°And I must commend you for that. I¡¯d never have been able to do that myself!¡± Greant exclaimed. His expression then turned solemn. ¡°And what of Commander Jeran? Did she truly perish in the wreck?¡±


    Regek paused for a moment before turning back to the bridge window, staring at the star background and the planet of Nimalia below. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, Greant. There was little I could do.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see¡­¡± The Sector 1 General heaved a lofty sigh. ¡°That is¡­ unfortunate. We¡¯ve lost a valuable woman, and a valuable leader¡­ and, valuable time.¡±


    ¡°She knew what she was getting into, Greant,¡± Regek replied, ¡°she already had the leadership transfer documents prepared before embarking on the Tyrnaus operation, in preparation for a situation such as this. She transferred the data to my suit before she passed.¡±


    ¡°Even in death, she had her wits about her.¡± Greant smiled forlornly. ¡°That will definitely expedite the process. I¡¯ll need to find a replacement, though¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯ll be no need for that, General. She recommended myself as the next Supreme Commander¡­ not you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really.¡± Greant glanced down at Regek. ¡°¡­I mean no offense when I say this, Regek, but quite frankly, I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    Regek sighed. ¡°As am I. I¡¯d be the first to admit that you¡¯re more qualified for the position than I. It was certainly a surprising turn of events.¡± He turned around as the bridge door opened, revealing Chief Captain Krick. ¡°¡­But let us discuss this later. It¡¯s unbecoming to talk of such matters in front of our hosts.¡±


    ¡°Aha! Yes, of course. Couldn¡¯t have said it better myself!¡±


    ¡°I see the two of you are getting along fine,¡± Krick remarked as he approached the two Black Suns Generals. ¡°Anyways, sorry for the wait. I had a couple things to take care of. If you have nothing left to do here, then I can beam you down to the Nimalian Gateport. They¡¯ll have you back to wherever you need to be in no time, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for allowing us to ride on your ship.¡± Regek nodded politely. ¡°I¡¯m glad someone as capable as you was sent to investigate Tyrnaus.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I appreciate the compliment, but you ought to be thanking those Nimalians, not me.¡± Krick smirked. ¡°Anyways, if that¡¯s all¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Actually,¡± Greant spoke up after eying Hero Machina slowly filter onto the bridge, ¡°I wish to speak with the Nimalians for a moment. Regek, you can go on ahead.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Regek turned toward Krick. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Moments later he was replaced with a brief flash of light, and then nothing.


    ¡°Nimalians!¡± Greant called, ¡°do an old man a favor and come speak to me for a moment!¡±


    ¡°¡­Oi, oi, this better be good.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he walked down the gently sloped bridge aisle.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly worth a few words,¡± the General commented, waiting until all seven Chaotics had stepped within earshot. He then lowered his voice, muttering, ¡°I know you found the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wha¡­ what? What are you talking about?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily.


    ¡°I know that, for some reason, you decided to hide the Ayas from Regek. And you decided to hide it from me as well, presumably since we¡¯re both Black Suns Generals. That¡¯s not unreasonable. It certainly wasn¡¯t difficult to attempt, given that neither I nor Regek were on the bridge when you returned with the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re not making any sense,¡± Siyuak¨¦n mumbled.


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you need to work on, it¡¯s your capability for subterfuge.¡± Greant smirked knowingly. ¡°I don¡¯t know for what reasons you chose to hide the Ayas from Regek, but you should know that he is not a stupid man. If he did not see through your lie completely, he at least strongly suspects that something is amiss. That, I can guarantee.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms as he regarded the General with a wary glance. ¡°¡­Why are you telling us this?¡±


    ¡°Just a friendly warning,¡± Greant replied. ¡°I don¡¯t entirely disagree with what you¡¯ve done, albeit for different reasons, I¡¯m sure. Anyways, if you ever need help ¡ª just throw me a line. Sector 1 will always be willing to assist the Nimalians!¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Rebehka glanced at Kev¨¦rin uneasily before turning back to Greant. ¡°We¡­ didn¡¯t really do anything for you.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! You rescued Master General Regek, and with him, a whole slew of documents and data that are important to the Black Suns!¡± The General then turned around to look out the bridge window again, his back to Hero Machina. ¡°Besides¡­ I would recommend against turning down help, either now or in the future. I suspect it¡¯s something we will all soon need¡­¡± He glanced back over his shoulder at Captain Krick. ¡°Captain! I¡¯m ready to go!¡±


    ¡°Alright. It was a pleasure to meet you, General!¡±


    ¡°Likewise, Earthian! I never expected you to be such a cheery bunch! I hope to one day see you again!¡± A moment later Greant disappeared, beamed down to Nimalia below.


    ¡°It¡¯s just us, then,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°The fuck did he mean?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Why¡¯s everyone gotta be so cryptic all the time?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed warily. ¡°We can figure it out later. Let¡¯s just get home, already. Between Rossindon and Tyrnaus¡­ I¡¯m exhausted.¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± Christean¨¦ snorted.


    ¡°¡­Right.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced back at Captain Krick. ¡°Uh, Captain, we¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡ª! Wait, wait a moment¡­¡± Krick¡¯s attention was suddenly drawn to a nearby console. ¡°¡­It¡¯s an incoming comm message. From Commander Nik¨¦yin.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°Why¡¯s she calling the ship? We were about to be planetside.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see,¡± Krick commented, and then ordered, ¡°open the comm line!¡±


    ¡°Opening comm line, sir! ¡­Line open!¡±


    ¡°This is the E.S.C. Genesis reporting,¡± Krick called out, ¡°Commander Nik¨¦yin, are you there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is she. And you¡¯re Chief Captain Krick, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Krick nodded in acknowledgment, though the gesture was lost over the audio-only call. ¡°Let¡¯s get straight to the point ¡ª why the call?¡±


    ¡°Some very significant developments transpired while you were away on the Tyrnaus operation,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied hurriedly, ¡°and I wanted to make sure you stuck around. This is something we could really use you and your ship¡¯s assistance for.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Krick crossed his arms warily. ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡±


    ¡°Well, in short¡­¡± Nik¨¦yin replied apprehensively, ¡°four days ago, the Exemplar and Sursum Drakkars launched a full-frontal assault on CSA space.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Krick scowled. ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I do. The galaxy has officially fallen into all-out war.¡±

 45 - Arrival

    Chapter 45 - Arrival


    6 Days Later


    ¨C Isdia, Solith 34, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Less than half an hour until arrival, sir.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm¡­¡± Chief Captain Krick nodded warily in response before swiveling his captain¡¯s chair around to face Hero Machina behind him. ¡°This is a pretty damn serious situation, Nimalians. The Drakkars attacking the Core Space Alliance head-on¡­ what are we supposed to do about that?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°Unfortunately¡­ there¡¯s not much we can do. The Drakkars aren¡¯t limited to Transpace travel, and they have beaming systems like you do. And that¡¯s just a small part of their advantages. If the Exemplar and Sursum Drakkars are actually working together, and actually mean to wipe out the CSA, then nothing short of a miracle can stop them¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Is that why we¡¯re going after the Ayas, then?¡±


    ¡°We already have Syn, Aldrace, Matl¨¦s, and Tanivas,¡± Kievkenalis remarked. ¡°That¡¯s four of the nine. If we can claim all of them, then it might actually be what we need to push back the Drakkars. In the very least, we can¡¯t let them get the Ayas¡­¡±


    ¡°And, secondarily, if we can find the Arc¨¢n Ayas, then we can use it to repair the Arc¨¢n AI,¡± Kev¨¦rin added. ¡°Then, maybe it¡¯ll be able to tell us what¡¯s going on with the metallic infection and the Chaos Quake. Like I said, though, those goals are now secondary to finding ways to stop the Drakkars.¡±


    ¡°Why not leave the Ayas to the CSA, then?¡± Krick questioned.


    ¡°The CSA are on the front lines. I think the Ayas would be safer with us,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°¡­In the very least, we need to get it out of the battlegrounds, and your ship is uniquely suited to do just that.¡±


    ¡°I hope you guys know what you¡¯re doing,¡± Krick responded with a frown, ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about the Drakkars¡­ they don¡¯t sound pleasant at all.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t. They¡¯re stupidly advanced and surprisingly difficult to counter in battle, mostly because of their ability to steal Ciei¡­ all of your intelligence and thought patterns. If they can lay their hands on you, it¡¯s all over.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s only regular Drakkars that we¡¯re up against, then we can probably fend them off,¡± Christean¨¦ mused, ¡°but if either Exdominor or Surdeus show up¡­ we¡¯re fucked.¡±


    ¡°The faction leaders? Yeah, I¡¯d heard that they¡¯re seemingly invulnerable to everything except each other,¡± Krick replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s not even half of it,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out, ¡°even without the invulnerability thing, Exdominor and Surdeus are both insanely dangerous to fight. Exdominor can instantly steal Ciei from a distance, and Surdeus is the only known living Chaos Conduit.¡±


    ¡°That means he can use every single Chaos ability,¡± Kievkenalis stated, ¡°including Time.¡±


    ¡°Is there any reason to expect that we¡¯ll encounter them here, though?¡± Rebehka questioned, ¡°given how many planets the Drakkars attacked, the leaders could be anywhere, if they even decided to join the battle themselves. Not to mention it¡¯s been six days since we entered FTL, who knows what could¡¯ve happened in that time¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Maasen because the Ayas Sensor detected an Ayas there,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated, ¡°the Drakkars have been around for far longer than we have; chances are, if we can locate the Ayas, so can they. And I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all if either faction leader decided to show up to claim the Ayas personally. They are immortal after all, so there¡¯s no real reason for them to stay off of the battlefield¡­ Hopefully, we¡¯ll arrive before they can. Six days is pretty long, even for a planetary siege.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Christean¨¦ scoffed. ¡°Maasen is a Siion Fortress World. That means it at least has a planetary shield generator array. There¡¯s no way it¡¯ll have fallen within six days, even against Drakkar siege.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean the Drakkars can¡¯t have found and extracted the Ayas in that time,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted, ¡°¡­but I hope you¡¯re right. With luck, we can be in, find the Ayas, and out within an hour or two¡­¡±


    ¡°With luck, aye¡­¡± Krick nodded absentmindedly. ¡°Given reports about Drakkar ship strength, and how this ship stood up during the battle in the Tyrnaus system, I¡¯m sure we can weather a day or two of Drakkar attack. The longer we remain, though¡­¡±


    ¡°We know¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°Just¡­ just use the Ayas scanner to try and find the Ayas. We¡¯ll try to figure out its most likely location from there.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me what to do.¡± Krick swiveled his chair around to face the bridge window again just as the ship exited Subspace, the outside gray-scale gradient being replaced with normal black. ¡°I¡¯m not the Captain of this ship for nothing.¡± He raised his voice as he began issuing orders to the bridge. ¡°Initiate the cloak! Locate the nearest CSA fleet and hook into their data connection! Begin examining the Relay Point data stream for updates on the galactic condition, particularly this system. Scan the planet as well; apply the Ayas scanner and narrow down the possible locations.¡±


    ¡°Maasen is still under Siion control,¡± one of the bridge crew replied after several seconds of tense silence. ¡°There¡¯s a three thousand-strong Siion fleet engaging a similarly sized Drakkar fleet ten thousand kilometers out, and according to the Relay Point data stream, there¡¯s an incoming Siion reinforcement fleet that¡¯s about four days out. We¡¯ve been denied access to the fleet data connection, but we¡¯ve been redirected to the command stream from Maasen¡­ the planetary shield array is still intact, albeit strained. It looks like Drakkar beaming tech can penetrate it, and there are Drakkar ground forces attacking several of the shield generators¡­¡±


    ¡°What about the Ayas?¡± Krick questioned, ¡°where¡¯s the Ayas? That¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡±


    A holographic display of Maasen appeared toward the front of the bridge before slowly zooming into a fifty kilometer by fifty kilometer section of the surface.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the primary shield generators,¡± Krick muttered, staring at the large facility in the center of the map. A couple seconds later, three marks appeared, all roughly twenty kilometers from the primary generator, with two of them lying on secondary generators.


    ¡°So the Ayas is at one of those locations?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Possibly¡­¡± Krick frowned as he read some of the scan statistics displayed to the right of the hologram. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of factors in play down there that are interfering with the scan results. In the very least, we can probably assume that the Ayas is in that area¡­¡±


    ¡°Well it won¡¯t be impossible to search at least, considering your beaming tech,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong¡­ but it looks like there¡¯s a group of five Drakkar Cruisers sitting just over that primary generator. I have no idea if the Drakkars will be able to see through the cloak, especially at the range we have to approach to beam you down.¡±


    ¡°We need to keep the Ayas from the Drakkars, though,¡± Kievkenalis insisted, ¡°and if they¡¯re hovering over the generator ¡ª that¡¯s even more reason to get in there as fast as possible!¡±


    ¡°I agree with you,¡± Krick replied with a scowl, ¡°¡­this just isn¡¯t going to be smooth sailing.¡± He glanced back at Hero Machina, noting that each of them were already suited up in their Chaos Armor. ¡°You¡¯re all ready for combat; good. Be ready to be beamed down with a moment¡¯s notice; expect it to happen soon.¡± The Captain then turned back to the rest of the bridge as he shouted, ¡°approach the scan coordinates at half acceleration! Apply eighty percent reversals within two hundred kilometers; uncloak at a hundred and open fire on the nearest Cruiser, then begin circling at ninety percent accuracy range. Ready all fighter squadrons for sortie, but don¡¯t launch until my mark! The moment we¡¯ve drawn their attention, beam the Nimalians down to the northern-most Ayas location!¡±


    ¡°Aye aye!¡± the entire bridge responded, bewildering Hero Machina with their united enthusiasm. The scanner hologram promptly disappeared, allowing clear sight through the bridge¡¯s window as the ship turned and began approaching the Drakkar ships. The following several minutes passed in tense silence as the Genesis accelerated toward the ships, prepared to ambush them.


    ¡°Two hundred kilometers! Applying eighty percent reversals!¡±


    ¡°Here we go,¡± Krick announced as he leaned forward in anticipation. ¡°Everyone, prepare for battle!¡±


    ¡°One hundred kilometers! Uncloaking; firing all weapons!¡±


    ¡°Alright guys,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°this is it¡ª!¡±


    By the time he finished his sentence, Hero Machina had been transported from the Genesis¡¯s bridge to the surface of Maasen below. Roughly a quarter of a kilometer in front of them, in the middle of a massive rocky field, stood the secondary shield generator, and all around it¡ª


    ¡°Drakkars!!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed, immediately blowing away a nearby pair of armored figures with a massive lightning shock.


    ¡°This is it, guys!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted as he blasted away another couple of Drakkars with flame bursts, ¡°press on to the generator! And don¡¯t allow any Drakkar to lay hands on you or it¡¯s over!¡±


    ¡°Time to go all out!¡± Christean¨¦ grinned before launching himself forward with his battlehammers. ¡°Overdrive: Omni Crush!¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Not now!¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted Kaon¨¦, ¡°the Drakkars don¡¯t need weapons or killing intent to do us harm; you¡¯d only be handicapping us! Save it for a worst-case scenario!¡±


    ¡°¡­If you say so,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded begrudgingly, but nonetheless complied.


    ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos Armor!¡± Kievkenalis shouted before pushing forward, ignoring the blasts from several Drakkar laser cannons as his armor of Chaos Energy absorbed the shots. He quickly began directing his hands toward various targets, calling out, ¡°Chaos Massive Impact! ¡­Chaos Strike! Chaos Strike!¡±


    ¡°Haah!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius slammed his foot down on a Drakkar before it even saw him coming, instantly flooring it and demolishing its armor and chest. He quickly drew two swords out of his new four sword harness and used the recently deceased Drakkar as a springboard into another nearby group, stabbing each of their hands before knocking them out of the way of Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n, who cautiously rushed forward side by side, issuing shocks and ice clubs left and right.


    Kaon¨¦ followed uneasily but quickly, constantly raising steel barriers behind the group to prevent any Drakkars from following and ambushing them. Suddenly, two Drakkars rushed toward the group from the right and attempted to ambush Kievkenalis as he was looking the other way, but Kaon¨¦ deftly plucked the Drakkars out of the air by their armor and flung them aside, smiling as she thought to herself, I¡¯m not useless anymore!


    In the middle of her thought a Drakkar came flying over her head before tumbling to the ground in front of Kievkenalis. Christean¨¦ quickly followed, both battlehammers grasped and raised over his head before smashing them down on the Drakkar the moment he landed, obliterating it and creating a two meter crater. He quickly began twirling his battlehammers and launched himself out of the crater, allowing Kaon¨¦ to cover it back up as Kev¨¦rin alighted on the ground and sent out two blasts of flame to his left and right, incinerating several approaching Drakkars.


    ¡°Who said Drakkars were supposed to be dangerous?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scoffed as he knocked away another three. ¡°The Riaxen put up more of a fight than they do!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, something doesn¡¯t feel quite right¡­¡± Rebehka responded warily as she flipped a few Drakkars away with an ice sheet.


    ¡°Ah, we¡¯re at the shield generator now, anyways,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked. ¡°Kaon¨¦, fence it off!¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± the Materiatechnic replied. She then raised a massive steel wall all around Hero Machina and the shield generator. The Nimalian Chaotics paused for a moment to take in the lull in battle before cautiously approaching the generator-housing structure, which stood nearly thirty meters away ¡ª only to be surprised as a hidden hatch directly in front of the structure opened up, revealing an armored helmet.


    ¡°¡­You aren¡¯t Drakkars,¡± the man muttered, and then exclaimed, ¡°identify yourselves!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re Hero Machina!¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°a Nimalian Chaotic squad, here with the Earthians to ensure that the Drakkars don¡¯t make off with the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re here to help?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Well we certainly ain¡¯t here to hurt.¡±


    The man paused for a moment before pulling himself out of the hatch, revealing his full-body armor and the distinct two-knee legs of Siions. He glanced around warily at the steel barrier Kaon¨¦ had erected before turning his attention back to Hero Machina. ¡°I¡¯m Colonel Saavis,¡± he commented, ¡°this generator has been under siege for the past couple hours. And now that you¡¯re here ¡ª I think the Drakkars may have caught onto where we¡¯re keeping the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Of course they have¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s in the area.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, just tell us where it is! I know you don¡¯t want to lose it, but worst comes to worst, better we have it than the Drakkars, right?¡±


    ¡°And how exactly can you get it off planet any more reliably than we can?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re here with the Earthians and their newest Battlecruiser. It has beaming tech, like the Drakkars. If we can find the Ayas, then we can secure it easily!¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, that ship. I¡¯ve heard the reports. ¡­Damn it. You¡¯re right. Alright, if it hasn¡¯t been moved, then it should be¡ª¡±


    The Siion was interrupted as a cloaked figure came flying down from above and grabbed his head, slamming him backwards into the ground and subsequently snapping his neck. The figure paused for a moment, crouching over the Siion¡¯s body, before slowly standing and looking up at the shield generator. ((What hubris¡­)) it muttered, though its voice didn¡¯t seem to carry through the air ¡ª instead, it came from within the mind, as if it were speaking directly inside the heads of Hero Machina. ((To think, that they could hide the Ayas from me, and in such an obvious location¡­))


    ¡°Agh¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, shivering uncomfortably from the sensation of another voice inside his head. ¡°¡­Is this what the Drakkars sound like?¡±


    ¡°¡­Everyone, get back,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered warningly.


    ((You would indeed do well to fear me. Many greater than you have fallen by my hand, and uncountably more have fallen before my armies. That you have not yet run for your measly lives speaks either to your unfounded confidence, or your blistering ignorance.))


    ¡°¡­I knew this would happen.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Just our luck to encounter one of the faction leaders¡­!¡±


    ((So you are aware of my identity!)) The Drakkar turned toward Hero Machina, revealing his heavy armor and black cloak. But unlike all of the other Drakkars that Hero Machina had encountered, this one¡¯s armor left his head and portions of his skin exposed, allowing all onlookers to see the distinguishing features of Exemplar Drakkars: thick hair-like quills on his head, a featureless face save for two beady black eyes, dark brown skin, and black arrow body markings. ((Ha. You know who I am, yet you dare suggest you can stand up to me, by electing not to run? Fools! I will teach you your grave folly of underestimating me, the leader of the Exemplar Drakkars ¡ª your folly, of not fleeing from the first thought of my name: Exdominor!))

 46 - Exdomination

    Chapter 46 - Exdomination


    ¡°Kaon¨¦!!¡±


    The Materiatechnic immediately seized Exdominor¡¯s armor, completely immobilizing the Drakkar. The rest of Hero Machina relaxed slightly, but instantly tensed up again and backed into defensive stances when the faction leader began to chuckle.


    ((I see you indeed brought a trapper with you.)) His head lowered ¡ª his thin, black, beady eyes glaring back at the Nimalians haughtily. ((Your confidence is, perhaps, not completely unfounded. But to not even be aware of your enemy¡¯s equipment before engaging them¡­)) He suddenly jumped backwards out of his armor as it disintegrated, holding its rough form only because of Kaon¨¦¡¯s continued concentration. ((¡­Is the very oversight that will see you killed!))


    ¡°Everyone, back off!!¡± Kev¨¦rin roared, immediately jumping into the air and blasting himself backwards with flames. Christean¨¦ quickly whipped around and launched himself into Kaon¨¦¡¯s steel wall hammer-first, blowing a hole through which Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n vaulted as Rebehka slammed Exdominor with a horizontal column of ice in an attempt to fend him off.


    ((So now you run!!)) the Drakkar replied gleefully as he smashed the ice column with his bare hands. ((Only now do you realize your errors. But you are too slow!))


    ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos Impact! Chaos Impact!!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, but Exdominor simply crossed his arms in front of himself and took the blows before sliding his foot back and then launching himself forward. Kaon¨¦ quickly snapped up the ground below him, knocking him into the sky before Rebehka created a vast array of ice spikes around her and then fired them at Exdominor. She was immediately forced to redirect her attention as two Drakkars leaped over her and Kaon¨¦ before whipping around and thrusting their palms forward; the Materiatechnic¡¯s short height allowed her to quickly duck under the incoming hand and rush away, but Rebehka was barely able to move before one of the Drakkars slammed her chest with its fist, immediately knocking out her energy shields. She recoiled in shock, unable to block as the Drakkar rushed in again to steal her Ciei ¡ª only to be blown away as Siyuak¨¦n barreled into the scene, channeling enough electricity through the air to immediately fry the Drakkar to a crisp.


    ¡°You okay?!¡± the Electrotechnic shouted back as she fired one of her grappling hooks at the second Drakkar and swung him around into another approaching Drakkar squad.


    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ thanks a lot.¡± Rebehka scowled as she looked down at her armor. ¡°Damn it, they blew out my shield unit¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Guys! Get back!¡± Dav¨ªdrius suddenly appeared on the scene, breaking one of his blades against a Drakkar¡¯s chest before using its body to rebound backwards, kicking it with such force that it flew back and into the approaching Exdominor. ¡°He¡¯s comin¡¯¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it. I¡¯ve got it!¡± Kaon¨¦ responded quickly, tearing out the ground underneath the four of them and lifting it into the air before flying back and away from Exdominor. However she was barely able to retreat ten meters before being knocked off her platform by an unseen Drakkar, her shields failing as her makeshift platforms fell to the ground, sending the three on-board Chaotics tumbling as well. Dav¨ªdrius quickly rolled to his feet, drew another blade, and engaged three of the nearest Drakkars as Siyuak¨¦n took a deep breath and electrically overloaded all of the powered armor in the vicinity, Drakkars and Hero Machina alike. Kaon¨¦ immediately used her ability to repair the Nimalians¡¯ armor as Christean¨¦ jumped next to her, slamming an approaching Drakkar with such force that he simply obliterated its entire torso. He then grabbed both his battlehammers, shouted ¡°Duck!¡± and threw them to the left and right; their tether connection to his armor caused them to swing around in a wide arc, flooring any Drakkars still standing after Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s attack.


    ¡°We need to keep movin¡¯!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed as he caught both hammers before they could wrap around Christean¨¦. ¡°Exdominor¡¯s¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Not following us anymore,¡± Kievkenalis interrupted. ¡°He stopped after Kaon¨¦ created those platforms¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin paused after blasting away the last few Drakkars still within the area. ¡°He¡¯s not? Then what is he¡ª?¡±


    The Pyrotechnic was interrupted as the secondary shield generator exploded spectacularly, sending debris flying through the air and emitting a fierce electromagnetic pulse that knocked out Hero Machina¡¯s armor again.


    ¡°¡­Fuck!¡± Dav¨ªdrius leaped back to his feet after Kaon¨¦ and Siyuak¨¦n quickly repaired the group¡¯s armor. ¡°What the fuck was that?!¡±


    ¡°Command: Contact E.S.C. Genesis!¡± Kev¨¦rin called, opening a comm channel to the Earthian ship. ¡°Beam us up, now!¡±


    ¡°Already on it! Get ready!¡±


    A second passed and Hero Machina found themselves back on the bridge of the Genesis, Captain Krick leaning forward in his chair expectantly.


    ¡°What the hell happened down there?¡± he questioned, ¡°it hasn¡¯t even been half an hour, and we already lost the secondary shield generator?¡±


    ¡°Exdominor showed up¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin answered uneasily. ¡°There was nothing we could do.¡±


    ¡°¡­It would figure,¡± Krick muttered, staring up through the bridge window at the continuing engagement with the Drakkar ships as he rubbed his chin in thought.


    ¡°At least, this probably means that there really is an Ayas here?¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°Which is worse, because now he¡¯s likely to find it,¡± Rebehka pointed out. ¡°We didn¡¯t even get a chance to look for the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°That Siion that Exdominor attacked was about to tell us where it was,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented. ¡°Did Exdominor steal his Ciei or whatever? Would he know where it is from that?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shook his head. ¡°Ciei doesn¡¯t include memories¡­ but it does include thought processes. If that Colonel knew how the Siions picked the Ayas location, then Exdominor does now, too. All he has to do is cause some significant change in the status quo and then look at how the Siions react¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that why he destroyed the generator?¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested.


    ¡°Maybe, but he could also have just destroyed it because he could¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s certainly a consideration, but there is a surprising amount of information you can learn about a shield array just from destroying one of the generators,¡± Krick countered. ¡°If you inspect how the array adjusts itself to redistribute the load and cover the new hole, then you can determine things like where the primary arrays are, or where the primary power source is. So, say, if the Siions had hooked the Ayas into Maasen¡¯s shield array¡­¡±


    ¡°Then Exdominor could find where it is by destroying a generator!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Krick nodded, and then ordered, ¡°check the array scanner backlogs! Trace the power flow. Is there any indication of an Ayas ¡ª higher than expected power spikes, a primary shield generator with significantly more output, any part of the array with higher load?¡±


    ¡°There is, sir!¡± one of the bridge crew quickly replied, ¡°all signs point to the primary shield facility directly under us!¡±


    Krick shook his head warily. ¡°¡­We should have expected as much.¡±


    ¡°But wait¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°The Ayas scanner didn¡¯t pinpoint the primary shield as a possible location¡­¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything. There¡¯s several factors that could have interfered with the scanner results,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out. ¡°A primary generator, though predictable, makes a certain level of sense; I¡¯m sure the Siions have it heavily fortified¡­¡±


    ¡°But no level of fortification can stop Exdominor,¡± Krick lamented.


    ¡°Not quite true. Exdominor¡¯s power is ranged Ciei theft. He does have some telekinetic powers, and when it comes to breaking through obstacles, he¡¯s stronger than most, but he doesn¡¯t really have enough power to break through military fortification on his own,¡± Kievkenalis countered. ¡°The generator is likely to have CSA beam-scrambling tech, too, even if it only works half the time¡­ the point is, they might stand a chance against Exdominor. Surdeus, on the other hand¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn it, don¡¯t jinx us.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Do you want another faction leader to show up?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t see any Sursum Drakkars groundside, so I think we¡¯ll be fine,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted.


    ¡°Can the seven of you handle going back to look for the Ayas?¡± Krick questioned.


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°Yeah, we should be fine. Like you said, we haven¡¯t even been in combat for half an hour.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Krick nodded back. ¡°¡­Now as you said, the Siions seem to be employing some level of beam-scrambling tech around the primary generator facility, so I¡¯ll have to beam you down a kilometer out. Can you handle that?¡±


    ¡°As I said: we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Well, if you say so. Prepare for beaming in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­!¡±


    <hr>


    5 Minutes Later


    ¡°Alright, just up this next ramp, the main entrance should be over¡­ the¡­ railing¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Fuck.¡± Christean¨¦ scowled as the two Earthian trucks screeched to a halt next to a metal railing. Nearly ten meters down and twenty forward was the main entrance to the primary shield facility ¡ª or rather, where it should have been. In its place was a large hole, the metal all around the entryway torn and shredded to bits. The only remaining signs of Siion fortification or resistance were several scorch marks and craters scattered around the metal courtyard.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°The Drakkars beat us here!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, leaping out of the truck and over the railing to the ground below. ¡°C¡¯mon! We need to get to the Ayas before they do!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted back as he landed with a roll next to the Pyrotechnic. ¡°How the fuck do you expect to find it? Just search every square inch? Sure, this ain¡¯t no Deathnought wreck, but still¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ I think I may be able to sense it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n commented as she jumped down from the ice platform Rebehka had created. ¡°I have the same feeling here as I did at the Deathnought wreck¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin turned to Kievkenalis. ¡°Can you sense anything?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Chaos Detect. ¡­I can see some Drakkars in the building, but I can¡¯t sense the Ayas itself.¡±


    ¡°Then for now, we¡¯ll follow Siyuak¨¦n,¡± the Transfer Captain ordered, and then glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n suspiciously. ¡°But once we¡¯re done here on Maasen, I want to figure out what¡¯s going on with you and sensing Ayas. That¡¯s not exactly an Electrotechnic skill.¡±


    ¡°Look, I agree with you for once, but we¡¯re also a little low on time here!¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out as he impatiently brandished two of his blades, ¡°we need to get goin¡¯. Now!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius is right,¡± Christean¨¦ insisted, grasping one of his battlehammers before twirling it in preparation for battle. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, lead on!¡±


    ¡°Right! Right. Um. This way¡­¡± The Electrotechnic stepped forward, quickly yet cautiously entering the shield facility through the large hole. ¡°¡­It¡¯s in that direction.¡± She pointed up and to the left. ¡°I think¡­ maybe a hundred or so meters away?¡±


    ((So you know where the Ayas is.))


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin turned to face the new speaker, only to be surprised as upwards of ten Drakkars suddenly surrounded Hero Machina. ¡°Where¡¯d they come from?!¡±


    ¡°I¡ª I don¡¯t know!¡± Kievkenalis frowned, uneasily snapping his attention from Drakkar to Drakkar, their faction identity obscured by their unusually heavy armor. ¡°I didn¡¯t detect any Drakkars this close to the entrance¡­ which could mean¡ª!¡±


    ((That your ignorance has caused your doom!)) a Drakkar interrupted before the entire group rushed Hero Machina. Dav¨ªdrius immediately reacted by roundhouse-kicking the first Drakkar who got too close, knocking it across the room. He then dashed forward, attempting to find weak points in the Drakkars¡¯ armor as Christean¨¦ simply began smashing through them, his fists and hammers flying about him in a haphazard whirl of devastation.


    Almost immediately after the Introtechnics began fighting, the rest of Hero Machina engaged as well, with Kievkenalis calling out ¡°Chaos Assist!¡± before attempting to force the Drakkars away and into ranged combat with several uses of Impact and Deflection. Kaon¨¦ also did her best to keep the Drakkars at bay, seizing two or three at once by their armor and thrusting them backwards, allowing Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n to issue high-energy blasts of flame and electricity to the helpless Drakkars. Rebehka quickly worked to freeze the Drakkars¡¯ weapons, forcing them into using melee tactics ¡ª which then failed spectacularly as she froze the very floor beneath their feet.


    ¡°¡­And that¡¯s¡­ that!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed some time later after obliterating the last Drakkar underfoot with his battlehammers.


    ¡°I thought Drakkars were supposed to be harder to deal with than this,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°I agree, this is really odd¡­ I mean, sure, infantry combat isn¡¯t exactly one of their strengths, but still¡­¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not complaining,¡± Christean¨¦ declared, ¡°I mean, even if they¡¯re easy to fight off, they¡¯ve still delayed us. Siyuak¨¦n, let¡¯s get going!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep telling me!¡± the Electrotechnic retorted as she turned in the direction she had initially pointed. ¡°¡­How do we get there?¡±


    ¡°Forget trying to save the base, we need to save time and plow right through it!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°Kaon¨¦! Forge a tunnel¡ª gah?!¡±


    The Transfer Captain stumbled backwards in surprise as a massive electrical pulse wiped out the shields of Hero Machina¡¯s Chaos Armor. He blinked confusedly and quickly attempted to regain his bearings ¡ª but not before a Drakkar jumped down from above and immediately thrust its palm forward, smashing through Kev¨¦rin¡¯s chest plate and then slamming his sternum. The Pyrotechnic¡¯s eyes instantly went wide in shock before he collapsed to the ground, the Drakkar withdrawing its hand from his chest.


    ¡°Wait¡­ what?!¡± Christean¨¦ spluttered, slowly realizing that the same fate had befallen Siyuak¨¦n and Kievkenalis. ¡°Shit, they¡ª!¡±


    In the middle of his exclamation Dav¨ªdrius burst forward, slamming his two blades into one of the Drakkars with enough force to simultaneously shatter both blades and overload the Drakkar¡¯s shields. He then blocked the Drakkar¡¯s incoming palms with his own before grabbing the Drakkar¡¯s head, forcing it down, and then kneeing its face so hard that its skull imploded. He tossed the corpse away and dashed over to the second Drakkar, flooring it with a single kick as Rebehka mercilessly flash-froze the third Drakkar, instantly killing it. She then froze the remaining Drakkar to the floor, immobilizing it just in time for Dav¨ªdrius to stomp it and demolish its spine.


    Kaon¨¦ quickly repaired the armor of the attacked Nimalians as Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius warily kept an eye out for more Drakkars. A couple seconds passed before any of the victims came to, with Kev¨¦rin moving first as he sat up uneasily and held a hand to his head.


    ¡°Urgh¡­¡± he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily before glancing around the room. ¡°Shit¡­ what the hell?¡­¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kievkenalis frowned as he jumped back to his feet. ¡°All I¡­ all I saw was a Drakkar drop down in front of me, and then¡­ what happened?¡±


    ¡°Some Drakkars tried to steal your Ciei, it seems,¡± Rebehka answered as she helped Siyuak¨¦n up, ¡°they were surprisingly fast¡­ if the ambush group had been that quick, I don¡¯t know if we would have stood a chance¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced at the three victims in confusion. ¡°Wait, wasn¡¯t your Ciei stolen?¡±


    ¡°It gets returned if you kill the Drakkar who stole it¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°¡­but, damn, that was a shock. I didn¡¯t know it was so, uh¡­ sudden.¡±


    ¡°Look, this is interesting and all, but this is all just more delays,¡± Christean¨¦ responded impatiently. ¡°The longer we stand around, the more likely it is we¡¯ll be attacked again! We need to find the Ayas!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ glanced at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Give me a direction, and I can get us there.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right. That way.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± the Materiatechnic exclaimed as she turned to face the direction Siyuak¨¦n had pointed. Without any further ado she began manipulating the building¡¯s walls, folding the metal out to form a tunnel through the entire facility. She rushed forward, haphazardly creating the tunnel around her as the rest of Hero Machina followed on her heels, all of them wary of further Drakkar attack.


    Several moments later, the tunnel opened up to a large room. Hero Machina jumped down to the floor below and took a moment to inspect their surroundings: a massive room of steel, nearly a hundred meters on a side and mostly empty, save for a sizable cylindrical structure built into the back wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s the primary maintenance unit,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked after his glasses identified it as such. ¡°We must be in one of the maintenance rooms.¡±


    ¡°Does it really need to be so big an¡¯ empty?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned incredulously.


    ¡°We can question Siion design decisions later,¡± Christean¨¦ insisted, ¡°we still need to find the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s here, actually¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n began approaching the back wall. ¡°¡­I think it¡¯s hooked into the main generator from here.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Kievkenalis affirmed, ¡°I can sense the Ayas from here. Definitely the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°So we got to it before the Drakkars?¡± Kaon¨¦ asked uneasily as the rest of Hero Machina followed Siyuak¨¦n up to the back wall.


    ¡°Looks that way,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded as he stepped up beside Siyuak¨¦n to work with the maintenance interface. ¡°¡­Yeah, it¡¯s definitely here. Right¡­¡± He entered a couple commands and then pressed a final button before stepping back, pausing for several moments as a wall panel opened up and a mechanical apparatus extended outward, revealing a pale blue diamond-shaped gemstone. ¡°There.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Ayas Arc¨¢n!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°this is what we need to fix the Prior!¡±


    ¡°Well, great, let¡¯s take it and get out of here,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied, ¡°no need to stick around any longer.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that simple¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned. ¡°We can¡¯t just take the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned to stare at the Pyrotechnic incredulously. ¡°Why the fuck not?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hooked into the planetary shield array, that¡¯s why! If we just disengage it with no warning then who knows what could happen. I already took enough risks to expose the Ayas, just so we could see which one it was.¡±


    ((And indeed, I must thank you for your efforts!))


    ¡°What¡ª?!¡± All seven Chaotics immediately spun around. Dav¨ªdrius drew his remaining sword and had already leaped forward before realizing just who had spoken, at which point he quickly backpedaled and grasped his blade defensively. He then scowled as he looked over the newcomer. The numerous hair-like spikes on his head extended downward and then bent upwards halfway, and all over his exposed dark brown body were red markings. In fact, the figure¡¯s only clothing was a dark cloak and a black and silver belt, from which several knee-length pieces of cloth extended, all hosting odd yet intricate black-and-red geometric designs. With no armor or energy shielding to speak of, he actually looked rather lithe and weak¡­ but when combined with his markings and arrogant stance, it was easy to determine his identity.


    ¡°Surdeus¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin hissed.


    The faction leader of the Sursum Drakkars crossed his arms and heaved his chest, as if sighing ¡ª though without a mouth to accompany the expression. ((It truly is a shame that your record and observation technology has advanced to the point of instantly recognizing me¡­ interactions with you Aldredanoids becomes so dull when introductions are no longer necessary.))


    ¡°¡­What do we do?¡± Kaon¨¦ whispered to Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°At the first opportunity, we run. Until then, play it cool¡­ don¡¯t try to excite him.¡±


    ((As if you could be capable of such a feat! I would be surprised if the lot of you could cause me to expend much more energy than I did trashing that regiment out front.))


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°You could hear that?¡±


    Surdeus chuckled slowly and purposefully. ((You dare assume I could not?))


    ¡°There¡¯s gotta be somethin¡¯ you can¡¯t do,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°there¡¯s no way you faction leaders can be as perfect as everyone says. The rest of your forces were pieces of cake, how hard can you be to deal with?¡±


    The Drakkar stared at Dav¨ªdrius for a moment before holding a hand to his face as he broke out into laughter. ((AHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Comparing me to any of those grunts you encountered in the field. The very thought makes me laugh!)) He calmed down and extended an arm forward, pointing directly at the Ayas. ((I certainly appreciate your sense of humor, but I would suggest you hand me the Chaos Ayas before I grow bored.))


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded firmly as he signaled for Kievkenalis to grab the Ayas. ¡°If you want it, you¡¯ll have to beat us. And to do that, you¡¯ll have to catch us, first!¡±


    ((Hahaha¡­ catch you, you say? Beat you, you say?)) The faction leader chuckled softly, and then suddenly stretched his arms out to the side, launching several Chaos Strikes ¡ª without calling them ¡ª into the walls and collapsing all of the room¡¯s entrances. ((You dare taunt me? You, a group of mere, pathetic little Aldredanoids think you could beat me?)) He gestured to himself with a slow and large gesture, as though beholding a king. ((The commander of this entire invasion force? The leader of the Sursum Drakkars? The galaxy¡¯s sole Chaos Conduit?! You dare assume you know more about being a Chaotic, more about Chaos Energy itself to beat not just any Chaostechnic but the eldest, most powerful, most knowledgeable Chaos Conduit who ever lived?! You know nothing! Just as you have no grasp of the true power of the Ayas, so too, do you have no grasp of the true power that comes with being a Chaotic! You cannot possibly comprehend the full power of Chaos Energy! Your disgusting ignorance flies in the face of your words and demonstrates just how unfit you are to hold any of the Ayas you so tightly cling to! You Aldredanoids do not know how well you have had it until now¡­ but now, now, I will take back that which rightly belongs to the Drakkars ¡ª I will remove all those unworthy of the Ayas from the face of the galaxy, even if it takes millennia to do so! Ahahaha¡­ how ironic it must be, for the Aldredas to once hold the same view. ¡®The night is darkest before the dawn¡¯ indeed¡­)) He grasped his cloak in hand. ((And so, now, everything¡­ will fall to darkness!)) He ripped his cloak off and discarded it in one smooth motion, revealing his armor-less body as he stood up straight and clenched his fists tightly. ((Everything¡­ will fall to CHAOS! OBLIVION!!))

 47 - Surdeus Ex Machina

    Chapter 47 - Surdeus Ex Machina


    ((CHAOS! OBLIVION!!))


    ¡°Agh!¡± Kievkenalis reeled back in pain, his entire body tense as all of the Chaos Energy in the area went erratic, inducing a painful, prickly pressure across his entire body. He clutched the Ayas Arc¨¢n tightly, having just ripped it from the shield apparatus, and sighed a moment later when the surrounding energy began to stabilize and he no longer felt any pressure. ¡°Agh¡­¡± he moaned, finally able to concentrate well enough to speak. ¡°What happened? How is everyone¡ª?¡±


    He was brought to his knees by a piercing roar ¡ª a roar that was quickly accompanied by two like it. Shit! he thought to himself, I know that roar¡­ damn, so someone did go berserk¡ª?!


    A blast of fire interrupted his train of thought, forcing him to quickly roll away. He jumped to his feet ¡ª and then instinctively clutched his forehead as pain shot through it. ¡­I almost went berserk myself¡­ I can¡¯t do anything¡­ A moment later the Chaostechnic managed to look up, slowly realizing that a battle was raging at the far side of the room as the sounds of shouts and metal screeches began registering in his ears. What¡­ who¡­ who¡¯s fighting?...


    ((Chaos Impact!))


    ¡°Oof!¡± The air fled from Christean¨¦¡¯s lungs as he was flung across the room, tumbling along the floor before being stopped by the far wall. He quickly ducked to avoid a Chaos Strike and then unceremoniously rolled back to his feet just in time to dive away from several more Strikes.


    ((Why haven¡¯t you hit me yet, boy?)) Surdeus taunted as he casually launched attack after attack in Christean¨¦¡¯s direction. ((Are you not a Chaotic? Perhaps that could explain why you failed to go berserk. But it would not explain how you have managed to last this long. So what are you? A telepath? A shape-shifter? Something else woefully unuseful in battle?))


    Christean¨¦ didn¡¯t respond ¡ª he was too focused on dodging Surdeus¡¯s attacks. He attempted several times to block the incoming Chaos attacks with his battlehammers, but each time failed as the forces from Surdeus¡¯s Chaos abilities blew through Christean¨¦¡¯s defenses and knocked him around the room.


    ((Based on prior experience with you Aldredanoids, those weapons would seem to indicate Introtechnism¡­ I suppose that, too, would also explain your inability to stand up to me. To think, an Introtechnic, fighting a Chaos Conduit? How did you possibly think that you could beat me? You should have run off with your berserk friends. Ahahahaha! Chaos Slam!))


    The very moment after calling the attack, Surdeus slammed into Christean¨¦ with amazing force, launching him over twenty meters into the back wall and then demolishing the rest of the metal structure with the resulting shockwave. The Drakkar watched, amused, as the debris collapsed on top of Christean¨¦ and buried him. ((Such is the fate of those who dare challenge me: buried by their hubris, unable to so much as lay a finger on me¡ª!))


    Surdeus suddenly ducked to evade a metal panel that had been flung from the debris. He quickly reached out with his hand, grabbing a battlehammer by its handle as it flew by and preparing to smash his other hand into Christean¨¦¡¯s approaching chest ¡ª but the Forcetechnic reacted just quickly enough to smack Surdeus¡¯s hand out of the way as he called out, ¡°Overdrive: Omni Crush!¡± The activation of the Overdrive triggered an immense crushing force in the area immediately surrounding Christean¨¦, which instantly smashed Surdeus into the ground. The Forcetechnic then freed his battlehammer from Surdeus¡¯ grasp with one hand and prepared to obliterate the Drakkar with his other.


    ((Chaos BLAST!!))


    A massive blast of energy exploded outward from Surdeus, obliterating the ground beneath his feet and flinging Christean¨¦ clear across the room. He rolled violently into the far wall, coming to a stunned stop right next to Kievkenalis.


    Surdeus leaped up and out of the fifty-meter crater he had just created, coming to stand on the lip of the crater nearest the two Chaotics before resting his eyes on Kievkenalis. ((Oh, so I see one of your friends decided to remain as well.))


    Kievkenalis stared back at the Drakkar with a mixed expression of surprise and desperation before eventually calling out, ¡°Chaos¡ª hrngh!¡±


    ¡°Kevken!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, glancing at the Chaostechnic with concern as he suddenly doubled over in pain.


    ((Ha! So you¡¯re a Chaostechnic? And Oblivion did not cause you to go berserk? Now that¡ª now that is actually interesting!)) Surdeus chuckled amusedly, watching Kievkenalis slowly hobble back to his feet as Christean¨¦ stood in front of him protectively. The Drakkar¡¯s eyes slowly drifted to the Ayas in Kievkenalis¡¯s hand. ((It must be a product of the Ayas ¡ª it must be protecting you. To fail calling a single attack, however¡­ you must be close to the brink. Though to have such a strong reaction to an oncoming berserk episode is an ability onto itself! You must truly have potential! A shame, that you cannot battle me in your current state¡­))


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ going on?...¡± Kievkenalis croaked wearily.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, Kev¨¦rin, and Siyuak¨¦n all went berserk,¡± Christean¨¦ replied tersely, not once taking his eyes off of Surdeus. ¡°Rebehka and Kaon¨¦ went after them.¡±


    ((You should have gone in their stead!)) Surdeus remarked, ((I¡¯m sure they would have offered me a more interesting battle! ¡­I suppose I am to blame, though, for causing three of your friends to go berserk¡­ I¡¯m truly surprised more of you did not, though. For that, you have my praise.))


    Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°Do you want me to thank you?¡±


    ((It would be appreciated, but I know not to expect as much from Aldredanoids. No¡­ I think it will be thanks enough for you to serve as my plaything until your friend has recovered enough to fight me. Haha, now that will interesting, to fight a fellow Chaostechnic, backed by the power of an Ayas!))


    ¡°What makes you think I¡¯d play along?¡±


    ((Have you not been paying attention, boy?)) Surdeus retorted, and then narrowed his eyes into a sadistic glare. ((You cannot refuse my offer. You do not possess even one tenth the power required to refuse what I say! Now dance for me, like the pathetic worm you are! Chaos Strike!))


    <hr>


    ¡°Kaon¨¦!¡±


    ¡°I know, I know!¡± The Materiatechnic quickly transformed the ground all around Rebehka and herself into dirt, just in time to insulate them from the electrical surges of Siyuak¨¦n as the berserker haphazardly fought against Kev¨¦rin¡¯s wild blasts of flame. Rebehka pressed forward, rapidly cooling her burnt surroundings before freezing the floors and walls in an attempt to slow down the berserkers. She quickly raised an ice shield in front of her just in time to shield herself against a plume of fire and then jumped out from behind the shield, fashioning two blades of ice and using them to cut through further fire attacks. She was able to make little progress before Kaon¨¦ seized her armor from afar and yanked her to the side to evade Dav¨ªdrius as he blasted back onto the scene ¡ª where he then wiped out on the ice and smashed into Siyuak¨¦n with incredible speed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    As soon as Rebehka recovered, she leaped forward, moving her arms in a great sweeping motion as a gigantic slab of ice formed from the ground up and around Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n. The berserk Velocitechnic quickly fled the scene, but Rebehka succeeded in catching Siyuak¨¦n ¡ª until Kev¨¦rin suddenly bolted onto the battlegrounds, bathing everything in fire and melting the ice encasing the Electrotechnic, who immediately responded by sending out a massive electrical shock that blew out Kaon¨¦ and Rebehka¡¯s shield generators. The Cryotechnic quickly raised shields of ice around herself and Kaon¨¦ to protect them from the incoming flames and lightning strikes as Kaon¨¦ repaired their shield generators with but a single thought; she then began attempting to hold the berserkers still by taking hold of their armor. The shroud of Chaos Energy surrounding each berserker prevented her from grabbing the armor, however, and she was left to try and stop them by trapping them in matter. She succeeded in catching each of the berserkers several times, as did Rebehka, but each time one of the other berserkers would rush in and destroy the encasing with their rampant attacks, constantly setting the two non-berserkers back to square one.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Rebehka huffed, fed up with their lack of progress in stopping the berserkers. She quickly raised an ice shelter around herself and Kaon¨¦ before turning to the Materiatechnic impatiently. ¡°We need a plan.¡±


    ¡°A plan?¡± Kaon¨¦ responded incredulously, ¡°but we can¡¯t plan for anything. They¡¯re berserk!¡±


    ¡°We need to be able to trap all three at once¡­¡± Rebehka thought aloud, ignoring Kaon¨¦¡¯s remark. ¡°But Dav¨ªdrius is too fast, Kev¨¦rin¡¯s flames trump my ice, and Siyuak¨¦n keeps shutting down our armor¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t we just let them be? The Berserk State will wear off eventually. We should probably go back to help Christean¨¦ and Kevken¡­¡±


    ¡°And just leave the three of them here, unaccompanied? What if Exdominor shows up again?¡±


    ¡°If Exdominor shows up, do you really think us being here will change anything?¡±


    The two women paused for a moment as the ice enclosure suddenly cracked under the pressure of a massive blow from Dav¨ªdrius.


    ¡°...You have a point there,¡± Rebehka admitted, ¡°but we still need to try to contain them¡­ isn¡¯t that normal protocol for dealing with berserkers in a battle situation, anyway?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anything about having two Drakkar faction leaders show up on a single planet within an hour of each other is normal¡­¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ just try to stop Kev¨¦rin, alright? If you can get him, then I can catch Siyuak¨¦n and Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright. I¡¯ll try.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now get ready!¡± Rebehka shouted as she exploded the ice enclosure outward just in time to counter a burst of flame. She immediately froze the entire floor and then skated forward, freezing Dav¨ªdrius in a chunk of ice as he spun out next to her. Mere moments later, though, Kev¨¦rin bowled onto the scene again, melting the floor around him and half of the ice encasing Dav¨ªdrius before leaping at Rebehka with two fireballs in hand. She quickly encased her hands and forearms in ice before thrusting her right arm at Kev¨¦rin, grabbing his right hand as he leaped past and flash-freezing it to her own, simultaneously extinguishing his fireball. His momentum carried him forward and snapped his hand out of the ice mere moments afterward, but the motion flipped him onto his back ¡ª after which Kaon¨¦ quickly rose a mound of stone around him, leaving only his shrouded head exposed to the air.


    Without wasting a moment to look at Kev¨¦rin, Rebehka spun on her heel just as Siyuak¨¦n turned to face her. Kaon¨¦ immediately fabricated a steel shield in front of the Cryotechnic, channeling all of the electricity from Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s subsequent lightning strike straight into the ground as Rebehka quickly re-froze all of the floor that Kev¨¦rin had melted. Dav¨ªdrius then blasted past Siyuak¨¦n, diving at Rebehka and almost nailing her in the chest as she ducked under him. Kaon¨¦ rose the ground just behind Rebehka and trapped the Velocitechnic¡¯s torso in stone, leaving the rest of his body to flail about ¡ª until another electrical blast demolished the stone support and freed the speedster.


    ¡°I know you can be trouble sometimes,¡± Rebehka muttered as she attempted to freeze Siyuak¨¦n in place, only to fail as the berserker dashed away, ¡°but¡­ now? Really?!¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d Dav¨ªdrius go?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed as she slowly slid across the ice toward Rebehka.


    ¡°Huh¡ª?¡± The Cryotechnic turned toward Kaon¨¦ for just a moment ¡ª the same moment that Siyuak¨¦n leaped forward at Rebehka¡¯s back, the Chaos Energy shroud around her fingers hardening into claws. Simultaneously, Dav¨ªdrius reappeared, clutching at the ice with his berserker claws to stop himself and then lunge straight for Kaon¨¦¡¯s back. Just as the two berserkers fell on their prey, the two non-berserkers raised giant mounds of ice and stone, with Rebehka freezing Dav¨ªdrius solid just before his claws reached Kaon¨¦, and Kaon¨¦ trapping Siyuak¨¦n in stone just before her claws could reach Rebehka.


    The two women froze for a moment, and then, realizing what they had just accomplished, collapsed to the ground with a collective sigh of relief.


    ¡°We did it,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented wearily.


    Rebehka shoved the Materiatechnic playfully. ¡°See? I told you we could.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really doubt that we could¡­ I just doubted we had the effort or time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shit! Christean¨¦ and Kevken are still fighting Surdeus all on their own! We need to go back and help them¡ª!¡±


    Rebehka¡¯s thought was cut off as an explosion of fire erupted halfway across the room, obliterating Kev¨¦rin¡¯s stone trap as the berserker jumped back to his feet. Almost immediately after, Dav¨ªdrius obliterated his ice prison with a powerful kick, and Siyuak¨¦n disintegrated her stone trap with an incredible electrical pulse. The three berserkers quickly reconvened at the center of the room and resumed duking it out.


    Kaon¨¦ and Rebehka watched the spectacle in stunned silence before the former turned to the latter uneasily.


    ¡°I guess it wasn¡¯t actually that easy¡­?¡±


    ¡°Fucking damn it.¡±


    <hr>


    ((Chaos Strike! Chaos Strike! Chaos¡­!))


    ¡°Chaos¡ª!¡±


    ((BLAST!))


    ¡°Deflection!¡±


    A giant dome of red energy exploded outward from Surdeus¡¯ body, engulfing the measly sphere of deflection and tossing both Kievkenalis and Christean¨¦ against the wall. The Drakkar leaped out of the crater he had just created and looked around at the shield maintenance room, which had been completely obliterated during the battle. Most of the roof had caved in, revealing the cloudy night skies above the massively cratered and debris-covered flooring.


    ¡°Ungh¡­¡±


    Surdeus glanced back at the two Chaotics in front of him as Christean¨¦ stumbled to his feet, with Kievkenalis lying on the floor beside him, panting.


    ((You are certainly very resilient, to survive Blast so many times.)) The faction leader chuckled. ((But¡­ you are a Chaostechnic, and you are depending on the Ayas¡¯s assistance, so it is to be expected.))


    ¡°Chaos¡­ Assist¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered, and then wearily climbed to his feet beside Christean¨¦. ¡°¡­What¡­ do you want? Why are you fighting us?¡±


    ((Why am I fighting you?)) Surdeus echoed incredulously. ((Are you not holding the Ayas Arc¨¢n? It belongs to me.))


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. You could have ended us a dozen times now; why haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I wouldn¡¯t exactly point that out,¡± Christean¨¦ responded uneasily.


    ((Oh? Do you desire defeat?)) The faction leader crossed his arms and glared down at the two Chaotics haughtily. ((I hope you realize just how bold your inquiry is.))


    ¡°Why wait?¡± Kievkenalis pressed, ¡°you said it yourself; I¡¯m holding the Ayas. You aren¡¯t the only one after it; the longer you wait, the more time others have to come and steal it from you. So why haven¡¯t you taken it yet?¡±


    ((I had hoped that you would offer an interesting battle. But you appear to be master of only defense and support techniques¡­ well, if prey grows insolent, then the predator has no choice but to cease playing and go for the kill. Isn¡¯t that right?))


    ¡°Kevken¡­!¡± Christean¨¦ scowled and brandished his battlehammers defensively.


    ¡°You¡¯re stalling.¡± Kievkenalis narrowed his eyes as he backed into a defensive stance. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of something. What is it?¡±


    ((You mistake my intentions, boy!)) Surdeus growled, ((you seem to have it in your mind that I, Surdeus, possess fear. You believe incorrectly! I merely hold far more power than you could ever hope to achieve, and thought to allow you a glimpse of it before you expired. But your insolence displeases me, so I must now cut your preview short! For those who do not value the time that they have, will eventually succumb to the winds of time itself! Chaos¡­ Time!))

 48 - Chaos

    Chapter 48 - Chaos


    ((Chaos¡­ Time!))


    ¡°What¡ª!? Shit¡ª! Chaos Armor!¡± Kievkenalis quickly called, bracing himself for an inevitable follow-up to the Drakkar¡¯s attack. Not even half a second had passed before he was blown back by a massive force, knocking him into the wall behind him. He slowly slid down to the ground, disoriented, until he shook his head and jumped back to his feet. He quickly surveyed his surroundings until laying eyes on Christean¨¦, who stood still as a statue, his posture one of defensive apprehension.


    ¡­Time really did freeze¡­ Kievkenalis thought to himself, I knew that Surdeus could do this, but to actually see it with my own two eyes¡­ wait a minute, if Christean¨¦¡¯s frozen, then why aren¡¯t I¡ª?


    His thoughts were interrupted as he suffered another blow, this time from the side. Sent tumbling violently, Kievkenalis was unable to prevent himself from smashing into a pile of debris, protected only by the shroud of Chaos Energy Armor surrounding his body.


    ((SoyousomehowresistedtheeffectsofTimehmmboy?))


    Kievkenalis glanced up at Surdeus uneasily. The Drakkar¡¯s words seemed to run together, as if he were speaking so quickly that the spaces and pauses were simply omitted. He then quickly approached Kievkenalis, though his motions didn¡¯t look like a full-out run ¡ª they appeared more like a leisurely walk that had been sped up, as though it were a video on fast-forward.


    That¡¯s it¡­ somehow, I¡¯m experiencing a slower rate of time than Surdeus?


    ((Ohhowthetideshaveturnedhmm?)) the Drakkar taunted as he reached through Kievkenalis¡¯s Energy Armor, grabbed the underlying physical armor, and hoisted him into the air. ((Youthoughtyoucouldscareme?Youthoughtyoucouldgoadmeintoleavingyoualonebytauntingme?Howridiculouslynaive!))


    ¡°Ngh¡­¡±Kievkenalis had a difficult time parsing Surdeus¡¯s sped-up speech, but he was nonetheless able to tell that the Drakkar was gloating. Need¡­ to stop him¡­ ¡°Chaos Neg¡ªagh¡ª!¡±


    Surdeus slammed Kievkenalis into the ground mid-word, shocking him into silence. The faction leader then stooped down to glare at the Chaostechnic, his eyes glinting. ((Youcannotcontroltime.ThatabilitybelongstoChaosConduitsalone!Itbelongstomealone!ThefactthatyoucanstillmovealbeitslowerisindeedimpressivebutIamsureitissimplyprotectionontheAyas¡¯sbehalf.Allowmetotakeitoffofyou!))


    ¡°Wha¡ª!? No!¡± Kievkenalis scowled as Surdeus grasped the Ayas Arc¨¢n and yanked it out of his hands faster than he could react. The Chaostechnic quickly jumped back to his feet and stumbled away from Surdeus, keen to put some distance between himself and the Drakkar.


    ((Youcanstillmove.)) Surdeus¡¯s eyes narrowed. ((SoitisnotprotectionbytheAyas?Perhapsthereistrulyuntappedpotentialinyouyet.Itissuchashamethatyouwillneverlivetoseeit!))


    ¡°Chaos Def¡ªuagh!¡± Kievkenalis attempted to call out, but was cut short as Surdeus bicycle-kicked him, knocking him backward and into the air. The Drakkar then jumped after him, raising both of his arms such that his elbow spikes pointed downward and then jammed them into Kievkenalis, piercing and dispersing the Chaos Energy shroud and shutting down the shielding of the underlying Chaos Armor while simultaneously slamming the Chaostechnic down into a debris pile. Kievkenalis slowly and painfully began to dig himself out of the debris as Surdeus landed on the ground a couple meters from the pile, his arms crossed and chin raised in arrogance.


    ((Ihopeyouseethatvictoryisfutile!Whentimeisasimabalancedasitisevenmynormalmotionsseemtocarrymoreforcetoyousimplybecausetheyappeartohavemoremomentum!Youcannothopeto¡­))


    Damn it¡­ Kievkenalis grimaced as pain shot through his entire body and distracted him from the Drakkar¡¯s continued boasting. He¡¯s too fast, I need to get away from him somehow so I can use Negation¡­ but the moment I try to call an attack, he¡¯s on top of me! He glanced up at Surdeus, who continued to monologue but appeared to be wrapping up. He¡¯s not even using any Chaos Attacks or trying to steal my Ciei, so he¡¯s still toying with me! I need to wrap this up before he gets bored, but¡­ damn it, what to do, what to do¡­


    ((¡­soIshallnowshowyouthefutilityofvictoryagainsttheDrakkars!)) Surdeus shouted, crouching and then lunging forward with both palms outstretched. Realizing that the Drakkar now seemed more serious than he had before, Kievkenalis quickly spun out of the way, barely managing to evade Surdeus¡¯s incoming palms. He sprinted away, turning on his heel after a couple seconds just in time to see Surdeus coming and duck as the Drakkar leaped over his head. This is it! ¡°Chaos Neg¡ª!¡±


    But Surdeus proved more nimble than Kievkenalis expected as he slammed his left knee into the Chaostechnic from midair, knocking Kievkenalis flat and interrupting his Chaos Negation call. Surdeus landed on the ground some distance away and immediately spun around, lunging for the Chaostechnic as he attempted to pick himself up. Seeing the Drakkar coming, Kievkenalis quickly threw himself to the side, evading Surdeus by a hair; he then rolled back to his feet and stumbled backwards, unable to catch himself before he fell over on his bottom. Surdeus snapped his head toward the Chaostechnic and lunged for him again, but Kievkenalis managed to knock the Drakkar¡¯s palms away with his own before being blown backwards by a powerful kick. As he tumbled along the ground, he managed to utter, ¡°Chaos¡­!¡±


    Surdeus was instantly upon him, backhanding the Chaostechnic and sending him flying into the far wall. The Drakkar then dashed toward the Chaostechnic before thrusting his right knee forward, the spike mounted on his knee extended menacingly. Kievkenalis barely managed to dodge, leaving Surdeus to embed his knee in the wall and spend a second to remove it, a second which Kievkenalis quickly took advantage of by shouting, ¡°BLAST!¡±


    A massive dome of energy exploded from the Chaostechnic¡¯s body, engulfing much of the room and creating yet another crater. Kievkenalis quickly began climbing the crater up to the lip, not even bothering to search for Surdeus or spend time thinking about the new Chaostechnic type he had just unlocked as he finally muttered, ¡°Chaos Negation!¡±


    With all of the Chaos Energy in the vicinity negated, the flow of time returned to normal, and much of the room spontaneously began to collapse under the stress it had suffered during the period that time had been frozen. Christean¨¦, who was standing mere meters from the lip of the crater Kievkenalis created, suddenly began to look around in confusion.


    ¡°What the fuck happened?!¡± He brandished his battlehammers apprehensively, glancing down at Kievkenalis as the Chaostechnic threw himself up onto the crater¡¯s lip and then collapsed, breathing heavily.


    ((Ahahahaha!)) Surdeus laughed heartily, jumping out of the crater to Kievkenalis¡¯s left before turning to face him. ((You do not cease to amaze me! I did not expect you to take advantage of the mid-call pause in such a way. Blast is an excellent move to use for that as well, as it is a short, sweet word¡­ much like the destruction it can bring! Obliteration within a second! And then you took advantage of the lull to negate all Chaos Energy in the area and return time to normal, a feat only Sabotage types can achieve¡­ Bravo, I must say. Bravo! Your performance deserves nothing short of praise!)) The Drakkar moved to place his left hand on his hip as he nonchalantly tossed the Ayas up and down in his right. ((You are certainly an interesting specimen¡­ you are clearly not a Chaos Conduit, given your reaction to Time, and yet ¡ª you possess the ability to use multiple types of abilities. At least four, by my count. That¡¯s more than I have ever seen¡­ truly interesting.))Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°See? You can¡¯t beat us that easily after all.¡± Kievkenalis smirked painfully as he pulled himself back onto his legs. ¡°Even after all that showboating, I still stopped you!¡±


    ¡°You really need to stop pointing these things out¡­¡± Christean¨¦ muttered.


    ((Stopped me? Ha! Stopped me from what? Do tell!)) Surdeus scoffed, ((stopped me from stealing your Ciei, perhaps. But I have taken the Ayas from you, and with it, your ability to act in a field of negated Chaos Energy.))


    ¡°¡­Oh. R-right¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered uneasily.


    ((Your use of Negation indeed returned time to normal, but it also removed your ability to retaliate to anything I may now throw at you! By your own hands, you have been served defeat!))


    ¡°Kevken, what¡¯s he talking about¡­?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned warily, ¡°how¡¯d he get the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s backed us into a corner¡­¡± Kievkenalis scowled, but moments later his scowl slowly transformed into a knowing smirk. ¡°But it¡¯s not over yet!¡±


    ((You still intend to fight, even whilst standing in a vacuum of Chaos Energy?)) Surdeus shook his head in disbelief. ((I doubt I will ever truly understand you Aldredanoids¡­ but, so be it. If you cannot accept your defeat on your own, then allow me to force it upon you! Chaos! BLA¡ªagh!?))


    Dav¨ªdrius suddenly blasted onto the scene, plowing into Surdeus foot-first and sending the Drakkar tumbling along the ground ¡ª and knocking the Ayas out of his hands. The Velocitechnic then drew two of his repaired blades and brandished them defensively as Kaon¨¦ and Rebehka rushed over to tend to Kievkenalis and Christean¨¦. Kev¨¦rin and Siyuak¨¦n approached Surdeus on either side of Dav¨ªdrius, but didn¡¯t step any closer than the Velocitechnic.


    ¡°That¡¯s for making me go berserk again, asshole,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled.


    ((¡­Well,)) Surdeus muttered, ((¡­again, I find myself surprised by your actions. This is becoming a most annoying trend.))


    ¡°It¡¯s your own fault, really.¡± Kievkenalis smirked as he bent over to pick up the Ayas Arc¨¢n. ¡°I knew you liked to gloat, so when I used Negation I knew that you¡¯d spend all of the time that Chaos Energy was actually negated holding it over my head. Goading you on is easy, too, and with the Ayas present, I didn¡¯t have to wait as long for the Energy to return¡­ not to mention the added bonus of probably helping out the berserk situation.¡±


    ¡°It really did, actually,¡± Rebehka stated.


    ¡°Anyway, we have the Ayas now,¡± Kievkenalis remarked. ¡°We know your tricks. You can¡¯t win again.¡±


    ((No, he cannot¡­ but for the same reasons, neither will you.))


    ((Exdominor¡­)) Surdeus turned to glare at the other faction leader as he jumped down from one of the many holes in the roof, coming to stand nearly thirty meters away from both Hero Machina and Surdeus. ((Come to witness my pending victory, have you?))


    ((On the contrary, your penchant for gloating always has a way of netting you losses, Surdeus¡­ yet I never imagined that the trait was contagious.)) Exdominor stared down the Sursum faction leader and then turned his haughty gaze toward Hero Machina, who had all frozen with surprise and fear at being confronted by both Exdominor and Surdeus. ((You were rightly contrite and fearful when facing me, yet, here you are, exchanging meaningless words and taunts with this child of a leader.))


    ((Child? Only as compared to your great age, Exdominor. Your senility is most amusing.))


    ((You cannot bluff me, Surdeus. We are of the same age: ageless. Our minds cannot decay just as our bodies cannot die. But perhaps your incompetence has transcended these facts, hmm? Were you not in the middle of something before allowing yourself to be distracted?))


    ((Wiping out these pesky Aldredanoids shall be a simple task. I have been amusing myself by observing them, but I assure you, they present me no threat.))


    ((Do not overestimate yourself. They may be incapable of killing you, but they are surely capable of dealing you lasting damage. Do not make a fool of yourself, and I too, by extension. This¡­ partnership is by no means long-term. Or has your incompetence claimed that fact as well?))


    ¡°Some pair they are,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted as he watched the two Drakkars exchange words.


    ¡°Two faction leaders, though¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°We have a hard enough time against either on their own ¡ª we can¡¯t take them both on. We need to run.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s what we should have done in the first place,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted as she turned to Kaon¨¦, ¡°make us an exit, quick¡ªagh!¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!?¡± Rebehka exclaimed, running over to her friend who had just doubled over, clutching her head in pain. ¡°What happened¡ª?¡±


    The Cryotechnic was interrupted by the sound of a metallic clang as a football-sized chunk of metal fell down from the ceiling, drawing the attention of everyone present. It sat still for a moment before slowly uncurling and twittering, turning its bug-like appendages toward Siyuak¨¦n.


    ((A metal¡­ bug¡­?)) Surdeus muttered, and then froze as the entire room filled with the sounds of twittering and mechanical whirring. ((Is this¡ª!?))


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s the metallic bugs!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled as every hole in the roof was quickly lined by the offending objects. Several even began falling into the craters haphazardly, shoved over the edge by the sheer numbers of metallic creatures. ¡°Shit, the metallic infection was here? On Maasen?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve spent enough time here!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted, ¡°it¡¯s time to leave¡ª!¡±


    His exclamation was cut short as the room suddenly transformed from its wrecked state back to its initial, clean form, though with a distinct silver sheen that had not been present before. The transformation was immediately followed by something slamming into the ground from above, impacting with enough force to create a shockwave that knocked back both Hero Machina and the Drakkars ¡ª yet leaving no sign of its entrance on the floor.


    ¡°What¡­ who¡­?¡± Kievkenalis muttered, squinting at the object that had just appeared. After a moment of stalling it slowly rose to its feet, revealing its distinctly Aldredanoid appearance. In fact, it looked remarkably similar to the average Nimalian ¡ª plain black hair, plain tan face, plain body stature, but wearing an odd maroon long coat that draped down to his legs.


    ¡°HEH HEH HEH¡­¡± The figure chuckled after slowly sweeping his gaze across the room. ¡°I SUPPOSE I SHOULDN¡¯T BE SURPRISED. DRAKKARS FIGHTING ALDREDANOIDS¡­ OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS HAVE PASSED, AND YET, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.¡±


    ((You¡ª!)) Surdeus growled.


    ¡°OH YES, I CERTAINLY REMEMBER YOU, SURDEUS,¡± the figure snorted, and then turned his head toward the Drakkars. The core of his voice sounded nonthreatening, but it was layered over a slight robotic tone and an unnatural presence that suppressed any urge to interrupt him. ¡°YOU AND EXDOMINOR BOTH. HA! I¡¯VE WATCHED THE TWO OF YOU TROUNCE ABOUT THIS PLANET AS IF YOU OWNED THE PLACE, FIGHTING THE ALDREDANOIDS AS THOUGH YOU HAD ALREADY DEFEATED THEM. WHAT A FARCE! YOUR CLAIMS ARE LAUGHABLE, YOUR ACTIONS EVEN MORE SO. RULERS OF ALL? MASTERS OF CHAOS ENERGY? OWNERS OF THE CHAOS AYAS? ALL NONSENSE! WERE ANY OF THOSE STATEMENTS TRUE, WOULD YOU NOT ALREADY CONTROL THE GALAXY? YET, YOU DO NOT! IN ALL THESE MILLENNIA THAT I HAVE BEEN GONE YOU HAVE ACHIEVED NOTHING, APART FROM WALLOWING IN DULL INACTIVITY AND FESTERING IN YOUR OWN INCOMPETENCE. THIS RECENT ATTACK IS NOTHING MORE THAN A FACADE, AN ATTEMPT AT SHOWING THE GALAXY THAT YOU ARE NOT AS IRRELEVANT AS PERCEIVED!¡±


    ¡°Shit, I can¡¯t contact the Genesis¡­ Kaon¨¦!¡± Kev¨¦rin hissed, glancing at the Materiatechnic while the figure addressed the Drakkars, ¡°quick, get us out of here!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t! I can¡¯t¡ª I can¡¯t transform the walls¡­ eep!¡± She yelped as the figure in the maroon coat turned to glare at Hero Machina menacingly.


    ¡°AND HERE WE HAVE SOME ALDREDANOIDS.¡± He sneered. ¡°I DON¡¯T EVEN KNOW WHY I¡¯M BOTHERING TO ADDRESS YOU. THE DRAKKARS MAY BE MISTAKEN AND BLIND, BUT AT LEAST THEY POSSESS POWER. WHAT OF YOU? YOU HAVE NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL! MY REVENGE, SWEET THOUGH IT MAY BE, WILL BE WOEFULLY SHORT-LIVED¡­¡±


    ¡°Who¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered apprehensively, ¡°¡­who are you?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯M NOT SURPRISED THAT YOU DON¡¯T KNOW WHO I AM, CURSED DESCENDANTS OF THE ALDREDAS. ONLY THE DRAKKARS ARE ¡®IMMORTAL,¡¯ AFTER ALL.¡± The figure snorted. ¡°I AM NONE OTHER THAN THE LEADER OF THAT WHICH YOU AMUSINGLY REFER TO AS THE ¡®METALLIC INFECTION.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what?!¡±


    ¡°I AM MORCII!¡± He grinned as he spread his arms wide, gesturing at the incredible multitudes of metallic bugs twittering around him. ¡°LEADER OF THE NANOCREATURES AND HARBINGER OF IKIROM, THE SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE MORIKAI ¡ª THOSE WHO THE ALDREDAS UNJUSTLY SEALED AWAY FROM THIS REALM OF EXISTENCE! TODAY MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE GALAXY¡¯S ULTIMATE FATE ¡ª THE DOOM OF ALL! FOR I WILL CLAIM EVERY LAST CHAOS AYAS, AND I WILL FREE THE MORIKAI FROM THEIR PRISON! AND NO ONE IN THIS GALAXY, OR ANY GALAXY¡­ CAN HOPE TO STOP ME!¡±

 49 - Reveal of Known: Nanocreatures

    Chapter 49 - Reveal of Known: Nanocreatures


    Without so much as a moment¡¯s notice Morcii lunged forward, crossing the ground between himself and Hero Machina in the blink of an eye. Dav¨ªdrius immediately reacted, jumping to intercept the Nanocreature leader and block him with his swords, only to have the weapons obliterated under the force of Morcii¡¯s fists. The Velocitechnic quickly followed up by snapping his right knee up into Morcii¡¯s gut, throwing off his trajectory as he flipped over and onto the ground. Kaon¨¦ took advantage of the opening to transmute the atmosphere under the holes in the ceiling to a steel ramp which Hero Machina used to flee from the room, with Kaon¨¦ constantly forming an aerial walkway toward the outer reaches of the facility as Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka knocked away the metallic bugs with their powers.


    ¡°There go the Drakkars!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed with a scowl, glancing over as the two faction leaders leaped through the ceiling holes and began fleeing from the scene on their own.


    ¡°We need to make like them and get out of here!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder at Dav¨ªdrius as he attempted to fend off Morcii. ¡°Contact the Earthians already!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried¡ª!¡± the Pyrotechnic replied, but found himself interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius was suddenly flung into the group of Chaotics, knocking them off of Kaon¨¦¡¯s midair platform and to the barren ground below. The seven Chaotics landed scattered across the ground, left to recover from the impact as Morcii landed in the midst of them himself.


    ¡°DON¡¯T FOOL YOURSELVES INTO THINKING THAT YOU CAN ESCAPE ME,¡± he declared, ¡°I AM FULLY AWARE OF YOUR LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY. THERE IS NOWHERE ON THIS PLANET YOU CAN GO TO EVADE MY FORCES, AND THERE IS NO WAY FOR YOU TO LEAVE THIS PLANET WITHOUT YOUR TRANSPORT CRAFT FALLING INTO MY HANDS!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you think¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he subtly activated his armor¡¯s distress beacon.


    ¡°SUCH A BEACON WILL SERVE YOU NO PURPOSE,¡± Morcii taunted, revealing his ability to detect the signal. ¡°IF YOU SIMPLY HAND ME THE CHAOS AYAS, THEN I WILL MAKE YOUR DEATHS QUICK AND PAINLESS.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been threatened a lot lately, yet here we still are,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted as he drew and brandished his remaining two blades. ¡°What¡¯ve you got that those Drakkar leaders didn¡¯t, eh?¡±


    Morcii¡¯s eye glinted. ¡°I POSSESS THE ABILITY TO BACK MY WORDS.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they all say¡ª!?¡± The Velocitechnic snapped his mouth shut as he switched focus to blocking a sudden attack from Morcii. Kievkenalis immediately called out ¡°Chaos Assist¡± before launching several Chaos attacks at Morcii, forcing him to flip away from Dav¨ªdrius to evade the attacks. The Nanocreature spun around in the air as he transformed his arms into laser cannons and returned fire, immediately turning the tides on Kievkenalis and forcing him to duck away as Kaon¨¦ attempted to block the lasers with a variety of different materials. The moment Morcii returned to the ground, he transformed his cannons back into hands and then summoned several smaller Nanocreatures from within the facility, their metallic bodies zipping through the air until six of them hovered above Morcii¡¯s head. They then transformed into even more laser cannons, targeting and relentlessly firing at the other members of Hero Machina as Morcii himself lunged for Kievkenalis. The Chaostechnic quickly called out ¡°Chaos Fortified Armor,¡± but was too slow to evade the Nanocreature leader as he smashed his fist into Kievkenalis¡¯s face, instantly dissolving the Chaos Energy aura that the armor consisted of. While the Chaostechnic stumbled back from the attack, Morcii slammed his other fist into his chest, causing Kievkenalis¡¯s powered armor¡¯s shielding to flare up. The Nanocreature leader moved to punch Kievkenalis again but was suddenly flipped backwards as a slab of ice formed under him and snapped upward. Dav¨ªdrius dashed by just as the laser cannon targeting him fired, causing the laser to instead hit Morcii ¡ª only to cause no damage at all. After flipping midair and landing on the ground again, Morcii leaned forward and took off after Dav¨ªdrius, only to be intercepted and knocked aside by Christean¨¦¡¯s battlehammers. He rolled along the ground before stopping himself and jumping to his feet, ignoring a fire blast as he set his eyes on the nearest Chaotic: Siyuak¨¦n. She was still dealing with the floating laser cannons and did not see Morcii coming until he was right on top of her, decking her across the jaw and knocking her to the ground. He immediately jumped on top of her and drew his fist back, prepared to smash it into her face before he suddenly stopped¡­ and grinned sadistically.


    ¡°I SEE¡­¡± He chuckled. ¡°¡­SO¡­ YOU¡¯RE ALREADY ONE OF MINE¡­!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s eyes widened in alarm before she let out an incredible electric blast, forcing Morcii back and obliterating two of the floating laser cannons. The Electrotechnic quickly jumped back to her feet and stumbled away from Morcii, panting heavily.


    ¡°Who¡­¡± she muttered, ¡°¡­what are you?!¡±


    ¡°I HAVE ALREADY INFORMED YOU, ALDREDANOID!¡± the Nanocreature leader replied condescendingly, pausing for a moment to extend an arm to his right and effortlessly knock away Dav¨ªdrius, ¡°I AM MORCII, COMMANDER OF THE NANOCREATURES ¡ª THE LEADER OF THE FORCE OF NATURE YOU KNOW AS THE ¡®METALLIC INFECTION.¡¯¡±


    ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t even make sense,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered as he glanced at his glasses¡¯ HUD. Still no sign of the Genesis¡­ might as well try to buy some time¡­ ¡°The infection is¡­ well¡­ an infection. You can¡¯t ¡®lead¡¯ that! Not to mention you look nothing like anything metallic.¡±


    ¡°I WILL ADMIT THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY INCORRECT IN CLASSIFYING IT AS AN INFECTION¡­ THOUGH THAT ALONE INDICATES A SURPRISING DISCONNECTION FROM THE PRIORS IN THIS ERA. THEY WOULD HAVE ASSUREDLY REFERRED TO IT AS ¡®CORRUPTION.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Corruption?¡±


    ¡°YOUR ORGANIC BRAIN MAY BE INFERIOR TO THE LIKES OF MY OWN, BUT I KNOW THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST CAPABLE OF DEDUCTION. DID I NOT CALL MY FORCES NANOCREATURES? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF NANOMACHINES?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re made out of nanomachines?!¡±


    ¡°CORRECT!¡± Morcii smirked. ¡°I WILL AT LEAST GIVE YOU THIS, ALDREDANOIDS; I¡¯M SURE THE PRIORS WOULD BE MORE THAN WILLING TO DIVULGE SUCH INFORMATION ANYWAY, SHOULD YOU FIND ONE ¡ª AND I KNOW YOU HAVE. I, AND ALL OF MY FORCES, CONSIST OF NANOMACHINES AS OUR BASELINE COMPONENTS. THESE NANOMACHINES ALSO ENABLE ME TO CORRUPT AND SEIZE CONTROL OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BEINGS ALIKE¡­ THE ¡®METALLIC INFECTION¡¯ AS YOU KNOW IT IS SIMPLY THE PREFACE TO MY APPEARANCE, THE VANGUARD FORCE, MEANT TO COLLECT ENOUGH CHAOS AYAS TO SUPPORT MY APPEARANCE IN THIS REALM!¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure I follow?¡±


    ¡°YOUR ATTEMPT AT BUYING TIME IS PATHETICALLY TRANSPARENT, BUT I WILL NONETHELESS INDULGE YOU; EVEN SHOULD YOU ESCAPE ME TODAY, YOU WILL ALL FALL INTO MY HANDS EVENTUALLY¡­¡± He glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°SOONER OR LATER¡­ YOU WILL ALL BELONG TO ME.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty bold claim to make,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°I¡¯d rather kill myself than let you control me, much less anyone else.¡±


    ¡°THEN YOU¡¯D BEST DO SO NOW, BEFORE I REVEAL THAT IT WAS, IN FACT, ALL THANKS TO YOU THAT I WAS ABLE TO MANIFEST IN THIS FORM!¡±


    The Velocitechnic scowled as he tightened his grip on his swords. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE EVENT WELL.¡± Morcii¡¯s smirk deepened into a malicious grin. ¡°AN OUTBREAK ON THE PLANET YOU KNOW AS KOTAK¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Where we lost the Ayas Hastryth to the metallic infection!¡± Kievkenalis finished, realization dawning on his features.


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s that got to do with you, uh, manifesting?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned warily.


    ¡°MY VANGUARD FORCES MUST COLLECT THREE OF THE CHAOS AYAS BEFORE THEY CAN ANCHOR MY BEING TO THIS REALM OF EXISTENCE. THEY WERE ABLE TO FIND TWO ON THEIR OWN, BUT THE REST HAD BEEN CLAIMED BY THE DRAKKARS OR VARIOUS ALDREDANOID FACTIONS¡­ WITHOUT YOUR UTTER INABILITY TO CONTROL THE NATURE OF THE DARK AYAS HASTHRYTH, WITHOUT YOUR FLAWED EMOTIONS CAUSING YOU TO THROW IT AWAY, LEADING TO MY FORCES SUCCESSFULLY CLAIMING IT¡­ I WOULD NOT BE HERE RIGHT NOW!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    ¡°IT IS THE TRUTH, AND YOU KNOW IT, ALDREDANOID! I STAND HERE BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN INCOMPETENCE; THE RETURN OF THE MORIKAI AND OUR REVENGE ON THIS PITIFUL GALAXY RESTS ENTIRELY IN YOUR HANDS!¡±


    ¡°You¡­! Fuck that, we¡¯ll destroy you here!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius roared, charging forward haphazardly and slashing at Morcii¡¯s position faster than the rest of Hero Machina could have reacted. The Nanocreature leader took the slashes, two gashes appearing across his torso, before he turned to retaliate and blew Dav¨ªdrius away by launching his fists as missiles at the Velocitechnic. The Nanocreature quickly reached his arms up and called two of the floating laser cannons back to him, where they attached to his arm stumps and formed a new set of hands. He then leaped straight up into the air just in time to avoid a simultaneous fire blast, ice pillar, and lightning strike. Kaon¨¦ immediately transformed the air surrounding Morcii into reinforced steel and attempted to smash the encasing into the ground, but the Nanocreature leader simply tore his way out of the metal sarcophagus before diving toward Kaon¨¦, missing only because Kievkenalis jumped in the way and shouted, ¡°Chaos Deflection!!¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Flung to the side, Morcii flipped through the air several times before slamming his feet into the ground, thereby stopping all of his momentum. He then launched himself forward at Christean¨¦, who quickly began countering with his battlehammers. Dav¨ªdrius immediately joined and began attacking Morcii from the opposite side of Christean¨¦, but despite being beset by both Introtechnics, the Nanocreature leader easily countered all of their attacks before suddenly snapping his arms out with enough force to shatter one of Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s swords and sever the tether of one of Christean¨¦¡¯s battlehammers. Before he could attack again, Siyuak¨¦n fired both of her grappling hooks at him, catching him by his shoulders and then forcing an immense current through the new circuit. Morcii was momentarily stunned just long enough for Kievkenalis to hit him with a Chaos Impact right as Siyuak¨¦n disengaged her grappling hooks, sending the Nanocreature leader tumbling along the ground. He quickly stopped himself and leaped back to his feet before lunging back at Hero Machina, but not before Kievkenalis jumped toward him, shouting, ¡°Chaos BLAST!¡±


    The ensuing blast of energy created a fifty-meter crater that the Chaostechnic promptly dropped into. He quickly began looking for any sign of Morcii immediately after hitting the ground ¡ª only to be suddenly forced face-down into the dirt as he felt a foot on his back.


    ¡°YOUR ARMOR CAN PROTECT YOU FROM DIRECT TRAUMA¡­¡± Morcii muttered as he reached down and grabbed Kievkenalis¡¯s wrists, ¡°BUT CAN IT PROTECT YOU¡­ FROM THIS?¡±


    The Nanocreature leader suddenly yanked on the Chaostechnic¡¯s arms, snapping them out of his shoulder sockets before the armor shielding flared up and prevented his arms from deforming further.


    ¡°AAAGH!¡± Kievkenalis screamed in pain, instinctively attempting to curl away from Morcii as the Nanocreature¡¯s grin widened. He raised his foot, prepared to stomp the Chaostechnic¡¯s back before Dav¨ªdrius bowled into him and knocked him away. Rebehka immediately followed up by encasing Morcii in ice and then dropping a massive ice pillar on him as Christean¨¦ rushed to Kievkenalis¡¯s side.


    ¡°Arm¡­ arms¡ª!¡± the Chaostechnic muttered through clenched teeth.


    ¡°I know, I know, sit still!¡± Christean¨¦ responded urgently before grasping Kievkenalis¡¯s left arm and shoulder and then snapping them back into place, eliciting a painful yelp. The Forcetechnic quickly snapped the right arm back into place as Kev¨¦rin rushed up behind him.


    ¡°Kevken!¡± the Transfer Captain shouted, ¡°you need to pull back!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Heal¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered, and then paused for a moment to take a deep breath before climbing back to his feet. He looked down at his hands and moved his fingers, and then clenched his fists as he glanced at the Ayas Arc¨¢n, stooping to pick it up after dropping it while calling Chaos Blast. ¡°No¡­ no, we need to stop that¡­ that thing. Here and now. We can¡¯t afford to allow him to leave this planet!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin replied warily as he watched Kievkenalis and Christean¨¦ dash off toward Morcii. ¡°If this keeps up, he won¡¯t be the one to lose¡­¡±


    ¡°Haaaaah!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius roared, his foot slamming into Morcii and completely obliterating his left shoulder. The Nanocreature¡¯s left arm collapsed to the ground but quickly split into two parts that both transformed into levitating blades, both of which began harassing the Velocitechnic and forced him to turn his attention away from Morcii. The Nanocreature leader lunged for Dav¨ªdrius but instantly changed his course just in time to avoid being frozen in a chunk of ice; in the blink of an eye, he fired his right arm at Rebehka and simultaneously opened his chest cavity, exposing a large laser cannon which he used to sweep across the terrain and knock out the shields of Kaon¨¦ and Christean¨¦. The Materiatechnic quickly repaired the shield units, but doing so distracted her from Morcii just long enough for him to leap at her and punch her in the gut, flinging her backwards and knocking out her shields again. She quickly retaliated by raising chunks of metal up and around Morcii¡¯s legs, stopping him just long enough for Kev¨¦rin to charge in and blast him with high-temperature plumes of flame. Morcii simply took the attack, but the blasts superheated the metal bindings that Kaon¨¦ had raised ¡ª Rebehka immediately cooled the bindings and then rose thick ice pillars around them, anchoring Morcii to the ground.


    ¡°YOU FIGHT A LOSING BATTLE, ALDREDANOIDS!¡± Morcii taunted as he effortlessly deflected incoming attacks from Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦. ¡°YOUR URGENCY BETRAYS YOUR INABILITY. THE MERE FACT THAT YOU THINK YOU CAN BIND ME¡­¡± He easily broke out of his binds, shattering the pillars around his legs as he lunged toward Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­IS THE SUREST SIGN THAT YOU GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATE ME¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame!!¡±


    The Nanocreature leader was suddenly blown back by three white-hot streams of fire, each fusing together the nanomachines at his elbow, left knee, and stomach. Kev¨¦rin charged forward, bathing the entire atmosphere around Morcii with searing flame before creating two fireballs in his hands and smashing them into Morcii¡¯s face, blasting him backward several meters.


    ¡°YOU¡ª!¡± the Nanocreature¡¯s voice crackled as he stumbled back to his feet.


    ¡°¡­Ha, that¡¯s it ¡ª you aren¡¯t like the Drakkars at all,¡± the Transfer Captain remarked confidently, ¡°you¡¯re completely vulnerable. We can beat you!¡±


    ¡°¡­Y-Y-Y-YOU CAN-CANNOT-OT-OT-OT-OT POSSIB-POSSIBLY-Y-Y¡­¡±


    ¡°Hah! You villains are all words. So much for backin¡¯ ¡®em up, eh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    Morcii glared at Dav¨ªdrius and Kev¨¦rin as he attempted to straighten himself up, though was unable to do so as his knee was fused at a bad angle. ¡°AL-AL-AL-AL-ALDREDA-A-A-ANOIDS¡­¡± he muttered, his voice skipping like a broken record, ¡°I-I WILL WI-WI-WI-WIPE YOU FROM THE FACE O-O-O-OF THE GALAX-AX-AX-AXY-Y-Y-Y-!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Hero Machina, this is it! Get him while he¡¯s down!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted, issuing forth another several streams of fire to fuse Morcii¡¯s feet to the ground. Rebehka immediately flash-froze the Nanocreature before Kaon¨¦ suddenly snapped the ground under him upward, smashing into the frozen Nanocreature leader and snapping his upper body off of his legs and flinging him up into the air. Rebehka slammed another several pieces of ice into him, launching him further upwards as Kievkenalis fired several Chaos Strikes at him before uttering ¡°Chaos Charge!¡± The entire battlefield became charged with an incredible amount of electrical energy, the ground itself cackling with sparks as Siyuak¨¦n jumped directly under Morcii and pulled all of the energy to herself, triggering a massive lightning strike between her and Morcii, frying her armor but also dealing significant damage to the Nanocreature leader. Morcii began to fall back toward the ground, stunned, unable to counter as Kev¨¦rin rocketed up to him and then flipped through the air, issuing a flame-powered punch to the Nanocreature¡¯s back that launched him ground-ward, where Kaon¨¦ quickly rose his tattered body to eye-level by hanging it from a steel pillar.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got him now!¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked as he planted himself fifty meters from Morcii, Christean¨¦ doing the same on the opposite side of the Nanocreature leader. ¡°Ready!¡±


    ¡°Set!¡± The Forcetechnic shouted back as he began twirling his remaining intact battlehammer at high speeds.


    ¡°Mark!!¡± they both shouted, simultaneously launching themselves at the incapacitated Nanocreature leader, weapons forward, prepared to deal the final blow and smash his body to smithereens¡ª


    ¡ªwhen Morcii took on his intact form in the blink of an eye and snapped his arms outward to deflect and completely reverse the Introtechnics¡¯ momentum before either even realized what was happening.


    ¡°Wha¡ª what?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, frozen in place as the Introtechnics tumbled along the ground and failed to recover.


    ¡°AHAHAHA!¡± Morcii turned to glare haughtily at the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°WATCHING YOUR HOPES SOAR THE MOMENT YOU SAW WHAT YOU PERCEIVED AS AN OPENING¡­ YOU ARE SO PREDICTABLE!¡±


    He launched himself forward, reaching Kaon¨¦ in a split second and smashing his knee into her face, instantly knocking her out.


    ¡°DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHAT I SAID EARLIER?¡±


    He appeared in front of Kievkenalis, issued a one-two punch to his shoulders, kneed him in his gut, and then grabbed his head before slamming him to the ground.


    ¡°ABOUT HOW I WAS ANCHORED TO THIS REALM OF EXISTENCE?¡±


    He stooped over and grabbed the Ayas Arc¨¢n.


    ¡°DID IT NOT OCCUR TO YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT COULD MEAN?¡±


    A cavity opened in his chest and he casually placed the Ayas within it, after which the cavity closed and it disappeared from sight.


    ¡°DID IT NOT OCCUR TO YOU THAT I AM NOT OF THIS WORLD?!¡±


    He sped over to Rebehka, grabbed her arm, and yanked her to the ground before stomping her left knee, snapping it out of place.


    ¡°YOUR CONVENTIONAL BATTLE TACTICS MEAN NOTHING AGAINST ME! YOU STUMBLE AROUND, THINKING THAT YOU CAN CONTROL CHAOS ENERGY, THAT YOU CAN BEND IT TO YOUR WILL, BUT YOU DO NOT EVEN ENGAGE THE CHAOS STATE AGAINST ME?!¡±


    He practically warped to Dav¨ªdrius, slamming his palm into the Velocitechnic¡¯s chest before he could react and throwing him over onto his back.


    ¡°I AM FASTER THAN YOU!¡±


    He lunged toward Christean¨¦, slamming his fists down on the Forcetechnic¡¯s head with enough force to shatter his ankles and bury him halfway in the ground.


    ¡°I AM STRONGER THAN YOU!¡±


    He turned toward Siyuak¨¦n, ignoring her electrical strikes before returning them with far greater magnitude, completely shutting down her armor and forcing her to her knees.


    ¡°I CONTROL YOU!¡±


    He then rested his gaze on Kev¨¦rin, who stood frozen in place, unable to move an inch out of pure, terrified awe.


    ¡°YOU CANNOT GRASP WHO I AM, EVEN AFTER I HAVE TOLD YOU!¡±


    ¡°I, I¡­ wha¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin spluttered, ¡°what¡­ what are¡­?¡±


    ¡°I AM A GOD!¡± Morcii suddenly appeared in front of the Transfer Captain, grabbed him by his throat, and hoisted him into the air. ¡°HEAR MY WORDS AND LISTEN WELL, ALDREDANOID! I AM A GOD, UNSTOPPABLE, CAPABLE OF OBLITERATING ALL THAT YOU THROW AT ME! BUT I AM ALSO A HARBINGER ¡ª THE MESSENGER, THE VANGUARD OF THOSE FAR STRONGER THAN I! I WILL CONQUER THIS GALAXY AND CLAIM THE CHAOS AYAS, CLEARING WAY FOR THE MORIKAI, WHO WILL DESCEND UPON YOU PESKY INSECTS AND CLEANSE THE ENTIRE GALAXY OF YOUR PRESENCE!¡± He slammed Kev¨¦rin into the ground, almost knocking out the Pyrotechnic. ¡°SEND THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR UNWORTHY BRETHREN, CREATURE: I. AM. MORCII! MY DEFEAT IS IMPOSSIBLE ¡ª MY VICTORY, INEVITABLE! FOR IF YOU SUCCEED IN DRIVING ME OFF NOW, I WILL MERELY MANIFEST ELSEWHERE, EVEN STRONGER THAN BEFORE! I AM AS IMMORTAL AND TIMELESS AS THE UNIVERSE ITSELF, AND DESTROYING ME IS TANTAMOUNT TO DESTROYING ALL THAT WHICH YOU KNOW! NOW, I WILL REPEAT MYSELF ONCE MORE, SO THAT PERHAPS THIS TIME IT WILL SINK INTO YOUR HEAD: NO ONE IN THIS GALAXY¡­¡± He pressed Kev¨¦rin further into the ground. ¡°OR ANY GALAXY¡­¡± He began choking the Pyrotechnic, despite the flaring energy shields that attempted to prevent him from doing so. ¡°¡­CAN HOPE TO STOP ME!¡±


    The Nanocreature leader then completely closed his fist, only to find that he was simply grasping at air. He backed away slowly, staring at the ground which Kev¨¦rin had occupied a mere moment before, at which point he inspected his environment ¡ª and discovered that the rest of Hero Machina was nowhere to be found. ¡°¡­SO THE ALDREDANOIDS HAVE DISCOVERED THEIR OWN BEAMING TECHNOLOGY¡­ HA! THIS WILL BE INTERESTING, THEN. BUT STILL¡­ THEY HOLD NO CHANCE AGAINST ME!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­Captain! Transfer Captain!¡±


    ¡°Nnngh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin blinked several times, his vision blurry; he was only able to discern who was talking to him through the sound of their voice. ¡°Captain¡­ Krick¡­?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡± the Earthian Captain exclaimed.


    ¡°Where¡­ am I?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being wheeled to the ship¡¯s infirmary. You and your entire team were in terrible shape when we beamed you up¡­ what the hell happened down there? Where¡¯s the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Ayas?...¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked bitterly and then chuckled deliriously as he closed his eyes again, exhaustion overtaking him. ¡°Hah, what happened¡­ we got fucked, that¡¯s what¡­ haaah¡­ we¡¯re all¡­ fucked¡­¡±

 50

    Chapter 50


    ¨C Skydia, Maliath 24, 8030 ¨C


    ¡°Hi.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hey.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Did you want to talk to me, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was just¡ª I was just wondering how you learned to be so good.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Good?¡¯¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean. We¡¯ve only been here for three weeks and you¡¯re already outstripping all of our competition. Except me, of course.¡±


    ¡°Competition? This is just conscription boot camp¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but that¡¯s just all the more reason to try our best. Shine brighter than the rest now, and you¡¯ll look even better later.¡±


    ¡°¡­You really think that?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only here because I¡¯m a Chaotic¡­ nothing else.¡±


    ¡°I would¡¯ve said the same three, four years ago. But what better way to say ¡®screw you¡¯ to the system than to best everyone else and reach the top anyways?¡±


    ¡°Finding ways to not participate at all?¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°I guess. It¡¯d explain why you¡¯re such a try-hard, at least¡­¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª excuse me?!¡±


    ¡°Everyone else is thinking it. You¡¯re always trying to be number one, taking everything so seriously.¡±


    ¡°This is the military! Of course it¡¯s serious!¡±


    ¡°This is boot camp. It¡¯s one big joke, that¡¯s what it is¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡ª! I should¡¯ve known that a Nimaliakian wouldn¡¯t be any better than the natives around here.¡±


    ¡°Ha, is that your problem? Frustrated that your ice gets you nowhere in this damn forest of a nation? Try walking a mile in my shoes, try-hard.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all I¡¯d manage from that is getting my feet wet from all of your loner tears. Do you hurt yourself sometimes on all that edge?¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°Everyone else is thinking it. You don¡¯t talk to anyone. I thought it was because you were like me, that you had hidden potential that you couldn¡¯t take advantage of because everyone else looked down on you. Turns out you¡¯re just a loner, huh. Just as judgmental as the rest of them.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what I¡¯ve been through¡ª¡±


    ¡°I could say the same.¡±


    ¡°¡­Ha. Tell you what, Rebeh¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Tchir¨¦on. You haven¡¯t earned the right to call me by my first name.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure full of yourself.¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s some quote about a pot and a kettle that fits this situation.¡±


    ¡°Alright, try-hard. If you¡¯re so keen on proving you¡¯re the best and we¡¯re all idiots, how about a challenge? Two weeks from now, we have a duel. Best of three. Winner gets to make a demand of the loser¡­ any demand.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Not so confident now, huh?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯ll definitely take you up on that. I was just thinking of the most humiliating thing I could make you do when I win.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. The peace of mind I could bring us all by shutting you up is strong motivation.¡±


    ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t the end of this, Siyua¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Wanl¨¦on. You haven¡¯t earned the right to call me by my first name.¡±


    ¡°¡­Very funny.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s your joke.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Two weeks. In two weeks, I¡¯ll show you why I¡¯m the best!¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, try-hard.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, loner.¡±


    <hr>


    Present Day, 4 Days after Loss of Maasen


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Maasen... lost. And now Bouy¡¯Xis, Metorilis, and Gonaan are all under attack¡­¡±


    ¡°Things have gotten... bad,¡± Kev¨¦rin lamented, sitting back in the briefing room chair.


    ¡°Not just bad, things have gotten terrible.¡± Nik¨¦yin scowled. ¡°That¡¯s three Transpace Worlds under attack, and Bouy¡¯Xis is practically lost. This new threat, these Nanocreatures ¡ª their surprise attack on Maasen proved they have similar FTL tech to the Drakkars; they must be at least as fast as the Drakkars. But no one else comes even close, aside from the Earthians¡¯ one ship that they barely know how to replicate. If the Nanocreatures take out the Transpace systems, then they can completely isolate the CSA from itself ¡ª and the rest of the galaxy. Gonaan is the big one ¡ª if the Siions lose Gonaan, then the Citans and Dra¡¯kis get cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and the Siions are cut off from their own Primary Fortress World, Siionkagh. That could very well be an ending blow to the entire CSA. And that¡¯s only Gonaan, who knows if the¡­ Nanocreatures are about to launch attacks on other Transpace Worlds.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still tons of planets in the CSA¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily, ¡°it¡¯ll take the Nanocreatures a while to take them all¡­¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t need to, not right now. Their strategy is obvious. They aren¡¯t restricted by Transpaces, but we are. So if they take out the Transpaces, then they¡¯ve isolated everyone in the galaxy and can attack wherever they please without fear of reinforcements. It¡¯s classic logistics interruption. And there¡¯s nothing we can do to stop it¡­¡±


    ¡°I know Morcii was really powerful in person, but¡­ are all of the Nanocreatures really that powerful? Are they really giving the CSA that hard of a time?¡±


    ¡°It would seem that the entirety of the Nanocreatures are constructed of nanomachines, as you said the leader claimed. And they¡¯ve been developing right under everyone¡¯s noses for the past twenty years, masquerading as the ¡®metallic infection.¡¯ They can corrupt and seize control of whatever they touch, and their ships are surprisingly durable ¡ª not to mention far more repairable, as broken parts simply need to be replaced with more nanomachines¡­ I don¡¯t know where they¡¯re all coming from, but there¡¯s a lot of them, and they have the element of surprise. No one expected them. Especially not during a Drakkar offensive. The Drakkars have pulled back, thankfully, but the CSA is still in no shape to mount a solid defense. Chances are they lose Bouy¡¯Xis within the week, Metorilis soon after, and maybe Gonaan soon after that¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ shit. Is there anything we can do? As the Nimalian Territories?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ perhaps the one good thing to come of all this is that, as of two days ago, the Nimalian Systems Defense is official. I suppose impending doom has a way of scaring politicians into action.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, right?¡±


    ¡°Relatively. I was finally able to order a glassing of the Hazard Islands, and I¡¯ve placed them under quarantine. Hopefully, you and the rest of Hero Machina truly neutralized whatever that thing was a couple months ago. I¡¯ve sent teams to monitor Rel¨¦diaka as well, due to all of the infection reports from the forests. I also put the Ayas on a rotation, so that they¡¯re on no one planet for longer than three days. Hopefully that will throw off anyone who¡¯s trying to look for them with technology like our own Ayas sensor, but¡­ that¡¯s about all we can do. We can offer support to the CSA, but if the Nanocreatures come for the Nimalian Territories, then the NSD can¡¯t do much to stop them, given what we currently know. We aren¡¯t as advanced as the CSA, and our fleets aren¡¯t as numerous¡­ we¡¯d be toast.¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin leaned forward, holding a hand to his head in frustration. ¡°Is there really nothing we can do?¡±


    ¡°News is still incoming, and it¡¯s all chaos,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded warily. ¡°Everything I know for certain, I¡¯ve already told you. We can¡¯t act without more information, as we can¡¯t risk stumbling into an unknown situation and drawing the attention of the Nanocreatures to ourselves. In the long run, it¡¯s best to keep the Nanocreatures focused on the CSA. They can take it better than us, and we can at least provide support. Maybe we can convince the Earthians to share their FTL technology, or at least help them reverse-engineer it. If we get wiped out, though¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, this is just¡­ I hate feeling this helpless. What about Hero Machina? Is there anything we can do?¡±


    ¡°Tyrion, to put it bluntly, that Morcii individual ¡ª he devastated your team. You won¡¯t be doing anything until everyone¡¯s recovered, and that may not be for a while. Densalin, Yumach, and Tchir¨¦on may get cleared from the med center by week¡¯s end, but Kolst¨¦n¡­ he won¡¯t be out for several weeks, at least. Not with full-body fractures, and certainly not as a Forcetechnic. You and Wanl¨¦on were lucky, getting out of the whole situation without injury.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame yourself, Captain. You clearly did the best you could. But, let¡¯s face it; if even Exdominor and Surdeus ¡ª the two most dangerous Drakkar faction leaders ¡ª fled from this Morcii character, then you and your team didn¡¯t stand a chance. You stood your ground long enough for the Earthians to pick you up, and that alone is commendable, given the circumstances.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that we lost the Ayas to Morcii¡­ and it was Arc¨¢n, too! We could have used it to fix the Prior!¡±


    ¡°It is a shame and I am disappointed that the mission was a failure, but we can¡¯t afford to dwell on it. Not now.¡± Nik¨¦yin sighed and glanced around the room absentmindedly before turning back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°I will admit, I was less than pleased with your performances back on Teghica and Kotak, but you all have been doing very well since. You retrieved the Ayas from Rossindon, and you pulled an Ayas from the Tyrnaus system while also assisting the Black Suns. We have four of the Ayas now, including the Master Ayas ¡ª which may just be what we need to beat the Nanocreatures. And it¡¯s all thanks to you and your team.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re also the ones who let Morcii appear in the first place, by being negligent on Kotak¡­¡±


    ¡°Like I said, Captain, don¡¯t dwell on it. But I¡¯m only willing to offer you so much solace.¡± Nik¨¦yin sighed again, leaning back in her chair as she rubbed her temples. She then shook her head to clear her thoughts and grabbed the folder on the table in front of her. ¡°Hero Machina is on leave until all of you have recovered, so take the time to rest up. You¡¯ve spent the entirety of last month traveling around the galaxy, after all. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s ahead of us, and we all need to be in top shape to face it. Agreed?¡±


    ¡°...Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Rest up, Captain. You need it. You and the rest of Hero Machina both. Dismissed.¡±


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8030, Nimath 7, 20:32


    Journal Header: Fucking try-hard.


    Dueled with the try-hard today. Still getting on my nerves with her better-than-everyone attitude. Did you know, she told everyone about the duel? There I go asking questions again. Of course I would know this, I wrote it. I should be the only one reading it. If you aren¡¯t me and you¡¯re reading this, then I already know that you¡¯re reading it, and I know where you are, and I¡¯m on my way to end you now. Don¡¯t poke through a girl¡¯s private things.


    What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the try-hard. So she basically turned the duel into a huge betting match. Everyone was watching. ¡°I wanted them to know how soundly I defeated you,¡± she said. Ha. Well, I showed her. Sort of. I¡­ lost the first round. It was the crowd, I swear. They threw me off. I¡¯m not used to interacting with so many people. I spent six years alone in Unonin, but this city, L¨¦dia, is so much bigger. So much more crowded. There¡¯s too many people. I guess that¡¯s to be expected of a capital city, though.


    Damn it, I keep distracting myself. Um, right. So I lost the first round. I won the second one though. Floored that bitch in ten seconds flat. Can¡¯t beat electricity with ice, not that easily. We didn¡¯t get to finish the third round, though. We got interrupted by the boot camp captain. Turns out, when you tell a bunch of 16-year-olds about a secret duel, well, it doesn¡¯t stay secret for long. Who would¡¯ve thought? So now, thanks to that, we¡¯ve all lost the rest of the weekend. Have to work now. All thanks to the try-hard. I¡¯ll bet she feels real smug now, ha. Good for her we got interrupted anyways, I was totally about to kick her ass.


    Oh, shit, the captain¡¯s coming through. Can¡¯t let him catch me on this. Signing out.


    - Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    Hero Machina digital communication logs for Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:12


    Hey guys, just talked to Commander Nik¨¦yin. NSD¡¯s official, and the Hazard Islands have been glassed.


    That¡¯s about the only good news I have.


    We¡¯re on leave until everyone heals up, so get some rest. I¡¯ll have more details for you guys later.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    Oh, afterthought: someone bash Dav¨ªdrius over the head. Maybe a broken skeleton will shut him up about minor chest pains.


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:14


    Hey, you free? Wanted to talk about that whole Ayas-sensing thing you have going on.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re: Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:18


    fuck you


    in the ass


    with a hole fucking blade prizim


    .


    From: <u>Rebehka Tchir</u><u>¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:26


    Really, Dav¨ªdrius? Settle down.


    And that joke was in poor taste, Kev¨¦rin. Christean¨¦¡¯s skeletal injury is a serious matter; we don¡¯t know how well he¡¯ll be able to recover. Don¡¯t take his injuries lightly.


    Congratulate the Commander for me, though. I¡¯d do so myself, but they won¡¯t let me out of the med center.


    -Rebehka


    .


    From: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    Subject: Re: Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:28


    Sorry, can¡¯t meet in person. Personal reasons. Really tired, too.


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Re: Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:45


    settle down huh. shur thing here you go


    [<Link censored by internal server>]


    oh man the relaynet is a grate place so glad christean¨¦ showed me the ropes


    oh yeah. kev¨¦rin. christean¨¦ wanted me to tell you fuck you. ekcept not akshully. hes still out cold. pretty shur hed want me to say that tho


    .


    From: <u>Rebehka Tchir</u><u>¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 11:56


    I don¡¯t know what you tried to send, but if the base¡¯s server censored it, well. I don¡¯t think I want to know.


    Can¡¯t everyone just be civil for once? I know we¡¯re all stressed, but fussing at each other won¡¯t solve anything.


    -Rebehka


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(5): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:04


    I just wanted to try and cheer everyone up, but you¡¯re right. The joke was in bad taste. I apologize.


    In fact, Dav¨ªdrius, to show my apologies, I¡¯ll even give you a present. Here¡¯s a link to some comforting image albums, hope you enjoy:


    <link to an album containing several graphic Relaynet memetic images>


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:07


    Oh¡­ hope everything¡¯s alright. Mind if I ask a couple questions here, then?


    Namely, when could you start sensing the Ayas? I don¡¯t remember you mentioning anything when we found the Dark Blue Ayas back on Teghica, or the Black Ayas on Kotak. Do you know how you can do it? Maybe there¡¯s some electrical properties to the Ayas that we didn¡¯t know about before. Anyways, any explanation that you have would be appreciated.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(6): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:23


    rebehka ill be civil if you bring me some of those relediakian cake things that you made a couple months ago. that was some tasty shit id shut up for that


    kev¨¦rin fuck you. i was eating lunch damn it. howd your link get thru and not mine. fucking haker


    psst rebehka hurry up with those cakes i may or may not have ruined my entire lunch with my breakfast


    .


    From: <u>Kievkenalis Yumach</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(7): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:26


    Did someone mention cake? I want cake.


    -Kevken


    .


    From: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(8): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:30


    What the hell is going on here?


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    .


    From: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Re: Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:35


    I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t know. I just¡­ can. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s uncomfortable to talk about.


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    .


    From: <u>Rebehka Tchir</u><u>¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(9): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:42


    Dav¨ªdrius, I can¡¯t make anything. I¡¯m stuck in the med center. Even if I wasn¡¯t, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d cook for you. Learn some manners first. And Kevken, how would you even eat the cake? Your arms are immobilized. Wait, how are you even responding?


    Kev¨¦rin, could you take things seriously for once? I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t follow that link, if it made even Dav¨ªdrius throw up. I swear, the stuff you two find on the Relaynet.


    Siyuak¨¦n, it¡¯s nothing. Just ignore it.


    -Rebehka


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(10): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:48


    wow you really think that just cuz you had a proper childhood you get to tell me to lern shit


    but akshully. what the fucks up with this manners shit. why is everyone in this world so uptite. i dont normally miss tres¨¦d but damn


    .


    From: <u>Kievkenalis Yumach</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(10): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:49


    Voice-to-text. A nurse was nice enough to set it up for me.


    Does this mean there¡¯s no cake?


    -Kevken


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(11): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 12:55


    I really shouldn¡¯t have made that crack about Dav¨ªdrius, huh. How are you guys responding so quickly, anyways? If you have enough free time to get into arguments then maybe I should find some work for you to do.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:01


    Huh? Uncomfortable to talk about? Why? What does that even mean?


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(12): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:03


    woh woh woh you started this hole thing you cant punish me for responding to an insult. espeshally your insult. thats entrapment. or something like that


    im already home anyways so. ha


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(13): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:08If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Alright. Get back to the base, Dav¨ªdrius. I¡¯ve got some work you can spend that free time on.


    And don¡¯t say getting back here is too much effort. You¡¯re a Velocitechnic, it shouldn¡¯t take more than a couple minutes.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    P.S. Doesn¡¯t your machine have a spell-checker? How the hell are you managing to fuck everything up?


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(14): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:12


    fuck you thats discriminashun. i have my own injuries too anyway. broken ribs n shit. gotta stay still. doctors orders


    also i can totally run faster than that. i could reach the base in seconds!


    and i dont need no computer telling me what to do i can type perfectly fine thank you very much


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(15): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:18


    Your ribs were bruised, not broken. Those ¡®Doctor¡¯s orders¡¯ to stay still expired yesterday. And if it really only takes ¡®seconds¡¯ to reach the base then surely it wouldn¡¯t be too inconvenient to do so. Now get your ass up here before I involve the Commander.


    And no, you can¡¯t type perfectly fine. At least turn on auto-correct!


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Dav</u><u>¨ªdrius Wrikax</u>


    To: <u>Hero Machina</u>


    Subject: Re(16): Rest Up


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:22


    hmf not my fault i never lerned this computer shit growing up


    well whatever the bases network speed is faster anyways


    also fuck you


    .


    From: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    Subject: Re(5): Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:31


    Uncomfortable means uncomfortable and that¡¯s that. I¡¯m not talking about this anymore.


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Re(6): Can I talk to you


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:37


    Well, alright then. I¡¯ll leave you be for now. But this is important, Siyuak¨¦n. The ability to sense Ayas is pretty significant. I¡¯d like answers sooner or later.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Kev</u><u>¨¦rin Tyrion</u>


    To: <u>Rebehka Tchir</u><u>¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Can you talk to Siyuak¨¦n for me?


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 13:45


    What the subject says. I tried asking her about her ability to sense Ayas, but she got defensive and refused to answer any questions. Can you talk to her for me? See if anything¡¯s wrong? I¡¯ll be trying to wrench some information out of that Prior in the meantime, if you need me.


    Thanks.


    -Kev¨¦rin


    .


    From: <u>Rebehka Tchir</u><u>¨¦on</u>


    To: <u>Siyuak</u><u>¨¦n Wanl¨¦on</u>


    Subject: Have a minute?


    Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 14:05


    Hey, do you have a minute? I¡¯d like to talk to you. In fact I¡¯d just like to see you. I¡¯m stuck in the med center and you just waltz on home without dropping by? The nerve.


    Anyways, come up to the med center when you have some time.


    -Rebehka


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8030, Skydiath 22, 20:16


    Journal Header: I guess she¡¯s not too bad¡­


    Well, I guess I wasn¡¯t completely right about the try-hard. Recently got stuck with her on the forest floor after one of the other conscripts messed up and totaled the return elevator. We were stuck on the floor for a few hours. We got attacked by a few feral animals. I think they were afflicted by something called the ¡®metallic infection¡¯. It¡¯s not something you hear on the news often, or even at all, but I¡¯ve heard enough from the officers and seen enough from our scheduled trips to the forest floor that I can piece things together. Apparently things have been getting worse. Access to the floor might be completely restricted in a few months.


    Um, right. Distracted myself again. The try-hard, Tchir¨¦on. We had something of a chat. I guess it was more like an argument, at first, that is. I learned some things about her past. Nothing as bad as me, but she didn¡¯t have it all that great either. Being a master of ice in a place that values mobility and trees isn¡¯t exactly the best combination, I guess. But she decided that, instead of letting the doubters win, she¡¯d try her best, do well, and show them all that she can hold her own. That¡¯s what she told me, at least. It sounds reasonable, now if only she knew she didn¡¯t have to try to be the best at everything.


    I also told her about my own past, about how I was forced to move to Rel¨¦diaka from my home in Nimaliaka, without any of my family, or friends¡­ she didn¡¯t respond to it much at all. That is, she didn¡¯t really say anything about it. I noticed she stopped calling me a loner though. Well, not as often, at least. She¡¯s starting to mellow out, too, I think. She hasn¡¯t been as insistent on being the best at everything, not since getting stuck on the forest floor. Not sure if that¡¯s an effort on her part to actually be a better person, or just some leftover shock. If she keeps it up, she could actually be decent company one day.


    I guess I could make some efforts to change, too. I¡¯ve kept to myself a lot these past five and a half months, I guess I should make some effort to be more social. I mean, if the try-hard can change, then it can¡¯t be that hard, right?


    I¡¯ll think about that later. For now, the captain¡¯s coming through. Time to sign off.


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Hey guys.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Siyuak¨¦n.¡± Kievkenalis glanced toward the Electrotechnic as she stepped into the room. ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°Rebehka wanted to talk to me,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied as she looked down at Kievkenalis¡¯s arms. The Chaostechnic was bed-bound and his arms were immobilized in casts up to his shoulders, giving him a painfully stiff appearance. ¡°Are you feeling any better?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt, at least, but I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s because it¡¯s healed or if it¡¯s because of the drugs.¡± He sighed. ¡°If this were just a regular dislocation, I¡¯d have been out yesterday, but Christean¨¦ didn¡¯t really re-locate my shoulders all that well¡­ I don¡¯t blame him though, we were in the middle of battle, and he, well¡­ he¡¯s a lot worse off than any of us.¡±


    ¡°I heard it was something like a full-body fracture?...¡±


    ¡°It almost was, but his armor¡¯s energy shielding actually held some things together. He was¡­ mostly intact. The Earthians didn¡¯t have the right technology to properly stabilize him, though, and a couple days passed before reaching Nimalian care, so his skeleton is as good as shot. Last I heard, they¡¯re going through with a composite replacement. Full-scale operation to replace almost every bone in his body.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ pretty bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say. It¡¯s even worse since he¡¯s a Forcetechnic. They had to move him to a facility with an industrial-grade laser cutter, just to pierce his skin¡­ Though, his inherent durability was the only thing holding him together. If they did normal Chaotic surgery and stuck him in a CENT field, he would probably fall apart like a bag of sand. As is, if we had gotten him back here even a day or two later, he would¡¯ve been completely fucked.¡±


    ¡°Heeeey, that¡¯s a bad word, don¡¯t say that.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n paused and glanced over at Kaon¨¦, who was sitting in a hospital bed across the room and staring at Kievkenalis deliriously. ¡°Oh, Kaon¨¦, you¡¯re up¡ª¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Materiatechnic squinted at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­Do I know you?¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n glanced back at Kievkenalis uneasily.


    ¡°Head trauma after being knocked out by Morcii,¡± the Chaostechnic whispered, ¡°she¡¯ll be fine in a day or two, but until then she¡¯ll be a bit of an amnesiac. Combination of the drugs and the healing wound.¡± He then turned his attention to Kaon¨¦ as he spoke up, ¡°of course you know her. She¡¯s Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°See you a kin? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not¡ª ¡­what do you remember?¡±


    ¡°Remember what?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m asking.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to remember?¡±


    ¡°Anything.¡±


    ¡°¡­What was the question?¡±


    Kievkenalis turned to give Siyuak¨¦n an exasperated look. ¡°This is what I¡¯ve had to deal with for the past twenty-four hours.¡± He then shrugged. ¡°I guess it could be worse. Things like this are exactly what Assist is for. If I hadn¡¯t opened the battle with that move, we¡¯d all be worse off, I¡¯m sure¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­If you say so,¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied. ¡°Anyways, where is Rebehka?¡±


    ¡°Right here.¡± The Cryotechnic limped around the corner, walking through an open doorway on the opposite side of the room from the entrance Siyuak¨¦n had used before stopping to lean on a crutch. ¡°So you finally showed up. You kept me waiting for a while!¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± the Electrotechnic responded sheepishly. She then looked down at Rebehka¡¯s left knee. ¡°How is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, my knee?¡± Rebehka slowly moved her leg back and forth, her movements restricted by the mechanical cast bound to her knee. ¡°I can walk on it, thanks to the powered cast and the crutch, but it¡¯s still a little painful. Jogging or running is out of the question.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I remember, you asked me a question!¡± Kaon¨¦ suddenly exclaimed, sitting up straight and staring at Kievkenalis. After several moments, though, her expression faltered. ¡°¡­What was it, again?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to be out of here,¡± the Chaostechnic deadpanned.


    Siyuak¨¦n smirked in response to the exchange before turning her attention back to Rebehka. ¡°You wanted to talk to me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Come on. We can walk around the med center courtyard while we talk.¡± The Cryotechnic slowly turned back through the doorway as Siyuak¨¦n crossed the room.


    ¡°¡­You did ask me a question, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered as the two women left the room.


    ¡°¡­No, Kaon¨¦.¡± Kievkenalis sighed irately. ¡°Go to sleep.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n smiled in amusement as the two bed-bound Chaotics fell out of earshot. ¡°How long have they been like that?¡±


    ¡°At least since Ligdia night.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes. ¡°It was funny at first, but now Kaon¨¦¡¯s amnesia is just annoying. I¡¯ll be glad when she¡¯s back to normal. ¡­In fact, I¡¯ll be glad when everyone¡¯s back to normal,¡± she added as the two women stepped outside into the afternoon sunlight.


    ¡°Back to normal¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n echoed hollowly.


    Rebehka glanced at her friend with concern before slowly limping toward one of the courtyard paths through the trees. ¡°I guess this brings us to what I wanted to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what? Here?¡± Siyuak¨¦n quickly stepped forward and fell into stride alongside Rebehka. ¡°Rebehka, this¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Relax. The only monitoring equipment in the courtyard are cameras; no microphones. I checked earlier.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure, why would I lie?¡± Rebehka passed Siyuak¨¦n a concerned glance. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the middle of summer,¡± the Cryotechnic replied incredulously. ¡°How are you feeling ¡®fine¡¯ in a jacket and gloves?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n tugged uncomfortably at the aforementioned articles before looking away, toward the small pond in the middle of the courtyard. ¡°It¡¯s not that hot. Nimaliaka Central is farther from the equator than L¨¦dia is.¡±


    ¡°Not by much. Even so, you know that isn¡¯t the only thing that determines climate.¡±


    ¡°Hn.¡±


    ¡°How much worse is it? The¡­ infection?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s covered my entire arm, fingertips to shoulder. It¡¯s on my chest, too. And my neck.¡± Siyuak¨¦n rubbed her neck uncomfortably. ¡°Another week, and it¡¯ll be up to my face¡­¡±


    ¡°Has it gotten any worse since¡­ well, since the Nanocreatures appeared?¡±


    ¡°A¡­ a little. But it was getting this bad anyways. I never had much time in the first place¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. If anything, you have a better chance of overcoming it now than before!¡±


    ¡°How does that begin to make sense?¡±


    ¡°We know what the metallic infection really is now. And now that we know that, we can start figuring out how to actually stop it,¡± Rebehka replied optimistically. ¡°The most obvious solution is to just destroy Morcii and see what happens.¡±


    ¡°Destroy Morcii? Rebehka, were you not there when he crushed us?¡±


    ¡°I never said we had to. If we can find him on some other planet then we just have to throw a few orbital bombardment rounds at him. No one can survive a good glassing.¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s ever fought the Nanocreatures before.¡±


    ¡°True. But he didn¡¯t completely crush us. You and Kev¨¦rin got out with relatively few injuries, after all.¡±


    ¡°And Morcii got out with none.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you not been hearing the news, Rebehka? They¡¯ve attacked three of the CSA Transpace Worlds, and the CSA is losing. If they can¡¯t do anything, then we don¡¯t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. We still have time to come up with a solution. And, we have the Ayas! Four of them, at least. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too far-fetched to think that we can come up with a way to beat the Nanocreatures¡­ or at least a way to hold them at bay.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Trust me, Siyuak¨¦n. We¡¯ll find a way to help you. I¡¯ll find a way to help you. That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for.¡±


    ¡°¡­There is another way you could help me¡­ and everyone else, too.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°If¡­ if I do end up losing to the corruption¡ª¡±


    ¡°No. No, you won¡¯t. It won¡¯t happen. I won¡¯t let it.¡±


    ¡°Rebehka, it¡¯s not that simple¡ª¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what I told you back when I first found out you were infected? Even if your body loses, I¡¯ll just take your brain and store it until we can make you a new body. You¡¯ll be fine!¡±


    ¡°In any other context, that would actually sound pretty creepy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but I mean it. I won¡¯t let you lose. I won¡¯t lose you. And that¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡°¡­Do you really think you can do it?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. Come on, Siyuak¨¦n, you know me. I wouldn¡¯t say it if I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re reminding me of back when we first met.¡±


    ¡°Heh, well, if regressing back to my ¡®try-hard¡¯ stage is what it takes to save you, then I¡¯ll do it. Then we can become friends all over again! It¡¯s the perfect plan.¡±


    ¡°Ha, alright, if you say so.¡±


    ¡°I do say so.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks, Rebehka.¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned to embrace her friend.


    ¡°Ha! Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The Cryotechnic returned the gesture with her free arm. ¡°It¡¯s what best friends are for.¡±


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8033, Nimath 22, 21:39


    Journal Header: East Nimaliaka Research Trip, Northern Deepsough Region, Day 3


    It¡¯s the third night that Rebehka and I have been in East Nimaliaka, but I wish it were still the first. Everything is so¡­ different here. I guess environment can really change how a culture develops, huh? Rel¨¦diaka is all dense forest and huge trees, but East Nimaliaka is almost entirely plains, and it seems like the people here are accordingly more carefree and freedom-loving than people back in Rel¨¦diaka. It¡¯s really refreshing. It also makes me wonder what it¡¯s like back in Nimaliaka, where there¡¯s forest, plains, and mountains a plenty¡­


    The East Nimaliakian liaison that was assigned to us, that Christean¨¦ guy, he¡¯s a pretty laid-back person. He¡¯s made a couple jokes at Rebehka¡¯s and my expense, but he responded well when we replied with some jokes at his own. He¡¯s also shown us around town, pointed out most of the attractions that we can see here. I think I could like him, if only he took his work a little more seriously. Getting to see the sights is fun and all, definitely, but it¡¯s not the reason we¡¯re here. It¡¯s no wonder East Nimaliaka called for a couple of Rel¨¦diakians to investigate their metallic infection problem; it seems like no one here cares enough to do it themselves.


    On that subject, though, what we¡¯ve found is somewhat concerning. Rebehka managed to catch one of the infected animals earlier today and move it to cryogenic stasis, but it suddenly became active again and almost destroyed the pod before it came fully online. She had to completely freeze it through to stop it. Suffice to say we can¡¯t study that one anymore, not alive. We need to get our hands on faster-freezing stasis pods, it would seem. And, of course, we¡¯ve yet to actually learn anything more about the infection. We still don¡¯t know what causes it, when it first appeared, if there¡¯s any other symptoms beside the rashes and the increase in ferocity¡­ it¡¯s all so frustrating. I hope we reach a breakthrough soon. I hate being in the dark.


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    Textual Communication Log 80340602-001


    Beginning Timestamp: 8034, Skydiath 2, 14:50


    Communication length: 00:21


    Participant Alpha: Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion


    Participant Beta: Prior Aegis Arc¨¢n


    ¨C Begin Log ¨C


    Tyrion: I¡¯m back.


    Arc¨¢n: I demand to know why I have been further isolated from your computer systems!


    Tyrion: It¡¯s a precaution. With everything that¡¯s gone down recently, some of the higher-ups have gotten a little wary.


    Arc¨¢n: They removed my ability to communicate by voice!


    Tyrion: I guess they¡¯re paranoid?


    Arc¨¢n: They underestimate my power. And my relevance. You do, as well. Do not think that I haven¡¯t noticed that you are withholding information from me. Exactly what has ¡°gone down recently¡±?


    Tyrion: Alright then, let¡¯s get straight to business. Does the term ¡°Nanocreature¡± mean anything to you?


    Arc¨¢n: Where did you hear that?


    Tyrion: It¡¯s the apparent name of the metallic infection.


    Arc¨¢n: That is not what I asked. Who told you the name, ¡°Nanocreature¡±?


    Tyrion: It was some guy named Morcii. He claimed to be their leader.


    Arc¨¢n: Morcii has returned? Did you stop him?


    Tyrion: No. He scared off Exdominor and Surdeus and stomped my team before we escaped.


    Arc¨¢n: This is grave news, indeed. Where did you encounter him? Do you know why he appeared?


    Tyrion: He said something about freeing the Morikai. I think he showed up where he did because of the Ayas.


    Arc¨¢n: An Ayas? Which one? Did you protect it from him?


    Tyrion: It was the light blue one. And no.


    Arc¨¢n: The Ayas Arc¨¢n?! And you let him escape with it?! Are you mad?!


    Tyrion: There was nothing we could do. He was too strong.


    Arc¨¢n: Surely you at least attempted to use the Chaos State?


    Tyrion: We didn¡¯t.


    Arc¨¢n: You fool! You always use the Chaos State against Morcii! Even if it does not provide enough power to defeat him, it will nonetheless seal the Ayas within the user and prevent Morcii from stealing them! The advantages are obvious!


    Tyrion: We had only just learned of the Chaos State from Mystryth, we don¡¯t know how to activate it.


    Arc¨¢n: You met Mystryth? The Prior Vigilem Mystryth?


    Tyrion: On Rossindon, near the supposed hypocenter of the Chaos Energy Quake, yes.


    Arc¨¢n: You visited Rossindon two weeks ago! Why was I not informed of this meeting?!


    Tyrion: We know nothing about you except that you call yourself a Prior, whatever that is. You can¡¯t expect us to instantly trust you on your word alone.


    Arc¨¢n: Of what topics did Mystryth speak to you?


    Tyrion: If I remember correctly, she mostly just talked about the Aldredas and the Morikai. She also said some things about the Ayas. She clammed up when we mentioned the metallic infection, though.


    Arc¨¢n: Did you ask her about repairing my core?


    Tyrion: She said that she could fix it if we brought it and some of the Ayas to her, but we can¡¯t do that now, for political reasons.


    Arc¨¢n: Political reasons?!?


    Tyrion: We also have the Ayas constantly on the move, to prevent them from being easily sought out. I don¡¯t think the Commander would approve of them all being in the same place for very long, not with the Nanocreatures attacking everything.


    Arc¨¢n: You ignorant, incompetent fools! The Chaos Ayas are the very keys to defeating Morcii and his Nanocreatures! You have no hope of stopping him without them. Treating them as mere objects to protect will simply lead to Morcii obliterating you entirely as he searches for them!


    Tyrion: Alright then, how would you suggest we stop the Nanocreatures? I¡¯m all ears. Or eyes.


    Arc¨¢n: [no response for two minutes]


    Tyrion: Arc¨¢n?


    Arc¨¢n: Yes. Sorry. It would appear that the actual key to defeating Morcii is inaccessible to me.


    Tyrion: You mean you can¡¯t access it because your core is damaged.


    Arc¨¢n: Yes.


    Tyrion: Damn it, Arc¨¢n. Don¡¯t get mad at us for not knowing how to stop the Nanocreatures if you yourself don¡¯t even have the answer!


    Arc¨¢n: That is incorrect, I do in fact possess the answer. My core simply needs to be repaired.


    Tyrion: Well we¡¯ll be right on that. Just as soon as we can take an Ayas back from the Nanocreatures. I don¡¯t suppose you have any advice there?


    Arc¨¢n: No. But I can tell you how to activate the Chaos State. That should at least give you an edge.


    Tyrion: I¡¯m listening.


    Arc¨¢n: Activating the Chaos State requires a set of keywords, much like Overdrives or Chaostechnic attacks. The formula is simple: ¡°Chaos State: ___ Tier¡± where the blank is filled with the ordinal number corresponding to how many Ayas you wish to enter the state with. For example, if you have two Ayas, then using both would require the keyword activation phrase ¡°Chaos State: Second Tier¡±. Furthermore, if you wish to utilize the Ayas Syn, then you must insert the keyword ¡°Master¡± in between ¡°State¡± and the ordinal. In the previous example, this would yield ¡°Chaos State: Master Second Tier¡±.


    Tyrion: That seems complicated.


    Arc¨¢n: It is necessary to have full control over the Chaos State.


    Tyrion: Why can¡¯t we just concentrate really hard? That¡¯s how it always goes in stories.


    Arc¨¢n: That sounds ridiculous. How would pure concentration achieve anything? Are you talking about Psychotechnism?


    Tyrion: Not quite. Just forget I said anything.


    Arc¨¢n: You Aldredanoids can be so confusing.


    Tyrion: Is there anything else you can tell me about the Ayas? About Morcii?


    Arc¨¢n: If you have already discussed this topic with Mystryth then there is nothing that I can add. Not with my core damaged as it is.


    Tyrion: I see. Well, if that is it, then I have other things I need to tend to.


    Arc¨¢n: Wait.


    Tyrion: What?


    Arc¨¢n: Morcii cannot be allowed to possess all of the Ayas under any circumstance.


    Tyrion: We¡¯re aware.


    Arc¨¢n: Just know: however powerful you think Morcii is, increase that tenfold. A hundredfold. A thousandfold, even. And yet he is more powerful than even that. Do not underestimate him.


    Tyrion: Trust me, we won¡¯t.


    Arc¨¢n: Very well, Aldredanoid. Do keep me apprised. And good luck.


    Tyrion: Thanks. We¡¯ll need it.


    ¨C End Log ¨C


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8034, Nimath 10, 15:12


    Journal Header: Hope I don¡¯t regret this¡­


    I¡¯m currently on a ship back to Nimaliaka after spending half a week in the deserts of Tres¨¦d. I don¡¯t really know what to expect. I haven¡¯t been to Nimaliaka in eleven years. I don¡¯t know if I have any real attachments to it anymore. I¡¯m traveling with the girl who I got traded for, though. I don¡¯t know how I feel about that. Kaon¨¦ Densalin. Apparently she¡¯s a Materiatechnic. So I guess, logically, I can see why the trade was carried out. I mean, having a Cryotechnic and a Materiatechnic vs. an Electrotechnic is considerably more imbalanced than a Cryotechnic and an Electrotechnic vs. a Materiatechnic. But it just doesn¡¯t sit right with me. It never has. People are willing to move ten-year-olds from their homes just to balance some marginal military power? It¡¯s bullshit. And to top it off, I don¡¯t even know if Kaon¨¦¡¯s benefited at all from this. She sounds like an overly naive idealist. I can¡¯t believe I got traded for her¡­


    At least, by joining this Hero Machina group I should be able to look into the metallic infection more deeply. Apparently, our stated goal is to look into the Chaos Energy Quake, which is interesting, but it¡¯s not quite what I want to learn about. But there are various pieces of information that suggest the infection is somehow tied to the Quake, so hopefully I¡¯ll find something. Hopefully Rebehka agrees, but she¡¯s off on the Continental Glacier right now so I can¡¯t really contact her.


    Then there¡¯s the two guys. The Captain, Kev¨¦rin, he doesn¡¯t seem too bad. A little on the annoying side, maybe, but he seems to know what he¡¯s doing, for the most part. Dav¨ªdrius, though¡­ I don¡¯t know what to think about him. He¡¯s a Tres¨¦dian. He can hold his own in a fight, but I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything else good about him. His temper is almost non-existent, he has a major chip on his shoulder about the other nations ignoring Tres¨¦d¡¯s condition, and he can barely go two sentences without swearing. When we first met him, and saw the situation he was in¡­ I guess he reminded me of my old self? Except, more extreme, like if I had been completely stripped of my family from birth, was the only capable Chaotic in the whole region, and had no one around to temper my attitude. So not really all that like me at all. Now that I think about it, I¡¯m not really sure what I was thinking. I guess, he¡¯s the kind of person I might be if I hadn¡¯t met Rebehka? He had a shitty childhood, that¡¯s for sure, even worse than mine. But, that said, I don¡¯t know if that excuses the way he is now. He seems like he could be a liability. I hope trusting him doesn¡¯t turn out to be a mistake¡­


    - Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Damn it, why the fuck am I the one he drags back to work¡­ fuckin¡¯ everyone else, gettin¡¯ off easy just ¡®cause they¡¯re injured an¡¯ shit¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glared at the screen in front of him and sat back in his chair, wincing as the action caused a minor twinge of pain to shoot through his chest. He glanced around the rest of the Hero Machina office, noting how none of the other desks were filled before sighing, grumbling to himself, and turning his attention back to the screen.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± He looked up as Siyuak¨¦n poked her head through the office door. ¡°What¡¯re you doin¡¯ here? Kev¨¦rin call you back, too?¡±


    ¡°Not quite¡­¡± the Electrotechnic replied as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She then crossed the room and took a seat at Christean¨¦¡¯s desk, next to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°Rebehka wanted to talk to me.¡±


    ¡°¡­Okay? Sounds great. Dunno why you¡¯re tellin¡¯ me, though.¡±


    ¡°Why am I telling you¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at Siyuak¨¦n in confusion. ¡°You okay? You seem a little off.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine¡­ for now.¡±


    ¡°¡¯For now?¡¯¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a long story.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. If you say so.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n responded with silence, staring off into space as she gathered her thoughts. Dav¨ªdrius stared at her for another couple moments before shrugging and turning back to his console.


    ¡°Remember Sunova?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Velocitechnic turned back to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­What, that Earthian colony? With the bugs an¡¯ the dragon an¡¯ shit?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded absentmindedly, still staring into space. ¡°You know, I thought you were just full of yourself back then.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Back then?¡¯ That was only three an¡¯ a half months ago.¡±


    ¡°I know, but it feels like three times that¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius cocked his head, his brow furrowed with confusion. ¡°¡­You sure you¡¯re okay?¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± She snorted and hung her head. ¡°If I was okay, I¡¯d be at home right now.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right¡­¡±


    A few moments passed before Siyuak¨¦n looked over at Dav¨ªdrius, her head still down. ¡°¡­Hey, Dav¨ªdrius? Can I ask you a favor?¡±


    He returned her look uneasily. ¡°¡­What is it?¡±


    ¡°If¡­ if something goes wrong¡­ can I trust you to just end it?¡±


    ¡°Huh? The fuck are you on about?¡±


    ¡°If something happens to me, can you¡­ can you stop me?¡±


    ¡°Stop you¡­?¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed quietly, and then snorted and shook his head. ¡°Hmph. Sounds like Rebehka¡¯s job.¡±


    ¡°Right, Rebehka¡¯s job¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n sighed and began looking around the room absentmindedly. ¡°If only¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh? Did somethin¡¯ happen between you two?¡±


    ¡°No, no, nothing happened. ¡­I almost wonder if that¡¯s the problem.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡­ what¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n paused for several moments, turning to stare at Dav¨ªdrius before shaking her head and looking away again. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Forget I said anything. I just need some rest. We¡¯ve been pretty busy lately¡­¡±


    ¡°You can say that again.¡± The Velocitechnic sighed wearily, watching the Electrotechnic stand up and head for the office door. ¡°¡­Hey, Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    She stopped at the door, half-turning to face Dav¨ªdrius again.


    ¡°If somethin¡¯s up, you can tell me,¡± he commented, and then scratched his head uncomfortably. ¡°I, uh. I hope I¡¯m not gettin¡¯ ahead of myself, but, you know. Rebehka may be your best friend, but she¡¯s not your only friend. You know, all of Hero Machina, that is. So, if you need to talk. And not even just me, I get not wantin¡¯ to talk to me, but the others¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Siyuak¨¦n smiled in response. ¡°Thanks... but I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Well, good. But remember what I said. Mostly ¡®cause you¡¯ll never hear me say it again.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± The Electrotechnic turned back toward the door, opening it and stepping out. ¡°Goodbye, Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, see ya later,¡± he responded, watching her close the door behind her. He stared at the door for a few moments before turning back to his console, muttering to himself. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ damn it, getting¡¯ all sentimental an¡¯ shit. I needa go beat somethin¡¯ up now. Blegh¡­¡±


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8034, Nimath 29, 20:36


    Journal Header: Fuck


    I¡¯m fucked. I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do. It¡¯s, I, aaaahhh! Fuck me!


    I¡¯m infected. I have the metallic infection. It¡¯s on my left arm, a silver rash, just like, just like all the other cases I¡¯ve seen. Fuck! What do I do? There¡¯s no known cure for it. For all we know you just, I don¡¯t know, you just go feral and die. Maybe worse, if the Sunova and Hazard Island incidents have anything to do with the metallic infection. In both those cases, it seemed like there was a critical case that eventually just straight-up turned into those fucking metal bugs. Is that going to happen to me? I can¡¯t, I don¡¯t want that. I can¡¯t have that!


    At least I can hold it off. Applying a current to the rash seems to, I don¡¯t know, kill some of it off? It shrinks, anyways. Doesn¡¯t disappear completely, but it shrinks. Thank the heavens I¡¯m an Electrotechnic. I don¡¯t know if I should tell anyone, though. I think if I told anyone, I¡¯d just get locked up and quarantined. I¡¯d be a lab rat. Or I¡¯d just be shot, I don¡¯t know. As far as I know there hasn¡¯t been a case of a sentient being getting infected, so I guess that makes me patient zero, but¡­ I can¡¯t tell anyone. I¡¯d just get locked up. Staying with Hero Machina is my best bet for finding a cure, I¡¯m sure of it. Sorry, Rebehka, I hope you can understand. Don¡¯t really want her to panic, either. She can¡¯t do anything about it, so no sense worrying her by telling her. At least, I shouldn¡¯t make things worse by not telling people. The metallic infection isn¡¯t airborne, so as long as I don¡¯t touch anyone¡­


    How did this even happen? Was it the wound from Sunova? That has to have been it. It was the closest to the infection I¡¯ve ever been. Hell, the damn bug created an open wound, that¡¯s just about worst case scenario when it comes to infections. Just¡­ fuck it all! I hope I find a cure for this, and soon. Who knows how much time I have¡­


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Da¡­ Dav¨ªdrius? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°What am I doin¡¯ here?¡± The Velocitechnic stared at Kev¨¦rin blankly as he froze in the doorway to the office. ¡°The hell do you mean, ¡®what am I doin¡¯ here?¡¯ You told me to come in!¡±


    ¡°I know, but I never thought you actually would!¡±


    ¡°What¡ª! You even sent me a bunch of shit to do!¡±


    ¡°That was just wishful thinking! I was fully expecting you to just stay home.¡±


    ¡°¡­You motherfucker! Don¡¯t give out fuckin¡¯ orders if you ain¡¯t bein¡¯ serious.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Well, at least I was just about to go home. Damn. Waste my whole fuckin¡¯ afternoon¡­ ¡®least now I have an excuse to walk ¡®round the city outskirts during the sunset¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Kev¨¦rin apologized sheepishly. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to bother you. I guess I just got a little frustrated.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed wearily. ¡°¡­Can¡¯t blame you for that, I guess. Not entirely, at least. Considerin¡¯ everythin¡¯ that¡¯s been happenin¡¯ lately...¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Who would¡¯ve thought we¡¯d live to see the end of days,¡± Kev¨¦rin joked bitterly.


    ¡°Ha, the end of days. Now that¡¯d be a real sight.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked, and then frowned. ¡°But¡­ actually. That Morcii guy¡­ do you think we can beat him?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed as he fell back into the chair behind his desk. ¡°You saw what happened to us when we tried to fight him.¡±


    ¡°No, not us. I mean the whole fuckin¡¯ galaxy. Do you think we stand a chance?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. It hasn¡¯t even been a full week, so we don¡¯t know the full extent of what the Nanocreatures can do. But what we do know is that they¡¯ve launched attacks on three different Transpace Worlds and have already almost taken one of them¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuck¡­ and that¡¯s just the regular Nanocreatures, right? Has anyone else seen Morcii?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s sent a few messages to the CSA fleets and the galaxy in general, with the same ¡®I¡¯m going to take over the galaxy and free the Morikai¡¯ message he told us. As far as I know, though, no one else has fought him, or tried to fight him. There¡¯s no way of knowing what all of his abilities are¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s at least strong enough to fuckin¡¯ break Christean¨¦.¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted bitterly. ¡°¡­How¡¯s he doin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°They sent him to one of the Introtechnic facilities in Tekdec¨¦ for a majority-skeletal replacement.¡±


    ¡°Shit, that bad?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it. I don¡¯t know how, but Morcii dealt him a devastating blow¡­ which leads me to wonder, why Christean¨¦? He¡¯s a Forcetechnic; aside from maybe you, he¡¯s the most physically durable of us all. So why was he the only one to get hurt so badly?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it too, an¡¯ I really don¡¯t know¡­ I think the only answer is that Morcii was tryin¡¯ to drive home how much of an advantage he had. What better way to do that than to completely destroy the physically strongest person on our team?¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he ¡®completely destroy¡¯ anyone else, then? Did he hold back when he hit you in the chest? Kaon¨¦ in the face? Rebehka in the knee? Everyone else is recovering just fine¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe he was. Maybe he just wanted to send a message. ¡®I¡¯m more powerful than you, I can do what I want, there¡¯s nothin¡¯ you can do to stop me¡¯ kinda thing. He seemed like a right ol¡¯ megalomaniac, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s up his alley.¡±


    ¡°Nothing we can do¡­ that¡¯s something we need to change, and soon.¡±


    ¡°Hah. Easier said than done.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed again as he stood up, grasping his chest as slight pain ran through it. ¡°Shit, maybe I should drop by the med center again. See if they have any pain meds¡­¡±


    ¡°Be careful. Last thing we need is for you to suddenly break, too,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll be careful. I promise I won¡¯t try to fight any evil megalomaniacs for the next couple days.¡±


    The Transfer Captain watched the Velocitechnic head toward the exit before suddenly speaking up again. ¡°Wait, Dav¨ªdrius, I had a question for you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He paused in front of the door and turned to face Kev¨¦rin. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Have you seen Siyuak¨¦n lately?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, actually. She dropped by a couple hours ago. Said a bunch of nonsense before leavin¡¯. Why d¡¯ya ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ concerned about her. She seemed upset earlier, when I tried asking about her Ayas-sensing abilities.¡±


    ¡°I dunno if I¡¯d say upset, but somethin¡¯ felt a little off, aye. D¡¯ya want me to drop by her place on the way home, check on her or somethin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be necessary. I¡¯ll check on her tomorrow morning¡­ failing that, I¡¯ll see if Rebehka can talk to her again.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. Tell me if you need my help. Just don¡¯t send me a graphic image album in the same fuckin¡¯ message. Or at all.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin smirked. ¡°Heh. Duly noted.¡±


    ¡°Aight.¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned back to the door, opening it and stepping out. ¡°Talk to ya later. I¡¯m out.¡±


    <hr>


    Timestamp: 8034, Beauth 33, 20:04


    Journal Header: She found out.


    So much for hiding the infection. I guess Rebehka figured it out at some point. She barged in on me last night while I was taking a shower and looked straight for the infection. She was understandably irritated at first, but she seemed to get over it quickly. She said she just wants to help. I figured as much, but I didn¡¯t want to give her the burden of worrying about this. She certainly seems sure that we¡¯ll find a cure, though. I want to believe her. I really do. But I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s actually that easy¡­


    It¡¯s getting worse. Before the attack on Kotak, the rashes were manageable. I could zap them and they¡¯d recede. They¡¯d grow back a little longer each time, but it seemed like a solution for the time being. But after encountering the bugs on Kotak, it¡¯s just gotten worse. The rashes won¡¯t recede as far, they grow back even longer, and the current I have to apply is getting dangerous, even to me. If I apply any more I¡¯ll start giving myself serious burns. I need a cure, and I need it fast¡­


    I want to agree with Rebehka. I want to be as hopeful as she is. But I don¡¯t think I can¡­


    -Siyuak¨¦n


    <hr>


    Present Day


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 2, 8034 ¨C


    Ssssss-chk.


    Siyuak¨¦n exhaled deeply as she turned off the shower and stepped out of the small cell-like space. She stretched briefly before grabbing a nearby towel and beginning to dry herself off, while glancing back at the shower and sighing. With Rebehka still stuck in the base¡¯s medical center, Siyuak¨¦n was left in their apartment all alone and with nothing to do.


    ¡°Oh, I was just¡ª I was just wondering how you learned to be so good.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n smirked bitterly as the memory suddenly popped into her head. Back when we were the try-hard and the loner, huh. You¡¯d almost think we¡¯d never actually changed, given our reactions to the infection¡­ She shook her head of the thought and slipped into her soft pants and shirt that she always used to sleep in.


    It was the crowd, I swear. They threw me off. I¡¯m not used to interacting with so many people.


    She faltered slightly before reaching for the bathroom door and opening it. I guess even that much hasn¡¯t changed¡­ she thought bitterly as she tossed her towel to the side and moved to her bedroom. I¡¯m still keeping secrets to myself, even after all this time. I guess I haven¡¯t changed as much as I thought I had¡­ She shook her head again, clearing it as she sat down on her bed and slowly looked over her room.


    She decided that, instead of letting the doubters win, she¡¯d try her best, do well, and show them all that she can hold her own.


    So why can¡¯t I¡­? Siyuak¨¦n frowned as she glanced down at her left arm. Her arm was completely covered by the rash, giving it a silver, metallic shine, and a cold touch ¡ª as though her skin had been completely replaced by metal. I miss the old days. Playing with the animals back in Unonin, or competing with Rebehka back in conscription boot camp, or working with her in research¡­


    Everything is so¡­ different here.


    ¡°Argh, why did it all get so difficult?!¡± She threw herself backwards, lying haphazardly across her sheets with her face to the ceiling. Now everything I do is so important! Find the Ayas, figure out the Chaos Quake, learn about the metallic infection¡­ back when I joined Hero Machina, I thought I could make a difference. I thought I could learn things. And what did that get me? It got me infected. What was I thinking?!


    Now that I think about it, I¡¯m not really sure what I was thinking.


    Why now? Siyuak¨¦n slowly sat up again, frustrated with her busy mind. Why am I remembering all this now? Is it¡ª? ¡°Guagh¡ª!¡± She suddenly winced and cried out as a distinct, sharp pain shot through her arm before being replaced with a deep, throbbing sensation. ¡°What is this¡ª!?¡± she muttered through clenched teeth as she quickly sent several massive shocks through her body ¡ª to no avail. Damn it! She scowled, ripping off her shirt to glare at the rashes, only to see that they had spread even farther across her chest and down her side.


    How did this even happen?


    She inhaled sharply and wrenched her eyes shut as pain shot through her entire body. ¡°Not¡­ now¡­¡± she muttered in between ragged breaths, taking all of her effort to withstand the sudden storm of pain that ravaged her body. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t lose¡­!¡± Several arcs of lightning jumped from her arm and chest to random items within her room as she shoved as much current through her body as she could stand, all in an effort to counteract the suddenly hostile infection.


    I want to agree with Rebehka. I want to be as hopeful as she is. But I don¡¯t think I can¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry.¡± Siyuak¨¦n instinctively curled into a fetal position, unable to continue shooting current through her body as the concentration required for doing so was broken by the incredible pain. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Rebehka smirked. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die. I also won¡¯t let you lose to the infection. You have my word.¡±


    ...


    ..


    .


    The visage of a tanned man briefly appeared, his maroon long coat slowly fluttering in the wind as his smirk transformed into a gleeful grin.


    ¡°AND NOW¡­ YOU BELONG TO ME.¡±


    End of Chapter 50 - End of Known: Corruption

 51 - End of the Line

    Chapter 51 - End of the Line


    Rebehka sighed as she casually leaned on the guardrail in front of her, a cool breeze brushing her hair to the side as she looked out over the sprawling expanse of Nimaliaka Central, the capital city of Nimaliaka. The medical center was the tallest building on the base ¡ª which itself was built high into the cliffs and mountains to the west of Nimaliaka Central ¡ª so the view from the roof of the medical center extended for tens of kilometers in every direction. The night was young, but still dark enough to obscure Rebehka¡¯s vision of the city docks to the east or any other significant landmarks ¡ª except for the Interstellar Gateport Facility, which was cozily built into a narrow valley to the south a mere twenty kilometers away. The Gateport was easily the busiest and most highly utilized structure in all of Nimaliaka; all of the traffic through Nimalia¡¯s Interstellar Gate had to go through the Gateport, after all. The complex was built like a fortress and lit like the day at all times, and even had its own military regiment stationed on-site as security.


    Rebehka¡¯s eyes lingered on the Gateport for some time before tracing a web of steel tracks from the Gateport to a train yard in the distant north. Thanks to CSA standardization of Interstellar Gate Network travel, every Interstellar Gate on a Tier 3 or greater world was meticulously anchored to the ground around a pair of railway tracks of standardized width, allowing for two sets of trains ¡ª one incoming, one outgoing ¡ª to travel through an active Gate. The CSA had, for all intents and purposes, created an interstellar railway network, all for the purpose of increasing the amount of freight and passengers that could be shuffled through the two-hour stable window of an open Interstellar Gate connection.


    As the Cryotechnic slowly panned her eyes across the city, the lights of the Gateport and the railways began to fade from her attention. The sights of Nimaliaka Central were not new to her; she had been stationed there for over three months. Her mind was occupied with other thoughts; between the memory of Hero Machina¡¯s defeat at the hands of Morcii, the pain from her injured knee, and thoughts of her best friend¡¯s struggle with the metallic infection ¡ª now known as corruption on the behalf of the Nanocreatures ¡ª Rebehka had lost much of her optimistic outlook that initially inspired her to join Hero Machina. Before, she was simply investigating the metallic infection, looking for clues on the Chaos Energy Quake, or hunting down the Chaos Ayas. But now?


    ¡°Now we have a galactic war on our hands¡­¡± she muttered wearily. How are we supposed to defeat the Nanocreatures? Is outgunning them even an option? And if it is, then why is the CSA doing so terribly against them? Her expression deepened further into a frown. If I¡¯m to understand the Relaynet correctly, two independent CSA fleets of three thousand ships each have already gone down while defending Bouy¡¯Xis alone. How are we supposed to stand up to that? She wearily turned her gaze to the north, the direction toward the apartment she shared with Siyuak¨¦n. I wonder how she¡¯s doing¡­ she didn¡¯t sound too well this afternoon, but hopefully she¡¯ll be doing better tomorrow¡­


    Rebehka sighed again before pulling away from the guardrail and standing up straight. She yawned and stretched, prepared to return to her bed in the medical center for a night¡¯s sleep ¡ª until she opened her eyes and realized that the entire city had been plunged into darkness. ¡°What?!¡± she exclaimed, immediately stepping back up to the guardrail and quickly sweeping her eyes across the cityscape. The entire valley had transformed into a pool of blackness; the only lights she could make out were the ones from the Gateport facility and the base on which she stood.


    ¡°¡­Command: connect to Hero Machina channel,¡± she muttered, and then paused for a moment as her glasses processed and executed the command. ¡°Hello? Is anyone there?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah, I¡¯m here,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded after several seconds of communications silence. ¡°Let me guess, this is about the city-wide blackout?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°have you seen it, too?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen it, but I noticed the chatter on the command channels increase significantly.¡±


    ¡°Command channels?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the comm channels for the commanders of the units stationed here in Nimaliaka Central. Good thing I haven¡¯t left the base yet, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to connect.¡±


    ¡°You have access to that?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. I am the Commanding Officer of Hero Machina. You haven¡¯t forgotten, have you?¡±


    ¡°¡­What are they saying?¡±


    ¡°You forgot, didn¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Just tell me what¡¯s going on, Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ¡®please tell me what¡¯s going on, sir.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Hmm¡­ sounds like¡­ someone disabled the region¡¯s power plant.¡±


    ¡°They what? How¡¯s that possible?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m just relaying what I¡¯m hearing¡­ whatever happened, it almost took out the Gateport¡¯s backup generator. The Gateport¡¯s going into full lockdown¡­ but they can¡¯t shut down the Gate itself. Ironically, the fail safes are preventing them from reaching the Gate and manually disconnecting. Ha.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a laughing matter, Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. The Gate¡¯s block was initiated as part of the lockdown. Nothing can come through. We just need to fix things on our side¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn right we needa fix things.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius?¡± Rebehka questioned, momentarily surprised by the new voice on the channel. ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say I was home,¡± the Velocitechnic replied irately, ¡°but it¡¯s so damn dark that I couldn¡¯t say for sure. Everything¡¯s gone dark. What the fuck happened? Even my compound back in Tres¨¦d didn¡¯t get blackouts. Well, not unless I forgot to fuel the damn generator, but there¡¯s no way that¡¯d be an issue here. Right?¡±


    ¡°I hope that¡¯s all it is¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered.


    ¡°Do you know how long this will take to fix?¡± Rebehka questioned.


    ¡°Not really,¡± the Transfer Captain responded, ¡°I¡¯m somewhat familiar with Tekdec¨¦nian reactor design, which should be what the Nimaliakians have based their own reactors on, but I¡¯m not really qualified to say. Hmm¡­ wait, Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s an Electrotechnic. She would¡¯ve been trained in reactor and power grid setups.¡±


    ¡°Rel¨¦diakian ones, sure. I¡¯m not sure about Nimaliakian reactors, though¡­¡±


    ¡°She likely knows more than we do, at least. There aren¡¯t many Electrotechnics stationed here in Nimaliaka Central anyways, not with the doomsday trifecta of the Riaxen scare, Drakkar attacks, and Nanocreature invasion¡­ we should get in touch with her.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have AR glasses, though. She always fries them. She¡¯s probably asleep now, anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Dav¨ªdrius¡ª¡±


    ¡°I knew it was gonna come to this. You want me to go check on Siyuak¨¦n, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Can you? She might be able to figure out what caused the blackout, or at least help fix it.¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi, oi. Alright, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m on it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. Now, Rebehka, where are you? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be confined to the med center?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on the roof.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re on the roof?¡±


    ¡°Look, I wanted some space to think, okay? You don¡¯t really have much of that in the building itself.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever. I¡¯m coming up there. I kinda want to see blackout Nimaliaka Central myself.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin, this is serious.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know¡­ but, might as well get some cool pics out of it, right?¡±


    Rebehka¡¯s only response was an irritated sigh as she continued to stare down at the city bathed in darkness below.


    <hr>


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ darkness¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius cautiously leaped from rooftop to rooftop, attempting to find his way through the darkness with a small flashlight. The little light was too weak to be truly useful, however, forcing Velocitechnic to navigate the city primarily using the GPS built into his glasses.


    ¡°¡¯Course this all has to be during the new moon,¡± he grumbled as he jumped from a five-story roof to the ground below, hitting the pavement with a roll before leaping back to his feet and dashing off. ¡°I hate trustin¡¯ the GPS like this. It¡¯s a visual aid, not a replacer¡­¡±


    He continued to run through the back streets, stopping only when he came across a major thoroughfare. The road was backed up with vehicles and the air was filled with the shouts and complaints of confused and irritated citizens; Dav¨ªdrius quickly backed down the alleyway and wall-jumped up to the rooftops, where he continued to make his way toward Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s apartment.


    About a minute later, he finally arrived at the housing complex where he jumped down to ground level and then slowed to a stop. The entrance to the complex had been barricaded and several police officers and soldiers were inspecting the floodlight-lit grounds ¡ª the grounds that had been burnt black in several different locations.


    ¡°The fuck happened here?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, turning toward the nearest soldier.


    ¡°This area is off-limits,¡± the soldier replied as he approached the Velocitechnic menacingly. ¡°Civilians should stay away.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Civilians? Tch.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°I ain¡¯t a civilian, I¡¯m a Lieutenant. I¡¯m with the military. NSD.¡±


    ¡°You are?...¡± The soldier paused for a moment, turning his flashlight toward the Tres¨¦dian to get a better look at his face. Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently as the soldier¡¯s glasses lit up, scanning the Velocitechnic. ¡°Oh¡­ I apologize,¡± he commented moments later, ¡°I didn¡¯t realize¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever.¡± Dav¨ªdrius waved him off. ¡°Now what happened here? What¡¯s with all the burns? Somethin¡¯ explode?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. These are electrical burns.¡±


    ¡°Electrical burns? But this is concrete! Metal an¡¯ concrete!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, that¡¯s just what the forensic investigators concluded.¡±


    ¡°¡­Shit.¡± Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s scowl deepened as he replaced his flashlight with one of the stronger flashlights laying around and started off towards the complex.


    ¡°Wait, sir! It¡¯s even worse in there¡ª!¡±


    The Velocitechnic had left before he could hear the entire warning, navigating the tight walkways to Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s apartment building. Upon reaching it, he glanced up and whistled in awe ¡ª the entire front face of the twenty-story building had been blown off. A moment later he realized what that could mean for the residents.


    ¡°Shit, Siyuak¨¦n¡ª!¡± He immediately leaped up the side of the building, easily clearing ten stories in the first leap and jumping between the debris to climb higher up to the fifteenth floor. He alighted in an exposed hallway before quickly rushing down it, stopping in front of apartment 1504 ¡ª the only apartment lacking a door.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡± He shouted as he barged in to search the apartment ¡ª only to find the entire place empty and completely wrecked. The furniture was shredded, the living room window overlooking the rest of the complex was blown out, doors were ajar, kitchenware was embedded into the living room wall ¡ª


    ¡°Wait a minute¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius squinted as he directed his flashlight at the wall next to the kitchenware. He paused for a moment and then scowled again as he processed the message sloppily scrawled into the wall with burn marks:


    Sunova scratch ¡ª STOP ME


    ¡°Damn it, Siyuak¨¦n!¡± He immediately leaped out the broken window to the ground below, rolling on the landing, and immediately taking off at supersonic speeds. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this is what you meant¡­!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°This really is quite the sight.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡­¡±


    ¡°Relax.¡± The Pyrotechnic glanced toward Rebehka. ¡°It¡¯s just a blackout. It¡¯ll get taken care of.¡±


    Rebehka frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    ¡°Even so, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± Kev¨¦rin shrugged. ¡°All we can do is sit tight, and wait for Dav¨ªdrius to get in touch with Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, as long as the Gateport is online, there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. If this was some sort of attack, then they would¡¯ve targeted this base, or any of the anti-orbital cannons to the north and west.¡±


    ¡°As long as the Gateport is online, huh?¡± Rebehka echoed as she stared out at the massive facility ¡ª just as it went dark. ¡°¡­You mean, like it isn¡¯t right now?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ shit,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied tensely, his grip on the guardrail tightening in apprehension. ¡°That¡¯s not a good sign.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡±


    ¡°We should still be fine, though¡­ the Gate¡¯s block was activated the moment the blackout occurred. Nothing¡¯s coming or going through it.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ keep an eye on the command channels. I don¡¯t like this at all¡­¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°but don¡¯t get too worked up. If anything happens, you won¡¯t be part of it. Not with that knee.¡±


    Rebehka glanced down at her left knee, encased in a robotic cast, before looking up at the city again.


    ¡°Wait¡­ something else is happening¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± The Cryotechnic glanced toward Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°Apparently¡­¡± the Transfer Captain responded slowly, his attention half-focused on the information coming in over the command channels, ¡°one of the Gate Trains just¡­ activated. All on its own.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s heard anything from the Train Yard, just¡­ one of the trains turned on and started moving. The rails are switching themselves to put it on the mainline¡­ sounds like its headed straight for the Gateport.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡± Rebehka stared at Kev¨¦rin in confusion. ¡°Did someone orchestrate all this¡­ just so they could hijack a Gate Train?¡±


    ¡°Well, whoever it is, or whatever their plan, it won¡¯t work. The Gateport¡¯s locked down. That Train should derail long before it comes close to the Gate. Even if it somehow does get through the Gate, it¡¯ll derail on the other side. The planet we¡¯re connected to doesn¡¯t have its own rails.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius?¡± Rebehka perked up, immediately staring out at the city toward her apartment. ¡°How¡¯s Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°I dropped by the apartment complex, and the whole place was covered in electrical burns. Like there had been some sort of massive lightnin¡¯ storm or some shit. And, uh, Rebehka, your building was practically demolished. I checked your apartment, but Siyuak¨¦n wasn¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°What happened? Does Siyuak¨¦n have anything to do with this¡­? Wait, Rebehka¡ª!¡± He reached out as the Cryotechnic suddenly leaped from the rooftop, catching herself with a levitating patch of ice and then skating off toward the rail lines that led to the Gateport. ¡°Damn it, Rebehka!!¡±


    ¡°What happened? What¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Rebehka just suddenly left for the Gateport¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­ so this is really it, then¡­¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius? Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, no time to talk! I¡¯ll explain everythin¡¯ afterward. Hopefully, I¡¯m wrong¡­¡±


    ¡°Wha, what? No, Dav¨ªdrius¡ª! ¡­Damn!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled as he found himself the only one still on the Hero Machina channel. He leaned against the guardrail again and stared out over the dark city. ¡°What the hell is going on¡­?¡±


    <hr>


    Gate Train F-616 began to accelerate even further, having reached the main line several minutes ago. After checking that everything was in order, Siyuak¨¦n slammed the driving lever with enough force to jam it into place before disabling the dead man¡¯s switch circuit and turning to open the cabin window. With a single, swift motion she jumped out the window, grabbing the top bar to swing around and onto the top of the engine cabin. She paused for a moment to demolish two derailing devices with incredible electric shocks before crouching down on top of the train, where she anchored herself with the metallic claws on her left hand and stared down the rail line at the distant Gateport.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡±


    The Electrotechnic slowly turned around as Rebehka jumped down from the sky, landing with a roll on one of the cars behind the engine. She winced as pain shot through her knee, but she quickly put it out of mind and turned to look Siyuak¨¦n in the eye.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the Cryotechnic shouted over the winds generated by the fast-moving train, ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, what¡¯s wrong¡ª?!¡±


    She was interrupted as Siyuak¨¦n launched a lightning strike in her direction, nailing her shoulder and blowing her backwards. She almost tumbled off of the train car but caught herself with ice and quickly righted herself while fashioning full-body armor out of ice.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, what are you doing?!¡± Rebehka exclaimed as she slowly approached the engine, ¡°you can tell me! Is it the infection? Siyuak¨¦n¡ª!¡±


    The Electrotechnic¡¯s only response was to dash towards her, generating several more lightning strikes in the process. Rebehka quickly shielded against all of them with multiple shields of ice; she had sparred with Siyuak¨¦n before, and knew how to block her attacks. But apprehension set in as Rebehka realized that, while she had succeeded in blocking the attacks, her ice shields hadn¡¯t merely been shattered ¡ª they had been completely vaporized. When did she get so powerful?! Immediately, Rebehka jumped forwards, thickening her ice armor before freezing the air around Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s legs and arms, immobilizing her. The Electrotechnic shivered and began to struggle as Rebehka slowly approached.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± the Cryotechnic questioned, and then gestured at the dark buildings that the train was barreling past. ¡°¡­Did you do this?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n ceased struggling, but did not respond to Rebehka¡¯s inquiry.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, answer me!¡±


    ¡°S¡­.stop¡­¡±


    Rebehka squinted and then leaned forward in an attempt to hear more clearly. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Stop¡­ me!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed through clenched teeth, running such a massive current through her body and the train that her ice bonds melted. Rebehka quickly crossed her arms in front of her to guard against Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s subsequent lightning strike, though it struck with enough power to knock her off her feet and send her flying backwards. She landed on the top of the train six cars back from the engine, her ice armor cracking from the impact before she could scramble back to her feet ¡ª just in time for Siyuak¨¦n to send more current down the body of the train cars, disengaging the couplings. Rebehka quickly sprinted forwards, vaulting over the gaps in the cars in an attempt to close the distance between her and Siyuak¨¦n and try to immobilize her again, but just before she could reach the engine she froze in place, eyes fixated on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body. She was now close enough to clearly make out Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body ¡ª close enough to tell that the corruption was no longer limited to just her arm.


    It covered over half her body.


    Half of her face, her entire left arm, both shoulders, her whole chest, and then down the left side of her torso to her hips, where the rest of the metallic rashes were covered up by the ragged pants attached to her waist that had somehow managed to avoid disintegration under the massive currents Siyuak¨¦n was employing.


    Rebehka faltered, startled by the realization of the true scope of Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s infection. She then braced herself, prepared to take another lightning strike due to her momentary lapse in judgment ¡ª only to feel no such pain. She slowly looked up at Siyuak¨¦n, who had abandoned the accelerating engine and was standing over the Cryotechnic with her palm outstretched, though quivering uncontrollably. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­?¡±


    ¡°P¡­please¡­¡± the Electrotechnic¡¯s eyes were squeezed shut, tears running down her non-corrupted cheek. ¡°Stop... me¡ª!¡±


    Before Rebehka could respond to the comment, Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s shoulder was suddenly blown apart, completely severing her left arm from her body and flinging her off the top of the train.


    ¡°SIYUAK¨¦N¡ª!¡± the Cryotechnic quickly jumped to her feet and rushed to the edge of the train car just as the entire rail well flashed with light. Rebehka reflexively covered her eyes; by the time she had opened them, Siyuak¨¦n had somehow reattached her arm to her shoulder as well as developed a version of her swinging gear on her corrupted forearm, which she used to catch the ever-accelerating engine and drag herself back to its top.


    I¡¯m going to lose her! Rebehka looked around frantically; the car she was on was constantly slowing down, and the engine was still accelerating. There was no way she could cross the growing distance between the two before the engine reached the Gateport. Wait, when is that¡ª? She looked up, searching the sides of the tracks right as the car rolled past the one kilometer marker. That close? Then that means¡ª!


    A distant explosion interrupted her thoughts ¡ª the Gateport wall lit up so brilliantly that Rebehka could spot the engine from a kilometer away as it somehow survived the security explosives and smashed into the Gateport train entrance. The Cryotechnic immediately jumped into the air, freezing an ice path toward the entrance as she quickly skated along it. Siyuak¨¦n! Please¡­ wait for me!


    <hr>


    10 Minutes Later


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡±


    The Electrotechnic faltered, pausing mere meters from the Interstellar Gate itself. The pause was all Rebehka needed; she immediately blanketed the entire area in ice, freezing Siyuak¨¦n in place and covering the Gate¡¯s control panel with a solid chunk of ice.


    ¡°What¡­ are you¡­ doing?!¡± the Electrotechnic growled, seeming to struggle with her words.


    ¡°I was always faster than you on foot,¡± Rebehka replied. ¡°I knew I could catch you once you had to abandon the train. But that was three layers of security that you broke through! What do you think you¡¯re doing? Stop this!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ think¡­ I¡¯m trying?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded through clenched teeth, her frustration manifesting in stray electrical strikes in the surrounding environment. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ lost! You have¡­ to stop me!¡±


    ¡°I am! I¡¯m trying! But I can¡¯t do this without your help, you need to focus¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No! You¡ª ¡­don¡¯t¡­ under¡­ stand¡­!¡± The Electrotechnic grasped her head in her hands, her eyes clenched shut in pain. ¡°Stop¡­ means¡­ kill!¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t¡ª!¡± Rebehka stopped as Siyuak¨¦n stretched her left palm toward her, the entire length of her left arm sparkling with charged energy.


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ control myself! Damn it¡ª Rebehka!¡± The Electrotechnic collapsed to her knees, her left arm still stretched toward her friend. ¡°Kill me! Before¡­ ¡­before I¡­ kill you¡­!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to kill you to stop you!¡± Rebehka responded, quickly moving to encase Siyuak¨¦n entirely in ice ¡ª only for no ice to manifest. ¡°¡­Wait¡­ no, a CENT field?!¡±


    Immediately, Siyuak¨¦n discharged the energy in her left arm through a massive electrical blast that shattered the ice all around her. She then turned toward the Gate and sent out several electrical pulses that destroyed the ice around the Gate¡¯s controls and then disabled the travel block. Before Rebehka could say anything more to her, she had disappeared through the Gate¡¯s event horizon.


    ¡°No!¡± Rebehka stumbled toward the Gate before pausing momentarily. Wait¡ª she¡ª! I have to go after her! But¡ª where is the Gate connected to? Where did she go? Will we be able to come back? Even if we do, unauthorized use of the Gate is punishable by¡ª! Oh, what am I saying?! I know exactly what to do! The Cryotechnic took a deep breath and then bolted forward, crossing the Gate¡¯s event horizon mere moments before several security teams burst into the large yard around the Gate.


    I have to save Siyuak¨¦n!

 52 - Blind Faith

    Chapter 52 - Blind Faith


    Rebehka gasped as she tumbled out of the event horizon of the outbound Interstellar Gate. She quickly glanced back at the large ring in irritation. It hadn¡¯t been properly aligned; the ground was lower relative to it than to the Nimalian Gate, causing the Cryotechnic to fall a short distance the moment she appeared. Where am I? For the Gate to not even be aligned, this can¡¯t be any better than a Tier 5 world¡­ She slowly scanned her surroundings, which turned out to be little more than dense forest surrounding the clearing in which the Gate stood. Rebehka stood up and shielded her eyes from the sun high in the sky as she began looking for Siyuak¨¦n.


    Suddenly, she felt the hairs on her neck rise. She immediately threw herself to the side and created more ice armor just in time to survive a lightning strike on her position. She tumbled along the ground before quickly stumbling back to her feet, ignoring the pain in her knee as she confronted Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°Why¡­?¡± The Electrotechnic trembled, her arms cackling with charged energy. ¡°Why¡­ why did you follow me?!¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± Rebehka countered, ¡°you¡¯re my best friend! I can¡¯t let you go!¡±


    ¡°If¡­ you were¡­ my friend¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n doubled over in pain and then lunged toward the Cryotechnic, claws outstretched. ¡°You¡­ would have killed me by now!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that!¡± Rebehka dodged the lunge and slammed her elbow down into Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s back. She quickly attempted to freeze the Electrotechnic to the floor, but she rolled out of the way and leaped back to her feet and began retaliating with lightning strikes. ¡°I made a promise, remember?! You¡¯ll live through this!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for me!¡± Siyuak¨¦n growled as she deflected several ice spikes with her corrupted arm. ¡°I can¡¯t... control myself anymore!¡±


    ¡°But you can still control your thoughts!¡± Rebehka countered as she froze the entire clearing and both of Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s legs, only for the Electrotechnic to shatter all of the ice with a massive electrical pulse. ¡°As long as you have that, there¡¯s still a chance!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already hearing voices!¡± Siyuak¨¦n lunged after Rebehka, only to miss and obliterate the tree behind her instead. ¡°I¡¯m hearing¡­ his voice! Morcii¡¯s! I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ resist¡­ much longer!¡±


    ¡°Hang in there, Siyuak¨¦n! You can do it! Just a little longer!!¡± Rebehka shouted as she nailed the Electrotechnic in the gut with a block of ice. Siyuak¨¦n tumbled along the ground and slammed into a tree before digging her claws into the bark and launching herself up into the branches, where she disappeared from sight. Rebehka charged forward, throwing several blades of ice through the trees and cutting them down in an effort to reveal Siyuak¨¦n ¡ª only to be ambushed from the left as the Electrotechnic leaped out of the branches and attempted to grab hold of Rebehka with her grappling hook. The Cryotechnic easily deflected the hook with ice, careful to not directly come into contact with Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s corruption, before trapping the hook in a block of ice and reeling Siyuak¨¦n in. The Electrotechnic yanked her arm back, snapping the grappling line and tumbling backwards as she ran enough current through her body to melt the ice encasing that Rebehka attempted to summon. Siyuak¨¦n then jumped back to her feet, reeling in the broken grappling line before forming a new hook on the end and firing it at a nearby tree.


    I can¡¯t freeze her while she¡¯s conscious¡­ Rebehka scowled as she dodged a log Siyuak¨¦n lobbed at her. I¡¯ll have to knock her out first¡­ sorry, Siyuak¨¦n, but this is the only way!


    The Cryotechnic quickly encased the log she had just evaded in ice before throwing it back at Siyuak¨¦n, who was forced to dodge to the side. Rebehka immediately froze the floor beneath her feet, tripping up the Electrotechnic just long enough to hit her with several ice boulders and send her tumbling. Siyuak¨¦n quickly jumped back to her feet and began directing powerful lightning bolts in Rebehka¡¯s direction, forcing her to make several thick ice shields in quick succession.


    ¡°Stop¡­ using¡­ blunt¡­ force¡­!¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered through clenched teeth, ¡°use ice shards! ¡­Swords!...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to kill you,¡± Rebehka countered as she slowly inched her way toward the tree line.


    ¡°You should be! You don¡¯t understand¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t understand what, Siyuak¨¦n? That we¡¯re supposed to be friends?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! I don¡¯t¡­ want¡­ to hurt you¡ª!¡± The Electrotechnic suddenly dived to the side to evade being smothered by a large sheet of ice before frying the two trees nearest Rebehka¡¯s position. ¡°But¡­ the longer we fight¡­ the less¡­ I can hold back¡­!¡±


    ¡°Help me out here, then!¡± Rebehka replied by freezing the two trees solid and then launching them at Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°I don¡¯t have to kill you! Don¡¯t shout; try to conserve your energy! Focus on holding on! If I can just knock you out¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that¡­ if you¡¯re¡­ holding back¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n grimaced, dodging the trees and then attempting to jerk her arm away as she continued firing lighting blasts at Rebehka. ¡°You keep¡­ underestimating¡­ the corruption!¡±


    Rebehka ignored the remark and dived in close to Siyuak¨¦n, attempting to hit the Electrotechnic with a massive ice club. Unexpectedly, Siyuak¨¦n reached out with her left arm and sunk her claws into the club, grasping hold of it and jerking it into the air ¡ª and Rebehka along with it. She then smashed it into the ground, disorienting the Cryotechnic and allowing Siyuak¨¦n to close the distance between them and hold her left palm up to Rebehka¡¯s face. ¡°Rebehka¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: ICE STORM!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n was immediately frozen solid as dark clouds gathered overhead and the temperature rapidly plummeted. Mere seconds later, snow began to fall; seconds after that, winds whipped up and the snow grew thick enough to reduce visibility to mere centimeters. The Electrotechnic broke out of her ice prison shortly afterward and stumbled backwards, squinting through the snowstorm in an attempt to find Rebehka.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one doing the underestimating, Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    The Electrotechnic quickly ran a current through her body and then violently discharged it, blowing away all of the snow within several meters and increasing her visibility temporarily before snow rapidly took over again.


    ¡°I can save you, Siyuak¨¦n. I know I can!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n threw herself to the side just in time to evade a massive chunk of ice. ¡°Not¡­¡± She was then thrown forwards as another chunk slammed into her back. ¡°That¡­¡± Rebehka completely froze her to the ground. ¡°Simple!¡± She freed herself with a massive current run through her entire body. ¡°Listen to me, Rebehka!¡± She crossed her arms in front of her just in time to shield herself from another ice bludgeon. ¡°It¡¯s because we¡¯re friends¡­ that I know¡­ we¡¯ll just stalemate each other!¡± She dived to the side and made a dash for the tree line. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ holding back¡­ as much as I can! But it¡¯s still only so much! Kill me now¡­ before I lose to the corruption completely, because¡­ because I know you won¡¯t be able to stop me then!!¡±


    The Electrotechnic was suddenly caught within a massive block of ice, but quickly freed herself with a violent discharge of energy. She immediately sunk her claws into a nearby tree and stripped it of its bark, using the material to shield herself from the storm as she climbed up into the branches.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give up on you yet!¡± Rebehka shouted back, her Overdrive enabling her to easily track Siyuak¨¦n through the blizzard. ¡°I¡¯ll only give up once you¡¯ve lost. And I¡¯ll have won before then!¡±


    ¡°There you go again! Do you only think¡­ about what you want? Can¡¯t¡­ can¡¯t you think about me for just a moment?!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± the Cryotechnic exclaimed, just as she crafted an ice shield to block a lightning strike.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ let me¡­ lose¡­ to Morcii!¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded through clenched teeth as she dashed back into the scene, lunging straight for Rebehka again. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ just telling you to kill me so¡­ so that you won¡¯t have trouble later. I want you¡­ to kill me now¡­ while I still have some control!... Let¡­ me die¡­ with dignity!... ¡­Please, Rebehka!... At least¡­ give me that!...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re assuming that I can¡¯t bring you back!¡± the Cryotechnic countered as she flash-froze Siyuak¨¦n again ¡ª only for the Electrotechnic to quickly free herself. ¡°Just have a little faith in me!¡±


    The Electrotechnic didn¡¯t respond. Instead she disappeared back into the tree tops; Rebehka immediately gave chase, dashing into the forest and launching several ice blocks at Siyuak¨¦n in an effort to knock her out of the trees. Due to their Rel¨¦diakian backgrounds, though, Siyuak¨¦n was easily able to work her way through the branches and evade all of Rebehka¡¯s attacks while simultaneously retaliating with multiple lightning strikes. Eventually Rebehka jumped up to the branches herself, crafting ice platforms to aid her ascent and get close enough to Siyuak¨¦n to lay a hit she couldn¡¯t possibly evade. But the Electrotechnic was faster; just as Rebehka reached the same level of branches, Siyuak¨¦n dropped down to the ground and let off a massive electrical pulse that pulverized all of the trees within four meters. She paused for a moment in an attempt to sense Rebehka but was simply smacked in the face with another ice block, sending her flying into another clearing.


    By then, the snow storm had calmed enough to see the other side of the clearing, but snow was still whipping around the two women as they confronted each other again. Siyuak¨¦n quickly crossed the clearing before turning around to face Rebehka, who stood opposite her. The Electrotechnic then began raising the current through her body, charging an immense amount of energy as Rebehka thickened her ice armor and prepared a suitably large chunk of ice.


    ¡°Rebehka¡­ please!¡± Siyuak¨¦n begged, trembling as she attempted to prevent herself from discharging her energy. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t¡­ have¡­ much¡­ time¡­!¡±


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± Rebehka quipped, ¡°we¡¯ve been fighting for long enough ¡ª I think I can end this now!¡±


    ¡°Rebehka¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n started, but was interrupted as the Cryotechnic suddenly hurled the massive block of ice at her. The Electrotechnic immediately discharged all of her built up energy into a single focused electrical strike, blowing the boulder into debris and clouding the air with fine ice. Before Siyuak¨¦n could react further, Rebehka leaped through the cloud of ice, club in hand as she brought it down over Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head, prepared to knock her out once and for all ¡ª


    ¡ª only for the Electrotechnic to suddenly and unexpectedly discharge an incredible amount of energy directly toward Rebehka, knocking the club out of her hands and blowing her backwards several meters.


    Disoriented by the shock, the Cryotechnic could barely feel her outer limbs as she attempted and failed to pull herself up ¡ª only to freeze in place as Siyuak¨¦n approached, her entire body glowing with cackling electricity.


    ¡°N¡­no¡­!¡± Her eyes widened in shock as her left arm lifted to direct her palm at Rebehka¡¯s face. ¡°No¡­! Rebehka, stop me!¡±


    ¡°But¡ª! I¡­ I¡­!¡±


    ¡°Stop me!¡±


    ¡°I¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Kill me!!¡±


    Rebehka clamped her eyes shut reflexively, the only way she could bring herself to respond. She tensed her entire body, prepared for the incoming massive electrical shock ¡ª when it didn¡¯t come, she slowly opened her eyes, and then widened them completely, shocked at the sight before her.


    Siyuak¨¦n was standing in place, her arm still outstretched but no longer cackling with energy as she slowly looked up at Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª who had just stabbed her through the chest.


    He smirked grimly. ¡°Sorry I took so long. Your¡­ ¡®favor¡¯ was a little hard to decipher.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ you were just in time¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n slowly smiled, her eyes closed. ¡°¡­Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He glanced away. ¡°¡­No problem.¡±


    And then he ripped his sword up through her chest to her shoulder, obliterating her heart and lungs.


    ¡°Si¡­ Siyuak¨¦n!!¡± Rebehka cried, haphazardly climbing to her feet and stumbling over to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body before collapsing to her knees next to it. ¡°No¡­ Siyuak¨¦n¡­!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius watched the Cryotechnic sob for a few moments before moving to place his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Rebehka¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± She flinched away from him reflexively as she cradled Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head. ¡°She¡¯s not¡ª! She can¡¯t be dead. She¡¯s not dead! She¡ª she¡ª she fixed her arm earlier, so, so, this, she can fix this, this isn¡¯t¡ª!¡±


    ¡°ISN¡¯T WHAT, HMM?¡±


    ¡°Morcii!¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, immediately stepping in front of Rebehka as the Nanocreature leader casually strolled out of the trees. ¡°The hell are you doin¡¯ here?!¡±


    ¡°IS IT WISE FOR YOU TO STAND THERE AND ASK THAT QUESTION?¡± he responded, eyebrow raised. ¡°BUT, IF YOU MUST KNOW, I WAS SIMPLY ON MY WAY TO RETRIEVE ONE PARTICULAR SPOIL OF WAR. HOWEVER¡­¡± His gaze drifted to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body, which Rebehka cradled even closer to herself, as if to protect it from Morcii. ¡°¡­YOU SEEM TO HAVE CAUSED IT SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.¡± He turned back to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°I BELIEVE THIS CALLS FOR YOU TO RECIPROCATE ME¡­ YES?¡±


    In the blink of an eye, Morcii cleared the entire distance between himself and Dav¨ªdrius. The Velocitechnic immediately threw himself to the side to evade the Nanocreature and then ¡ª instead of attempting to counterattack ¡ª he dashed over to Rebehka, pulled her away from Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body, and tossed her over his shoulder before taking off toward the Interstellar Gate.


    ¡°NO!¡± she screeched, reaching for her friend¡¯s body as Dav¨ªdrius fled the scene, ¡°no, no, no! Siyuak¨¦n¡ª! You¡¯re forgetting Siyuak¨¦n!¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t forgettin¡¯ her,¡± the Velocitechnic replied quietly as they arrived at the Interstellar Gate. He quickly moved to the control panel to input a new set of coordinates, as the connection to Nimalia had expired. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m not. I¡¯ll remember her for as long as I live.¡±


    ¡°You killed her! You¡ª! She¡ª! I could have saved her!¡±


    ¡°No, you couldn¡¯t,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered coldly, waiting for the Gate to activate before hurriedly stepping through the event horizon. ¡°You¡­ we were too late. There was nothin¡¯ else we could have done.¡±

 53 - Innocence Lost

    Chapter 53 - Innocence Lost


    Ch-rrrrrsssss


    Dav¨ªdrius stepped away from the Interstellar Gate¡¯s control panel, looking up as the black event horizon filled the interior of the eleven-meter ring. He sighed and glanced back at Rebehka, who sat on the ground some distance away, staring blankly ahead. The two Chaotics had traveled to multiple uncolonized planets in a row in an attempt to throw Morcii off their trail; Dav¨ªdrius was now sure that they were safe, but he had nonetheless connected to one more uncolonized world before attempting to dial in to the Nimalian Territories.


    ¡°¡­Hey,¡± he muttered in a bid to gain Rebehka¡¯s attention. She glanced at him briefly, and then at the Gate itself before slowly climbing to her feet.


    ¡°I dialed another uncolonized planet, just to be sure, but after this we can dial in to one of the Tier 5 worlds and start makin¡¯ our way back to Nimalia,¡± he explained, watching as the Cryotechnic approached the Gate. ¡°Might be another day or two ¡®fore we¡¯re back, though.¡± He glanced down at her knee; the cast she had previously been wearing had been damaged in her fight with Siyuak¨¦n, forcing her to remove it ¡ª but Rebehka¡¯s gait held no indication of injury. ¡°Knee heal up already?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­That was a pretty isolated snow storm back there. Unlock your Overdrive?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that unlockin¡¯ your Overdrive can heal you up a bit. Guess that¡¯d explain the knee, huh?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius rubbed his neck uncomfortably. ¡°Well¡­ Gate¡¯s dialed, so¡ª¡±


    ¡°You killed her.¡±


    The Velocitechnic winced at the words before turning back to Rebehka as she stepped through the event horizon. He quickly followed, emerging in a rainy, mountainous environment. ¡°Look, Rebehka, I didn¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°You can make excuses all you want.¡± The Cryotechnic turned to glare at him as he moved over to the Gate¡¯s control panel and activated the block to prevent anything from following them. ¡°It won¡¯t change what I¡¯ve seen. It won¡¯t change that you¡¯re a murderer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a murderer, I did what I had to. If killin¡¯ one person, no matter the reason, is enough to make me a murderer, then I¡¯d already be one¡ª¡± Dav¨ªdrius clamped his mouth shut as Rebehka¡¯s eyes narrowed further. Hot damn, could I find anything worse to say...


    ¡°¡­I should have known we couldn¡¯t trust a Tres¨¦dian.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± The Velocitechnic scowled as he glanced at the Gate¡¯s control panel. Still got time ¡®fore it shuts down and we can dial out. And it just has to be raining. Just great¡­ He then turned back to face Rebehka. ¡°Look. I know you¡¯re sad¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡¯Sad?!¡¯¡± Rebehka exploded, the rain around them temporarily transforming into hail as the temperature dived. ¡°You just murdered my best friend, and you have the audacity to¡ª to¡ª to say that I¡¯m just ¡®sad?!¡¯¡±


    ¡°Hey, calm down!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped, his patience wearing thin. ¡°You think you¡¯re the only one here who¡¯s lost friends before?¡±


    ¡°No, but I¡¯m sure I¡¯m the only one here standing in the presence of the cause!¡±


    ¡°Quit talkin¡¯ outta your ass¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, glancing impatiently at the Gate¡¯s control panel. The moment he did, however, Rebehka lunged forward, crafting a sword from ice and bringing it down over Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s head. He immediately drew his own sword and blocked the blade, his eyes wide with surprise before narrowing in irritation. ¡°You really wanna fight over this?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you get away with this!¡± Rebehka responded irately, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you here if I have to!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled, knocking away the ice blade and then roundhouse kicking Rebehka to the side. ¡°It¡¯s almost as if you wanted to lose Siyuak¨¦n to Morcii!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡± the Cryotechnic shouted back, jumping to her feet as she created two more swords of ice. ¡°I could have saved her! I had her¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Like shit you did!¡± Dav¨ªdrius deflected her incoming blows and then jabbed her in the stomach with the butt of his sword. He jumped away just in time to avoid the creation of an ice spike underfoot and then parried away Rebehka¡¯s next attack. ¡°The both of you were exhausted! She was about to fry your brains and you were too tired to stop her! How does that count as havin¡¯ her?!¡±


    ¡°Sh-shut up!!¡± Rebehka cried, the surrounding temperatures diving even further as the rain gradually transformed to snow. ¡°You can¡¯t possibly know how I feel!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡± Dav¨ªdrius roared, in the same moment pulverizing Rebehka¡¯s ice blades with his own. ¡°You think I¡¯ve never been in this situation before? You think I¡¯ve never lost a friend I thought I could save?!¡± He smashed several incoming ice blocks before knocking Rebehka to the side as she attempted to lunge at him again. ¡°My Dad died before I was born! My Mom and my siblings all died durin¡¯ the very Bleeder attack that I was away to prepare for! And all of that was before I turned fuckin¡¯ eight! And you think I¡¯ve never felt your pain?!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Rebehka stepped back to evade Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s counterattack before diving in to stab his side, which he barely managed to twist away from. ¡°I don¡¯t just feel loss. I haven¡¯t just lost my best friend ¡ª I¡¯ve also been betrayed! By you!¡±


    ¡°I did NOT betray you!¡± The Velocitechnic suddenly smashed his knee into Rebehka¡¯s gut, sending her flying backwards. ¡°Call me a murderer if you want. Hate me if you want! But don¡¯t you fucking dare call me a betrayer!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in denial!¡± Rebehka countered, quickly recovering and creating an ice sword in time to block Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s next swing. ¡°You can¡¯t say anything else, can you? You can¡¯t accept the truth, can you?!¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Listen to yourself!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he shattered his blade against Rebehka¡¯s next attack. He tossed the hilt aside and quickly drew his second sword, blocking and knocking away the Cryotechnic¡¯s next swings. ¡°You¡¯re one to throw around ¡®truths.¡¯ Did you just ignore Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s pleas this whole time? Is that why she had to ask me to stop her?!¡±


    ¡°No! I could have saved her!¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re bein¡¯ selfish! You didn¡¯t wanna face the fact that your friend was as good as gone, so you hid behind the idea of ¡®savin¡¯ her¡¯! Well guess what?! You can¡¯t save everyone!¡±


    ¡°Just because you¡¯ve had some bad experiences¡­¡± Rebehka froze the ground under Dav¨ªdrius, tripping him up as she threw her blade at him. ¡°¡­Doesn¡¯t mean that I couldn¡¯t have saved her!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of my experiences that I know you couldn¡¯t have saved her!!¡± He easily smacked the blade out of the air before jumping back up to his feet and to solid ground. ¡°You don¡¯t know what I¡¯ve been through with the Bleeders. There was once I lost a friend to one of their low-key mind-control Chaotics. I tried my damnedest to get her back, to save her, but you know what the result was? Half my home was destroyed, a third of the residents killed, and by the time I killed the Chaotic who was controlling her, she¡¯d gone mad from helplessly watching her body kill all her friends and family! All because I was so arrogant as to think I could save her!¡±


    ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s different!¡±


    ¡°Wrong! It¡¯s exactly the same! The only difference here is that you¡¯re lucky enough to have me around to kick your ass and tell you you¡¯re bein¡¯ damned wishy-washy!¡±


    ¡°N-no! She, she could have resisted. She was still in control of her mind, she could have¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I wasn¡¯t in the exact same position as you four years ago? Are you really so afraid of killin¡¯ your friend that you¡¯d ignore her own pleas to stop her suffering?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not¡­!¡±


    ¡°She thought she could trust you. She thought you¡¯d understand! But you still don¡¯t, do you?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, tightening his grip on his sword in anger as Rebehka faltered. ¡°She didn¡¯t just want you to stop her from wreakin¡¯ havoc. She wanted you to stop her from wreakin¡¯ havoc! She didn¡¯t want to lose herself to the Nanocreatures, to be turned into a fucking monster, to be forced to work against and destroy her home! Do you really think that death is a worse alternative to livin¡¯ on, her mind gone ¡ª or worse, trapped inside her own body as it¡¯s forced to destroy everythin¡¯ she ever loved?!¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s not¡ª!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the choice you were faced with! She wanted you to kill her, to prevent her from livin¡¯ a fate worse than death ¡ª a fate where she¡¯d be forced to kill her best friend! Get that? She wanted you to kill her while you still had the choice, so that she wouldn¡¯t be forced to kill you!¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it any more than you.¡± Dav¨ªdrius looked down, pursing his lips before turning his attention back to the Cryotechnic. ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t want to kill Siyuak¨¦n, not if I didn¡¯t have to. But just think for a moment. If you were still fightin¡¯ her by the time I came along, do you really think you could have beaten her?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Tryin¡¯ to defeat someone while keepin¡¯ ¡®em alive is way more difficult than straight-up killin¡¯ ¡®em. I¡¯ve learned that the hard way. Hell, even Kaon¨¦ knows that. Why do you think she¡¯s so scared of fighting?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ if I had just worn her down¡­¡±


    ¡°She was wearin¡¯ you down, too! By the time she would¡¯ve been worn down enough to capture, you would¡¯ve been too worn down to do it! And that¡¯s ignorin¡¯ the fact that Morcii would¡¯ve shown up and fucked everythin¡¯ anyways!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Just think. You¡¯ve known Siyuak¨¦n for longer than I have, so if you can answer this next question rationally then I¡¯ll accept whatever you say.¡± The Velocitechnic lowered his guard, allowing his sword hand to fall to his side. ¡°Could you have actually beaten Siyuak¨¦n¡­ without tryin¡¯ to kill her? Without givin¡¯ your all?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Rebehka stared blankly at Dav¨ªdrius before turning away, her hair obscuring her face. ¡°¡­No¡­ I couldn¡¯t. I¡­ never could have¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­And there¡¯s your answer,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded quietly as he sheathed his blade. ¡°It¡¯s tough to accept, I know. But the sooner you stop tryin¡¯ to hide behind false hope ¡ª the sooner you stop runnin¡¯ from the truth ¡ª ¡­the sooner you can come to terms with this whole shitty situation, and start to get over it.¡±


    ¡°Get¡­ over it, huh¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius watched in weary silence as the Cryotechnic stared out over the wet, rocky slopes.


    ¡°Ha¡­ I¡¯ve¡­ haha, I¡¯ve actually been a pretty shitty friend, haven¡¯t I?¡±


    The Velocitechnic frowned. ¡°A bit selfish, sure, but dunno if I¡¯d go as far as shitty¡­¡±


    ¡°No, you¡­ you were right all along.¡± She looked up at the sky as the temperatures began to return to normal, steady rain slowly replacing the falling snow. ¡°I¡­ was so focused on what I wanted, that I didn¡¯t think at all about what she wanted, or even what was best for both of us¡­ haha, she even said as much to my face, and I still didn¡¯t listen¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ for being so rude to you.¡± She turned toward Dav¨ªdrius, smiling sadly as she lifted her hand to her neck, freezing the water around it into a blade. ¡°Goodbye¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa, whoa¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius immediately dashed over to her, covering the distance in the blink of an eye and tackling her to the ground as he pulled her arms away from her head. ¡°The fuck do you think you¡¯re doin¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°Get¡­ off of me!¡± She flipped him away and struggled back to her feet, stumbling away from Dav¨ªdrius as he attempted to close the distance. ¡°I can¡¯t¡ª I can¡¯t live with this! I¡ª I¡ª I lost my friend entirely because of my own arrogance! I betrayed her to my own feelings. I almost let her turn into a monster! I don¡¯t deserve to live!¡±


    ¡°Shit, you¡¯re doin¡¯ it again, damn it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped, ¡°stop runnin¡¯ from the pain! The fuck makes you think killin¡¯ yourself is the right idea anyways?! Is that what you think Siyuak¨¦n would want? Huh?!¡±


    ¡°But I¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Think hard, Rebehka! You were definitely bein¡¯ a selfish little bitch, but your intentions, at least, were in the right place. Do you really think Siyuak¨¦n wouldn¡¯t forgive that? You were her best friend. Wouldn¡¯t she be able to look past that?¡±


    ¡°But she can¡¯t. She¡¯s dead, because of me¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No, not because of you. This was over the moment that fucking bug scratched her on Sunova. But you need to stop runnin¡¯ from the pain. Yeah, Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s dead. No, there wasn¡¯t anythin¡¯ you could do to save her. Now accept those facts, and move on with your life. Don¡¯t forget, but don¡¯t dwell. Because that¡¯s what she would want, ain¡¯t it? She wanted to die so that she wouldn¡¯t have to kill you, or anyone else. So what good is it if you go on to ruin your life anyways?¡±


    The two Chaotics stared at each other in silence, broken only by the pattering of the rain against the rocks. Moments later Rebehka collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she began to sob uncontrollably, unaware of Dav¨ªdrius as he slowly approached her and patted her head sympathetically.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine¡­ eventually,¡± he muttered, ¡°but you lived. You can fight another day. For now, that¡¯s what matters.¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why? Why am I the one to survive?! I couldn¡¯t¡­ I couldn¡¯t save her. She¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s gone¡­! ¡­Damn the Nanocreatures! Damn Morcii! Damn them all to hell! This is all their fault, damn it!¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced down at Rebehka. ¡°So what¡¯re you gonna do about it?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll beat them.¡± She slowly looked up at the Velocitechnic. ¡°We¡¯ll beat them. We¡¯ll look for ways to stop the Nanocreatures, and then we¡¯ll kick their sorry asses and make them regret ever attacking us!¡±


    ¡°Ha! Now you¡¯re finally sayin¡¯ somethin¡¯ I can agree with!¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked as he stretched his hand toward Rebehka. She grasped it and he pulled her up before patting her on the back. ¡°Feelin¡¯ better?¡±


    ¡°¡­No.¡± She shook her head wearily. ¡°No¡­ not yet.¡±


    ¡°Good. It sucks, but that¡¯s a sign you had a good relationship. Pain only comes with attachment¡­¡± He turned back to face the Interstellar Gate just as it shut off, the event horizon dissipating and revealing the mounds of rocks behind the Gate. ¡°Now let¡¯s get goin¡¯. It¡¯s about time we got back home.¡±

 54 - The New Guys

    Chapter 54 - The New Guys


    3 Days Later


    ¨C Windia, Skydiath 5, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Oh, Kaon¨¦, Kevken¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, Kev¨¦rin.¡± Kievkenalis casually glanced toward the Transfer Captain as he entered the Hero Machina Office with a sullen look on his face. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, and then sighed wearily as he trudged over to his desk. ¡°¡­Yes,¡± he corrected himself, ¡°yes, something¡¯s wrong.¡± Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis looked back at him and then to where he was gesturing: the four empty office desks belonging to the other members of Hero Machina.


    The Pyrotechnic crossed his arms as the two other Chaotics turned back to face him. ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s wrong,¡± he muttered sullenly, ¡°not even a week after the Nanocreatures show up and we¡¯re already starting to fall apart¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned uneasily. ¡°That¡¯s not true¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­ KIA. Christean¨¦, medical leave. Rebehka, detained until further notice. Dav¨ªdrius, military leave,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied flatly, though his furrowed brow betrayed his emotionless tone. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do. The Nanocreatures are just too much. With just the three of us ¡ª what are we supposed to do? Not even a week after the Nanocreatures show up, and they¡¯ve already disabled half our squad, directly or indirectly. And that¡¯s just us! Bouy¡¯Xis fell almost three days ago, did you know? A Transpace World, lost in just four days. If the Nanocreatures keep this up, the CSA will lose control of all their Transpaces in just a month and a half, and that¡¯s assuming that the Nanocreatures only attack one world at a time! Which they don¡¯t, because two more Transpace Worlds are also under attack right now, and are bound to be lost within the week! What are we supposed to do against that kind of power?!¡±


    ¡°Well, brooding sure won¡¯t get you anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin looked up at the entrance to the office, which had just opened to allow two individuals dressed in RPF uniforms to enter.


    ¡°¡­V¨¦lunis! Wilkas!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, his expression one of both confusion and happiness.


    ¡°¡­Wait¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin squinted at the two newcomers, who shut the door behind them and casually approached to stand next to Kievkenalis¡¯s desk. ¡°¡­We¡¯ve met, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even remember us, huh?¡± Wilkas crossed his arms. ¡°It was, uh, some SFC raid, I think.¡±


    ¡°The raid on Kotak,¡± Kievkenalis answered.


    ¡°Yeah, sounds about right.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s great to see you guys again, but what brings you here?¡±


    ¡°¡­You don¡¯t know?¡± V¨¦lunis glanced between Kievkenalis and Kev¨¦rin incredulously. ¡°Just when I thought there was some level of competence in this whole organization¡­¡±


    ¡°In case you haven¡¯t noticed, things have been pretty damn busy lately,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied impatiently. ¡°These past few days haven¡¯t exactly been pleasant for us either, you know. We¡¯re down to three people from a formerly seven-person squad for who knows how long. So please, tell us why you decided to grace us with your presence so we can get back to work figuring out how to stop the entire galaxy from getting destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Like we haven¡¯t heard about the fall of Bouy¡¯Xis either,¡± V¨¦lunis replied flatly, unfazed by Kev¨¦rin¡¯s thinly-veiled irritation. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, actually ¡ª about you being down to three people. Some of the higher-ups apparently decided we¡¯d be better off helping you than doing hell-knows-what on whatever planet the CSA¡¯s going to lose next.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin paused momentarily to process V¨¦lunis¡¯s claim. ¡°Wait¡­ are you saying you¡¯re here to join Hero Machina?¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean, unless you want us to suck your dick or some shit, I don¡¯t know what else ¡®helping you¡¯ is supposed to mean.¡±


    The Pyrotechnic scowled. ¡°Did Nik¨¦yin send you here?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the NSD Commander, right?¡± Wilkas shrugged. ¡°That qualifies as ¡®higher-ups¡¯ then.¡±


    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t have this. I won¡¯t have this. Hero Machina is an already-established squad; we don¡¯t need any new members. Recruitment wrapped up months ago.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied with a frown, ¡°you can¡¯t just reject them¡­¡±


    ¡°And why not?¡± The Transfer Captain bristled. ¡°You know what this is, right? This is basically the Commander telling us ¡®hey, don¡¯t get your hopes up about seeing your friends again. Here¡¯s some replacements.¡¯¡± He glanced back to V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. ¡°No offense, and nothing personal, but we can¡¯t take this right now.¡±


    ¡°You sure about that?¡± V¨¦lunis replied incredulously, ¡°we were there for the blackout, you know. In fact, if it weren¡¯t for your Cryotechnic friend being in the way, I could¡¯ve taken out that berserk chick and saved two of your ¡®friends¡¯ from getting thrown in the brig for unauthorized off-world travel.¡±


    ¡°Huh?... Wait¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin squinted again, taking a moment to think back to the short report he had read on the blackout incident. ¡°¡­Are you saying it was you who managed to shoot Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s arm off?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Managed?¡¯ That was a damn good shot, man. I was a whole kilometer away.¡±


    ¡°How is the fact that you fired on one of my friends supposed to get you on my good side?¡±


    ¡°Because, unlike your ¡®friends,¡¯ we can actually do what we set out to do.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re treading on real thin ice, buddy.¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s not entirely wrong,¡± Kievkenalis spoke up, standing and moving to place himself in between Kev¨¦rin and V¨¦lunis. ¡°If Rebehka or Siyuak¨¦n had told us about the corruption before, then we might¡¯ve been able to do something about it, instead of¡­ well¡­ instead of what happened.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The Transfer Captain glared at Kievkenalis before tearing his gaze away and sighing wearily. ¡°Fine. Fine¡­ you have a point. I guess we could use your help.¡± He then turned back to face the two newcomers. ¡°But only if you stop insulting our friends.¡±


    ¡°¡­Whatever, sure.¡± V¨¦lunis casually shrugged in response.


    Kev¨¦rin¡¯s eyes narrowed at the response, but he didn¡¯t directly address it. Instead he moved around to the front of his desk and leaned back on it, his arms crossed. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s have a formal introduction, if you¡¯re really going to join Hero Machina.¡±


    ¡°I dunno, I¡¯m starting to have second thoughts.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, guys,¡± Kievkenalis urged, ¡°it¡¯ll be fun¡ª!¡±


    The Chaostechnic stopped himself as everyone in the room turned to stare at him blankly.


    ¡°¡­I mean, well¡­¡± he continued uneasily, ¡°you know¡­ fighting Nanocreatures¡­ defending planets¡­ finding Ayas¡­ that¡¯s fun, right?...¡±


    ¡°¡­So are you in or not?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned flatly, ignoring Kievkenalis as he turned back to V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. The two glanced at each other and shrugged.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Wilkas spoke for the both of them.


    The Pyrotechnic nodded. ¡°Alright. Well, I¡¯m Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion, and I¡¯m the Commanding Officer of Hero Machina, so you¡¯ll be taking orders from me, got it?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, Cap¡¯n.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed impatiently before continuing, ¡°anyways. We¡¯re all Chaotics, here. I¡¯m a Pyrotechnic. Kaon¨¦ there is a Materiatechnic. I assume you already know that Kevken is a Chaostechnic¡­¡±


    ¡°¡¯Kevken?¡¯¡± V¨¦lunis echoed with an amused snort before glancing over at the Chaostechnic. ¡°Everyone calls you that here, too, huh?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, though.¡±


    ¡°Nicknames aside,¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected, ¡°I assume the both of you are Chaotics? What types?¡±


    ¡°Forcetechnic,¡± Wilkas declared as he flexed proudly, though his attempt at showing off his muscles was ruined by the thick jacket that covered them.


    ¡°I¡¯m actually a double type,¡± V¨¦lunis answered nonchalantly, ¡°Sub-Mach Velocitechnic, and Weapons-Specialist Formtechnic.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Kev¨¦rin whistled in awe. ¡°That¡¯s actually pretty impressive. A Weapons-Specialist Formtechnic, huh? That means you can create weapons out of thin air, right?¡±


    ¡°Basically, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m pretty powerful too,¡± Wilkas interjected, ¡°I can lift a couple thousand kilograms, you know. At least.¡±


    ¡°So can Christean¨¦,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied flatly, and then continued, ignoring Wilkas¡¯s scowl. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how old are you guys?¡±


    ¡°Same age as you,¡± V¨¦lunis responded, ¡°21.¡±


    ¡°21¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned as he did some quick mental math. ¡°¡­So you were born in 8012?¡±


    ¡°Oh boy, here we go¡­¡±


    ¡°No, 8013,¡± Wilkas corrected as V¨¦lunis glanced away impatiently.


    ¡°Huh? But¡­ that means you were born during the Chaos Quake,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied in confusion.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°¡­But you¡¯re Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°But only seven Chaotics were born during the Quake¡­¡±


    ¡°On Nimalia, yeah.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin blinked, staring at the two Chaotics blankly until realization dawned on his features. ¡°Oh, neither of you were born on Nimalia?¡±


    Wilkas shook his head. ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Then where?...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from Chin¨ªka,¡± V¨¦lunis replied. ¡°Wilkas is from Shekafte.¡±


    ¡°Tier 3 and 4 Worlds, huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms. ¡°Were you guys the only Chaotics born on those planets during the Quake, then?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up, her brow furrowed in confusion. ¡°You mean¡­ we weren¡¯t the only ones born during the Quake?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not.¡± Kev¨¦rin passed the Materiatechnic an incredulous glance. ¡°You should know that. Almost every Tier 1 World had between five and ten Chaotics born during the Quake. There¡¯s at least hundreds, maybe thousands of us ¡®Quakeborn¡¯ Chaotics out in the galaxy, you know. We aren¡¯t even the only Chaotic squad to consist entirely of Chaotics born during the Quake ¡ª the CSA has a whole program for them.¡±


    ¡°Aw¡­¡± The Materiatechnic pouted. ¡°And I thought we were special¡­¡±


    ¡°We still are, just not that special,¡± Kievkenalis remarked.


    ¡°I¡¯d certainly say that you all are very special,¡± V¨¦lunis quipped.


    ¡°Right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded flatly, unamused by the jab. ¡°Anyways¡­ welcome to Hero Machina, I suppose. I don¡¯t know what to do about desk space for you guys, but, uh, I can ask the Commander and we¡¯ll figure something out.¡± Almost as soon as the Transfer Captain finished his statement, his glasses lit up with a notification indicating a new message from Nik¨¦yin. ¡°Well, speak of the devil.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°A message from the Commander¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly read through the message and then relayed its contents. ¡°She wants us all to meet in the briefing room in ten minutes¡­ I wonder what this is about.¡±


    ¡°Oh man, we got here just in time for a mission. Yay,¡± V¨¦lunis deadpanned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, this could be important.¡± The Transfer Captain pushed his way between the two Chaotics as he made his way toward the door. ¡°C¡¯mon, guys. Let¡¯s go see what the Commander has for us.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re all here.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin quickly stood as Nik¨¦yin rushed into the briefing room, giving the Transfer Captain a brief nod before taking her seat at the head of the table.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned uneasily.


    ¡°Organizing fleets, planning defenses, trying to hold everyone together while the Nanocreatures are out there raising hell,¡± the Commander responded with a sigh. She rubbed her cheeks tiredly, drawing Kev¨¦rin¡¯s attention to the bags under her eyes.


    ¡°Uh, Commander¡­¡± He frowned. ¡°When was the last time you slept¡­?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about sleep. I don¡¯t have time for sleep. You¡¯ll just make me remember that I need it.¡± Nik¨¦yin shook her head and cracked her knuckles before leaning forwards, her elbows on the table. ¡°Anyways, to business. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t tell you about Lieutenants H¨²non and Icard before they arrived, Tyrion. I¡¯ve been busy with¡­ more pressing matters.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ fine.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced over at the two newcomers. ¡°But what about the rest of Hero Machina? What does this mean for them?¡±


    ¡°Kolst¨¦n and Wrikax will return to service eventually. But Kolst¨¦n still has at least half a week before his operations are even complete, so don¡¯t expect him to be battle-ready until the beginning of next month at the absolute earliest. Wrikax and Tchir¨¦on are both on leave for the stunt they pulled a few days ago¡­ given the galactic circumstances, and the circumstances of the situation involving Wanl¨¦on, I can pull Wrikax back in a week or two, but for now he¡¯s not allowed on base. Tchir¨¦on, though¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do with her. She knew about Wanl¨¦on¡¯s corruption, and willingly chose to keep it hidden. Whether she realizes it or not, that was an egregious mistake. Who knows what could happen now? Wrikax and Tchir¨¦on both claim that Wanl¨¦on was taken care of, but who¡¯s to say that Tchir¨¦on isn¡¯t corrupted? That anyone or anything else Wanl¨¦on has touched isn¡¯t corrupted? It¡¯s been almost four months since the Sunova mission; that¡¯s a lot of time, a lot of space to investigate. She seems to have at least had the good sense to cover herself up, but we still don¡¯t know the full extent of the Nanocreatures¡¯ abilities. Worst case scenario, Tchir¨¦on and Wanl¨¦on have unknowingly doomed us all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s barely fair,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded quietly, ¡°no one knew what the infection really was until Morcii showed up. How could they have known it would blow up like this?¡±


    ¡°I realize that they had no way of knowing, but ignorance is no excuse.¡± Nik¨¦yin sighed. ¡°The Nanocreatures are formidable. They¡¯re already overpowering the CSA by conventional means, so we can¡¯t allow them to take full advantage of their corruption and assimilation techniques. Tchir¨¦on will remain detained until I can be certain that Nimalia is safe. Until then, don¡¯t expect to work with her.¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright, then,¡± Kev¨¦rin eventually replied, choosing not to argue the issue farther. ¡°Are there any updates on the fighting between the CSA and the Nanocreatures? Aside from the loss of Bouy¡¯Xis?¡±


    ¡°¡­Luckily, no additional Transpace Worlds have fallen under attack. It¡¯s only Gonaan and Metorilis for now. But the Nanocreatures have practically obliterated several CSA fleets already; it would seem that for every enemy ship we can destroy, we lose fifty. Fifty to one is a terrible ratio, and it¡¯s made worse by the fact that the Nanocreatures can turn our defunct ships against us. We¡¯re feeding their fleets, and there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± Nik¨¦yin paused for a moment to remove her glasses and rub her temples warily. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think, more and more, than any possible chances for victory might lie with the Ayas, even if the only feats we know them to be capable of are legends. Which brings me to why we¡¯re here.¡± She replaced her glasses on her face and looked up at the five present members of Hero Machina. ¡°The Earthians want our help¡­ and they¡¯re willing to loan us their new Battlecruiser and an Ayas to get it.¡±

 55 - Protector of the Past

    Chapter 55 - Protector of the Past


    1 Day Later


    ¨C Skydia, Skydiath 6, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe I came back here¡­ the shithole of the shithole. Commonly known as ¡®Nock¡¯¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glared at his sun-bleached surroundings as he perched on top of an old, abandoned apartment building. The twenty-story structure was the tallest around for kilometers, allowing the Velocitechnic to casually scan the capital city of Tres¨¦d. Such a vantage point offered no true advantage, however ¡ª all it served was to allow Dav¨ªdrius to watch from above as he took in the dirty slums, abandoned and crumbling multi-story buildings, filthy streets, and the sandy wasteland horizon. He glanced toward the city docks, but even those were dirtied beyond reasonable belief with dirt, sand, sewage, and oil lathered over the piers and polluting the water for kilometers. Nock was, effectively, an old, abandoned, post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by gang members, bounty hunters, criminals, and slaves, none of whom possessed even one iota of determination or care when it came to cleaning or maintaining the well-being of the city.


    ¡°And this is supposed to be the capital¡­ ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted in derision before jumping down to the streets below, paying no heed to the several tarps he broke through on the way down. He landed with a roll before standing and double-checking his Sword Box harness, followed with a quick glare toward a small group of shady-looking men until they scrambled off down a back alley. Still got the glare, he thought to himself in amusement before taking off down the streets, blowing past people, stalls, and garbage piles alike until he found his way to the commercial district ¡ª if it could even be called that. The area was just as dirty and run-down as the rest of the city; the only differences were the significantly larger crowds in the streets and the vast multitude of signs attached haphazardly to poles and walls just outside of every door entrance.


    ¡°I hate this place¡­¡± the Velocitechnic grumbled, but began slowly walking down the street anyway, torn between spitefully walking slower than the crowd around him and stubbornly shoving ahead at his own pace. No no, c¡¯mon man, focus on what¡¯s relevant. News of the Bleeders. What¡¯ve they been up to, where are they, is Riken okay¡­


    He looked up to find himself in the city square: a large, run-down plaza filled with stalls and stands and bulletin boards of all kinds. Using his height to his advantage, he slowly scanned the area in search of a bounty board. Upon spotting one, he quickly moved toward it, ignoring the countless salesmen and peddlers along the way who attempted to grab his attention. Mere moments later he was standing in front of the board, tapping his foot impatiently as his eyes jumped from poster to poster, from announcement to announcement.


    ¡°Oi, Dav¨ªdrius! Is that you?¡±


    ¡°What?¡­¡± The Velocitechnic snapped his attention toward the origin of the call, quickly searching the crowd until laying eyes on a dark-haired, tan-skinned woman of height roughly equivalent to his own. She grinned and waved back at him before adjusting her shoulder strap and quickly approaching.


    ¡°¡­Wait¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded, astonished. ¡°Selind, is that you?¡±


    ¡°Ha, nice to know you still remember my name, pup.¡± She smirked. ¡°Long time no see!¡±


    <hr>


    30 Minutes Later


    ¡°Still as much a fan of alcohol as ever, huh.¡±


    ¡°Shut it, you,¡± Selind replied as she led Dav¨ªdrius up to the counter at the front of the bar. ¡°The drinks in this place are well worth the wait.¡±


    The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ on this continent that¡¯s worth the wait.¡±


    ¡°I see you haven¡¯t changed at all,¡± Selind remarked with a smirk before turning to wave the bartender over. Dav¨ªdrius watched as she ordered two of something he barely recognized before returning her attention to him.


    ¡°I could say the same for you,¡± he commented flatly.


    ¡°Ha. If only that were true.¡± She sighed, and then glanced down at Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s sides. Even while sitting in the bar chair, he had yet to detach either of his Sword Boxes. ¡°Lookin¡¯ to make some trouble?¡± she quipped.


    ¡°Says the woman with a sniper rifle slung over her back.¡±


    ¡°A woman¡¯s gotta protect herself, you know. This thing ain¡¯t failed me yet.¡±


    ¡°A sniper rifle ain¡¯t exactly a defensive weapon.¡±


    ¡°Not true, I find it makes a surprisingly wieldy club. Very effective in brawls.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted, glancing away as the bartender arrived and unceremoniously slid two glasses toward Selind. She quickly caught both before either could slide off the counter and downed one of them in one go.


    ¡°But enough with the banter.¡± She smirked as she punched Dav¨ªdrius playfully in the shoulder. ¡°How¡¯ve ya been? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you in¡­ what, two years?¡±


    ¡°Sounds ¡®bout right.¡±


    ¡°Heard you finally took care of Str¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°Wish I could say that.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed wistfully. ¡°It was¡­ it was actually a couple of foreigners who finished him off.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Came by randomly one day, asked me to join some squad that was supposed to check out the Chaos Quake. Told ¡®em I¡¯d only join if they could take care of Str¨¦n and the local Bleeders. Well, they did, so I did.¡±


    ¡°Wow. Guess that explains where you disappeared to, then, huh.¡±


    ¡°Eh? You knew I¡¯d left?¡±


    ¡°You were only one of Tres¨¦d¡¯s most feared Compound Guardians, of course people would hear if you left. Riken was one of the safest places to be with you around. Almost as safe as Tresnon.¡±


    ¡°Keh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted, mildly amused at the quip. ¡°Think you¡¯re better than me, eh? Desert sun must¡¯ve finally got to you.¡±


    Selind punched him in the shoulder again, slightly harder this time. He simply smirked as she paused for a moment to down her second drink and then shoved her glasses back across the counter, gesturing for the bartender to refill them. She then turned back to Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°So you finally left Tres¨¦d, huh?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Finally?¡¯¡± he echoed incredulously.


    ¡°You were always a fierce Guardian, sure, but it was easy to tell you didn¡¯t like it here. Especially with that speed of yours, the only thing keepin¡¯ you around was some misguided sense of duty.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Misguided?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Are you gonna actually talk to me or just echo everythin¡¯ I say like a dumbass?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hmph.¡±


    ¡°Any sane man or woman would leave the moment they could. Not you, though. All you had to do was run across the gulf to Tekdec¨¦ or Rel¨¦diaka. But you never did.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Findin¡¯ a way to live in the other nations ain¡¯t that simple. Runnin¡¯ across an entire sea ain¡¯t quite a walk in the park, either.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you get back here, then? No transports have arrived since last week.¡±


    ¡°¡­I ran from Nimaliaka.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sayin¡¯ you ran across the entire fucking Inerid¨¦ Ocean?!¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m runnin¡¯ in a straight line, without havin¡¯ to focus on dodgin¡¯ anythin¡¯, then I can hit Mach 8 easy. Maybe even 10, not sure. Barely skimmin¡¯ the water¡¯s surface, at least.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still several hours, Dav¨ªdrius!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well. I was determined.¡±


    ¡°So much for ¡®not a walk in the park,¡¯ huh?¡± Selind drawled, glancing up and reaching forward to retrieve her two recently-refilled glasses. ¡°Why the hell¡¯d you come back? If you were comin¡¯ back from Nimaliaka, then whatever you were doin¡¯ over there had to be better than protectin¡¯ this shithole.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed wearily. ¡°I got¡­ well, I won¡¯t be doin¡¯ anythin¡¯ over there for a couple weeks ¡®cause of¡­ reasons.¡±


    ¡°This have anythin¡¯ to do with the shit goin¡¯ down over in CSA space?¡±


    ¡°So the news even reached here, huh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised that news reaches Nock. People are well-versed in current events here. It¡¯s the Compounds out in the wastelands that never hear anythin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Well, you ain¡¯t wrong.¡± Dav¨ªdrius paused to yawn, taking the opportunity to lean back and stretch. ¡°So, seein¡¯ as I had some¡­ free time, I decided to check on Riken. See if the Bleeders are up to anythin¡¯, anythin¡¯ that I could stop. Make sure they aren¡¯t an issue anymore.¡±


    Selind frowned, turning her attention down to her glass as she slowly swirled its contents around. ¡°¡­Of course that¡¯s why you came back.¡±


    ¡°¡­That a bad thing?¡± Dav¨ªdrius narrowed his eyes, giving Selind an apprehensive glance.


    ¡°I¡¯d be tempted to say yes.¡±


    ¡°The hell¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°You were always attached to Riken. You took those Bleeder attacks pretty hard fifteen, twenty years ago. I thought you leavin¡¯ was a sign that you¡¯d managed to move on, but¡­ guess I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°Move on?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Shitty as it is, Riken is my home. The hell is there to ¡®move on¡¯ from?¡±


    ¡°From thinkin¡¯ that every little screw up in your life is your own fault.¡±


    ¡°What? Since when have I done that?¡±


    ¡°Since you discovered your super speed, that¡¯s when. No one should saddle themselves with stickin¡¯ around and tryin¡¯ to fix this shithole. But you did anyways.¡±


    ¡°You keep sayin¡¯ that. If you¡¯re so convinced that everyone should leave, then why the hell haven¡¯t you? You¡¯re two years older than me and you¡¯re pretty good with guns, I wager you could¡¯ve easily found work with the RPF or SFC.¡±


    Selind sighed warily. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t. I¡¯m stuck here.¡±


    ¡°Sure ya are,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°Just two minutes ago you were lecturin¡¯ me about comin¡¯ back, and now here you are sayin¡¯ you can¡¯t leave. Never could take your own advice, huh?¡±


    Selind¡¯s only response was to take a long drink before slamming the cup down on the counter haphazardly.


    ¡°What¡¯s ¡®stuck¡¯ supposed to mean, anyways? This have anythin¡¯ to do with your boyfriend?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted as he began glancing around the bar distractedly. ¡°Where is he, anyway? Last I saw you, the two of you never let each other outta sight.¡±


    ¡°¡­We had a kid.¡±


    ¡°¡­Really.¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned back to face Selind, who was again engrossed in the liquid swirling in her cup. ¡°When¡¯d that happen?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Bout two years ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Boy or girl?¡±


    ¡°Girl. Named her Relia. Austilad¡¯s idea.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessin¡¯ they¡¯re back in Tresnon, then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Austilad makes for a great father. Almost wish I had one.¡±


    ¡°Mm. When¡¯re you goin¡¯ back?¡±


    ¡°Not sure I am.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snapped his attention back to Selind after having it wander to the dark shelves in front of him. ¡°Say again?¡±


    Selind sighed again before downing the rest of her drink. ¡°I left him.¡±


    ¡°What?! The hell did you do that for?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t handle it, okay? I¡¯m too young for this shit. Settlin¡¯ down, raisin¡¯ a family. I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t anchor myself here.¡±


    ¡°So you just left your boyfriend and your kid behind?¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°you really gonna force that on ¡®em?¡±


    Selind scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t get high and mighty on me, pup. You ain¡¯t the only one here who grew up without parents.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. You know how it feels. So why the hell d¡¯you wanna inflict that on your own kid?¡±


    Selind refused to respond, instead choosing to take a swig out of her second glass.


    ¡°¡­So that¡¯s why you were confused about me comin¡¯ back. Ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius laughed bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s why you were glad I left. You wanted to do the same.¡±


    ¡°You saw right through me,¡± she smiled hollowly.


    ¡°What about Tresnon, huh? You¡¯re the primary Guardian. You just gonna leave the whole compound to itself, too?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn. I knew you were carefree, Selind, but I never thought you¡¯d fuck someone over with it. And you haven¡¯t even properly left, you¡¯re still on this shithole of a continent. Leave it to you to half-ass fuckin¡¯ someone over.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± she cut in sharply as she shot a glare at the Velocitechnic. ¡°You weren¡¯t there. You didn¡¯t know what it was like. What I was goin¡¯ through. What I am goin¡¯ through.¡±


    ¡°No, but I know what growin¡¯ up without parents is like. I know what it¡¯s like to lose someone close to you, too. But I¡¯ve never left someone. So between you, Austilad, and your kid, I can empathize with two of you. Guess which one I can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Never left anyone, eh?¡± Selind chuckled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s a lie. That¡¯s a solid lie. You left Riken.¡±


    ¡°First you were confused that I came back, now you¡¯re mad I left? Get a grip, woman, which one is it?¡±


    ¡°Neither.¡± She paused to take another drink. ¡°¡­Both.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius shot her an incredulous look. ¡°How drunk are you?¡±


    Selind shook her head warily before finishing the drink and shoving the glasses back across the counter. ¡°Not drunk yet, just buzzed. Need another three or four of those to get drunk.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled. ¡°The shit you¡¯re drinkin¡¯ would knock out most men half again your size at that point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve built up a tolerance over the years.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a shitty way to spend the time.¡±


    ¡°Not really any other way to spend the time.¡±


    ¡°You mean aside from gettin¡¯ knocked up and abandonin¡¯ your kid?¡±


    ¡°Look, I know I¡¯ve made some mistakes. No need to get crass or snappy about it.¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi, since when¡¯ve you cared about bein¡¯ crass? You started this when you got on my case for comin¡¯ back, anyways.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just tryin¡¯ to look out for you, Dav¨ªdrius¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should start lookin¡¯ out for yourself, huh?¡±


    Selind sighed warily, leaning forward with her elbows on the counter as she waited for her glasses to be refilled. ¡°I know I¡¯m not the best person to be givin¡¯ out advice, but¡­ I think that applies to you, too. You should really think about yourself more often.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°When¡¯ve I not thought about myself?¡±


    ¡°You give off the impression that you¡¯re self-centered, and it¡¯s enough to fool most people, but not me,¡± Selind countered. ¡°I¡¯ve known you since you were just a wee lad, you know.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but you were just a ¡®wee lass¡¯ yourself.¡±


    ¡°Stop internalizin¡¯ things, Dav¨ªdrius. I know that¡¯s why you never left. You blamed yourself for your parents¡¯ deaths, for your siblings¡¯ deaths¡­ for Hanas¡¯s death.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled deeply at the name, but didn¡¯t interject.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was happy to hear that you left, I think,¡± Selind continued, reaching forward to grab her glasses just after they were refilled. ¡°I thought you¡¯d finally gotten over ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯d really just get over Hanas?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hoped you would. Did you?¡±


    The Velocitechnic looked away, sighing wistfully. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. ¡­I thought I did¡­¡±


    Selind took another drink. ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°¡­And nothin¡¯.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shook his head before standing up. ¡°Look, I¡¯m grateful for seein¡¯ you again, and for the talk, but I¡¯ve really gotta get goin¡¯. Info on the Bleeders won¡¯t find itself.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­?¡± The Velocitechnic paused mid-turn, glancing down at his right arm where Selind had just grabbed him. He then looked up at her face, though she herself was once again absorbed in her drink.


    ¡°¡­You stickin¡¯ around?¡± she questioned without making eye contact. ¡°Goin¡¯ to check on Riken?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shook her off and turned to face her completely as he crossed his arms. ¡°That¡¯s the whole reason I came down here. Why would I not check on Riken? It¡¯s my home. ¡­Was my home.¡±


    ¡°You got the past tense right.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡± He narrowed his eyes, watching tensely as Selind finished her drink and moved on to the other. Before drinking again, though, she sighed.


    ¡°Riken¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°¡­Say what?¡±


    ¡°Bleeder attack,¡± Selind muttered, her gaze pointed straight down into her cup. ¡°Barely a month after you left. I guess they wanted revenge for you takin¡¯ out Str¨¦n? I dunno. But by the time I¡¯d heard, it was too late to do anythin¡¯. Whole crew of Bleeders, attacked Riken, cleaned the place out. It was¡­ a massacre. No one survived.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what¡­?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded quietly, stunned. Mere moments later his face contorted with rage as he reached over to Selind and roughly grabbed her by her collar, forcing her to face him. ¡°Why the fuck didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?!¡±


    ¡°Because I knew this is exactly how you¡¯d react!¡± she snapped back, knocking away his arm and accidentally knocking over her drink in the process. ¡°I was tryin¡¯ to look out for you! Help you move on! Not drag you back into the stupid affairs of this stupid shithole!¡±


    ¡°By hidin¡¯ the fact that my entire home was slaughtered?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted back, ignorant of the attention he was beginning to attract. ¡°You think hidin¡¯ the fact that everyone I knew is dead is supposed to help me ¡®move on?!¡¯¡±


    ¡°Yes! ¡­No! I don¡¯t know!¡± Selind countered, turning away in frustration. ¡°I just¡ª I don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°Damn right you don¡¯t know,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°And here I thought I could still trust you. So much for havin¡¯ someone in my life who¡¯d understand me.¡± He turned his back on Selind. ¡°Because, apparently, they¡¯re all dead.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna find the Bleeders responsible, and I¡¯m gonna make them pay. And then I¡¯m gonna leave. I bet that¡¯ll make you real happy, huh?¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°¡­Goodbye, Selind.¡±


    She simply stared forward, unable to respond before the Velocitechnic suddenly disappeared from sight.

 56 - The Power of Greed

    Chapter 56 - The Power of Greed


    2 Days Later


    ¨C Firdia, Skydiath 8, 8034 ¨C


    (Monday, February 10, 2110)


    ¡°Less than half an hour until arrival, sir!¡±


    ¡°This is it, Nimalians¡­¡± Chief Captain Peter Krick muttered, ¡°I¡¯d hoped that the first Nimalian trip to Earth would be under more peaceful circumstances, but, well¡­¡±


    ¡°This is a really bad time to be dealing with civil conflicts,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, his arms crossed.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say; you¡¯ve been dealing on the galactic stage for centuries. We Earthians only started dipping our toes in interstellar travel fifteen years ago, and SERRCom itself is barely ten years old.¡± Krick glanced back at Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ wearily. ¡°This was bound to happen sooner or later. It¡¯s just our luck that it had to be sooner.¡±


    ¡°Um, if you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up uneasily, ¡°¡­exactly what are you talking about?¡±


    The Earthian Captain sighed and stretched before fully swiveling his commanders¡¯ chair around to face the two members of Hero Machina. ¡°Basically, it¡¯s a power struggle. One of the nations on Earth is throwing a fit that it doesn¡¯t have the authority to do what SERRCom does ¡ª that is, pretty much everything that has anything to do with anything outside our solar system. So they¡¯re waving their dick around and trying to get SERRCom to rise to the bait so they can beat us down and show the rest of the world that they can do our job better.¡±


    ¡°This sounds like it should be easy to deal with,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°You¡¯re the ones with the spacecraft; I¡¯d say it¡¯s pretty clear who the boss is. Besides, I thought SERRCom started out as a joint international organization, surely there¡¯s a better way of handling this than with force.¡±


    ¡°I wish there was, but the Americans aren¡¯t really happy that their 150 years of power was abruptly cut short because some random alien races stepped in and decided that Earth needed a different organization to represent it.¡± Krick snorted. ¡°At least, that¡¯s how the government is behaving.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I follow.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ let¡¯s back up to ten years ago. First encounter. I think we dialed a CSA planet¡­ regardless, as soon as the CSA realized that we Earthians existed, they swooped in and demanded that we create a unified representative body to, well, represent us. They didn¡¯t want to have to deal with over a hundred individual entities for a single planet ¡ª that¡¯s what led to the creation of SERRCom. The thing is, the CSA forcing us to create SERRCom like they did was basically holding a gun to our heads. Everyone was running scared ¡ª out of nowhere, these super-advanced aliens who had already colonized a quarter of the galaxy were demanding things of us, so who were we to say ¡®no?¡¯ We didn¡¯t want to risk bad first impressions or, worse, being attacked and wiped out. It wasn¡¯t until a couple years later that we realized that the CSA wasn¡¯t really hostile, and ever since then, the more powerful nations on Earth have been trying to lobby themselves into positions of interstellar power, all while SERRCom is trying to keep hold of the reins. Which wasn¡¯t hard, since we¡¯re the ones dealing with all you advanced races, but now¡­¡± Krick frowned. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know how ¡ª probably because they have the Interstellar Gate, I guess ¡ª but the Americans got their hands on an Ayas.¡±


    ¡°You mean, the guys who¡¯re upset that SERRCom is in power?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Yeah. They must¡¯ve found it some time ago, too, because they only just recently revealed a massive network of anti-orbital railguns that all hook into the Ayas for power. They almost took out one of our Frigates before it jumped away.¡±


    ¡°Wait, anti-orbital railguns?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed incredulously, ¡°and you¡¯re just going to exit FTL on top of them?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; they¡¯re of no threat to the Genesis. This Battlecruiser was created by the Master Ayas itself, after all, and it¡¯s got all kinds of advanced tech. Plus its technical specifications have been classified; there¡¯s no way the Americans could¡¯ve accounted for it when designing their weapons.¡±


    ¡°Then why can¡¯t you just bombard the shit out of the bastards?¡± Kev¨¦rin suggested.


    ¡°Because of politics.¡± Krick chuckled bitterly. ¡°This is what I meant earlier when I said that ¡®this was bound to happen.¡¯ America is challenging SERRCom on its power. If we fuck this up, then they¡¯ve got the support of the rest of the planet on their side, and at that point we¡¯re screwed. There¡¯s at least another ten years or so until SERRCom can be self-sufficient, so for now we have to rely on funding, personnel, and material support from Earth. So we can¡¯t just fire on them. They¡¯d play that up as us ¡®declaring war on Earth¡¯ or something, and they¡¯d use that to kill SERRCom and take over themselves.¡±


    The Pyrotechnic snorted. ¡°That sounds ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying it isn¡¯t, but it¡¯s what they¡¯d do, and the bad thing is, it¡¯d probably work.¡± Krick sighed. ¡°So we need to disable the anti-orbital gun network and extract the Ayas with as few casualties as possible. If we can do that, then it¡¯d show the rest of the planet that we¡¯re in control, and that America has nothing on us. We¡¯d make them look like fools, and it¡¯d give us enough support to remove the Interstellar Gate from American soil and move it to someplace safer, probably the SERRCom space station that¡¯s slated for construction here soon. Which is another reason to disable the railguns¡­¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that we¡¯re here solely to help out in a petty power struggle.¡±


    ¡°Heh, sorry this isn¡¯t something more glamorous, but that¡¯s how it is.¡± Krick shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯m serious when I say that we do need you. More worrying than the development of the anti-orbital guns is the fact that the Americans also managed to develop some sort of technology that jams the Genesis¡¯ beaming systems. Well, it¡¯s more like they prevent us from getting a lock on anything, but it¡¯s essentially the same, since if we can¡¯t lock onto an object or location then using the beaming systems isn¡¯t safe.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with us?¡±


    ¡°Because the entire gun network, especially the Ayas housing center, is covered by this jamming tech. In order to infiltrate it, we¡¯d have to send in teams the conventional way, and ground combat isn¡¯t exactly SERRCom¡¯s forte. Especially not when it comes to power projection over a mountain range, which is where the Ayas is. This ship¡¯s guns are too powerful for small-target bombardment, and while we can certainly absorb shots from the anti-orbital guns without issue, I¡¯d prefer not to get so close that they can score guaranteed hits. We need someone who has enough power on their own to easily disable armor and aircraft¡­ we need Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°¡­And no Earthian is a Chaotic, so you need our help.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded understandingly. ¡°Alright, so basically, you want to send us down some distance away from the Ayas and then we¡¯ll blast our way to it and retrieve it, taking out any guns we see along the way.¡±


    ¡°With as few casualties as possible, yes.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like your Overdrive will come in handy, then,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked as he passed a sidelong glance to Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°Yeah, this mission doesn¡¯t sound hard at all,¡± Kaon¨¦ agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t think this should take very long.¡±


    ¡°I hope it won¡¯t,¡± Krick replied. ¡°The sooner we get this done, the better.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°Definitely. We can barely afford to waste our time here. If we get the Ayas and access to this ship out of it, though, then it might just be worth it.¡±


    ¡°Remember that you don¡¯t get to keep the Genesis,¡± Krick quickly pointed out, ¡°and me and my crew will still be manning it. But yes, if you help out SERRCom here, then helping you back is the least we can do.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± The Transfer Captain turned toward the bridge exit. ¡°My team and I will suit up now. Once we¡¯re ready, just beam us down and mark our maps; we¡¯ll take care of the rest from there.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain. Good luck down there.¡±


    ¡°Ha,¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°Hopefully, we won¡¯t need it.¡±


    <hr>


    4 Hours Later


    ¡°It¡¯s so cold¡­¡±


    ¡°Just stick with it,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded as he glanced back at Kaon¨¦, ¡°our armor has climate control, so you won¡¯t get frostbite or anything.¡±


    ¡°You say that¡­¡± The Materiatechnic looked around herself at the snow-capped mountains surrounding the small cliff Hero Machina was currently standing on. ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s below freezing out here.¡±


    The Pyrotechnic shrugged. ¡°It is the middle of Earth¡¯s winter, and we are halfway up a mountain¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s easy for you to shrug it off, you can create your own damned heat.¡± V¨¦lunis scowled as he peered into the distance through the scope of a laser sniper. ¡°You should make us a fire. That¡¯ll warm us up.¡± He then glanced conspicuously at Kaon¨¦. ¡°¡­Better yet, set her on fire. She¡¯ll probably burn longer than anything around here.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± she protested before grabbing some nearby rocks, transmuting them into firewood, and dumping them at V¨¦lunis¡¯s feet. ¡°There! Firewood. There¡¯s no need to try and burn me.¡±


    ¡°A little cold won¡¯t hurt you,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to start a fire here, anyways. We already don¡¯t have arctic camouflage, so the last thing we need to do is create a free light and heat source for the Earthians to lock on to.¡±


    ¡°Implying that our armor doesn¡¯t create heat,¡± V¨¦lunis deadpanned.


    Kev¨¦rin glanced back at the other members of Hero Machina. Kaon¨¦, Kievkenalis, and himself were all wearing their normal Chaos Armor, but V¨¦lunis and Wilkas were stuck with lower-grade electrical armor, due to the lack of fitted Chaos Armor.


    ¡°I know they create heat,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied as he turned back to the rock face in front of him and began cautiously searching for footholds. ¡°But it¡¯s a level of heat that I can mask. I could do the same for a fire, but then that¡¯d defeat the whole purpose of creating a fire in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be focused on finding the base?¡± Kievkenalis interjected.


    ¡°What do you think we¡¯re climbing this mountain for?¡±


    ¡°Why are we even climbing?¡± Wilkas questioned, and glanced at Kaon¨¦. ¡°You¡¯re a Materiatechnic, right? Just make a platform or something.¡±


    ¡°We need to be as stealthy as possible until we actually find the base,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted, ¡°if they sound the alarm before we get too close then we¡¯ll have to go through a lot more people, and Kaon¨¦¡¯s Overdrive will only help so much if there¡¯s crowds of people and blast doors in our way.¡±


    ¡°Sounds reasonable enough¡­¡± V¨¦lunis muttered, still peering through the sniper scope. ¡°¡­If they hadn¡¯t found us already, at least.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± The Pyrotechnic¡¯s eyes widened in alarm as V¨¦lunis suddenly fired his laser sniper. A small burst of light could be seen in the distance before Wilkas jumped forward and punched a cannon shell out of the air, sending it flying into the cliffs to the bottom left.


    ¡°Where are they?¡± Kev¨¦rin demanded.


    ¡°Point defenses, over a kilometer northeast,¡± V¨¦lunis reported before firing another shot.


    ¡°Chaos Assist,¡± Kievkenalis called. ¡°Damn¡­ they found us already?¡±


    ¡°No time to wonder how,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, and then gestured toward Kaon¨¦. ¡°Do it!¡±


    She nodded once in acknowledgment before calling out, ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!¡±


    V¨¦lunis flinched back as the gun in his hands sparked and fell to pieces. He turned toward Kaon¨¦, confused. ¡°What just¡ª?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s her Overdrive,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°now, Kaon¨¦, make us a platform and fly us over there!¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The Materiatechnic quickly complied, transforming the ground under the five Chaotics into steel and then lifting it up into the air. The Pyrotechnic stared out into the distance toward where the cannon shell originated while the remaining three Chaotics of Hero Machina clung to the platform, unprepared for the sudden airlift.


    ¡°We have no choice but to find the base as quickly as possible, now,¡± the Transfer Captain continued, ¡°alright, Kaon¨¦. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­Visual scans indicate that one of the anti-orbital railguns has been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± Krick frowned, shifting in his chair as he looked up at the holographic displays at the front of the bridge. ¡°We beamed them down not even an hour ago¡­ where was the gun?¡±


    ¡°It was on the southern inner emplacement perimeter, roughly around 44 degrees north and 109 degrees west.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve barely moved at all, but I guess that¡¯s to be expected in the mountains¡­¡± Krick grumbled to himself, ¡°they¡¯ve moved enough to enter the jamming fields, though, so we can¡¯t contact them now¡­ it¡¯s do or die.¡± He then raised his voice to address the entire bridge. ¡°Do the scans show anything else? Unit mobilization? Raised heat emission from activating defenses? Energy transfer?¡±


    ¡°¡­Sorry, sir,¡± one of the officers replied, ¡°we aren¡¯t picking up anything. The remaining anti-orbital guns have begun moving, presumably to target us, but they¡¯re the largest emplacements we can track. The communications and lock-on jamming is interfering with our ability to detect heat emission, as well.¡±


    ¡°Then they¡¯re really on their own¡­ ¡­Alright. Initiate the cloak and move us down to low orbit over the coordinates of the destroyed gun.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª sir, we¡¯re being hailed. ¡­It¡¯s President Zhou.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Krick raised an eyebrow in curiosity. ¡°What does he want?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no info tag accompanying the request, except that it¡¯s an audio-only line.¡±


    ¡°Ha. I¡¯d bet this has something to do with his precious railguns.¡± The Captain snorted. ¡°Alright, maintain our orbital position and hold the cloak order for now. Open a channel to my headset¡­ let¡¯s see what he has to say.¡±


    Krick leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he waited for the communication connection. Mere moments later, he heard a couple beeps in his ear as the comms officer gave him a thumbs-up, indicating a successful connection. He waved back and then tapped his ear piece to open the line. ¡°Greetings, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°Good day to you as well, Chief Captain.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what brings you to contact me? I¡¯m sure someone in a position such as yourself would find it more productive to get in touch with General Dowley instead¡ª¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, Captain, but I¡¯ve no time for your snide remarks,¡± the President cut in impatiently. ¡°I¡¯m sure we both know why I¡¯m contacting you.¡±


    ¡°Do we?¡± Krick questioned innocently as he glanced up at the real-time scanner readings. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°You mean to tell me you have nothing to do with the destruction of one of my orbital defense platforms?¡±


    ¡°Well, now that you mention it¡­¡±


    ¡°I have no time for your games, Captain. Do you realize that this is an act of war?¡±


    ¡°And firing on one of our Frigates wasn¡¯t?¡±


    Krick smirked to himself when the President failed to immediately respond.


    ¡°¡­You must understand, Captain,¡± Zhou finally continued, ¡°we did not intend to hit, or even fire on, one of SERRCom¡¯s Frigates. That was merely a test of the defense platforms¡¯ capability.¡±


    ¡°And you just happened to almost hit a Frigate sitting in stable middle Earth orbit?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You just happened to almost hit a 75-meter target sitting nearly ten thousand kilometers above the Earth¡¯s surface?¡±


    ¡°I am aware of the size of Frigates and the altitude of MEO, Captain. I maintain that the incident was unintentional.¡±


    ¡°All due respect Mr. President, but cut the shit. We both know that you¡¯re lying through your teeth. Now tell me what you want so I don¡¯t have to talk to you anymore.¡±


    ¡°The nerve¡ª! I can see to it that you never set foot on American soil again!¡±


    ¡°Do you think I care? I haven¡¯t even set foot on Earth in the past year. I answer to General Dowley of SERRCom, not you.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Now, is that it? Surely you didn¡¯t call just to threaten me.¡±


    ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s¡ª it¡¯s not. ¡­I must apologize, I did not mean to¡­ anyways. About the defense platforms.¡±


    Krick glanced up at the scanner readouts again just in time to see that a second railgun emplacement had been destroyed. The Nimalians are really moving now, he thought to himself, let¡¯s hope they¡¯re keeping the ¡®minimal casualties¡¯ objective in mind¡­ He then turned his attention back to the communication. ¡°Alright, what is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to withdraw your ground team.¡±


    ¡°And what do we get out of that?¡±


    ¡°A¡­ truce. And a public apology. We won¡¯t try to get in SERRCom¡¯s way again.¡±


    ¡°You want to trade your anti-orbital weapons for words?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s all I can offer at the moment.¡±


    ¡°How about handing over the gun emplacements to SERRCom?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s SERRCom¡¯s job to protect Earth from interstellar threats, and I¡¯m fairly certain that anti-orbital weaponry follows that goal pretty well.¡±


    ¡°¡­I will consider it, if you withdraw your team immediately.¡±


    ¡°I would consider doing so as well, but as we both know¡­¡± Krick smirked. ¡°¡­The entire area is blanketed in jamming fields. I can¡¯t contact anyone down there. So if you want me to withdraw anything, you¡¯re going to need to shut down the jamming.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. How can I trust you won¡¯t use the opportunity to bombard the whole area?¡±


    ¡°Sir, if it¡¯s orbital bombardment that you¡¯re worried about, you should know that a jamming field won¡¯t stop us. The only reason I haven¡¯t opened fire already is because there are innocent men and women down there risking their lives for a political dick-waving contest. And I will continue to withhold the Genesis¡¯s orbital bombardment rounds for that very reason, unless you do something as egregious as opening fire on a SERRCom ship again.¡±


    ¡°Should I take that as a threat, Captain?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a warning ¡ª and I¡¯m sure Dowley would say the same. Now I¡¯ve had enough of your pleading, so if that¡¯s all you have to say, then I have work to get back to¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait, Captain! Surely there¡¯s a way we can work this out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all up to you.¡± Krick shrugged, the indifference working its way into his voice. ¡°SERRCom has little to lose from this situation.¡±


    ¡°You stand to lose the support of every civilized nation on this planet, and with it, all your funding and manufacturing power.¡±


    ¡°¡¯All¡¯ is an overstatement.¡±


    ¡°¡­Grant me an audience. Let¡¯s work this out in person. I can even send my people to your ship, and we can negotiate on your ground.¡±


    The Captain paused for a moment, surprised by the President¡¯s sudden offer. ¡°¡­You want to send a negotiation team onto the Genesis?¡±


    ¡°If it will work out the situation with the defense platforms, then yes, I am willing to do so.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hold that thought for a minute, please.¡± Krick quickly tapped his ear piece, muting the connection as he turned to look again at the scanner readouts. What does he want¡­ the captain thought to himself, he must have ulterior motives. Why else would he contact me and not Dowley? How did he learn about the Nimalians so quickly, anyway? And why the hell did he suddenly offer to send a team to the Genesis? This smells fishier than the sea itself¡­ Still, I suppose if I at least attempt to negotiate, it¡¯ll make SERRCom look better¡­ Several moments later he finally turned to one of the bridge officers. ¡°Seal the bulkheads around receiving airlock 7A and send a suppression team down to guard the entrances.¡± As soon as the officer acknowledged his order, the Captain tapped his ear piece again to unmute the communication. ¡°Sorry about that, Mr. President. I just had to check some things first.¡±


    ¡°Your answer, then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Assemble a team, and I¡¯ll beam them up. But understand this, Mr. President ¡ª if they try anything fishy, I will not hesitate to stop them by any means necessary and report the incident to General Dowley.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course, Captain. I would never dream of doing such a thing. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I will go do exactly as you suggested. I will be back in under half an hour.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡¯Never dream of it,¡¯ he says,¡± Krick muttered to himself after the comm channel cut out, ¡°we¡¯ll have to see about that¡­¡±


    <hr>


    BANG!


    The meter-thick steel door sealing the entrance to the mountain base was suddenly knocked inward, completely severed from the wall as it fell over. Wilkas immediately stepped in and began looking around at the base¡¯s entrance bay as Kev¨¦rin stared on in disbelief.


    ¡°So much for being stealthy,¡± he lamented irately.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of bein¡¯ stealthy?¡± Wilkas countered, turning to look back at the Transfer Captain. ¡°We¡¯ve already been detected.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we just need to get the Ayas and get out,¡± V¨¦lunis agreed.


    ¡°It would be better if we could find out the actual specifications behind the railguns,¡± Kev¨¦rin argued, ¡°and if we could find out where they found this Ayas. I¡¯d like to know how all this was put together under SERRCom¡¯s nose.¡±


    ¡°Whatever we do, we should figure it out soon,¡± Kaon¨¦ urged as she glanced toward a small group of confused Earthians standing at the far end of the entrance bay. ¡°My Overdrive will wear out soon, and if Cooldown doesn¡¯t happen then, then it¡¯ll definitely happen if I use it a fourth time.¡±


    ¡°Strictly speaking, we don¡¯t need your powers beyond your Overdrive,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out, ¡°the four of us can do just fine.¡±


    ¡°Way to make me feel useful...¡±


    ¡°She has a point, though; we need to act fast.¡± Kev¨¦rin paused for a moment to think before continuing, ¡°alright, Kaon¨¦, you¡¯re with me. We¡¯ll look for the control room and see what we can do from there. Kevken, V¨¦lunis, Wilkas, I want the three of you to find the Ayas. Will you be able to sense it, Kevken?¡±


    ¡°Once we get close enough, probably.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s it,¡± the Pyrotechnic declared, narrowing his eyes as the Earthians in the room suddenly fled and alarms began to sound. ¡°¡­We covered a lot of ground since the last time Kaon¨¦ used her Overdrive; there might still be intact weapons here, so be careful. Otherwise: split!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos Detect!¡± Kievkenalis shouted as he dashed forward ahead of V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. He waved to Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ as they burst through a wall in the opposite direction and then turned his attention down and to the left, tracking several distant silhouettes as they descended through space. ¡°Over there!¡± He pointed at the wall. ¡°There¡¯s an elevator shaft! The Ayas is probably in the lower levels!¡±


    Without wasting a moment, Wilkas thrust his fist forward, pulverizing the wall and opening a hole into the hallway behind it. V¨¦lunis jumped through, summoning two pistols out of thin air before quickly scanning the hallway and firing on a defense turret before it could fire on him. As soon as he did so, several more alarms began blaring ¡ª and then the walls in the immediate vicinity unexpectedly exploded, showering the three Chaotics in smoke and hot debris. The three quickly stumbled out of the smoke, only to see several rocket turrets staring at them from down the hall. Wilkas immediately jumped forward as two rockets were fired, obliterating one of the rockets with his shoulder as V¨¦lunis sniped the other out of the air. Kievkenalis fired several Chaos Cannon shots down the hall at the rocket turrets as Wilkas tore out a section of the steel wall and used it as a shield while rushing down the hallway, V¨¦lunis and Kievkenalis in tow.


    ¡°¡­Here,¡± the Chaostechnic exclaimed as he slammed his fist against a large steel door. ¡°The elevator¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Wilkas nodded before tearing into the door, ripping it open with ease. The three Chaotics paused to stare down the large, dark shaft ¡ª the bottom was too far down to be seen.


    ¡°This must be a freight elevator,¡± V¨¦lunis observed, noting the width of the door Wilkas had torn down as well as the depth of the elevator shaft.


    ¡°If it is, then maybe it goes all the way down to the bottom of the base¡­¡± Kievkenalis squinted in an attempt to see through the darkness, but to no avail. ¡°We¡¯ll likely encounter less resistance if we go down the shaft, too.¡±


    ¡°Well sure, and I know I can survive that drop just fine¡­¡± Wilkas glanced back at the other two Chaotics. ¡°But what about you guys?¡±


    ¡°We can climb down the elevator cables,¡± Kievkenalis suggested. ¡°Worst case scenario, V¨¦lunis and I both have abilities that can soften a landing. Our Armor¡¯s shielding will help a lot, as well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but I hate it all the same¡­¡± V¨¦lunis muttered, and then sighed loftily. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s get climbing.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Hands in the air!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin burst through the wall after cutting his way through the steel with heat, two blades of flame extending from his hands as he held them threateningly in front of him. He then allowed the flames to dissipate and his hands to fall to his sides as he glanced around the room in confusion.


    ¡°¡­There¡¯s no one here,¡± Kaon¨¦ observed quietly after entering behind Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­¡± The Transfer Captain scowled as he snapped his eyes from empty console to empty console, from vacant workstation to vacant workstation, and eventually to the massive window at the front of the room that allowed a wide view of the snowy mountains. He cautiously approached the nearest workstation before sitting himself in front of it and activating it. ¡°¡­This seems like the control room, alright,¡± he muttered after fiddling with the computer for a short while, ¡°so why is no one here?¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing, though, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned. ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about hurting anyone this way.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted. ¡°These stations are clearly meant to be manned. This entire base should be manned, but we¡¯ve only run into primitive security bots and defense turrets, aside from those Earthians back at the entrance. I don¡¯t like this one bit¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, what are we supposed to do about it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there is anything we can do about it. Not without learning more¡­¡± The Transfer Captain glanced across the room before jumping up and seating himself at another console. ¡°First things first, let¡¯s disable the jamming fields and get in touch with the Genesis.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that?¡±


    ¡°Please. Earthian computers are far more primitive than 200-year-old Citan tech, and I hacked the Teghica computers with ease. I even got some interface tech from one of the technicians up on the Genesis; this¡¯ll be a walk in the park. ¡­There. See, I have access already.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ watched the Transfer Captain work for a few moments before she turned her attention to the room¡¯s window. Far in the distance she could see one of the anti-orbital railguns, mounted into the side of a mountain and pointing straight up into the sky. ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge,¡± she muttered, only for nothing to happen. My powers are still on Cooldown¡­ I guess that¡¯s to be expected after using my Overdrive three times in a row¡­


    ¡°There, field¡¯s down.¡±


    The Materiatechnic glanced back at Kev¨¦rin and then approached his console. ¡°Are you going to contact the Genesis?¡±


    The Pyrotechnic nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the plan. Heh, good thing Earthian interface protocols are well-known. Their stuff is so primitive, trying to hack it from scratch might actually be more difficult than hacking Citan computers. Everything¡¯s put together so¡­ so¡­¡±


    ¡°Confusingly?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say haphazardly. Or ignorantly. Or just stupidly.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Anyways, contacting the Genesis¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ jumped in surprise as the sound of static suddenly filled the room before being replaced with a soft, dull tone. Moments later, the tone disappeared completely as Captain Krick¡¯s voice boomed through the room. ¡°Captain¡­ ¡­that you?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded, though the gesture was lost on the audio-only connection. ¡°I just disabled the jamming fields. We haven¡¯t found the Ayas yet, though.¡± He paused for several moments in anticipation of a response, glancing at Kaon¨¦ in confusion when the Earthian Captain failed to reply. ¡°Captain?¡±


    ¡°¨C¨Cgerous! We¡¯ve been bo¨C¨C ¡­Damn bastard couldn¡¯t keep his word, they¡¯v¨C¨C¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kev¨¦rin leaned forward tensely, surprised by the low quality of the audio connection. ¡°Captain, the line¡¯s cutting out, I can¡¯t make out what you¡¯re saying! Captain?!¡±


    ¡°¨C¨Ctrap, the anti-orbital network¨C¨C get out of there!¡±


    ¡°The hell?¡± The Transfer Captain stared at the console in front of him with a mixture of confusion and irritation. ¡°What do you mean, trap? What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°Uh, Kev¨¦rin¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up warningly, warily pointing out the window. ¡°The, the gun¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Pyrotechnic looked up just as the Railgun in the distance began to move, lowering its barrel toward the horizon before slowly swiveling toward the control room. ¡°¡­Well, shit.¡±


    ¡°We need to get out of here¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Way ahead of you!¡± Kev¨¦rin jumped out of his seat and turned toward the room¡¯s entrance, but the two Chaotics were barely able to so much as exit the room before the entire structure suddenly collapsed, the entire control room and the area around it crumbling to the mountaintop below.

 57 - Guardian of the Future

    Chapter 57 - Guardian of the Future


    ¨C Firdia, Skydiath 8, 8034 ¨C


    A cool breeze swept across the warm bricks, slowly wearing away at the heat absorbed from the now-setting sun. The day had been long, but not long enough to heat the numerous ruined structures to uncomfortable temperatures, allowing Dav¨ªdrius to perch on top of a scarred building while he watched the sunset.


    His gaze eventually moved away from the sun and down to the ruins surrounding him ¡ª the collapsed walls, the blasted guard towers, the pillaged homes. Bloodstains covered almost every surface in sight, the only remaining sign of the dead bodies Dav¨ªdrius had buried earlier in the day. Now, his former home of Riken was but a gathering of ruins; where it was once a bastion against the terrible desert outside, it was now merely a part of the vast wastelands itself.


    The Velocitechnic cast a sullen glance to the side as the sound of a motor reached his ears, but he made no further attempt to investigate. Instead he turned back to the sunset, sitting as still as the ruins around him, almost as if he were a part of them himself.


    ¡°I knew I¡¯d find you here.¡±


    ¡°I thought I told you goodbye,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied flatly, making no attempt at eye-contact as Selind approached the short building he was sitting on.


    ¡°You never say goodbye,¡± she countered, ¡°and when you do, you never mean it. That¡¯s why you¡¯re here.¡±


    The Velocitechnic glanced down at her and then returned his gaze to the sunset. Selind stared at him for a few moments before sighing and leaning against the wall, electing to join Dav¨ªdrius in silence and sunset observance.


    ¡°¡­I killed ¡®em all.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Selind looked up at Dav¨ªdrius again.


    ¡°The Bleeders,¡± he responded sullenly. ¡°I found the nearest encampments, and killed ¡®em all. Not a Bleeder left standing for a few hundred kilometers in any direction.¡±


    ¡°Wow¡­ impressive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ ¡­was it right?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Right?¡¯¡± Selind echoed incredulously. ¡°You¡¯ve killed Bleeders before. What¡¯s different now?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°An eye for an eye, they always say.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well they also say it makes the whole world blind.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not like you to be all philosophical.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not like me to fail so massively against the Bleeders either, yet here we are.¡±


    Selind glanced around at the surrounding ruins. ¡°This wasn¡¯t your fault¡­ You had no way of knowin¡¯ that the Bleeders could manage such a counterattack.¡±


    ¡°Just like I¡¯ve got no way of knowin¡¯ whether random Bleeder Joe Schmoe actually joined voluntarily or was pressed into joinin¡¯ and I killed ¡®im for no reason, or like how I¡¯ve got no way of knowin¡¯ if I actually could¡¯ve stopped a massive attack on Riken, or like how I¡¯ve got no way of knowin¡¯ if leavin¡¯ Tres¨¦d was ever the right decision, or like how I¡¯ve got no way of knowin¡¯ if I made the right choice when I killed one of my friends half a week ago, or like I know anythin¡¯, really.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never doubted yourself before, not like this. What gives?¡±


    The Velocitechnic gave a lofty sigh, staring out into the distance as Selind watched him warily.


    ¡°I always thought I was right,¡± he eventually responded, his voice low, ¡°that, you know, that killin¡¯ is the answer. Someone¡¯s a threat to you or someone else, you take ¡®em out. Don¡¯t have the time to deal with all the what-ifs. Or, I guess¡­ you could actually say that I just never thought about it in the first place. It¡¯s easy to make decisions when you don¡¯t think, and just react. That was before, though, before I left. Made some¡­ I guess you could call them friends. I dunno. Feels hard saying that now, though.¡±


    Selind frowned as Dav¨ªdrius looked down at his hands.


    ¡°You¡¯ve heard ¡®bout the Nanocreatures, right? An¡¯ all that metallic infection shit?¡±


    ¡°You mentioned them the last time we talked.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right. Well, one of my¡­ ¡­one of my teammates got infected. Corrupted. Whatever you call it. Shortly after the Nanocreatures showed up and started wreakin¡¯ havoc, she lost control of her body. Like¡­ the corruption was takin¡¯ over. Yeah, corruption sounds better than infection, keh. Infections don¡¯t really make you attack your best friend against your will, do they?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°She and her friend got locked in a fight, but I¡­ cut the fight short. By killin¡¯ the corrupted one. ¡­At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. I mean, I still think it was the right thing to do. But her friend blamed me for it, and at the time I thought she was wrong, but now that I think about it¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Selind shifted uncomfortably. ¡°¡­This sounds a lot like what happened with Hanas.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius winced visibly. ¡°I¡­ I know. I said as much myself.¡±


    ¡°You know you couldn¡¯t¡¯ve saved her. You¡¯d done everythin¡¯ you were physically capable of; you would¡¯ve had to time travel to do any more for her than you did.¡±


    ¡°I know that. That¡¯s why¡ª that¡¯s why I regretted not killin¡¯ her immediately, to end her misery early. That¡¯s why I killed my recent friend so quickly.¡±


    ¡°Then why the hell are you doubtin¡¯ yourself?¡±


    ¡°Because, I¡ª¡± The Velocitechnic paused for a moment, pursing his lips as he clenched his fists. ¡°¡­It was my fault she got corrupted in the first place. I mean, I didn¡¯t know it happened when it did, but, in hindsight ¡ª if I had just been payin¡¯ attention, if I had been a little bit faster, I could¡¯ve stopped the damn bug, and none of this would¡¯ve happened. She¡¯d still be here, her friend wouldn¡¯t be in fuckin¡¯ jail, I wouldn¡¯t be down here beatin¡¯ myself up while everyone else is off on a mission to who-knows-where¡­ Or, maybe if I hadn¡¯t left Riken in the first place, then I¡¯d¡¯ve been here to protect everyone, and Hero Machina probably wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve been sent to that damned Earthian planet in the first place, and everyone would be fine. But instead, they¡¯re fuckin¡¯ dead.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Selind sighed, moving her eyes off of Dav¨ªdrius and up to the darkening sky above. ¡°So, that¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡®That¡¯s it?¡¯¡± he growled, glaring down at her. ¡°The fuck¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°Earlier, when you were askin¡¯ about if killin¡¯ was the right thing to do ¡ª were you askin¡¯ because you were actually wonderin¡¯ about the moral consequences of killin¡¯ in general? Or was it because you had to kill someone who was close to you, and you¡¯re startin¡¯ to feel guilty about it?¡±


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d almost thought you¡¯d changed, again.¡± She closed her eyes wearily. ¡°¡­I should stop doin¡¯ that.¡±


    ¡°Dammit Selind, you keep goin¡¯ on about this ¡®change¡¯ shit but you never explain yourself. Just fuckin¡¯ tell me already.¡±


    ¡°¡­Your problem is that you¡¯re stuck in the past,¡± Selind responded quietly.


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°You take the sayin¡¯ ¡®hindsight is 20/20¡¯ and then run it into the ground. You act in the moment, but as soon as it¡¯s over, you think back and find every single li¡¯l mistake you made and every li¡¯l thing that you could¡¯ve done better, and then you blame yourself for the whole situation. You even blame yourself for your Dad¡¯s death and that happened while you were bein¡¯ fuckin¡¯ born. It¡¯s why you¡¯re a terrible protector.¡±


    ¡°A terrible¡ª?! I was the only fucking Chaotic in the region for years! I was the best Guardian this side of Tresnon. All the other compounds wished they could be under my protection.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Selind shook her head. ¡°You were a fine Guardian, but you¡¯re a bad protector, because what you did wasn¡¯t protection ¡ª it was retaliation. A way for you to take out your frustrations about your own short-comings on others.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    ¡°You blamed yourself for your dad¡¯s death, so you took up the role of the father figure to your siblings, even though you were still just a pup ¡ª hell, even though y¡¯all didn¡¯t share a dad. Then, you blamed yourself for your family¡¯s deaths, so you took up the role of Riken¡¯s Guardian, even though you weren¡¯t even 10. You blamed yourself for Hanas¡¯s loss, so you took it upon yourself to take out her controller and Str¨¦n. Then, apparently, you blamed yourself for your friend¡¯s ¡®corruption,¡¯ so you came down here in an attempt to balance it all out by killin¡¯ some Bleeders ¡ª and then, when you learned about Riken, you only blamed yourself again and decided to take out all of the Bleeders in the area.¡± Selind stepped away from the wall and turned toward Dav¨ªdrius, her back to the horizon as the sun finally disappeared behind it. ¡°Don¡¯t you see a pattern here? Everythin¡¯ you do is reactionary, everythin¡¯ is based on anger or self-blame. ¡®Specially recently. You said you took out all the Bleeders within a few hundred kilometers, right? You sure as hell could¡¯ve done that a few months ago when you left, but you didn¡¯t. The only reason you did now was ¡®cause you got angry. And that¡¯s always been the case with you. You don¡¯t protect people, you don¡¯t deter threats. You react to disasters, you retaliate against criminals¡­ that ain¡¯t protection. That¡¯s revenge.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled and looked away in a pointed effort to ignore Selind¡¯s gaze. ¡°You think you¡¯ve got me all figured out, just like that, huh?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t a super complicated person. ¡­Well, not to a fellow Guardian, at least.¡±


    ¡°Gee, that really makes me feel better.¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to help you¡­¡±


    ¡°Well maybe you should help yourself first, huh? Fix your own fuckin¡¯ mistakes before you try fixin¡¯ mine.¡±


    ¡°Look, I know¡­ I know I¡¯ve made mistakes. But that doesn¡¯t mean everything I say or do is wrong. You can¡¯t just ignore what other people say ¡®cause it hurts. A little pain now is worth it if you can prevent a lot down the line, you know?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed impatiently. ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t¡¯ve tried talkin¡¯ to you¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that really what you think?¡± Selind crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. ¡°I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to help. Do you just want me to listen to your pathetic self-doubt and nod my head in agreement?¡±


    ¡°As if I need your help. Or any help.¡±


    ¡°Cut the bullshit, Dav¨ªdrius. You¡¯re only 21, of course you need help. Everyone does.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced at Selind and then looked away dismissively. ¡°You could really do without the holier-than-thou attitude.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Never could handle a woman like me, could you?¡± Selind smirked bitterly. ¡°You never liked it when people disagreed with you. I guess that¡¯s why you liked Hanas so much, huh? I bet she never refused you.¡±


    ¡°You take that back,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, dropping from his perch on the rooftop to draw one of his sabers on Selind.


    ¡°What¡¯re you gonna do? Kill me?¡±


    ¡°I¡ª!¡± he started, but stopped himself and settled into a deep scowl.


    ¡°See?¡± Selind replied quietly, ¡°all you can think about is revenge. Retaliation. When you were Guardian of Riken, you weren¡¯t there to protect their future. You weren¡¯t tryin¡¯ to help the compound grow and thrive, not as a primary goal at least. You were there to retaliate against massacres, and that¡¯s all. And you know what? It hurts to hear, but I bet that¡¯s why they kept happenin¡¯. You can¡¯t spend your whole life reactin¡¯ to things, sometimes you gotta go out and do things before anyone else can. You can¡¯t just dwell on the past and blame yourself all the time, ¡®cause the past can¡¯t change. But the future can.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius pursed his lips again, but eventually he slowly lowered his saber. ¡°You think it¡¯s as simple as that?¡± he responded flatly, ¡°just¡­ stop thinkin¡¯ about the past?¡±


    ¡°Well, no.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Obviously it ain¡¯t that simple. For you¡­ I¡¯m sure it¡¯s hard. But you aren¡¯t just protectin¡¯ a small compound anymore. You¡¯re workin¡¯ with the Nimaliakians. And based on what you¡¯ve told me, you¡¯re actually fightin¡¯ those Nanocreature things. You¡¯re fightin¡¯ to protect the whole damn galaxy now, Dav¨ªdrius, and the galaxy¡¯s a big place. You can¡¯t blame yourself for every failure out there, for everythin¡¯ that you might¡¯ve done wrong, for everythin¡¯ that you could¡¯ve done right. It¡¯s too much; you¡¯ll kill yourself.¡±


    ¡°Hn.¡±


    ¡°I admit I¡¯ve made mistakes¡­ mistakes that¡¯ve forced me to stay here. I don¡¯t know if I can ever actually leave Tres¨¦d in good conscience¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°But you ain¡¯t made those mistakes. Not yet. I don¡¯t think you realize what you got, Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª you have an opportunity that most Tres¨¦dians will never get, an opportunity to get off this damn rock legitimately and make a name for yourself out there. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, you know. Don¡¯t waste it ¡®cause you can¡¯t get over your past.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at Selind for several moments before sighing and shifting his gaze to the horizon, and then up to the twilit sky. ¡°¡­I had forgotten how wordy you can get.¡±


    Selind smirked. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I drink. I tend to get quieter when drunk. Sometimes. Really weird how that works.¡±


    ¡°Implyin¡¯ that you aren¡¯t weird by default?¡±


    ¡°Funny.¡± Selind planted her hands on her hips. ¡°But I meant everythin¡¯ I said, Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± He glanced away as he absentmindedly sheathed his saber. ¡°I guess¡­ I don¡¯t completely regret talkin¡¯ to you.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t expect much more from you. You should really think about it, though. You¡¯re still young. I¡¯d hate to see you screw this up.¡±


    ¡°You keep treatin¡¯ me like I¡¯m a kid, but you ain¡¯t much older, you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­It sure don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m 23. Feel a lot older than that.¡±


    ¡°You almost look the part, too.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± She shoved Dav¨ªdrius playfully. ¡°You tryin¡¯ to call me a hag?¡±


    ¡°Your words, not mine.¡± He smirked back, but quickly adopted a more serious expression. ¡°You keep talkin¡¯ like you¡¯re stuck here, but I told you a couple days ago; it wouldn¡¯t be hard at all for you to leave.¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Selind responded wistfully as she turned back toward the horizon. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t leave. Not yet. There¡¯s still a couple anchors here that¡­ that I¡¯m not sure I can leave behind.¡±


    ¡°Thinkin¡¯ about goin¡¯ back to Austilad?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Maybe. ¡­It¡¯d be pretty arrogant to expect him to accept me back, though.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Just a little bit ago, you were tellin¡¯ me to focus more on the future, and here you are, stuck on the past yourself.¡±


    Selind chuckled uneasily. ¡°I never could take my own advice, could I.¡±


    ¡°No, you couldn¡¯t,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not all bad, though. We¡¯ve all got our flaws.¡±


    ¡°Some broad strokes, there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever.¡± The Velocitechnic shook his head as he shifted his gaze to the sky above, where the stars were just beginning to make themselves visible. Selind slowly followed suit, the two Tres¨¦dians staring upwards and taking in the dark sights in silence.


    ¡°¡­Hey, Selind?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks. For bein¡¯ here. And listenin¡¯.¡±


    She glanced over at the Velocitechnic, but he continued observing the sky, either not noticing her attention or ignoring it outright.


    ¡°¡­Heh,¡± she eventually responded as she returned her eyes to the skies. ¡°Anythin¡¯ for a friend.¡±

 58 - The Power of Chaos

    Chapter 58 - The Power of Chaos


    ¨C Firdia, Skydiath 8, 8034 ¨C


    (Monday, February 10, 2110)


    ¡°Sir! Blocks 7A and 7B have been compromised! On-board security has been overridden, as well!¡±


    ¡°Those motherfuckers¡­¡± Krick tightly gripped the armrest of his chair as he glared up at the information on the hologram display. ¡°I expected them to try something, but this¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Suppression teams Bravo and Delta are trying to cut off the intruders, but the bulkheads won¡¯t respond to their override codes!¡±


    ¡°Lockdown the beaming and weapons systems!¡± Krick ordered, ¡°set the ship on a stable MEO autopilot path and then lockdown the propulsion systems as well!¡± He then clenched his teeth as he muttered to himself, ¡°they somehow brought that anti-beaming tech with them¡­ and they have override codes, too¡­ how the hell did they get those?¡±


    ¡°Block 7C has been compromised!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going for the secondary bridge! Get team Charlie over there ASAP! Under no circumstances can they be allowed control of the secondary bridge! ¡­How the fuck did they get layout maps? Do we have a mole¡­? Damn it!¡± the Captain muttered under his breath, ¡°Zhou had to have planned this from the start. He never wanted to keep his anti-orbital platforms, they were just a means to distract us and allow a team on the ship. Was he gunning for the Genesis this whole time?¡­¡± He scowled again before raising his voice to address the rest of the bridge. ¡°Send a burst transmission to SERRCom HQ informing them of our situation and then shut down all non-mission critical comm transmitters! We won¡¯t let those bastards take control of our ship! We need to put them in their place and show them that they have no business messing with SERRCom!¡±


    Krick leaned forward warily as the rest of the bridge let out a short cheer in agreement. ¡°Nimalians¡­¡± he muttered, ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t fall victim to this damned trap, too¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°There it is!¡±


    ¡°The White Ayas¡­¡± Kievkenalis stepped forward, staring through a large window of protective glass into a massive chamber. Inside the chamber were a number of machines and rods, and sitting in the middle of it all was none other than the Chaos Ayas. ¡°¡­Mystryth.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you actually remember its name?¡± Wilkas glanced at the Chaostechnic in surprise.


    ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± Kievkenalis returned the glance.


    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly relevant to our everyday lives,¡± V¨¦lunis pointed out, ¡°hell, I never expected to actually see one of them. Memorizing their names was just another useless piece of trivia.¡±


    Kievkenalis grunted in response as he turned his attention back to the Ayas. The chamber behind the glass looked much like a repurposed reactor chamber, complete with blast shields and a deep cavity in the middle of the room filled with water. He casually reached forward to place his hands on the glass but withdrew them immediately in alarm. ¡°It¡¯s warm?¡±


    Wilkas frowned. ¡°That¡¯s weird. Why¡¯s it warm? What¡¯s goin¡¯ on in the chamber? If they¡¯re just using the Ayas as a power source, then there shouldn¡¯t be this much heat.¡±


    ¡°¡­You can¡¯t be serious!¡± Kievkenalis scowled after taking several more moments to inspect the chamber. ¡°This chamber isn¡¯t just a repurposed reactor ¡ª it is a reactor! The Earthians just hooked the Ayas into it!¡±


    V¨¦lunis shook his head in disbelief. ¡°Wow, I knew the Earthians were primitive, but are they actually that stupid?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it¡­¡± Kievkenalis began looking all around the chamber, inspecting every rod, wire, and machine from behind the protective glass. ¡°Argh, they¡¯re trying to draw power from the Ayas, but they¡¯re doing it all wrong! There¡¯s no energy regulation, and on top of that, they just chucked it into a reactor! The Earthians clearly have no grasp of the power of Chaos Energy, or how to properly harness it!¡±


    ¡°Well of course you¡¯d say that, you¡¯re a Chaostechnic,¡± Wilkas replied dismissively.


    Kievkenalis glanced toward the Forcetechnic impatiently before returning his attention to the Ayas. ¡°This makes taking the Ayas a little harder¡­¡± he muttered.


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about the lack of resistance, personally,¡± V¨¦lunis pointed out, ¡°I mean, yeah, we took the elevator shaft all the way down to the bottom floor, but you¡¯d think there¡¯d be more guards protecting the fucking power generator.¡±


    Wilkas shrugged. ¡°Maybe the Earthians really are just that stupid.¡±


    ¡°The whole reason we¡¯re here is to forcefully shut down the anti-orbital platforms because the owners didn¡¯t want to,¡± Kievkenalis countered, ¡°V¨¦lunis is right. For a place they wanted to protect so badly, there wasn¡¯t much resistance at all.¡±


    ¡°We should probably look around for¡ª?!¡± V¨¦lunis started, but was interrupted as the facility suddenly shuddered, the unexpected vibrations knocking the three Chaotics to the floor.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Wilkas questioned warily after climbing back to his feet.


    Kievkenalis quickly checked the Ayas chamber again and sighed of relief when he saw no signs of damage. He then turned back to V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but whatever it is can¡¯t have been good. We need to get the Ayas and then get out of here, quickly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say,¡± the Forcetechnic retorted as he glanced around the room. ¡°What¡¯re you gonna do, charge in to all that radiation, just to grab the Ayas? It¡¯s not like you can just shut down a reactor by pressing a button, you know.¡±


    Kievkenalis was about to respond when the ceiling directly above him collapsed. V¨¦lunis immediately dived for the Chaostechnic, knocking him out of the way in time to avoid being crushed by a mound of collapsing metal and wires.


    ¡°You¡¯re here!¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin?¡­¡± Kievkenalis turned toward the metal mound confusedly just as the Pyrotechnic descended through the hole in the ceiling, using jets of flame underfoot to hold himself in the air before touching down on the ground and carefully laying Kaon¨¦ against the wall.


    ¡°¡­What happened?¡± V¨¦lunis questioned after turning away from the unconscious Materiatechnic.


    ¡°This whole thing was a trap,¡± the Transfer Captain replied with a scowl, ¡°we reached the control room, and I was able to shut down the jamming fields and contact the Earthian Battlecruiser, but something bad is going on up there. And before I could figure out what, one of the anti-orbital guns fired on the control room!¡± He glanced over at Kaon¨¦ warily. ¡°¡­I barely reacted in time to burn a hole through the floors and all the way down here, but the impact shock still knocked her out.¡±


    ¡°Wait, a trap?¡± Wilkas responded incredulously, ¡°what makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°The Captain said it himself,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°I have a really bad feeling about what¡¯s going on with the Genesis. We need to get the Ayas and get out, now. Did you guys find it?¡±


    V¨¦lunis casually jerked his thumb toward the reactor chamber. ¡°It¡¯s in there.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Transfer Captain turned to inspect the chamber, slowly looking it over until his eyes widened in alarm. ¡°This is a reactor?!¡±


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± Kievkenalis affirmed. ¡°It¡¯s running hot, too. The glass is pretty warm.¡±


    ¡°And you guys have just been standing here, staring at it?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed.


    ¡°I thought our armor would provide adequate protection.¡±


    ¡°You mean the armor that you could feel the reactor¡¯s heat through?!¡±


    The three Chaotics responded with sheepish silence.


    ¡°Our armor will provide some protection, sure, but if we stick around too long then we¡¯ll start feeling the effects of radiation poisoning anyways. We need to get the Ayas and get out,¡± Kev¨¦rin continued as he turned toward the reactor chamber. ¡°¡­We¡¯ll have to cut down the reactor. Luckily, it¡¯s buried in a mountain, so if anything goes wrong, well. Not a problem.¡± He glanced back at the other Chaotics. ¡°Grab Kaon¨¦ and get back to the surface; I¡¯ll take care of the reactor. If I¡¯m fast, Chaos Armor should be plenty of protection¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Transfer Captain looked back at the room¡¯s entrance, where a group of four Earthians dressed in protective suits had entered and were now baring bladed weapons. The Pyrotechnic then glanced away dismissively as he addressed the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°Disarm them. I¡¯ll figure out the reactor.¡±


    ¡°Uh, slight problem¡­¡± V¨¦lunis scowled. ¡°¡­We can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded impatiently, but stopped himself when he realized he couldn¡¯t generate any flames. ¡°¡­A CENT field?!¡± he exclaimed as he whipped around to face the Earthians, ¡°you guys have a CENT field?!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t repeat myself!¡± one of the Earthians repeated as he stepped ahead of the squad. ¡°If you value your lives, then stop what you¡¯re doing and surrender!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°We¡¯ve recovered all of the blocks on level 7, but the intruders managed to reach the secondary bridge!¡±


    ¡°What happened to Charlie team?¡± Krick demanded.


    ¡°They were¡­ repulsed. Two casualties, but no deaths. The boarding team appears to have some sort of battle armor with them. Witnesses report it looks much like the armor the Nimalians were wearing¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Did Zhou make a deal with the Black Suns?¡­¡± the Captain mused, ¡°that might explain where all their tech is coming from. But the Suns are supposed to recognize only SERRCom as Earth¡¯s representative¡­¡± He paused for another moment before raising his voice and asking, ¡°have they activated the secondary access systems?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but they got past the initial security layer immediately. They must¡¯ve had the override codes, somehow. The only thing keeping them from activating the secondary bridge are the activation fail-safes: that this bridge, the primary one, is still intact, and¡ª¡±


    ¡°And that they don¡¯t have my personal codes,¡± Krick muttered. ¡°¡­Alright. I hope none of you needed to use the restroom¡­ lockdown the bridge! No one enters or leaves until this situation is resolved!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± the rest of the bridge replied in unison as the bulkheads sealed shut. The Captain leaned forward wearily, crooking his head up to look at the various holographic displays.


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m here and this bridge is intact, they won¡¯t be able to seize control of the entire ship,¡± Krick declared, outlining the situation to his subordinates. ¡°That means they¡¯ll attempt one of two things: they¡¯ll try to fool the ship¡¯s systems into thinking that the primary bridge has been disabled, or they¡¯ll try to brute force each system one at a time. Either will take a while, and if we keep on our toes, then we can keep it from happening at all. Understood? Don¡¯t let your guard down!¡±


    The Captain smiled to himself as the bridge responded again with a unified ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    ¡°Our priority is removing the intruders from the secondary bridge,¡± he continued, ¡°tell the suppression teams to back off! Get them to levels 6 or 8, directly above or below the respective entrances in level 7. Vacate all bridge-airlock paths on level 7 and lock the bulkheads. Be ready to vent the halls on my command!¡±


    ¡°¡­Sir?¡± one of the officers turned to the Captain in confusion, ¡°the suppression teams report that the intruders were wearing armor, so venting the level may not be enough to take care of them.¡±


    ¡°No, but it will limit their operating time,¡± Krick replied. ¡°We can¡¯t beam them out because of their anti-sensor tech, and the suppression teams can¡¯t beat them in a straight fight because of their armor. Starving them out is our best bet¡ª¡±


    ¡°Captain! It¡¯s an emergency!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± he immediately snapped his attention to the left as another officer turned to him in a panic.


    ¡°The, the intruders have gained access to the missile control systems!¡±


    ¡°What?! Did I not order for the weapons to be locked down the moment they turned hostile?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir, and they were, but the intruders still managed to claim access to several of the launch silos! They¡¯re arming missiles as we speak!¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t just sit there, take the damned system back! Damn it! Alright, unlock the point defense subsystems and immediately fire on any missiles that leave the silos!¡±


    ¡°Missile launch sequence has been activated for bombardment silos one through five!¡± another officer shouted from across the bridge.


    ¡°Bombardment silos? Are they insane?!¡± Krick exclaimed, ¡°do they mean to bombard the fucking planet?! Take down those missiles, no matter the cost!¡±


    The Captain clenched his teeth in frustration as another display appeared amongst the already numerous holographic readouts, showing camera feeds of the five activated silos. A minute later, each silo slowly opened, followed by the internal mass drivers activating and launching the missiles out the silos. Immediately, the ship¡¯s point defense systems locked onto the missiles and began firing, taking out two before their thrusters could activate and puncturing the fuel tank of a third just as its rockets ignited, causing an explosion that sent it spiraling out of control and into the fourth missile, destroying both.


    ¡°There¡¯s one more!¡± Krick shouted, standing up without thinking. ¡°Stop it! At all costs!¡±


    The entire bridge remained tensely silent for several more moments before an officer slowly turned back to the Captain.


    ¡°¡­The missile has left fifty percent accuracy range,¡± he reported quietly, ¡°and has entered the Earth misfire cone.¡±


    ¡°If we try to fire on it anymore we¡¯ll just be hitting Earth ourselves¡­¡± Krick muttered, and then scowled. ¡°¡­Damn it!¡± He slammed his fist into his chair¡¯s armrest before falling back into the seat. ¡°Contact SERRCom HQ and inform them of the missile. The moment we can figure out its target, transmit that as well. How long do we have until impact?¡±


    Another holographic display appeared, this one charting the location of the Genesis in relation to Earth, as well as the location and velocity of the bombardment missile.


    ¡°We¡¯re twenty-five thousand kilometers out, but this is a bombardment missile, so¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­We have an hour,¡± Krick commented grimly. ¡°¡­We have no more than an hour.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Surrender!¡±


    ¡°Alright, come on, let¡¯s think this through,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded warily as he raised his hands and turned to face the Earthians. ¡°You may have a CENT field, somehow, but our armor still works. We¡¯re just here for the Ayas, okay?¡±


    The man in charge furrowed his brow in response as the three behind him glanced between each other uneasily.


    ¡°¡­Sergeant,¡± the commanding officer muttered, ¡°¡­go get someone who can understand these¡­¡± He looked the Chaotics up and down, his eyes lingering on their armor. ¡°¡­Aliens.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kievkenalis responded in confusion, ¡°what¡¯s to understand? We just want that white stone¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No, Kevken, I think they actually, literally, can¡¯t understand us,¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted. ¡°They must not have audio translation implants. To them, we¡¯re just speaking gibberish.¡±


    ¡°That means they haven¡¯t gone through the IID process.¡± V¨¦lunis smirked. ¡°Maybe we can scare them off with our dangerous alien diseases!¡±


    ¡°The whole point of us going through IID is so that we won¡¯t have any dangerous alien diseases to spread,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned. ¡°Our armor shielding would prevent that anyway¡ª¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡± the Earthian CO barked, ¡°I know you aliens have tech that allows you to understand me. So sit there in silence until we can get someone who understands you! Got it?¡±


    ¡°¡­We can bluff it,¡± Wilkas remarked casually as he turned back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any way of proving we can understand him.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that we¡¯re stuck here anyways,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out. ¡°We still need to get the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°I would look for the reactor failsafe and activate it and then just snatch the Ayas out of the chamber¡­¡± the Transfer Captain grumbled as he glanced back at the Earthians, ¡°¡­but I¡¯m not sure how they¡¯d react to that.¡± He sighed. ¡°If only we had a way to draw in the Ayas from a distance.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hmm¡­¡± Kievkenalis looked back to the Ayas in contemplation. ¡°¡­Huh. That¡¯s a thought. It might actually be close enough to be drawn in by the Chaos State, but, well¡­ hmm. No one knows how to activate it, so I guess that¡¯s pointless to think about.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I said silence!¡± the Earthian demanded again, this time just as two other soldiers entered the room, both of them with guns. ¡°Understand that your presence here can be interpreted as hostile action! We will not hesitate to shoot!¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re kidding,¡± V¨¦lunis deadpanned, ¡°are the idiots really going to open fire right outside of a reactor chamber?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Wait, Kevken¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly turned to the Chaostechnic. ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re close enough to activate the Chaos State?¡±


    ¡°Well, I mean¡­ maybe?¡± Kievkenalis shrugged. ¡°I know there¡¯s some minimum distance at least, and judging by your voice, we¡¯re probably within that range¡­ but even if we are close enough, does it matter? None of us know how to activate the state. ¡­Wait¡­¡± He stared at Kev¨¦rin in confusion. ¡°¡­Do you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve given you enough warnings!¡± the Earthian barked, ¡°you have one more chance! Now remain! Silent!¡±


    ¡°¡­If this works,¡± Kev¨¦rin turned back to the rest of Hero Machina, speaking hurriedly as he stepped closer to the reactor. ¡°¡­It should give us enough distraction to knock out the Earthians!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing¡ª?¡± Wilkas started.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it!¡± the CO snapped, ¡°men, open fi¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Chaos State: First Tier!¡±


    A burst of white light filled the room, blinding every inhabitant as the Ayas sitting within the confines of the reactor chamber spontaneously translated through space, phasing through the chamber until it reached Kev¨¦rin and disappeared into his body. He gasped and stumbled backward, but he recovered from his disorientation faster than anyone else could recover from the blinding light and stretched his arm forward. A mere moment later, every one of the Earthians¡¯ weapons burst into flames, prompting the wielders to drop them to the floor, where they turned into molten slag on impact.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what the hell?!¡± the Earthian CO stuttered, stunned by Kev¨¦rin¡¯s show of force. ¡°B-but, we had a CENT field!¡±


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± the Transfer Captain remarked as he snapped his fingers, prompting an explosion of light from the hallway behind the Earthians.


    ¡°K-Kev¨¦rin!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°you¡ª! You know how to activate the Chaos State?!¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n told me how¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic looked down at his hands, and then rubbed his throat gingerly. His voice itself hadn¡¯t changed, but his past couple statements seemed to literally echo in the air. The effect was so subtle as to be almost imperceptible, but it lent his voice a sort of unnatural presence all the same. ¡°It¡­ feels a lot like an Overdrive. Except¡­ a lot more powerful. It¡¯s hard to describe¡­¡± He glanced back at the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°I¡¯m going ahead. I¡¯ll try to contact the Genesis and see what¡¯s going on; the three of you should grab Kaon¨¦ and get out of here.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, going ahead¡ª?¡± Wilkas began to ask, but by the time he finished his question Kev¨¦rin had disappeared through the ceiling, generating enough heat to vaporize everything in his path as he rocketed to the surface.


    ¡°Figures he¡¯d leave us behind,¡± V¨¦lunis snorted before turning his attention to the Earthians, who were beginning to flee the room. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s get out of here. No point in sticking around anymore.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°The missile just passed the twenty thousand kilometer mark!¡±


    ¡°Do we have a heading yet?¡± Krick demanded.


    ¡°Factoring in current trajectory and remaining alignment correction fuel¡­ the target is likely somewhere in North America.¡±


    ¡°¡­Would they really target one of their own cities?¡± the Captain muttered under his breath, ¡°Zhou personally authorized the boarding team, so I know they¡¯re tied to him¡­ ¡­is this what he was playing at all along? He didn¡¯t want the Genesis either, he just wanted to make it look like we fired on Earth?¡±


    ¡°Sir! Level 7 has been completely vacated!¡±


    ¡°Open every bulkhead on the level! Now!¡± Krick barked, ¡°suck the bastards into space!¡±


    ¡°Opening bulkheads! ¡­Level venting! Oxygen levels at seventy-five percent¡­ fifty¡­ twenty-five¡­ level 7 has reached vacuum status!¡±


    ¡°Ping level 7 for life signs as often as you can! Are the bastards still there?¡±


    ¡°¡­Only one life sign in the bridge! Only two other signs are accounted for, the remaining three were sucked into space!¡±


    ¡°Ha, perfect!¡± Krick smirked to himself. ¡°Finally, something goes our way. Seal the bulkheads and shut all of the air vents in level 7! Maintain the vacuum state until all of the life signs have disappeared. With only one of them remaining on the secondary bridge, we can afford to wait them out. One man is nothing against an entire crew.¡± His smirk quickly disappeared as he turned his attention back to the screen displaying the status of the bombardment missile. ¡°Still, I can¡¯t trust unlocking the beaming systems. Even if it¡¯s only one man, one man in charge of the beaming would be a disaster, which is a damned shame¡­ we could beam the missile away, if only the ship weren¡¯t compromised¡­¡±


    The nearest bridge officers glanced at the Captain uneasily. ¡°Sir?¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Our shields can sustain a hit from a bombardment missile, right?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ yes,¡± one of the officers spoke up uneasily, ¡°the exact depletion amount could vary, but the shields should be able to take it.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re going to do,¡± Krick declared. ¡°Unlock the propulsion systems and set an intercept course for that missile! I¡¯ll be damned if we just let it hit Earth without trying to stop it!¡±


    A moment of silence passed as the bridge officers glanced at each other in surprise and confusion; it wasn¡¯t often that a ship would intentionally seek to be hit, much less by a high-tonnage orbital bombardment weapon. But a moment later they turned back toward Krick to offer him a curt salute and a unified response: ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    Krick smirked in response. ¡°Good! Keep a careful eye on the propulsion systems. There may only be one man left in the secondary bridge, and it may be a vacuum, but we still can¡¯t let our guard down.¡±


    ¡°Sir! Incoming transmission! It¡¯s one of the Nimalians!¡±


    ¡°Put them through!¡± The Captain leaned forward, watching the various bridge displays until the comm channel opened. ¡°Chief Captain Krick here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Transfer Captain Tyrion! We just retrieved the Ayas, but before we did, one of the anti-orbital cannons fired on the control room! What¡¯s the situation up there?!¡±


    ¡°This was all a trap,¡± Krick responded irately, ¡°we were boarded by a hostile team, and they managed to hack into the weapons system long enough to fire a bombardment missile.¡±


    ¡°A bombardment missile? As in, orbital bombardment?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we¡¯re on an intercept course. We were far enough out when the missile launched that we should be able to overtake it and absorb the blast with our own shields.¡±


    ¡°Why not just beam it away?¡±


    The Captain glanced up at the life signs monitor and scowled when he noted that the single sign in the secondary bridge still remained. They must have atmosphereless armor. Damn! ¡°I locked the beaming systems when we were boarded and we can¡¯t risk unlocking them until all of the intruders are captured or eradicated. That means that we won¡¯t be able to pick up you or your team until this has all blown over, either.¡±


    ¡°Understood¡ª¡±


    The rest of Kev¨¦rin¡¯s statement was lost as the communication line suddenly filled with static, causing Krick to reflexively flinch. ¡°What happened?¡± he questioned as he turned to the communications officer.


    ¡°The line is still intact¡­¡± the officer replied, ¡°something must be interfering with it.¡±


    ¡°Interference¡­ are the jamming fields still online?¡± Krick frowned, but his thoughts were cut short as the static slowly began to fade.


    ¡°¨C¨Capta¨C¨C ¨C¨Cou there? Captain¨C¨C? Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can hear you now,¡± Krick replied. ¡°What happened? There was some strong interference there for a moment.¡±


    ¡°It was a missile launch! A missile just launched from the base! It was huge! Ah¡ª sending footage now!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The Captain froze as the missile launch footage appeared amongst the many displays at the front of the bridge. ¡°¡­An ICBM? They had a fucking ICBM stored there? Complete with a hidden launchpad?!¡± He immediately turned to the rest of the bridge. ¡°Scan the base location around the Nimalians! Find that missile!¡±


    ¡°¡­The scanners aren¡¯t finding anything, sir!¡± one of the officers replied.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°It might be equipped with the jamming field tech!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°that might explain the earlier interference!¡±


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Krick scowled. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything if we can¡¯t see it! ¡­Shit, this was part of Zhou¡¯s plan too, wasn¡¯t it?! This missile is just to guarantee a hit somewhere on the planet. He thinks that he doesn¡¯t even need our bombardment missile to hit anything, he can just use the fact that we launched a missile to blame us for whatever he just fucking launched on his own! There¡¯s no way anyone would believe that, but¡­ to actually try? Shit! Zhou, you insane bastard¡­!¡±


    The bridge and the comm line fell to wary silence.


    ¡°¡­I can stop it.¡±


    ¡°You what?¡± Krick spluttered, surprised by Kev¨¦rin¡¯s declaration. ¡°You¡ª ¡­can you really do that?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t engage the Chaos State for nothing. I have to try!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re talking about what seems like an ICBM here, likely with a MIRV warhead ¡ª that is, it should be capable of hitting multiple targets. Can you really destroy that?¡±


    ¡°I have to at least try. You said it yourself, you can¡¯t do anything if you can¡¯t see it¡ª but I can.¡±


    ¡°¡­Ha!¡± The Captain smirked despite himself. ¡°¡­Very well. I¡¯m entrusting that missile to you, Nimalian. Don¡¯t let us down!¡±


    <hr>


    The moment the comm channel closed, Kev¨¦rin rocketed into the sky, using his flame jets to propel him upwards at speeds unprecedented. But it was too little, too late ¡ª the missile had long since accelerated past his top speed and was racing ahead into the stratosphere. The Pyrotechnic attempted to follow, but the thinning atmosphere made it difficult to breath or to reliably continue his flame jets, so he was forced to fall back to lower altitudes.


    ¡°I guess the legendary feats of unaided flight and vacuum survival don¡¯t apply to the First Tier Chaos State,¡± he muttered, his glasses visually tracking the missile as it shrunk with distance. ¡°I can¡¯t attack it from here¡­ so I need to intercept it when it comes back down!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin immediately took off laterally in the same direction the missile was beginning to curve toward. It soon fell out of visual range, forcing him to use his glasses¡¯ sensors to track it, but when the missile began to level out, he quickly realized that a single major obstacle stood in his way: he was simply too slow.


    I can¡¯t even break the sound barrier! He scowled deeply. ¡­There¡¯s no way I can catch up to it. If only I had a weapon! If I could reliably carry people while using my flame jets in a battle scenario I could carry V¨¦lunis up here and have him summon something anti-missile, but¡ª wait! The Ayas weapons! ¡­But aren¡¯t they all melee weapons? ¡­Damn it, it¡¯s all I¡¯ve got! Let¡¯s see what weapon belongs to the White Ayas! The Transfer Captain maintained his aerial speed as he attempted to focus on the Ayas he used to enter the Chaos State and summon its weapon. This can¡¯t be hard; if Dav¨ªdrius could do it, so can I!


    Mere moments later, a light appeared in Kev¨¦rin¡¯s hand before transforming into the silhouette of a bow and then solidifying into one. The Pyrotechnic grinned, pleased to find himself with a long-range weapon ¡ª and then immediately frowned when he realized that, in the context of archery, ¡®long-range¡¯ meant little more than tens or hundreds of meters. And to shoot down that missile¡­ He glanced upwards uneasily. ¡­I need kilometers. Hundreds of them¡­ He then looked back at the bow, his frustration with the situation growing. What the hell am I supposed to use for arrows, anyways? Argh¡ª useless weapon! He irately plucked at the bowstring, flinching back as an arrow appeared out of thin air the moment the string was displaced and then launched itself at the terrain below. Kev¨¦rin blinked, his expression blank as the arrow streaked through the sky and instantly hit the mountains below, impacting with a flash of light and creating a small crater visible from even several kilometers high.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­!¡± The Transfer Captain stared down in awe, almost forgetting to continue fueling his flame jets before correcting his flight path and returning his attention to the situation at hand. ¡°So this thing definitely has more range than an actual bow¡­ question is, exactly what is its range¡­¡± He quickly scanned the horizon before turning his attention back up to the skies. Due to its jamming field, his glasses were barely capable of tracking the missile while it flew through the high atmosphere, but his recent communication with the Genesis allowed his glasses to accurately track the Battlecruiser¡¯s location, even in middle Earth orbit. ¡°¡­Little optimistic for a range test,¡± he muttered, but he nonetheless turned the bow upwards, halting his forward momentum to instead hold himself in one place as he aimed toward the Earthian ship, bowstring stretched back to his ear. As with the earlier misfire, an arrow appeared, stretching and altering its length such that its tip was always notched, and its tail was always against the string. After making note of this fact, Kev¨¦rin returned his attention to aiming the arrow ¡ª and then fired. The arrow transformed into a streak of light, flying away with such force that the Pyrotechnic was suddenly flung downward and spent the next several seconds re-orienting himself.


    ¡°Transfer Captain!¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered before responding to the sudden contact. ¡°Captain Krick? Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Did you see anything fire down there? A gun we somehow can¡¯t spot?¡±


    ¡°Why? What did you see?¡±


    ¡°¡­A streak of light, almost like a laser. It almost hit us. I doubt it would have done any damage if it did, but if you have any idea what it was¡ª¡±


    ¡°That was me.¡±


    ¡°¡­It what?¡±


    ¡°Thanks for telling me. I know exactly what I need to know!¡± The Pyrotechnic grinned. ¡°I can take down that missile now!¡±


    ¡°What are you¡ª?!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin cut the communication short and returned his attention to speeding through the air. Ha! So even if I don¡¯t get super boosts myself, the Chaos State definitely boosts the Ayas Weapons to crazy levels of effectiveness. Hmm, now that I think about it, it must boost my ability to use the weapon as well, since there¡¯s no way in hell I¡¯d normally be able to aim a bow that well. Maybe the Ayas really are the answer to stopping the Nanocreatures¡­ He glanced up again, spotting a small light in the high skies that hadn¡¯t been there moments before. But for now¡­ I¡¯ve got a different target!


    The Transfer Captain continued to stare at the small light as his glasses scanned it and confirmed it as rocket exhaust. That thing must be hundreds of kilometers away, but it¡¯s already on a return path? That¡¯s incredibly short-ranged for an ICBM¡­ but no time to think about that! He flipped through the air, stopping his flame jets and initiating two short bursts in front of him to slow himself to a standstill before hovering in the air casually. Taking the bow in his left hand, he lifted it up toward the distant missile and drew the bowstring back, using his glasses to magnify and trace the light ¡ª until it suddenly sparked, creating enough light to reveal the missile just long enough for the Pyrotechnic to see it split into multiple pieces. ¡°It broke up¡­?¡± he muttered, and then scowled. ¡°Shit ¡ª this is that MIRV thing the Captain was talking about, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    Without hesitating further he fired at the falling warheads, sniping two of them out of space. He immediately drew the bowstring back again, arming the bow with another arrow before firing once more and taking out three more of the warheads ¡ª the arrow merely grazed each of them, but even that was enough to obliterate them. The Pyrotechnic smirked to himself but suddenly frowned as the HUD on his glasses began to fuzz.


    Even without a proper detonation, those warheads are giving off a strong enough EMP to overpower my Armor¡¯s EM shielding?¡­ Kev¨¦rin scowled. Just how powerful is a proper detonation, then? Hmph. Let¡¯s not find out!


    The Transfer Captain immediately notched another arrow and took careful aim before simply deciding to fire arrows from the bow as quickly as he could draw back the string. The resulting ¡°machine gun¡± spray of light arrows was a messy tactic, but it worked ¡ª in no time at all he had knocked out another five warheads, leaving only two remaining. His glasses zoomed in on each individually, creating HUD elements to follow each warhead as Kev¨¦rin carefully tracked them with the bow. With another shot, he knocked out another warhead and began preparing to shoot down the final one ¡ª only for his glasses and armor to suddenly short out.


    ¡°What?! Agh¡ª!¡± He grimaced in pain as the disabled armor weighed down on his body, its lack of power preventing it from supporting itself. The dead weight forced his arms down to his sides, causing him to drop the bow as he enveloped himself in fire, flaring the flames to high enough temperatures to expand the metal plating and tear it off of his body. As soon as all of the plating fell off, he cooled his surroundings and looked himself over with unease. ¡­If not for the Chaos State, I would¡¯ve just fused the underarmor to my skin¡­ He scowled. This will be difficult to remove. ¡­Now, for the final warhead¡­ He turned back to the west, re-summoned the bow, and notched another arrow, preparing to track the final warhead ¡ª but froze when he noticed one crucial fact:


    When he burned away his armor, he had incinerated his glasses, as well ¡ª and with them, his only method of tracking the warheads.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted irately, glaring up at the skies in a desperate attempt to locate the final warhead. I can¡¯t even contact the Genesis now! I¡¯m on my own¡­ and at the worst possible time! He began machine gunning the bow again, firing off a reckless stream of arrows into the skies above in an attempt to score a lucky hit. Where is it? A missile like that would at least go above the stratosphere, wouldn¡¯t it? Maybe I can spot it if the heat shields flare up!... There!


    Sure enough, the final warhead had begun to glow a slight red due to reentry. Kev¨¦rin immediately began aiming for it and fired several arrows, only for each to miss without his glasses HUD to help perform aim correction. ¡°I can¡¯t hit it like this¡­! Damn it! It¡¯s useless without the computer corrections¡ª!¡± The Pyrotechnic paused as an odd sensation slowly swept across his hands, as though he were holding them over a warm stove. I¡¯m not generating any flames from my hands, but I¡¯m still sensing a new heat source¡­ He glanced downward, and then back up at the glowing warhead curiously. ¡­A new¡­ heat source¡­ shit, from this far away? That¡¯s impossible¡ª! Agh, well it can¡¯t hurt to try! He quickly reached out with his right hand toward the warhead, dismissing the Ayas weapon as he attempted to judge the warhead¡¯s distance through a combination of sight and heat sensing. And then, a moment later¡­ he snapped his fingers.


    Immediately, a flash of light enveloped the warhead before disappearing, leaving behind nothing that Kev¨¦rin could see from such a long distance.


    The Pyrotechnic stared forward in shock before turning his attention down to his hands. ¡°¡­Holy shit!¡± he exclaimed as a grin slowly spread across his face, ¡°¡­I did it! Shit, I actually did it! I just single-handedly stopped an ICBM!!¡±


    <hr>


    1 Day Later


    ¡°Do you understand the utter stupidity of the actions you have taken over the past several months, Zhou?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin froze as soon as he stepped foot on the bridge of the Genesis. In front of him sat Captain Krick in the commanders¡¯ chair, and in front of the Captain stood a blond-haired woman of tall stature. Both Earthians were staring forward at a video display at the front of the bridge that displayed a stout man with greying hair, a wrinkled face, and old, narrow eyes.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, General,¡± the man replied, ignoring the new bridge occupant.


    ¡°It¡¯s time you stopped feigning ignorance,¡± the woman shot back, ¡°I would have preferred continued American support for the future, but given your outrageous decision-making ability, I think forcing you completely out of the SERRCom effort will be far more beneficial for everyone involved.¡±


    The old man frowned. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare. And even if you would, you have no proof that I am in any way related to the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me. And don¡¯t underestimate SERRCom¡¯s connections, either. If you truly believe that no one on Earth knows of your actions, then you are terribly mistaken.¡± The woman paused for a moment to sigh before continuing, ¡°in order to protect Earth and prevent future incidents, SERRCom is ordering that you hand over the Interstellar Gate. Furthermore, you have one year to completely disarm every single nuclear warhead you own and hand them over before we move in and force you to.¡±


    ¡°You cannot possibly¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Oh we can, Zhou, and we have the proof to get the rest of the world on our side, if need be. If you want to resist, feel free, but this isn¡¯t the twenty-first century anymore. On the other hand¡­ you could prevent all of this if you simply step down as President.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Pick one, Zhou! Or I¡¯ll pick for you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I will send you more detailed orders tomorrow. Until then, sit tight, and do. Not. Do. Anything. This order has the weight of the General of the Space Forces behind it.¡± The woman nodded curtly. ¡°Dowley out.¡±


    The video connection cut out, at which point the entire bridge let out a collective sigh. Kev¨¦rin finally began approaching Krick and the woman called Dowley as the former turned to the latter with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°You really showed him, ma¡¯am,¡± Krick commented gleefully, ¡°I never thought I would enjoy seeing Zhou put in his place so much.¡±


    ¡°It needed to happen,¡± Dowley responded flatly. ¡°Before, he was just jockeying for power. But the moment he put innocent lives on the line to gain that power, he had to be dealt with.¡± She glanced back at Krick and then to Kev¨¦rin, who stood stiffly next to the commanders¡¯ chair. ¡°¡­Excuse me,¡± she addressed him, ¡°who might you be?¡±


    ¡°Ha, this is Transfer Captain Tyrion,¡± Krick answered proudly. ¡°He¡¯s the CO of the Nimalian team that retrieved the Ayas. He¡¯s also the one who single-handedly stopped that missile from hitting anything.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve heard nothing but praise about you from the Captain.¡± Dowley smiled warmly before saluting Kev¨¦rin. ¡°And I must thank you, myself. As both the General of the Space Forces, and personally. Were it not for your assistance, I¡¯m sure Earth would be descending into a massive war right now.¡±


    ¡°Well, uh, thanks, I mean, you¡¯re welcome,¡± the Transfer Captain responded sheepishly. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t, well, I had some help, sort of. ¡­A-anyways, I¡¯m glad everything¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say ¡®fine¡¯¡­¡± The General sighed. ¡°¡­Not yet. But things are looking up. This Battlecruiser was truly a godsend; I¡¯m not sure what we would have done without it. It may very well single-handedly carry SERRCom into the future.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s asking a lot of it,¡± Krick remarked.


    ¡°It might be¡­ but the future is the future.¡± Dowley turned back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°I understand the rest of the galaxy has its own problems at the moment?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin replied uneasily, ¡°the Nanocreatures are a threat to you, too¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, but unlike the rest of the galaxy, we can¡¯t do anything against them. We barely have a fleet, and as you¡¯ve personally demonstrated, our defensive technology can¡¯t even stand up to a handful of Chaotics. That¡¯s why I¡¯m entrusting the Genesis and its crew to you for the time being ¡ª I¡¯m sure you Nimalians will be able to put it to far better use than we ever could.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can thank you enough,¡± the Transfer Captain commented. ¡°Even the beaming systems alone could be invaluable. Between it and the Ayas, I¡¯m sure we can find a way to stop the Nanocreatures, or at least seriously impair them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you think so, Captain.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the praise you¡¯re heaping on the Genesis,¡± Krick spoke up, ¡°but I¡¯m afraid that the intruding team did a number on the ship. We¡¯ll need to stop for some repairs and re-staging, but after that I can set a course for Nimalia.¡±


    ¡°How long will that take?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced toward the Captain.


    ¡°No longer than a couple days, hopefully. Don¡¯t worry, Transfer Captain ¡ª I was there for the Maasen incident. I know what the Nanocreatures are capable of, and I won¡¯t underestimate them. I won¡¯t let you down. You can count on us Earthians!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get carried away now, Captain,¡± Dowley interjected, ¡°¡­but that should be it for now. I¡¯ll return to SERRCom HQ to iron out the fine details of Zhou¡¯s situation; in the meantime, I entrust the Genesis to the two of you.¡± She saluted. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin returned the gesture. ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll need it.¡±

 59 - Darkness of the Known

    Chapter 59 - Darkness of the Known


    8 Days Later


    ¨C Firdia, Skydiath 17, 8034 ¨C


    Lehmekarid, Gonaan, Siionleh, Egdonikon, Bowiisen.


    Citaron, Citici, Metorilis.


    Tau¡¯cen Kii, Lis¡¯talra, Y¡¯kisdral, Dramantis, Bouy¡¯Xis.


    Oriciid¡¯kas.


    3 civilizations, 3 Homeworlds, 14 Transpaces ¡ª all belonging to the Core Space Alliance. The three member civilizations of the CSA claim territory tens of thousands of light years across, encircling the galactic core and protecting hundreds of planets. Over a trillion people live under the CSA government. The Homeworld solar systems of Siionleh, Citici, and Y¡¯kisdral alone host tens of billions of people, and the CSA capital world of Oriciid¡¯kas is an economic and cultural juggernaut, featuring such grand engineering feats as terraforming almost every planet in the solar system and constructing enough space stations to allow nearly a hundred billion citizens to reside in that system alone. The Alliance has persevered throughout the millennia, standing up to such threats as the Drakkar factions all while developing their own territory and trade relations with the Nimalians, Syraus, and Black Suns. Their economic and military might is such that, between the three member nations, the CSA possesses a total of six Deathnoughts ¡ª giant warships stretching fifty kilometers from bow to stern, the man-made gods of space warfare, capable of tanking supernovas and dishing out enough firepower to obliterate planets. And that¡¯s not even taking into account the massive space fleets of the Alliance, hosting the numbers and strategic prowess to fend off most attacks from even the technologically superior Drakkars. The CSA is truly a force to be reckoned with. And yet¡­


    15 days ago, the Dra¡¯kis border Transpace World of Bouy¡¯Xis was lost.


    The initial Nanocreature offensive was overwhelming. In four short days, the metallic newcomers had broken down defenses that the Drakkars had failed to penetrate over the course of thousands of years, devastating the unprepared CSA fleets as the Nanocreatures assimilated the defeated ships into their own ranks and descended upon the frightened and defenseless populace of Bouy¡¯Xis. With the Citan border Transpace World of Metorilis and the Siion Transpace World of Gonaan also falling under Nanocreature attack, the CSA had no choice but to abandon Bouy¡¯Xis, disconnecting its Transpace from the neighboring world of Dramantis in an attempt to slow down the Nanocreatures. But then¡­


    10 days ago, the Siion Homeworld of Siionleh fell under attack.


    Aside from being immensely powerful, the Nanocreatures were simply too fast. They had launched simultaneous offenses on Bouy¡¯Xis, Metorilis, and Gonaan, and while the worlds were no more than fifteen thousand light years apart, the fact that they were separated by Dead Space forced the CSA to travel along the galactic arms by Transpace. And even then, the CSA¡¯s fleets were just too slow ¡ª whereas it took CSA ships over a month to traverse fifteen thousand light years, it took the Nanocreatures a mere two days, allowing them to hit Siionleh hard before the Siions could begin bringing in reinforcements. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the local Fortress World of Tranis, the Siions put up a fierce fight for their Homeworld, determined to not lose their original home to the new galactic menace. But just as hopes were beginning to rise¡­


    6 days ago, the Citan border Transpace World of Metorilis was lost.


    After a full nine days of defending the system, the Citans had lost thousands of ships and billions of people. The Nanocreatures had managed to make Planetfall within six days of attacking the planet, and once they began attacking and assimilating civilians and military strongholds, the Citans quickly began to lose their foothold. As with Bouy¡¯Xis, Metorilis had been attacked before the CSA realized what a threat the Nanocreatures were, and as such it was poorly fortified; in a bid to prevent future losses, the Citans decided to abandon Metorilis and pull their forces back to their Homeworld in order to set up proper defenses and come up with a solid countermeasure to the Nanocreatures. It was a decision that cost billions of lives, but the Citans hoped that they could save many more by sacrificing the system.


    On the same day that Metorilis was abandoned, the Nimalians finally entered the war directly. Under Commander Nik¨¦yin¡¯s orders, six full fleets ¡ª each a thousand ships strong ¡ª were dispatched to assist the Siions, with two of the fleets stopping to garrison the Siion Transpace World of Egdonikon while the remaining four moved on to help the Siions defend Siionleh. Additionally, the Earthian Battlecruiser Genesis arrived at the Nimalian Homeworld, fully repaired and with several prototype Subspace Drives in tow. The Genesis was the sole non-Drakkar ship that could match the speed of the Nanocreatures, and it was quickly put to task assisting the CSA while the Nimalians researched the Subspace Drives and began attempting to mass-produce their own. And then¡­


    4 days ago, the entire galaxy received a burst transmission from none other than Prosusicivious, the leader of the Prolatio Drakkars.


    The Prolatio faction held the smallest territory in Drakkar space and were the least well-known of the six factions due to how rarely they ventured outside of their own borders. Whereas Exdominor and Surdeus appeared often enough to become immortalized in legends and stories across the galaxy, Prosusicivious was a virtually unknown name to the galactic public. So when he suddenly appeared on transmission channels the galaxy over, everyone was caught by surprise ¡ª and even more so by what he had to say:


    ((If you wish to defeat the Nanocreatures, you need only defeat their leader, Morcii. If you are able to take him down, then the rest shall follow.))


    The fact that a Drakkar was offering advice failed to baffle no one and quickly gave rise to rumors regarding the nature of the Nanocreatures and how the Drakkars were faring. It was certainly true that the Drakkars had quickly abandoned their attacks on Siion space soon after the Nanocreatures appeared, so there was little doubt that the Nanocreatures were attacking the Drakkars and forcing their attention away from the CSA. Under that light, many found it unsurprising that a Drakkar would offer advice on how to defeat the Nanocreatures, as their downfall would be beneficial to the entire galaxy. Yet many more were confused by the utter lack of malice or condescension in Prosusicivious¡¯s words, a stark contrast from every line of communication with the Drakkars that anyone ever knew; and even more, how could he know that stopping Morcii would stop the Nanocreatures as a whole? How could that even be true? The Drakkar¡¯s advice spawned hope where there was none previously, but the doubt that he was wrong still lingered even in the minds of the most optimistic. Then¡­


    3 days ago, the Siion Transpace World of Lehmekarid fell under attack.


    1 day ago, the Dra¡¯kis Transpace World of Dramantis fell under attack.


    The CSA was spread thin. They had already lost two worlds and a further four, spread over tens of thousands of light years, were under heavy attack. The Nanocreatures had yet to attack any non-Transpace Worlds, but instead of relieving the CSA, this fact stressed them even more ¡ª the Nanocreatures were clearly aiming to capture every Transpace, which would force the CSA to spend months traveling distances that could have otherwise been crossed in a few days. If the CSA lost control of their Transpaces, then their ability to defend their territory would be severely hampered, allowing the Nanocreatures to run amok at their own desire. And while the Nanocreature strategy allowed the CSA to focus their entire might on defending the Transpace Worlds, it still wasn¡¯t enough. The loss of the Transpaces was a fate that no one could allow¡­ yet, it was a fate that appeared to be inevitable.


    The Nanocreatures were nigh unstoppable, having already destroyed thousands upon thousands of ships, assimilated many more, and taken countless lives in the process. The longer and harder the CSA resisted, the stronger the Nanocreatures grew, and on top of that ¡ª whenever Morcii appeared on a battlefield, all of his opponents were doomed to death or corruption. After only twenty days and countless battle encounters, only six Chaotics remained who had entered battle with Morcii and survived to tell the tale¡­ but even they were doubtful that they could last through a second encounter.


    The only hope of defeating the Nanocreatures lay with defeating Morcii. Yet, no one alive could possibly match his absolute power. With each passing day, the galaxy¡¯s fate grew darker, and there was little to suggest even the existence of a light at the end of the tunnel.


    <hr>


    ¡°I SEE YOU HAVE RE-ENABLED AUDIO COMMUNICATION.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, glancing back at Kievkenalis before taking a seat in front of the computer that was hooked up to Arc¨¢n¡¯s core. ¡°Talking like this, instead of typing, will be much easier when there¡¯s more than two people trying to converse.¡±


    ¡°MORE THAN TWO?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, as well,¡± Kievkenalis spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m Captain Kievkenalis Yumach, of the RPF. Well¡­ formerly of the RPF.¡±


    ¡°YES, I HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF RECENT EVENTS, INCLUDING THE OFFICIAL FORMATION OF THE NIMALIAN SYSTEMS DEFENSE,¡± Arc¨¢n responded curtly. ¡°I DO STILL HAVE SOME RECORDS ON THE RPF THAT I SAVED DURING MY TIME IN THE HANDS OF THE SFC. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO ME ABOUT IN THAT REGARD?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°Not relating to the RPF, but we have some more questions for you, yes. First off, and I know I¡¯ve asked before, but I wanted to know if you know of any way to stop the Nanocreatures. Anything would help.¡±


    ¡°I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO ADD, ASIDE FROM AFFIRMING PROSUSICIVIOUS¡¯S CLAIM. MORCII AND THE AYAS HE CONTROLS ARE IMPERATIVE TO THE OPERATIONAL ABILITIES OF THE NANOCREATURES AS A WHOLE. EACH AYAS MORCII HOLDS ALLOWS HIM TO CONTROL EXPONENTIALLY MORE NANOCREATURES, AND MORCII¡¯S VERY EXISTENCE AS THE HEAD OF THE NANOCREATURES ALLOWS THEM TO COORDINATE IN A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MANNER.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so you¡¯re saying that the Nanocreatures aren¡¯t even close to their full potential?!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed.


    ¡°THAT IS CORRECT. IF MORCII WERE TO GET HIS HANDS ON THE AYAS YOU CURRENTLY POSSESS, HE WOULD BECOME COMPLETELY UNSTOPPABLE. THE DRAKKARS AND ALDREDAS WERE ONLY ABLE TO STAND UP TO THE NANOCREATURES BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO HOLD ON TO SOME OF THE AYAS; ONLY THE MORIKAI ARE EVEN REMOTELY CAPABLE OF OPPOSING THE NANOCREATURES WITH ALL THE AYAS, BUT AS YOU KNOW, MORCII WORKS FOR THE MORIKAI THEMSELVES.¡±


    ¡°That makes using the Ayas against Morcii sound even more dangerous,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°if we were to lose them¡­¡±


    ¡°IT IS TRUE THAT USING THE AYAS COMES WITH DANGER, BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT MORCII IS TO USE THE AYAS AGAINST HIM. THE ONLY OBJECTS IN THIS GALAXY CAPABLE OF OPPOSING THE POWER OF A CHAOS AYAS ARE THE OTHER CHAOS AYAS. THEREFORE, THE CHAOS STATE IS AN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY COUNTERMEASURE TO MORCII.¡±


    ¡°Which brings us to the other thing we wanted to talk about,¡± Kievkenalis cut in, ¡°the Chaos State. What can you tell us about it?¡±


    ¡°¡­YOU ALDREDANOIDS ARE INDEED AN ODD GROUP. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT ASKING THE SAME QUESTION OVER AND OVER WILL YIELD DIFFERENT ANSWERS? I BELIEVE I HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN AT LENGTH ABOUT THE CHAOS STATE.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted. ¡°When I asked you about the Chaos State, you told me how to activate it, and then deferred to Mystryth on everything else. It¡¯s possible that Mystryth didn¡¯t actually tell us everything you think she told us, so I want to know what you know.¡±


    ¡°PERCEPTIVE. VERY WELL, I WILL INDULGE YOU. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO ACTIVATE AND, SUBSEQUENTLY, DEACTIVATE THE STATE, YES?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Chaos State: Ordinal Tier,¡¯ and ¡®Chaos State: Disengage,¡¯ yeah.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°You told me that much.¡±


    ¡°CORRECT. OF ADDITIONAL RELEVANCE TO THE ACTIVATION OF THE STATE IS THE PROXIMITY OF THE AYAS YOU ARE USING. NO MATTER THE TIER, ALL OF THE AYAS YOU ARE USING MUST BE WITHIN TEN METERS OF YOUR CENTER OF GRAVITY.¡±


    ¡°Ten meters, huh?...¡± Kievkenalis mused, thinking back to when Kev¨¦rin activated the Chaos State on Earth. ¡°¡­That was pretty close, then. The Ayas the Earthians had was almost ten meters away from us.¡±


    ¡°I guess we got lucky in that regard,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied before turning back to Arc¨¢n¡¯s console. ¡°I also noticed that the Ayas Weapon got a massive power boost, more so than I did. Is that actually the case, or was I just not using my own full potential?¡±


    ¡°WHICH AYAS WERE YOU USING?¡±


    ¡°Mystryth,¡± Kievkenalis answered after Kev¨¦rin threw him a confused glance.


    ¡°AH. YES, THE AYAS WEAPONS DO RECEIVE A SIGNIFICANT POWER BOOST IN THE CHAOS STATE ¡ª THE RANGED WEAPONS MORE SO THAN THE REST.¡±


    ¡°What are the Ayas Weapons?¡± Kievkenalis questioned, ¡°I remember that Hastryth was a chain weapon, and that Mystryth is a bow. What¡¯s the rest?¡±


    ¡°SYN IS A SCYTHE; ARC¨¢N, A CLAYMORE; TANIVAS, A STAFF; MATL¨¦S, A PAIR OF GAUNTLETS; SENDOUS, A PAIR OF CHAKRAMS; ALDRACE, A GLAIVE; AND TSERN, A SPEAR.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin snorted in derision. ¡°Sounds like a medieval gallery. What¡¯s the actual benefit of using the Ayas Weapons if they¡¯re all just melee?¡±


    ¡°EACH WEAPON IS CONSTRUCTED ON THE SPOT FROM CHAOS ENERGY ITSELF EACH TIME THEY ARE USED, HENCE THE SEEMING ABILITY TO SUMMON AND DISMISS THEM AT WILL. THIS ALSO MAKES THEM COMPLETELY UNBREAKABLE AND, FURTHERMORE, THEY WILL NEVER DULL. THERE IS ALSO THE SUBSPATIAL STORAGE ABILITY, WHICH I HAVE MENTIONED TO YOU BEFORE.¡±


    ¡°Can multiple weapons be used at the same time?¡±


    ¡°IF YOU POSSESS THE SKILL TO DUAL-WIELD, THEN YES. YOU WILL, OF COURSE, NEED BOTH AYAS ON YOUR PERSON. HOWEVER, USING MULTIPLE AYAS WEAPONS AT ONCE IS ONLY TRULY A BOON WHILE INHABITING THE CHAOS STATE. HIGHER TIERS BESTOW THE SKILL AND ABILITY TO NIGH-EFFORTLESSLY WIELD MULTIPLE AYAS WEAPONS AT ONCE.¡±


    ¡°Will the weapons even be useful at the higher tiers?¡± Kievkenalis questioned with a doubtful frown. ¡°If the higher tiers are powerful enough, then it seems like they¡¯d just render the weapons obsolete.¡±


    ¡°WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT THE FINAL TIER POSSESSES ENOUGH POWER TO POTENTIALLY DESTROY THE GALAXY ITSELF, THERE IS ALWAYS¡ª¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, wait, hold on a minute,¡± Kev¨¦rin interrupted, furrowing his brow before staring at Arc¨¢n¡¯s console incredulously. ¡°I almost thought that you said that the Final Tier Chaos State could destroy the whole fucking galaxy.¡±


    ¡°I DID INDEED SAY THAT.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?!¡±


    ¡°YES. FURTHERMORE, THE EIGHTH TIER IS CAPABLE OF DESTROYING SOLAR SYSTEMS, AND THE FOURTH TIER POSSESSES ENOUGH POWER TO DESTROY PLANETS. ACCORDINGLY, THE THIRD TIER AND ABOVE GRANT THE ABILITY OF UNAIDED FLIGHT, AND THE FIFTH TIER AND ABOVE GRANT THE ABILITY OF UNAIDED VACUUM SURVIVAL. SUCH IS THE POWER OF THE AYAS AND THE CHAOS STATE.¡±


    ¡°¡­We have four Ayas¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered in awe, ¡°¡­we have more than four Ayas!¡±


    ¡°YES, BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT EACH AYAS CAN ONLY BE USED BY A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL. IF ONE CHAOTIC USES ALL OF THE AYAS TO ENGAGE THE FINAL TIER, THEN NO OTHER CHAOTIC CAN USE THE CHAOS STATE. IT IS OFTEN MORE USEFUL TO HAVE SEVERAL CHAOTICS IN LOWER TIER CHAOS STATES THAN A SINGLE CHAOTIC IN A HIGHER TIER.¡±


    ¡°But still¡­ shit,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded incredulously, ¡°when Mystryth said that the Chaos State could destroy planets or solar systems, I didn¡¯t¡­ I never thought that we¡¯d actually have that potential. I could just get the Ayas locations from the Commander right now and go on a planet destruction spree within the next week, do you understand how terrifying that is?!¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Morcii have four Ayas?¡± Kievkenalis questioned, a frown rapidly forming on his features. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°FORTUNATELY, MORCII CANNOT ACTIVATE THE CHAOS STATE. HIS¡­ VERY NATURE PREVENTS HIM FROM ACCESSING IT, SO HE DOES NOT YET POSSESS PLANET-DESTROYING POWER ¡ª NOT ON HIS OWN. AND EVEN IF HE COULD, PURE DESTRUCTION IS NOT IN HIS NATURE. MORCII WOULD MUCH RATHER CAPTURE AND CORRUPT A PLANET AND ITS POPULACE THAN OUTRIGHT DESTROY IT.¡±


    ¡°Our course of action sounds rather simple then, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Kev¨¦rin crossed his arms. ¡°We use the Fourth Tier Chaos State and whoop Morcii¡¯s ass.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple,¡± Kievkenalis refuted, ¡°I trust Arc¨¢n, but we have no proof that what he¡¯s saying is true. I doubt we¡¯ll be able to convince Nik¨¦yin or any of the other top brass to give us access to all the Ayas and then wave them under Morcii¡¯s nose. It¡¯s too risky.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s the only way to stop him¡­¡±


    ¡°DO NOT GET CARRIED AWAY, ALDREDANOIDS. DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE AYAS SCATTERING FACTOR OF THE CHAOS STATE ¡ª UPON DISENGAGING IT, THE AYAS WILL SCATTER ACROSS SOME DISTANCE RELATIVE TO THE NUMBER OF AYAS USED IN THE STATE, FORCING YOU TO SEARCH FOR AND COLLECT THEM AGAIN. ENGAGING THE CHAOS STATE CAN BE A USEFUL TOOL TO KEEP THE AYAS OUT OF MORCII¡¯S POSSESSION, AS IT ABSORBS THE AYAS INTO YOUR PERSON. BUT IF MORCII MANAGES TO ESCAPE YOUR GRASP ONCE YOU HAVE ENGAGED THE STATE, THEN THERE IS CERTAINLY THE RISK OF HIM BEATING YOU TO THE AYAS ONCE YOU DISENGAGE AND THEY SCATTER. AND SIMPLY REMAINING IN THE CHAOS STATE INDEFINITELY IS NOT POSSIBLE EITHER, AS EVENTUALLY THE STRESS PLACED ON YOUR BODY WILL KILL YOU. WHILE THE CHAOS STATE IS THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT MORCII FOR CERTAIN, DO NOT USE IT UNLESS YOU ARE CERTAIN YOU CAN DEFEAT HIM. UNTIL THEN, RESTRICT YOURSELVES TO USING THE FIRST TIER, AS IT IS THE ONLY TIER THAT WILL SIMPLY RETURN THE AYAS TO YOUR POSSESSION UPON DISENGAGING.¡±


    ¡°¡­Got it.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°¡­Damn, this¡¯ll take some time to sink in. Who knew we had such a trump card in our back pocket? This is just¡­ too much.¡±


    ¡°This is all information that we could have used weeks ago,¡± Kievkenalis stated. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us until now?¡±


    ¡°YOU DID NOT ASK.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give us that shit.¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°¡­Damn. Alright, I¡¯m going to report this to Nik¨¦yin. Maybe the research teams can verify some of it with the Ayas and come up with something before the CSA loses another world¡­¡± He turned to readdress Arc¨¢n. ¡°You said previously that your memory banks were damaged, but you still seem to know a lot¡­¡±


    ¡°ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT I HAVE MIS-DIAGNOSED MY OWN PROBLEM? OR ARE YOU DARING TO SUGGEST THAT I AM LYING TO YOU?¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I ASSURE YOU, ALDREDANOID, THAT EVERYTHING I HAVE JUST TOLD YOU IS CORRECT INFORMATION. I ALSO ASSURE YOU THAT I HAVE NOT LIED TO YOU.¡±


    ¡°All we have on that is your word.¡±


    ¡°HAS ANYTHING I¡¯VE SAID PREVIOUSLY BEEN PROVED INCORRECT?¡±


    ¡°Most of the things you¡¯ve said haven¡¯t even been proved correct. It goes both ways.¡±


    ¡°I UNDERSTAND YOUR SKEPTICISM, BUT IT IS UNNECESSARY. NEVERTHELESS, I MUST INDULGE YOU¡­ BUT DO NOT TAKE TOO LONG TO MAKE UP YOUR MINDS, ALDREDANOIDS, AS BEFORE LONG IT MAY BECOME TOO LATE TO OPPOSE MORCII.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he stood up and turned toward the room¡¯s exit. ¡°I¡¯ll be back later with whatever we can figure out about the Ayas. Kevken, let¡¯s go.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Aw, V¨¦lunis¡ª!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Lieutenant glanced lazily toward Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®what?¡¯¡± the Materiatechnic huffed, turning her attention away from her desk computer to give V¨¦lunis a highly ineffectual glare. ¡°I stepped out of the room for five minutes and you somehow messed with all my stuff!¡±


    ¡°Suuure, just blame me right off the bat,¡± he drawled. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t jump to conclusions, you know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Well who else would it be?¡±


    V¨¦lunis glanced around the Hero Machina office, which was currently inhabited by Kaon¨¦ and V¨¦lunis alone ¡ª until the door opened a moment later as Wilkas casually strolled in.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t here before,¡± Kaon¨¦ declared adamantly when V¨¦lunis turned back to her.


    ¡°Whoa, you don¡¯t know that,¡± Wilkas immediately countered, stepping forward to stand next to V¨¦lunis¡¯s makeshift desk. ¡°I was totally here earlier. I was even here before you were here.¡±


    V¨¦lunis smirked. ¡°See Kaon¨¦, you shouldn¡¯t jump to conclusions.¡±


    ¡°Guys¡­¡± she groaned warily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame us, we aren¡¯t the ones who started randomly blaming people for shit.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not¡­ hey, I¡¯m trying to be serious here!¡±


    ¡°Well maybe you should try harder,¡± Wilkas replied nonchalantly.


    ¡°Aw¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ scowled, though her attempt to do so conveyed very little in the way of intimidation or irritation. ¡°Seriously guys, we¡¯re at work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon.¡± V¨¦lunis rolled his eyes. ¡°Name one time I messed with anything actually important.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª! ¡­Well, I mean, you¡¯ve only been here for a week, so that argument doesn¡¯t really mean anything.¡±


    ¡°Wow, did you hear that?¡± Wilkas glanced toward V¨¦lunis as he moved over to his own desk. ¡°She thinks we¡¯re criminals!¡±


    ¡°Wow Kaon¨¦, why are you so prejudiced?¡± V¨¦lunis smirked in self-amusement. ¡°Is it ¡®cause we¡¯re from lower tier worlds? Huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡ª! Argh,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded impatiently. ¡°¡­How can the two of you be like this when the whole galaxy¡¯s at war?¡±


    ¡°Meh, the galaxy¡¯s the galaxy, and here is here.¡± Wilkas shrugged. ¡°Why bother thinkin¡¯ about it? It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything we can do.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Everyone here needs to lighten up,¡± V¨¦lunis declared, ¡°nothing¡¯ll get done if everyone¡¯s just depressed all the time. Hell, Dav¨ªdrius was walkin¡¯ around earlier looking all doom ¡®n gloom and I swear he just about made the walls themselves start crying. Damn.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not completely unjustified, he did just lose his home¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure, but the last thing we need around here is a depressed Velocitechnic with a hair-trigger temper. Dude needs to chill.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied with an uneasy frown.


    ¡°Well of course it¡¯s easy to say.¡± V¨¦lunis rolled his eyes again. ¡°Everything¡¯s easy to say.¡±


    ¡°¡­Is this what everyone from the RPF is like?¡±


    ¡°Wow, did you just stereotype us?¡± Wilkas glanced toward Kaon¨¦ incredulously.


    ¡°No, I¡ª! Gah, you guys are so hard to work with!¡±


    ¡°Whoa, Kaon¨¦, slow down!¡± V¨¦lunis threw up his hands defensively. ¡°We¡¯ve only known each other for a week, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re ready for that kind of a relationship yet.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡± The Materiatechnic stared at him blankly for several seconds before realizing the joke. She then pulled a face as she turned her attention back to her computer. ¡°Haha, very funny.¡±


    ¡°Oh shit, Wilkas, she knows sarcasm!¡±


    ¡°Oh dude, that¡¯s great, I heard it¡¯s one of the highest forms of humor or something.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ sighed warily as she shook her head, choosing to ignore V¨¦lunis and Wilkas¡¯s never-ending teasing as she got back to work.


    <hr>


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry,¡± the Velocitechnic drawled, crossing his arms as he casually stepped up to the hospital bed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I was interruptin¡¯ anythin¡¯. I can leave if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked weakly, craning his head slightly in an attempt to better meet Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s gaze. ¡°I just wasn¡¯t expecting to see you. None of the nurses told me anyone was coming.¡±


    ¡°Not surprised. Didn¡¯t exactly call ahead.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please.¡± Christean¨¦ snorted, and then winced as he attempted to adjust his body brace. ¡°We¡¯re across the ocean from Nimaliaka. Don¡¯t tell me you decided to run thousands of kilometers over the water on a whim or something.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius responded with a blank stare.


    ¡°¡­Really? You could¡¯ve taken a transport and been here just as fast, but you decided to run across the ocean?¡±


    ¡°Ocean runnin¡¯ is actually pretty calmin¡¯, I¡¯ll have you know.¡±


    ¡°Tch. I¡¯ll take your word for it. I bet it¡¯s not as calming as laying on a hospital bed for weeks on end, though,¡± Christean¨¦ joked bitterly.


    ¡°Weeks?¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously. ¡°Your operations finished a week ago. You¡¯ve only been here for one week.¡±


    ¡°And I will be here for several more.¡± Christean¨¦ scowled as he allowed his head to fall back onto his pillow. ¡°Do you know how restrictive this brace is? I haven¡¯t moved at all since the operations.¡±


    ¡°Sounds utterly terrible.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me. Why don¡¯t you try to take a piss when you can¡¯t even move your body.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius grimaced. ¡°¡­I did not need that image in my head.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s what you get for being inconsiderate.¡±


    ¡°Tch,¡± the Velocitechnic snorted. He then glanced down at Christean¨¦¡¯s body brace, which held his arms fixed by his sides. ¡°¡­So, uh¡­ how did the operation go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still alive, in case you couldn¡¯t tell.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked bitterly. ¡°¡­Barely feels like that, though. I¡¯ve been hopped up on pain meds ever since I got out, it¡¯s what almost makes not being able to move bearable since half the time I¡¯m too delirious to notice. Doc says my body will have adjusted to the skeletal implants by the end of next week, and a week after that it¡¯ll be safe to start physical therapy¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­ well, ¡®least it sounds like you¡¯ll be back to normal after that, right?¡±


    ¡°For normal-person normal, sure. But not Chaotic normal. I mean ¡ª I¡¯m far from the first person to have a majority-skeletal replacement, and I¡¯m definitely not the first Chaotic to get it, but I am the first Introtechnic. Well, one of the first.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah. No one knows what the skeletal replacement will do to my ability to withstand force, because no one even knows exactly what gives a Chaotic their abilities in the first place, you know? So I might not even be able to go back to Hero Machina, or even the NSD¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius pursed his lips before sighing wearily and crossing his arms. ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be sure to knock Morcii around for ya.¡±


    ¡°Can you really say that after what happened on Maasen?¡± Christean¨¦ raised a weary eyebrow. ¡°I mean, just fucking look at me. What if this happens to you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­That said, I¡¯ve got a bone to pick with you. ¡­Pun unintended.¡±


    ¡°Some dark humor, right there.¡±


    ¡°Shush. Anyways, I at least convinced one of the nurses to get me the mission reports for the two weeks I¡¯ve been out ¡ª you know, to pass the time ¡ª and one of them wasn¡¯t very encouraging.¡± He furrowed his brow before continuing, ¡°so¡­ Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s dead?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius winced visibly and immediately looked away. ¡°¡­Yeah.¡±


    ¡°And you killed her?¡±


    ¡°Look, it was either that or lose her to Morcii, alright? Don¡¯t get on my ass about this.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m not saying that you¡¯re wrong. I probably would have done the same thing. I just wanted to know why you did it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Dav¨ªdrius bristled. ¡°What, do you want a reason to interrogate me, too? Is ¡®I didn¡¯t wanna lose her to Morcii¡¯ not reason enough?¡±


    ¡°What? No, I never said that. Why would you think that?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­?¡±


    ¡°I had to, okay? I ain¡¯t gonna let another one of my friends lose her mind and be forced to kill her own friends. I ain¡¯t gonna fight one of my friends again. I don¡¯t care what you or Rebehka or anyone says, I¡¯m not doin¡¯ that shit again.¡±


    ¡°Why are you getting so defensive all of a sudden? I never said I¡¯d disagree, or even blame you.¡±


    ¡°You say that. It¡¯s easy to say anythin¡¯. It¡¯s easy to do anythin¡¯, too. Thinkin¡¯ about it, though¡­¡±


    Christean¨¦ narrowed his eyes. ¡°Are you trying to say you¡¯re having second thoughts about this?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed wearily as he glanced around the small room in search of a chair. Upon finding one, he stepped over to it and took a seat, his gaze pointedly focused away from Christean¨¦ the whole time. ¡°¡­Maybe. I don¡¯t know. I guess, less second thoughts, and more¡­ I dunno. Regret, maybe.¡±


    ¡°You regret killing Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    ¡°No, not¡ª ¡­I don¡¯t know. I regret not bein¡¯ able to do anythin¡¯ about it. I coulda stopped it. It was on Sunova, you know, I think, and if I had just been payin¡¯ attention¡ª argh, damn it. First Selind, now you. Why¡¯s everyone gotta get all up in my shit?¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°Because this doesn¡¯t affect just you. Siyuak¨¦n was my friend too, you know, and the last thing I want to hear is that she died for nothing.¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that I disagree with what you did, I¡¯m saying I have an issue with your response to it. How do you think Siyuak¨¦n would feel if she knew that you were getting all wishy-washy and hung-up over what you could have done to keep her alive?¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trivializing her death. It happened, now deal with it. Do you know how disrespectful you¡¯re being? You of all people should know that, because you¡¯re the one who fucking offed her. It may have been the only course of action, but doubting it now makes you little better than a murderer who kills for no reason.¡±


    ¡°What the hell¡ª? You think I don¡¯t know that? What the fuck gives you the right to say that anyway?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m your friend, too, and that gives me the right to call you out on your bullshit.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, do you really think Siyuak¨¦n would want to see you drowning in regret instead of tearing Morcii a new asshole in her name?¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Keep doing what you¡¯re doing and you¡¯re just insulting her memory and her wishes. Not to mention insulting Rebehka and her attempt to save Siyuak¨¦n, since you¡¯re the one who told her to stop trying.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at Christean¨¦ for several moments, lips pursed, before he smirked bitterly and looked away. ¡°Guess you¡¯re right¡­¡± He sighed wearily. ¡°¡­Shit, feelings are hard.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to life in the adult world,¡± Christean¨¦ quipped.


    ¡°Says the guy who needs a nurse¡¯s help every time he needs to take a piss.¡±


    ¡°¡­Come two months from now, I¡¯m going to kick your ass, got it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, might look bad if I beat up a cripple.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Christean¨¦ snorted, and then returned to a neutral expression. ¡°But really, Dav¨ªdrius. I meant everything I said. Don¡¯t forget it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± The Velocitechnic waved him off. ¡°I know, I know. ¡­Hope you aren¡¯t expectin¡¯ me to thank you, though.¡±


    ¡°If you thanked me then I¡¯d really know that something¡¯s up,¡± Christean¨¦ responded cheekily.


    ¡°Tch. Everyone always assumes I¡¯m an ungrateful bastard.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you are an ungrateful bastard. But don¡¯t change, it¡¯s what we all love you for.¡±


    ¡°Keh¡ª! ¡®Course you¡¯d say that. Have fun on the hospital bed while I rack up all the glory from beatin¡¯ Morcii.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to save a seat for when you come back in worse condition than I did.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded with a smirk. He then got back to his feet and approached the room¡¯s exit. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ve spent enough time here. Should probably get back to Nimaliaka before the Commander or Kev¨¦rin throws a fit.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Christean¨¦ replied. ¡°Thanks for dropping by. And do us all a favor and actually figure out a way to stop Morcii, alright?¡±


    ¡°Aye, definitely.¡± Dav¨ªdrius raised his right hand in a casual wave as he left the room. ¡°We¡¯re on it.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Come in!¡±


    Nik¨¦yin glanced away from her computer screen for just a moment as Archon¨¦ Culana stepped into her office. She quickly returned her attention to the screen and finished what she was typing as Culana silently took a seat across the desk from her.


    ¡°¡­Sorry, I¡¯ve been very busy lately,¡± the NSD Commander apologized a moment later as she fully turned away from the computer and addressed the Archon¨¦ directly. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again, but I have to say, if I didn¡¯t know any better I¡¯d think you were our own Archon¨¦ due to how often I¡¯ve seen you here in Nimaliaka.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Sonw¨¦ would be very pleased to hear that,¡± Culana chuckled.


    ¡°He also doesn¡¯t request an audience with me nearly as often as you do,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied. ¡°You are aware that long-distance communication technology exists, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but nothing can replicate the personal feeling of meeting in, well, person,¡± the Archon¨¦ countered. ¡°Call me old-fashioned, but I would much rather speak with someone face-to-face than through a screen or an AR interface.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you have the time for all the travel that would entail.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only the head of a single nation, Commander. You¡¯re the one in charge of the military across the entire Nimalian Territories, and in wartime, no less. It¡¯s no wonder you would be busy. Speaking of, how are you acclimating to the NSD?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had no time to acclimate at all ¡ª the Nanocreatures forced me to dive in head-long. Fortunately, Rant¨¦in and Acknos are being extraordinarily helpful when it comes to organizing the fleets¡­ but I doubt that¡¯s what you¡¯ve come here to talk about, is it?¡±


    ¡°Straight to business, I see.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to chat, Culana, really. But I don¡¯t have that sort of time.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± The Archon¨¦ shifted in his chair to a more comfortable position before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m here to discuss the Quakeborn and the Chaos Ayas.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡±


    ¡°In your possession are currently five of the Ayas, one of which is the Master Ayas itself, yes?¡± Culana held up his hand and began counting off on his fingers. ¡°Syn, Aldrace, Matl¨¦s, Tanivas, and Mystryth. That leaves the Nanocreatures with Arc¨¢n, Hastryth, Sendous, and Tsern.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±


    ¡°Each of the Ayas possess a name, Commander, and you would do well to remember them. The Ayas are more than simple generators of Chaos Energy.¡±


    ¡°Then what are they?¡±


    ¡°They are the keys to defeating Morcii and the Nanocreatures.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin sighed and leaned back in her chair, already exasperated at the Archon¨¦¡¯s speech. ¡°I already know that the Ayas can be useful in that regard, Culana. You didn¡¯t have to come all the way out here to tell me that.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°No, it is because you think that that I had to. You understand that the Ayas have value, but you gravely underestimate that value. To you, they are little more than tools, reserve batteries to attach to weapons and machinery in an attempt to overpower the Nanocreatures, but that is not what they are. The Ayas themselves are tied directly to Morcii, and only the Ayas themselves can stop him.¡±


    ¡°¡­Mmhmm,¡± Nik¨¦yin deadpanned, ¡°is this all in the Oraculm?¡±


    ¡°I would not be so sure of it if it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me to put the Ayas on the front lines against the greatest threat this galaxy has ever known¡­ because a book said so?¡±


    ¡°The Oraculm is more than a book, Commander¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s exactly what it is, Culana. It¡¯s a book. It¡¯s a lucky book, alright, and I¡¯ll even agree that it can seem prophetic at times, but in the end it¡¯s just a book. Can it account for the tens of millions of lives that are lost each day against the Nanocreatures? Can it account for the fall of two Transpace Worlds? Can it account for the ever-growing fleet of Nanocreature ships that continues to attack and endanger the entire galaxy?¡±


    ¡°It can.¡±


    ¡°Culana¡ª¡±


    ¡°Listen to me, Commander! I understand your reluctance to field the Ayas. I understand that you fear losing them to Morcii and allowing him to grow even more powerful. But without them, we stand no chance of victory! You read the Quakeborns¡¯ report from their time on Earth, correct? Do you not realize the power of the Chaos State?¡±


    ¡°Tyrion¡¯s feat was indeed impressive, yes, but the Nanocreatures are incomparable to a single ICBM! You read the report from Maasen, didn¡¯t you? Then you know what Morcii can do on his own, without even trying. Hero Machina are, quite literally, the only individuals in the entire galaxy to have come face-to-face with Morcii and survive the encounter, and that¡¯s only because of the Earthians¡¯ beaming tech. The ¡®Chaos State¡¯ is not enough to beat the Nanocreatures.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, Commander.¡± Culana shook his head again. ¡°The Quakeborn did not survive only because of the beaming technology. They survived because they are the Quakeborn of Nimalia, and it is their fate to survive. This much, I know for certain.¡±


    ¡°How? How can you possibly believe that?¡±


    ¡°Because I have faith in the Oraculm, Commander. It has yet to fail me, and I do not doubt its words. I did not take an interest in the Quakeborn for no reason and, furthermore, it is no coincidence that they were the ones to recover every Ayas that you now possess. If you help them, they can retrieve the rest of the Ayas and stop Morcii. But if you hold them back ¡ª if you refuse to allow them to use the Ayas to their full potential ¡ª then you will doom yourself and the rest of the galaxy to a slow, hopeless death, incapable of fighting back against a force which itself has already fully grasped and embraced the power of Chaos Energy.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin stared at Culana silently for several moments before finally replying, ¡°do you have anything to back up what you¡¯re saying, besides the Oraculm?¡±


    ¡°I have no need. The Oraculm is more than enough.¡±


    ¡°No, Culana¡­ it¡¯s not.¡± The Commander sighed irately. ¡°I can¡¯t entrust the galaxy¡¯s fate to claims that have no evidence to back them. We¡¯re talking about billions, no, trillions of lives, here, all depending on me and the CSA and the Black Suns to make the right calls. Dangling the Ayas in front of the Nanocreatures like you¡¯re suggesting is too dangerous. It¡¯s too risky.¡±


    ¡°¡­Answer me this, Commander.¡± Culana leaned forward, his eyes focused directly on Nik¨¦yin. ¡°¡­Do you foresee a future on your current path? Can you possibly continue as you are and still beat back the Nanocreatures?¡±


    ¡°We have to,¡± Nik¨¦yin declared. ¡°I¡¯ve had research teams working diligently on the Ayas for the past two weeks, and construction of Subspace Drives based on the Earthian prototypes began days ago. Between those and finding a way to reverse engineer the Earthians¡¯ beaming tech, we can find a way to beat the Nanocreatures. It¡¯ll be hard, and it¡¯ll take time, but it¡¯s the only sure-fire way to see the end of this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely correct,¡± Culana refuted, ¡°we will all see the end of this, one way or another. Whether or not it¡¯s a good end is the question.¡± The Archon¨¦ slowly stood up and stretched as Nik¨¦yin eyed him warily. ¡°¡­Very well, Commander,¡± he eventually commented, ¡°I¡¯ve said what I have to say. It¡¯s clear that you are convinced of your own path, and I cannot blame you for it. However, do not say I didn¡¯t warn you. If you do not take proper advantage of the Ayas soon, then you will lose the ability to take advantage of them at all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied flatly, watching as the Archon¨¦ made his way toward the office door. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry that we can¡¯t see eye-to-eye.¡±


    ¡°As am I,¡± Culana replied, opening the door and then suddenly stopping in his tracks to avoid running into Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°Oh! Uh, sorry.¡± The Pyrotechnic quickly stepped away from the door, just as surprised to see Culana as the Archon¨¦ was to see him.


    ¡°Transfer Captain?¡± Nik¨¦yin called, prompting Kev¨¦rin to turn toward the Commander. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°We just got a message from the CSA,¡± he reported, ¡°¡­they¡¯re officially regrouping at and reinforcing the Oriciid¡¯kas system, and they want our help.¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s to be expected,¡± the Commander responded as she eyed Kev¨¦rin wearily. ¡°¡­Did they say anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not quite what I meant.¡± The Transfer Captain shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t mean they want the NSD¡¯s help ¡ª I mean, they do, but they also want our help. They asked for Hero Machina¡­ explicitly.¡±

 60 - Capital of the Galaxy

    Chapter 60 - Capital of the Galaxy


    3 Days Later


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 20, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°So this is the so-called ¡®Capital of the Galaxy,¡¯ huh?¡±


    ¡°Capital of the Galaxy?¡± Captain Krick echoed incredulously. ¡°Oriciid¡¯kas is the capital of the CSA, but I wouldn¡¯t call it the capital of the whole damn galaxy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a nickname,¡± Kievkenalis replied while maintaining his focus on the Genesis¡¯s bridge window. ¡°The CSA is the most culturally and politically influential entity in the galaxy. The Drakkars are just a threat, after all ¡ª they don¡¯t have any real influence per se, and the Taizen races keep to themselves. So the CSA effectively runs the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°They like to think they run the galaxy,¡± V¨¦lunis corrected, ¡°but they don¡¯t hold any real sway over us Nimalians. They had to ask for our help, after all.¡±


    ¡°Ideally, they wouldn¡¯t need to¡­¡± Krick muttered as he observed a far-away space station, magnified as a hologram to allow the bridge inhabitants to inspect it more closely. Not much about its appearance was remarkable, as it looked to be little more than a series of cylinders jutting out from a central shaft, but it¡¯s size¡­ ¡°Christ, that thing is huge! Each of those shafts looks like they¡¯re tens of kilometers across¡­ People live on that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that a single station in this system can host millions,¡± Kievkenalis remarked, ¡°and there¡¯s a station sitting at every Lagrange point of the five terra planets. And then even more than that.¡±


    ¡°¡­This is ridiculous¡­¡± Wilkas frowned uneasily. ¡°There¡¯s so many people in this system. How the hell does the CSA plan to protect them all?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± Krick replied. ¡°They only have a vested interest in the planet of Oriciid¡¯kas itself and Siionkagh, the local Fortress World. Why do you think those are the only planets they requested you help reinforce?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only because Oriciid¡¯kas and Siionkagh are the only planets with decent planetary shielding,¡± Kievkenalis countered. ¡°There¡¯s no way the other three can be protected from the Nanocreatures in any reasonable fashion, but surely the CSA is at least orchestrating a mass evacuation of the system?¡±


    ¡°Ha,¡± V¨¦lunis snorted. ¡°And where would they all go? There¡¯s over a hundred billion people living in this system, that¡¯s more than all of the Homeworlds in the galaxy combined. No other system could possibly handle taking in this many refugees.¡±


    ¡°Which is all the more reason to help out the CSA,¡± Krick stated. ¡°¡­Your friends should already be on Oriciid¡¯kas, right?¡±


    Kievkenalis nodded. ¡°They should be, yes. Kev¨¦rin, Kaon¨¦, and Dav¨ªdrius took the Ayas Mystryth with them through the Gate a couple days ago, so hopefully the Ayas is already plugged into the planet¡¯s shields.¡±


    ¡°That leaves us to help reinforce Siionkagh,¡± Krick mused. ¡°¡­I wonder if we can really make a difference.¡±


    ¡°That prototype FTL Drive should definitely help,¡± Wilkas remarked, ¡°if the CSA can start mass-producing those, then that alone would help a whole lot.¡±


    ¡°Wilkas is right.¡± Kievkenalis nodded again. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here anyways, isn¡¯t it? To transport one of the prototype Drives. I don¡¯t really think the Genesis itself would make a difference, since it is only one ship, albeit a massively advanced one¡­¡±


    ¡°I think you guys are overlooking the best systems of the Genesis,¡± Krick countered, ¡°the Subspace Drive is great, sure, but the beaming systems are far more tactically useful. The CSA can hold out against the Nanocreatures for weeks in space, likely, but it¡¯s all over once they make Planetfall. That¡¯s how Bouy¡¯Xis and Metorilis were lost. But the beaming systems ¡ª if the CSA had that, then they could¡¯ve actually put up an effort on the ground. ¡­Unfortunately, the beaming systems seem a lot harder to reverse-engineer than the Subspace Drive was.¡±


    V¨¦lunis frowned. ¡°I dunno, would they really make that much of a difference?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re what saved us from Morcii back on Maasen,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out, ¡°and I have a feeling that they¡¯re going to be what saves us if we ever encounter Morcii again. Hopefully we won¡¯t, but, well¡­ you never know.¡±


    ¡°If you see Morcii planetside, then it means the planetary shields have failed, and we¡¯ll have pulled you out long before then,¡± Krick stated. ¡°¡­That said, he¡¯ll probably show up at least on the space front. According to the battle reports I¡¯ve read, he¡¯s only appeared on battlefields three times since Maasen, and each time it was when the CSA almost seemed to be developing a steady defense. Seems like he lets his forces do most of the work, and then shows up himself to break any particularly strong defense. He was there for the fall of both Bouy¡¯Xis and Metorilis, for example. So, given that¡­¡± The Captain paused to squint at a display toward the front of the bridge. ¡°¡­And given how much military might is garrisoned in this system, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the metallic bastard showed his face soon.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wilkas tried to find the display Krick was staring at. ¡°¡­What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If I remember the briefings right, a typical, full-sized Siion fleet is five thousand ships, with a heavy skew towards Dreadnoughts and Battleships. Citan fleet sizes are about three thousand strong, with a skew more towards Carriers than Dreadnoughts, and Dra¡¯kis are a little smaller, with a higher focus on Sub-Caps. Mixed CSA fleets sit around four thousand strong. ...There are currently ten fleets stationed in this system. The 22nd Siion fleet, the 15th Citan fleet, and mixed fleets 1st through 8th. Over forty thousand spacecraft.¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn.¡±


    ¡°For reference, three Dra¡¯kis fleets were lost at Bouy¡¯Xis before the remaining two retreated, and four Citan fleets were lost at Metorilis before it was abandoned.¡±


    ¡°Is ten really enough, then?...¡± Kievkenalis commented warily.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not, but you have to keep in mind that every fleet that¡¯s sitting here is a fleet that isn¡¯t helping to defend any of the planets currently under attack, not to mention that the CSA fleet reserves are in no way infinite,¡± Krick pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s not all there is, anyways; looks like the CSA are committing several Super-Caps to this system as well. Seven Motherships are stationed in the Tau¡¯cen Kii system and are prepared to launch their full fighter squadrons through the Transpace, and¡­ two Deathnoughts, a whole two Deathnoughts, are currently in system, right now. The Siion Dakonis Raath, in orbit around Siionkagh, and the Dra¡¯kis On¡¯esstin, in orbit around Oriciid¡¯kas.¡± The Captain whistled in awe. ¡°The CSA really are serious about protecting this system.¡±


    V¨¦lunis snorted. ¡°Of course they are, it¡¯s their capital.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason for us to help as much as we can,¡± Krick replied. ¡°¡­Alright, we¡¯re approaching Siionkagh. We¡¯ll be in a stable middle orbit within the hour, and after that we can figure out how to deliver the prototype Drive, and how to get your Ayas to their shields.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Kievkenalis nodded as he turned toward the bridge exit, signaling for V¨¦lunis and Wilkas to follow. ¡°C¡¯mon, guys, let¡¯s suit up.¡±


    ¡°Suit up?¡± Wilkas echoed incredulously. ¡°We¡¯re just here to reinforce the shields. We shouldn¡¯t be doing any fighting; why bother with armor?¡±


    ¡°Better safe than sorry,¡± the Chaostechnic responded wearily. ¡°¡­Though, against the Nanocreatures, we might not have the latter option.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°For the supposed ¡®Capital of the Galaxy,¡¯ this place feels really desolate.¡±


    ¡°Well of course it does.¡± Kev¨¦rin rolled his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re at the North Pole. It¡¯s not exactly a major population center.¡±


    ¡°I can certainly see why,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned as he glared out the tower window at the vast swathes of tundra below. ¡°¡­Man, why¡¯d we have to come straight to the coldest damn place on the planet?¡±


    ¡°Because this is where the primary planetary shield generator is. If we want to get the largest boost possible from the Ayas, we have to plug it in to the primary generator.¡±


    ¡°¡­Bah. This better be fuckin¡¯ worth it.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin responded with silence as he looked up at the polar skies. Even in broad daylight, the polar skies of Oriciid¡¯kas displayed fantastically colored aurorae due to the interaction of the planetary energy shielding and the planet¡¯s own magnetic field. The sight led to the poles being highly-valued tourist destinations, but tourism had all but dried up completely in the face of Nanocreature attack. And even if citizens were willing to take trips at such a dangerous time, the CSA had shut down the poles to civilians ¡ª they now hosted only enough of a military garrison to protect the shield generators.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°¡­Looking at the skies?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as she slowly approached the two Chaotics.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted, casually glancing upwards at the bright blue and green streaks through the night sky. ¡°¡­I guess we at least got that goin¡¯ for us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a point of weakness,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°planetary shielding is always weakest over the magnetic poles due to interference from the planet¡¯s own magnetic fields. It¡¯s why the primary generator is built here, because if it wasn¡¯t, then the shielding over the pole would be virtually non-existent.¡±


    ¡°Well thanks for ruinin¡¯ the moment,¡± the Velocitechnic drawled.


    ¡°I¡¯m just being cautious,¡± the Transfer Captain replied wearily. ¡°We have to be ready for when the Nanocreatures attack. It could be at any time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have at least some warning though, right?¡± Kaon¨¦ responded uneasily. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like they can break through the shields within minutes.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention they¡¯re already spread over four planets and who knows how many more in Drakkar space,¡± Dav¨ªdrius added.


    ¡°Not quite true¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin shook his head. ¡°Lehmekarid fell two days ago.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°but¡ª! They only lasted five days! Wasn¡¯t Lehmekarid supposed to be better reinforced than Bouy¡¯Xis or Metorilis?¡±


    ¡°It was, but that didn¡¯t stop the Nanocreatures. Dramantis will probably fall any day now, as well. So for all we know, the Nanocreatures are already on their way here, and Morcii himself could show up at a moment¡¯s notice. We do have an Ayas here, after all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯d still have to break through the shields,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out. ¡°Powerful as he is, that¡¯ll at least take some time, won¡¯t it?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin paused for a moment to sigh before responding, ¡°I hope so.¡±


    ¡°¡­How long do you think we¡¯ll last?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned quietly.


    ¡°This system has a larger garrison than any of the others that have fallen, we have a better idea of how the Nanocreatures work, and we have Ayas reinforcing the shields of both Oriciid¡¯kas and Siionkagh,¡± the Transfer Captain mused. ¡°¡­Assuming the Nanocreatures don¡¯t suddenly focus all of their forces on this system, which is a distinct possibility, I think we might be able to hold out for at least several weeks. The space fleets definitely can, at least ¡ª but whether or not we hold the system relies on preventing the Nanocreatures from making Planetfall. And to do that, we have to maintain the shields, and to do that, the fleets have to somehow draw the Nanocreatures away and into empty space. That¡¯s the hard part.¡±


    ¡°Can they do that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the big question¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned and sighed wearily. ¡°¡­The Genesis might be able to help. It has enough advanced tech that it might draw some attention to itself and away from the planets. The CSA might also be planning to use the non-shielded terra planets and some of the space stations as bait, as morally ambiguous as that may seem¡­ but the thing is, we have an Ayas here. I know it¡¯s supposed to reinforce the shields, and it certainly did ¡ª I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of planetary shielding strength jumping into or above the petaton range ¡ª but we know Morcii wants the Ayas. It¡¯s why Nik¨¦yin made sure none of them sat on a single planet for longer than two days ever since the Nanocreatures showed up. So¡­ it¡¯s possible that they¡¯ll just carve a path straight to the Ayas¡­ straight to right here.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms as he turned away from the window to face Kev¨¦rin straight-on. ¡°What do we do if that happens?¡±


    ¡°The Genesis is orbiting Siionkagh, so we can¡¯t count on them to save us¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin mused, ¡°if worst comes to worst, we need to take the Ayas, engage the Chaos State so Morcii can¡¯t steal it, and then high-tail it back to the Interstellar Gate.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°but then you¡¯d be leaving behind everyone on this planet! You¡¯d doom billions of people!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m sure billions more would be lost if the Nanocreatures got another Ayas,¡± the Transfer Captain countered, ¡°I talked to Arc¨¢n about this a couple days ago, and if he¡¯s right, then these things are far more powerful than we ever imagined. We can¡¯t afford to lose it.¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t afford to lose Oriciid¡¯kas, either¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s an idea,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°if the Ayas are as powerful as you say they are, then why the hell don¡¯t we just fight Morcii and end it all here?¡±


    ¡°One Ayas isn¡¯t enough,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded impatiently, ¡°I used the First Tier Chaos State back on Earth, and while it was certainly powerful, there¡¯s no way it¡¯s enough to counter Morcii. We¡¯d have to use the Third or Fourth Tier at least to stand up to him.¡±


    ¡°We only need one Ayas Weapon though,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out. ¡°I think everyone¡¯s forgettin¡¯ about Subspatial storage, here. Y¡¯all saw me use it back on Kotak, didn¡¯t you? I think that could be useful!¡±


    ¡°What, so we can store Morcii¡¯s luggage for him?¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°We don¡¯t even know how to get something out of Subspace once it¡¯s in there. And besides, the Ayas are too powerful for us to just use them as storage devices.¡±


    ¡°What? The fuck are you talkin¡¯ about?¡± The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°We don¡¯t need to know how to get shit out, gettin¡¯ it in is all that matters.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡­¡± The Transfer Captain stared at Dav¨ªdrius blankly for several moments before realization slowly dawned on his features. ¡°¡­Oooh, you want to Subspatially store Morcii!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d work, wouldn¡¯t it? Stuff the bastard into who-knows-wherever-that-is and he can¡¯t bother us anymore.¡±


    ¡°That might work¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded in approval. ¡°But it requires getting into a direct fight with Morcii, which we should still try to avoid.¡±


    ¡°We all know what happened the first time, after all¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°The first time we weren¡¯t expectin¡¯ him to pull a Dues Ex Machina out of his ass.¡± Dav¨ªdrius rolled his eyes, and then chortled. ¡°¡­Get it? ¡®Cause he¡¯s a machine, and he was claimin¡¯ to be a god?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ both gave the Velocitechnic flat stares of disapproval before the Transfer Captain turned back to the tower window. ¡°¡­If it really does come down to a fight, I¡¯ll take the Ayas and engage the Chaos State, and then I¡¯ll try the Subspatial storage thing on Morcii. If we can¡¯t lay a hit on him, though, then we need to get out of here. Dav¨ªdrius, can you carry both of us?¡±


    ¡°I could barely carry both of you fatasses at once without your armor, there ain¡¯t no way I¡¯m doin¡¯ it with armor. Why don¡¯t I take the Ayas? Then I can just Subspatially store y¡¯all and run back to the Gate easy.¡±


    ¡°Did you not hear me when I said that we don¡¯t know how to retrieve objects from Subspace?¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be much harder than stickin¡¯ ¡®em in¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°Just¡­ think about it or somethin¡¯, I dunno.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. No one knows. That¡¯s not even considering what happens to stored objects. Do they go into stasis? Do they just float in Subspace? If you stored a person, would they get exposed to Subspace and die, or would they come out exactly as they went in? What even is Subspace? ¡­There¡¯s just too many things we don¡¯t know; using Subspatial storage now is too risky.¡±


    ¡°¡­Whatever.¡±


    ¡°Regardless¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°It¡¯ll take the Nanocreatures at least a day to break through the shields, hopefully. So once they show up, we¡¯ll still have a window to plan contingencies.¡±


    ¡°Now we just have to sit tight and wait for them to actually show up¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°I wonder how long that¡¯ll be. Hmph. I really don¡¯t like the idea of stayin¡¯ here for much longer.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°but against the Nanocreatures¡­ we don¡¯t really have a choice.¡±


    <hr>


    1 Day Later


    ¡°The prototype Subspace Drive has been unloaded to the research station, and the Ayas is secured in and powering Siionkagh¡¯s planetary shield generator. We¡¯re clear, sir.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Krick leaned forward expectantly. ¡°Finally. I never dreamt it could take so long just to drop off a couple objects¡­ Hold position and request sitrep-level data-connection access with the CSA fleets, and query their fleet control for a formation position. Once we know what we¡¯re doing, well¡­ we¡¯ll be doing that.¡±


    After waiting for the bridge officers to acknowledge his order, Krick stood up and stretched. He then crossed his arms and glanced to his right toward a redheaded woman not much younger nor shorter than himself.


    ¡°¡­¡¯We¡¯ll be doing that?¡¯¡± She echoed incredulously when she realized she had his attention.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get flippant with me, Bourne.¡± Krick smirked, but quickly removed it as he sighed warily. ¡°I hate to do this to you on your first real mission with the Genesis, Captain, but we¡¯re fixin¡¯ to be in a full-on engagement soon, and as the XO, you¡¯ll have to switch out with me every twelve hours to command the ship. We could very well be here for a full week, or even longer. Understand?¡±


    Bourne nodded. ¡°I do, sir. But don¡¯t worry about me; I¡¯ve studied the Genesis¡¯s specs, so I know how to handle the ship.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but you won¡¯t really know how to handle the ship until you¡¯re sitting in this chair right here.¡± Krick patted the arm of the commander¡¯s chair. ¡°¡­Though with your record, I hope you already realize that.¡±


    ¡°I was second just after you in the Captain candidate list for this ship.¡±


    ¡°Yes you were, but don¡¯t let it get to your head. We¡¯re about to enter battle with an enemy that even the CSA has little experience fighting, and while this ship can handle more than any other ship in its class, it is, in the end, still just a Battlecruiser. You¡¯d do well to remember that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Krick nodded. ¡°Good¡­ In eight hours, you take over from me; at that point we¡¯ll start switching every twelve until we¡¯re no longer in a state of battle readiness. When the Nanocreatures first attack, though, I want us both on the bridge, regardless of who¡¯s already here. I¡¯ll take command for the first two hours of the battle while you observe, and then we¡¯ll resume shift switches after that. But while you¡¯re off, you need to get as much rest as possible, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, and I¡¯d like to say the same to you.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I¡¯m sure you would. Now, it¡¯s about time you actually got that rest. We can¡¯t afford to stand around and chat¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sir! Picking up signals on the long-range sensors!¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± Krick immediately redirected his attention to the sensor readouts at the front of the bridge as he sat down in the commander¡¯s chair. Bourne quickly moved to stand at attention by his side.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ thousands! ¡­Incoming from Lehmekarid, but none of them match CSA, Nimalian, or Black Sun signatures!¡±


    ¡°So the Nanocreatures are finally here,¡± the Captain muttered. ¡°Broadcast an emergency alert! Our sensor suites are more advanced than the CSA¡¯s, they may not have picked up on the Nanocreatures yet! And prepare to engage!¡±


    Krick sat back in his chair warily as the rest of the bridge responded with a united ¡°Yes sir!¡± He continued staring at the bridge displays, his expression grim.


    ¡°¡­This is it.¡± He eventually glanced toward Bourne. ¡°Forget what I said about the initial time line of the shifts; observe for two hours, and then replace me in nine.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir, understood!¡±


    ¡°Good. Now keep your wits about you ¡ª we can¡¯t afford to panic.¡± Krick turned back to face the bridge window and the many holographic displays in front of it. ¡°¡­Because the defense of the Oriciid¡¯kas system begins now.¡±

 61 - Breakthrough

    Chapter 61 - Breakthrough


    2 Days Later


    ¨C Windia, Skydiath 23, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Captain.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Chief Captain.¡± Bourne quickly stood up from the commander¡¯s chair and faced Krick to give him a salute. He casually saluted back, gesturing for Bourne to resume sitting as he glanced up at the bridge displays. ¡°¡­You¡¯re an hour early,¡± the XO remarked after several seconds of silence.


    ¡°That last shield shock woke me up,¡± Krick answered flatly as he absentmindedly scratched his chin. ¡°Couldn¡¯t get back to sleep, so I decided to come up here and check on things.¡±


    ¡°Things have calmed down since the opening of the battle,¡± Bourne commented as she turned her attention back to the bridge displays. ¡°Nothing new has happened since I last relieved you.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re still in a stalemate then, huh¡­¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you call losing ships at a slightly slower rate than in any other encounter with the Nanocreature fleets to date, then yes, I suppose we are.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s more than that,¡± Krick countered. ¡°Either the CSA has finally pulled its shit together, or the Nanocreatures are going easy on us, because neither Oriciid¡¯kas nor Siionkagh have taken any major hits. Their shielding is still near maximum. Hell, our shielding is still near maximum, and we¡¯ve been directly engaged with the Nanocreatures for two days, now.¡±


    ¡°I actually wanted to ask you about that, sir.¡± Bourne eyed Krick warily. ¡°You said that the Genesis outclasses any other ship its size, and based on the reports I read from the encounters at Tyrnaus and Maasen against the Riaxen and the Drakkars, this ship should have firepower and durability on par with a Siion Battleship or so, but¡­ against the Nanocreatures¡­¡±


    ¡°I know¡­¡± Krick furrowed his brow as he stared at the ship status readouts in confusion. ¡°¡­We¡¯re doing as much damage to the Nanocreatures as any of the Dreadnoughts.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention our shielding is holding up better than many of the Capital ships, as well,¡± Bourne added. ¡°Even the fighters are substantially outclassing their CSA counterparts. Sir, this is¡­ it¡¯s almost scary.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong,¡± Krick replied as he rubbed his chin in thought, ¡°and I¡¯m just as confused as you are. The reactors are outputting slightly more power than usual, as well¡­ looks like there¡¯s more to this ship than we thought.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the understatement.¡±


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t complain. I¡¯ll take every edge against the Nanocreatures we can get; we can scrutinize the ship further once we¡¯re out of battle and safe back at Earth. What about the rest of the allied fleet? How are we holding up?¡±


    ¡°¡­Nearly three thousand ships have been destroyed already, but most of those are Sub-Caps. Namely Cruisers and smaller¡­ we lost a Carrier and a couple Dreadnoughts in the past six hours, though. The Nanocreatures tried to take them over, so we had to destroy the wrecks. We lost the L1 and L3 Siionkagh-moon space stations, as well¡­ the Nanocreatures gained access and began assimilating the entire structure, so we had to obliterate them ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Were the stations evacuated?¡±


    ¡°¡­Not completely.¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­The ships the Nanocreatures have taken over from previous battles are also outperforming their original specs, according to the CSA,¡± Bourne added. ¡°¡­They¡¯ve tried hailing the corrupted ships, but there¡¯s never a response.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ out of all the casualties we¡¯ve suffered so far, how many have been from weapons fire, and how many have been from direct assimilation attempts?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one and the same, really¡­ the Nanocreatures use weapons fire to take down shielding, and then they deal the final blow by ramming the ship and trying to take it over.¡±


    ¡°For the first four hours, ramming seemed to be the only thing they did,¡± Krick mused. ¡°They didn¡¯t adopt any formations until eleven hours in, and they only started really focusing on the Siionkagh and Oriciid¡¯kas defense fleets right before your current shift. ¡­Have they employed any real use of strategy since you took control?¡±


    ¡°No, sir¡­¡± Bourne frowned. ¡°But they don¡¯t need to. Their armor strength and repairing capabilities outstrip the amount of damage most Sub-Caps can do, if their weapons tracking was even fast enough to hit them. That¡¯s another thing, we¡¯re one of the few ships capable of reliably hitting the Nanocreatures in the first place. Only the Capital ships can achieve the same hit rates, and that¡¯s only because their weapons are so massive.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me things I already know¡­¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t making any progress against them. If this keeps up, we¡¯ll break in a week, maybe two, and then the Nanocreatures will be free to hit the planets themselves.¡±


    ¡°¡­Maybe that¡¯s why they haven¡¯t bothered to target the planets yet; they¡¯re trying to destroy any possibility of reinforcements. And there isn¡¯t anything we can do to stop them, not if we keep going on like this.¡± Krick scratched his chin again, furrowing his brow as he glanced between the bridge displays. ¡°¡­If something doesn¡¯t change soon, we¡¯ll lose the system.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.¡±


    ¡°Well I ain¡¯t complainin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, speaking around the mouthful of food he was currently chewing. ¡°If the Nanocreatures¡ª¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kaon¨¦ cut in as she gave the Velocitechnic a disapproving glare. ¡°Don¡¯t eat with your mouth full like that, it¡¯s disgusting.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were my mom,¡± he quipped, pointedly ignoring Kaon¨¦¡¯s remark. A moment later he swallowed and turned back to Kev¨¦rin as he continued eating. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re concerned, though. The Nanocreatures ain¡¯t attackin¡¯ the shields, cool, it means we¡¯ll last longer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, restlessly glancing around the small cafeteria before continuing, ¡°there has to be a reason for this. They¡¯ve been in the system for two days, and planets are big targets, so it¡¯s not like they¡¯re missing. They have to be pointedly ignoring Oriciid¡¯kas and Siionkagh. But why would they do that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re just focusing on the fleets,¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°Yeah, fere waf a lof of fem!¡± Dav¨ªdrius added, the food in his mouth distorting his words. He glanced back at Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ in confusion when they paused to stare at him. ¡°¡­Whaf?¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Do you always talk while you eat?¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    The Velocitechnic swallowed before retorting, ¡°only when people feel the need to interrupt my peace and quiet while I eat.¡±


    ¡°Aw, but you looked so lonely,¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Well I wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°And here I thought you might be concerned about current events,¡± Kev¨¦rin drawled.


    ¡°Get back to me when somethin¡¯ new happens. In the meantime, I¡¯ll save my very limited concern for other things.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic frowned. ¡°¡­Have you been paying attention at all to the bulletins?¡±


    ¡°To the what?¡±


    ¡°¡­Do you have your AR info feed enabled?¡±


    ¡°Keh, no. Why would I? Last thing I want is a text box in the corner of my vision at every damn minute of the day.¡±


    ¡°Then you haven¡¯t heard that Dramantis, Gonaan, and Siionleh have all fallen, have you?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius faltered, pausing just before taking another bite out of his meal. ¡°¡­Say again?¡±


    ¡°You heard me.¡± Kev¨¦rin leaned back and crossed his arms. ¡°Dramantis fell three days ago, and the CSA declared Siionleh and Gonaan lost yesterday. That¡¯s six worlds the CSA has lost. Six Transpace Worlds, of fourteen.¡±


    ¡°Ya know, what does that mean?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°when you say a planet¡¯s fallen, what¡¯s that mean? Planets can¡¯t fall, can they?¡±


    ¡°It means it was lost. The Nanocreatures took it over,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°Basically, the CSA believes the worlds are lost past a recoverable point, and that enough system infrastructure has been destroyed or taken over that there¡¯s not enough left to defend.¡±


    ¡°Have the Nanocreatures destroyed any of the actual Transpaces?¡±


    ¡°Oddly enough, no, but any lone ship that tries to jump into a lost system is almost immediately destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°What¡¯s that mean for us?¡±


    ¡°It means the CSA is about to crumble,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied tensely. ¡°¡­They lost Siionleh. Do you understand the significance of that? The Nanocreatures somehow forced the Siions to abandon their Homeworld. And Citici and Y¡¯kisdral both are only one jump away from Nanocreature-controlled systems, so you can bet that they¡¯ll fall under attack soon, too. But those don¡¯t even matter, because the Siions are practically crushed. Half of their Transpace Worlds are in Nanocreature hands now, and the two that aren¡¯t are cut off from the rest of the CSA. And this is the Siions, the backbone of the CSA military! If they end up losing Oriciid¡¯kas, then that¡¯s just even worse, as the Siions will be completely cut off from the rest of the CSA, which will make it far more difficult for the Citans and Dra¡¯kis to defend their own space. If things keep up as they have been, the CSA will fall apart by the end of the month, and you can guess who¡¯ll be the next targets.¡±


    ¡°The Nimalian Territories¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°And they¡¯ll take us out much faster than they took out the CSA.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed in resignation. ¡°¡­This might actually be the end.¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there,¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in, ¡°it¡¯s a little early to be declarin¡¯ defeat, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Do you see a way out of this?¡±


    ¡°Well, beatin¡¯ Morcii, for one.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t put too much stock into that plan. At this rate, he doesn¡¯t even have to show up and the Nanocreatures will still win.¡±


    ¡°The planetary shields are still holdin¡¯ up, aren¡¯t they?¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out, ¡°maybe he¡¯ll show up to speed up the process. We can fight him then.¡±


    ¡°If he shows up,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°and then there¡¯s the whole issue of fighting him. There¡¯s no way we can win as we are, even if one of us used the First Tier Chaos State; we¡¯ve already gone over that.¡±


    ¡°Says you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted and then took another bite of his lunch. ¡°We know what Morcii can do now, so we can put up more of a fight.¡±


    ¡°I doubt¡ª¡± the Pyrotechnic started and then froze mid-sentence.


    ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°So you saw it, too?¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed warily. ¡°Great. Just great.¡±


    ¡°What? What is it?¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced between the two uneasily.


    ¡°An announcement on the info feed,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded irately, ¡°you know how the Gate was being used to evac civilians out of the system?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡­¡±


    ¡°The moment the Gate shut down ¡ª you know, to refresh the connection after the two hour mark ¡ª the Nanocreatures dialed in. The Gate¡¯s block was activated before many of the bugs could make it through and the bugs themselves have been contained, but¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°¡­The Gate¡¯s unusable now; the Nanocreatures are sitting on the connection, preventing us from dialing anywhere else. We¡¯re stuck.¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°I think this might be it, guys¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wilkas glanced toward Kievkenalis. ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You heard about the Gate getting blocked on Oriciid¡¯kas, right?¡± the Chaostechnic replied as he stared up at the massive inner tower that housed the Siionkagh primary shield generator. ¡°That might be a sign that the Nanocreatures are getting serious.¡±


    ¡°Implying they aren¡¯t serious already?¡± V¨¦lunis deadpanned.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t even attacking the planetary shielding, that has to be on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is pretty weird,¡± Wilkas mused. ¡°Planets are big targets. They must be either really bad at aiming, or so good at aiming at other ships that they never miss.¡±


    ¡°Or they¡¯re just far enough away that we aren¡¯t actually that big a target,¡± V¨¦lunis countered. ¡°Didn¡¯t the fleets engage the Nanocreatures in high orbit? It¡¯s not like misses will have a high chance of hitting us at that distance.¡±


    ¡°¡­Still¡­¡± Kievkenalis frowned. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡± He continued staring at the shield tower through the large windows of the outer tower that hosted all of the base¡¯s personnel facilities. ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m going to go check on the Ayas¡ª¡±


    His sentence was cut off as the entire building shuddered violently, throwing the three Chaotics to the ground. The lights flickered and came back on just in time for some unknown force to impact the inner tower from directly above, completely demolishing it and creating a massive shockwave that blew out the windows of the outer tower the Chaotics were sitting in.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡± Wilkas exclaimed, staring at the wrecked tower in awe as freezing arctic air began rushing in through the broken windows. ¡°What was that?!¡±


    ¡°That was the generator getting obliterated!¡± Kievkenalis immediately jumped to his feet and rushed over to the windows. ¡°The Ayas is there! We need to retrieve it!¡±


    ¡°Kevken¡ª!¡± V¨¦lunis started, but the Chaostechnic ignored him and vaulted through the window, dropping several meters to the ground below before running toward the tower wreckage. V¨¦lunis and Wilkas quickly followed, landing on the ground from above and smashing their way through the wreckage before stopping in their tracks just behind Kievkenalis.


    ¡°What¡¯d you stop for¡ª?¡± Wilkas started, but froze after realizing what the Chaostechnic was staring at ¡ª or rather, who he was staring at.


    ¡°HMPH, SO WE MEET AGAIN.¡±


    ¡°¡­Morcii¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered.


    ¡°Oh, so this guy¡¯s Morcii?¡± V¨¦lunis looked up at the Nanocreature leader. He was standing on a pile of collapsed metal supports, glaring down at the Chaotics as his maroon longcoat and blue robing flapped violently in the arctic winds. ¡°¡­Doesn¡¯t look as threatening as I had imagined.¡±


    ¡°YOU THINK I DON¡¯T LOOK THREATENING?¡± Morcii raised an incredulous eyebrow. ¡°I JUST DESTROYED THIS PLANET¡¯S SHIELDING IN ONE BLOW. NEED I DESTROY THE PLANET ITSELF TO SATISFY YOU?¡±


    V¨¦lunis responded with silence, unable to form a reply to the Nanocreature¡¯s dangerously cold tone.


    ¡°ANYWAYS¡­¡± Morcii smirked as he extended his left arm behind himself and then retracted it, revealing the Light Green Ayas now in his hand. ¡°I HAVE WHAT I CAME HERE FOR¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chaos State: First Tier!¡±


    A sudden flash of bright white light filled the area before slowly fading away as the Ayas disappeared from Morcii¡¯s hand and into Kievkenalis¡¯s body. The Nanocreature leader stared at the Chaostechnic, dumbfounded, and then broke into a menacing grin. ¡°I SEE YOU¡¯VE LEARNED FROM OUR PAST ENCOUNTER!¡±


    ¡°Kevken¡­!¡± Wilkas muttered warningly, ¡°what are you doing¡­?!¡±


    ¡°We have to hold him here,¡± Kievkenalis insisted, his voice taking on the subtle echo indicative of the Chaos State. ¡°¡­Not just that, we also have to wait for the Genesis to return to beaming range before it can pick us up.¡±


    ¡°So, basically, we have to stall,¡± V¨¦lunis deadpanned, and then sighed warily. ¡°¡­Figures you¡¯d get us into a fight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve been in a real fight,¡± Wilkas remarked with a begrudging smirk. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we haven¡¯t lost our edge. Overdrive: Infinite Lift!¡±


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± V¨¦lunis scowled. ¡°¡­Tch. Whatever. Overdrive: Limitless Weaponswright!¡±


    ¡°¡­SO YOU REALLY DO INTEND TO FIGHT ME?¡± Morcii¡¯s grin widened further. ¡°AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU WERE SIMPLY TRYING TO FOOL ME WITH FALSE BRAVADO. INSTEAD, YOU¡¯RE PLAYING THE PART OF ACTUAL FOOLS! IT WOULD SEEM THAT YOU STILL HAVE MUCH TO LEARN!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Assist,¡± Kievkenalis muttered. ¡°¡­Alright guys, I¡¯ve already activated my distress signal. Hopefully the Earthians can get here soon. But until then¡ª!¡±


    ¡°We got you!¡± Wilkas exclaimed ¡ª and then lunged forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±

 62 - Beachhead

    Chapter 62 - Beachhead


    ¡°Morcii made Planetfall?!¡±


    ¡°Ye¡­yeah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin replied slowly, staring dumbfoundedly at the information feed on his glasses. ¡°¡­He obliterated the Siionkagh primary generator in one strike.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°but, how did he¡ª? How could he¡­?¡±


    The Pyrotechnic scowled. ¡°Hell if I know. He¡¯s never¡ª ¡­there haven¡¯t been any reports of Morcii breaking through shielding on any of the other planets. He didn¡¯t¡ª it¡¯s not possible. He would have needed at least a teraton¡¯s worth of force to make any kind of noticeable dent in those shields! That¡¯s¡ª if he hit the planet itself with that force, that¡¯d be enough to cause an extinction event, I mean¡ª ¡­if Morcii can really output that much force, that¡¯s, that¡¯s, that¡¯s insane!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t¡­ aren¡¯t Kevken, V¨¦lunis, and Wilkas all stationed at the Siionkagh generator?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as she began to wring her hands in worry. ¡°If they¡­ are they okay?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin furrowed his brow in frustration. ¡°They aren¡¯t important enough to post about on the info feed. The Genesis isn¡¯t close enough to their location to get a focused sensor reading, either. So¡­ there¡¯s no way for us to know.¡±


    ¡°You know what this means for us, right?¡± Dav¨ªdrius cut in impatiently, ¡°Morcii attacked the generator ¡®cause the Ayas was there, didn¡¯t he? Well guess where he¡¯d go next then, huh?!¡±


    ¡°There are many different reasons for him to attack the generator,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°¡­but all of them would have him hitting Oriciid¡¯kas as a follow-up anyways. You¡¯re right. But what can we possibly do against that? Nothing short of a Capital ship could stop that kind of force!¡±


    ¡°¡­I hate to say it¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°But our best bet might be to grab the Ayas and run. If Morcii can really output as much force as you¡¯re sayin¡¯ he can, then none of us stand a chance against him.¡±


    ¡°Where would we run?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned. ¡°The Gate¡¯s blocked; we can¡¯t leave the planet. And even then¡­ we can¡¯t just abandon Oriciid¡¯kas, not this quickly.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but stickin¡¯ around won¡¯t help much either, you know!¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who wanted to fight Morcii?¡±


    ¡°Sure, before we learned that he single-handedly broke through the Ayas-reinforced planetary shields,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. ¡°Fuck fightin¡¯ him now ¡ª we can try that later when we have more Ayas with us!¡±


    ¡°I wonder if the Ayas actually mean anything, now,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded warily. ¡°They sure as hell didn¡¯t stop Morcii.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ worriedly glanced between the other two Chaotics. ¡°¡­What do we do?¡±


    The three sat in uneasy silence before Kev¨¦rin sighed and spoke up again. ¡°I¡¯ll try to contact the Genesis through the system¡¯s Relaynet, and just hope that the relays are still intact. Hopefully, Krick will have some more input¡­¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan, now get to it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius urged.


    ¡°Right, right¡­ Command: contact the E.S.C. Genesis. ¡­Command: contact the E.S.C. Genesis¡­!¡±


    ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered as Kev¨¦rin¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°What¡¯s wrong¡­?¡±


    ¡°Comms have cut out¡­¡± the Transfer Captain replied uneasily, ¡°there¡¯s nothing coming or leaving. We¡¯ve gone dark.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Chaos Cannon!¡±


    Morcii lunged forward, effortlessly knocking away the Chaos Energy projectile as he grabbed one of V¨¦lunis¡¯s many weapons out of the air and swung it toward Wilkas. The Forcetechnic blocked the blade with his palm, allowing his armor¡¯s shielding to protect his hand as he thrust his other first forward, impacting Morcii¡¯s chest and launching him across the grounds at Mach speeds. V¨¦lunis immediately summoned dozens of railguns and fired them all simultaneously, obliterating the entire far wall and further exposing the outer tower of the polar base to the elements. Kievkenalis quickly cleared the resulting smoke and debris with Chaos Massive Impact, but was suddenly whacked in the face as Morcii burst through the invisible force with his fists forward. He grabbed the Chaostechnic by his arm and whirled him through the air before throwing him at V¨¦lunis, just in time to leap into the air to avoid a metal beam thrown by Wilkas. Upon returning to the ground, the Nanocreature leader attempted to leap upwards again but was smashed back into the ground by a massive sword that simply dropped on top of his head, completely shearing his body in two.


    Before any of the Chaotics could sigh of relief, however, the two body halves sprung forward, knocking Wilkas to the ground before reconnecting to reform Morcii¡¯s full body and allow him to stomp the Forcetechnic¡¯s back with enough force to instantly create a two-meter deep crater. Kievkenalis immediately replied by launching several Chaos Cannon attacks at Morcii, driving back the Nanocreature leader and allowing Wilkas to jump back to his feet and punch the crater wall, shattering the ground under Morcii and causing him to stumble. V¨¦lunis quickly launched a hail of bladed weapons, darkening the sky just above Morcii as Kievkenalis dashed toward him from the side, gesturing for the two other Chaotics to stand back. Then, just before reaching Morcii, he shouted, ¡°Chaos BLAST!¡±


    A massive sphere of purple energy exploded from the Chaostechnic, obliterating everything within fifty meters and blowing back everything else within a hundred. V¨¦lunis and Wilkas both quickly recovered and dashed up to the crater created by the blast before eying the results in surprise.


    ¡°You never told us you were an explosive type!¡± Wilkas shouted down at Kievkenalis.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°It never came up¡ª?!¡± the Chaostechnic replied, but was interrupted as Morcii burst upwards from the ground beneath him, nailing Kievkenalis in the jaw with a hardened fist of steel. The Chaostechnic flew up and back, covering several meters of damaged terrain before painfully tumbling back to the ground.


    ¡°AS EXPECTED¡­¡± Morcii smirked, observing Kievkenalis as he quickly climbed back to his feet and massaged his jaw. ¡°THE CHAOS STATE HAS RAISED YOUR DURABILITY SIGNIFICANTLY, BUT I CAN STILL OVERWHELM IT IF I DESIRE.¡±


    ¡°You tryin¡¯ to say you¡¯re not being serious?¡± Wilkas countered.


    ¡°OF COURSE,¡± the Nanocreature replied dismissively, ¡°IF I WERE TRULY FIGHTING FOR VICTORY, THEN THE LOT OF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN POUNDED TO DUST BEFORE YOU EVEN REALIZED THE BATTLE BEGAN.¡±


    ¡°...Right,¡± V¨¦lunis drawled. ¡°Those are some big words for a scrawny guy like you. Storm Blade!¡±


    Wilkas and Kievkenalis immediately jumped back as nearly a hundred blades appeared several meters over Morcii¡¯s head. Within a second of creation, V¨¦lunis slammed them all into the ground, piercing Morcii¡¯s body all over and littering the area around him with embedded metal rods ¡ª rods that Kievkenalis quickly charged with Chaos Charge, and then shouted, ¡°Chaos Strike!¡± The strike of Chaos Energy hit the rods instantly, amplifying the electrical charge in the area enough to create actual lightning strikes that stunned Morcii and prevented him from moving as Wilkas leaped into the air and brought his fists down over the Nanocreature¡¯s head. On impact, Morcii disappeared into the ground as the entire area inside the outer tower shattered and cratered, further destroying the outer tower and launching loose debris and dust clouds into the air.


    ¡°¡­I knew he was all words,¡± Wilkas remarked with a smirk, wiping his hands as the dust began to settle.


    ¡°No¡­ this isn¡¯t right¡­¡± Kievkenalis frowned uneasily. ¡°This is nothing like our encounter back on Maasen. He might still be around¡ª¡±


    ¡°HOW VERY ASTUTE.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± V¨¦lunis spun around to face the section of obliterated wall behind him. Standing on top of a loose metal beam hanging precariously several meters in the air was none other than Morcii himself, arms crossed as he stared down at the three Chaotics.


    ¡°How¡¯d he get up there?!¡± Wilkas exclaimed incredulously.


    ¡°HA! THIS BATTLE HAS PROVEN MILDLY INTERESTING,¡± Morcii remarked, ¡°THOUGH YOUR UNEARNED CONFIDENCE IS PAINFULLY TYPICAL OF ALDREDANOIDS, I FIND. LET US SEE IF YOU CAN KEEP ME FURTHER ENTERTAINED FOR THE TIME BEING, HMM?¡±


    ¡°¡­Guys?¡­¡± V¨¦lunis muttered uneasily as he brandished two rifles.


    ¡°We can¡¯t outrun him; we¡¯re stuck until the Genesis can pick us up.¡± Kievkenalis scowled. ¡°¡­We just have to last until then. Chaos Assist!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°The Nanocreatures are beginning to transfer their fire to Siionkagh itself!¡±


    ¡°Tch, of course they are. Intercept the larger ships! How are Siionkagh¡¯s shields holding?¡±


    ¡°¡­Not well. The destruction of the North Pole generator reduced the shield¡¯s overall strength by over ninety-nine percent, and the increase in fire from the Nanocreatures is very quickly eating through what¡¯s left. We don¡¯t even have twelve hours at the current rate¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­¡± Krick scowled as he impatiently glanced between bridge displays. ¡°¡­We can¡¯t wait any longer. Petition the Battle Group leader to move to the Polar Fleet ¡ª wait for a response, but we¡¯ll be moving out regardless of what it is!¡± The Captain then sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin absentmindedly as he awaited the completion of his order. Morcii appeared out of nowhere¡­ not even our sensors could pick him up. We have no way of knowing if he¡¯s still on Siionkagh, or if he¡¯s moved out again, and that means we have no idea if he has the Ayas that was plugged into the generator¡­ damn. This does not bode well for Oriciid¡¯kas.


    ¡°Permission to move to the Polar Fleet granted, sir!¡±


    ¡°Set a course immediately!¡± Krick barked, ¡°full thrust! Be prepared to beam up as many survivors on the ground as possible, particularly the Nimalians, and especially the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir! Setting course for Polar Fleet! ¡­Some of the Nanocreature ships have broken off, they¡¯re following us! Twenty-five ships, all Cruiser class!¡±


    ¡°Engage the cloak! Begin acquiring targets immediately ¡ª account for weapon power, spread, and accuracy, and begin firing periodically with all weapons in sync. I want each blast wave to wipe out at least five ships!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir! Engaging cloak!¡±


    ¡°Twenty-five Cruisers, huh¡­¡± Krick muttered to himself, ¡°they must really not want us to reach the Pole. Or maybe they¡¯re catching on to how dangerous we are to them¡­¡±


    ¡°Weapons primed! Targets acquired ¡ª firing! ¡­Twenty targets remaining!¡±


    ¡°Keep it up, keep it up!¡± The Captain nodded approvingly. We¡¯re losing the battle for the system, but on a local level, we¡¯re doing perfectly fine. I can¡¯t help but feel wary about this¡­ but there¡¯s no time to worry. The Ayas comes first.


    <hr>


    ¡°Will someone please tell me what¡¯s goin¡¯ on here?!¡±


    ¡°If I knew, I¡¯d be more than happy to explain,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted as he led Kaon¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius away from the communications center. ¡°No one knows why comms are jammed. If we did, we¡¯d be doing something about it.¡±


    ¡°I can tell you what we can be doin¡¯ about it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted, ¡°gettin¡¯ the fuck outta here!¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that, either,¡± the Transfer Captain countered. ¡°Even if the base commander had issued an evac command, we need to stay with the Ayas and protect it. We can¡¯t let the Nanocreatures have it!¡±


    ¡°Then just take it with us!¡±


    ¡°Take it where?¡±


    ¡°Take it, uh¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius paused for a moment to think, falling behind Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ before dashing back up to the Pyrotechnic. ¡°¡­I dunno, somewhere not here, maybe?¡±


    ¡°And make it easier for the Nanocreatures to breach Oriciid¡¯kas¡¯s shields and surround us?¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted. ¡°Morcii might be able to puncture the shields with ease, but none of the other Nanocreatures have shown the same ability. The shield is still important.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be pretty bad if we lost Oriciid¡¯kas faster than even Bouy¡¯Xis, too,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented.


    ¡°¡­Hn,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t like this one bit.¡±


    ¡°No one does,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, stopping at a small observation deck to stare out at the arctic tundra surrounding the base¡¯s outer tower. ¡°¡­But the thing is, there¡¯s really nothing we can do, aside from hunkering down. This is a military installation, so at the end of the day, this is the best place for the Ayas to be.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Maybe there¡¯s a more secure base on the planet somewhere?¡± Kaon¨¦ suggested.


    ¡°Not on Oriciid¡¯kas. This is primarily a civilian world; the largest bases are at the poles, where the primary shield generators are.¡± The Pyrotechnic sighed wearily. ¡°If we were on Siionkagh, then there would be alternatives. But this base is literally the most fortified it gets.¡±


    ¡°Question: how much of that ¡®fortification¡¯ is ¡®cause of the climate?¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°¡¯cause if that¡¯s what it is, then it won¡¯t do much against the Nanocreatures ¡®cause they¡¯re, well, you know. Machines.¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied. ¡°We¡¯ll still have plenty of warning time before the base itself is attacked. The Nanocreatures still have to break through the shield, after all¡ª¡±


    The entire building shuddered violently, interrupting the Transfer Captain¡¯s statement as the three Chaotics were thrown to the ground. Alarms promptly began to sound as all of the base personnel began scrambling in every direction in an urgent yet surprisingly calm manner.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°The fuck¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh no¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin¡¯s face fell as he turned his attention to his glasses¡¯ information feed.


    ¡°¡­No.¡± The Velocitechnic stared at the Pyrotechnic incredulously. ¡°No. Do not say Nanocreatures. It is not the Nanocreatures.¡±


    ¡°¡­But it is.¡± Kev¨¦rin looked up at Dav¨ªdrius warily. ¡°¡­The Nanocreatures just attacked this base. Directly.¡±

 63 - Return to Chaos

    Chapter 63 - Return to Chaos


    ¡°Chaos Bla¡ªngh?!¡±


    Morcii smashed his elbow into Kievkenalis¡¯s chest with great force, cutting off the Chaostechnic¡¯s attack and launching him straight through the entire outer tower to the barren arctic wastelands outside the base. Wilkas immediately jumped forward and slammed his fist into Morcii, sending the Nanocreature leader flying sideways into the nearest wall ¡ª but he flipped himself around midair, impacting the wall with his feet and instantly launching himself back at the Forcetechnic, smashing into him and sending the both of them tumbling through the hole Kievkenalis had just created. V¨¦lunis quickly rushed after them, vaulting through the hole himself as he created two claymores and lunged toward Morcii, slicing off his arms and separating him from Wilkas. Kievkenalis took advantage of the opportunity to launch several Chaos Cannon and Strike attacks at Morcii, but the Nanocreature¡¯s disembodied arms blocked every attack as Morcii himself dashed forward, reaching Kievkenalis in the blink of an eye and head-butting him fiercely before following up with a roundhouse kick that sent the Chaostechnic flying over a hundred meters away.


    The moment Morcii and Kievkenalis had separated, V¨¦lunis crafted a wide variety of ranged weapons and immediately opened fire on the Nanocreature leader with all of them, blowing the entire area around Morcii to smithereens within seconds. The Formtechnic then created a massive hammer that Wilkas grabbed out of the air as he dashed toward the blast zone; Kievkenalis cleared away the airborne debris with a Chaos Massive Impact just as Wilkas brought the hammer down overhead, smashing it down on Morcii¡¯s location and shattering the terrain for hundreds of meters around. Wilkas then attempted to yank the hammer away as he jumped back, but stumbled when the weapon failed to budge.


    ¡°YOUR POWER IS IMPRESSIVE¡­ BUT IT STILL PALES IN COMPARISON TO MY OWN.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Wilkas immediately jumped away from the hammer, warily backing into a defensive stance as Morcii grasped the hammerhead with a single hand¡­ and then completely shattered it.


    ¡°Chaos Mach 8 Piercing Cannon!¡± Kievkenalis shouted, directing a hypersonic projectile toward the Nanocreature leader. But Morcii simply deflected it with the back of his hand, sending the projectile flying to the right where it disappeared past the horizon.


    ¡°So much for ¡®piercing,¡¯¡± V¨¦lunis quipped uneasily.


    ¡°SURELY, YOU SEE BY NOW HOW OUTCLASSED YOU ARE,¡± the Nanocreature remarked smugly, and then turned his attention to the skies. ¡°¡­BE THANKFUL, THEN, THAT MY ATTENTION IS DEMANDED ELSEWHERE¡­ SHOULD WE CONTINUE, I MIGHT FEEL INCLINED TO END THIS FARCE WITH A SINGLE ATTACK.¡±


    ¡°¡­Elsewhere? ¡­You mean Oriciid¡¯kas?¡± Kievkenalis questioned warily, the weight of Morcii¡¯s words alone preventing him from making a move against the Nanocreature.


    Morcii snorted in derision. ¡°WHERE ELSE? THERE ARE BUT TWO TARGETS IN THIS SYSTEM WORTH MY ATTENTION.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re just¡­ leaving us?¡±


    ¡°I ASSURE YOU, ALDREDANOID, THIS IS NO ACT OF BENEVOLENCE.¡± Morcii smirked. ¡°I AM AWARE THAT YOU STILL HOLD THE AYAS. BUT I AM FAR FROM PRESSED FOR TIME¡­ AND IF I WERE TO KILL YOU NOW, WELL. THEN YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO WITNESS MY GIFT FOR YOU AT TAU¡¯CEN KII.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kievkenalis started, but before he could continue, the Nanocreature leader had disappeared into the air, soaring through the skies faster than any of the three Chaotics could track.


    The moment Morcii completely disappeared from sight, the three Chaotics heaved a collective sigh of relief before V¨¦lunis turned toward Kievkenalis irately.


    ¡°Were you trying to get him to kill us?!¡± he questioned impatiently.


    ¡°N¡­no,¡± the Chaostechnic replied sheepishly, ¡°but¡­ I was curious why he was leaving us alone¡­¡±


    ¡°He really is powerful,¡± Wilkas commented as he trudged back to the other two. ¡°¡­I really did hit him with that hammer. All the force went through, too. I mean, you saw the ground shatter. But it didn¡¯t affect that guy at all! It¡¯s like he wasn¡¯t even there!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to think about him¡­¡± V¨¦lunis frowned. ¡°¡­But thinking about him can wait. For now, we need to try to fix up the base and get the Earthians to pick us up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kievkenalis nodded warily. ¡°¡­And let¡¯s just hope that whatever Morcii said about Tau¡¯cen Kii doesn¡¯t turn out to be too terrible for us¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Sir! We¡¯ve just received word that the Nanocreatures have invaded the surface of Oriciid¡¯kas!¡±


    ¡°The what¡ª?!¡± Krick exclaimed, his brow furrowing in helpless anger. ¡°¡­How? Was the planet¡¯s shield breached?¡±


    ¡°No, the planetary shielding is still intact¡­ it would seem that they came through the Gate itself. One of the CSA officials in charge of the Oriciid¡¯kas Gate was apparently corrupted, and disengaged the Gate¡¯s block, thereby allowing the Nanocreatures through¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, if the Nimalians are to be believed, the Nanocreatures started out as the so-called ¡®metallic infection,¡¯ and have had twenty years to spread before becoming a noticeable threat, so we can¡¯t say that this was wholly unexpected. But at the same time ¡ª does the CSA really not have any fail-safes in place to prevent one individual from disengaging the Gate¡¯s block?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the news feed said, sir¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, I know¡­¡± the Captain muttered. ¡°¡­This system is falling far too quickly. It¡¯s been two days since the Nanocreatures attacked. Two days! And already we¡¯re at the same point that all of the other systems were at when the CSA abandoned them, yet this one is supposed to be the CSA capital! This doesn¡¯t sit well at all¡­¡± He paused for several moments, staring at the bridge displays before shaking his head warily and speaking up again. ¡°We¡¯ve almost reached the polar fleet; the moment we¡¯re able, scan the polar generator. If it¡¯s in pieces then immediately scan for the Ayas and beam it up¡ª!¡±


    A string of lights spontaneously appeared in the distant space ahead of the Genesis, startling and interrupting Krick¡¯s orders as it drew the attention of the entire bridge.


    ¡°¡­What is that?¡± the Captain questioned as the string of lights wove through space in wide, sweeping arcs.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s explosions,¡± one of the bridge officers replied slowly, ¡°¡­something is weaving through the polar fleet and destroying every ship it touches!¡±


    ¡°For the love of¡ª get us out of here!¡± Krick barked, ¡°we are not sticking around for¡ª!¡±


    Before he could even finish his sentence, the string of lights turned toward the Genesis itself; a mere moment later the entire ship shuddered under a massive impact, throwing everyone violently to the floor.


    ¡°Status report!¡± Krick barked as he haphazardly scrambled back into the commander¡¯s chair.


    ¡°Shields are down to sixty-three percent! The shock off-lined the Subspace Drive as well! ¡­Sir, it would seem the object that hit us is still floating a short distance away¡ª¡±


    ¡°Scan it! With every sensor suite we have!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir! ¡­Uh¡­ ¡­sir, this is¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Krick glanced down at the officer in confusion before another hologram appeared amongst the bridge displays, showing a camera feed of the object that had impacted the ship. The Captain¡¯s mouth fell agape in a mixture of disbelief and fear as he beheld the humanoid form floating in space. ¡°¡­Morcii?!¡±


    As soon as the Captain identified the Nanocreature leader, he disappeared from the camera feed. At the same moment, several of the long range sensors began giving alerts for a high-speed object rushing away from Siionkagh; Krick observed all of the alerts with confusion before turning his attention back to the distant polar fleet. ¡°¡­What the hell just happened?¡±


    <hr>


    A gigantic mass of ice rose from the ground outside of the Oriciid¡¯kas North Pole base, sweeping over the hordes of metallic bugs approaching the facility and completely immobilizing them. Kaon¨¦ quickly transmuted the ice into solid steel just as Dav¨ªdrius leaped forward, tearing through several larger Nanocreature beasts as Kev¨¦rin took to the skies and began raining fire on the army below. Once all three Chaotics were clear of the outer tower¡¯s walls, Kaon¨¦ turned on her heel and sealed all of the base entrances, leaving alone only the wall openings for weapon turrets as they opened fire on the approaching Nanocreatures.


    ¡°They made it into the base, you know!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted back before impaling two bugs on his blades. ¡°Just sealin¡¯ everythin¡¯ won¡¯t stop those!¡±


    ¡°None of us are well equipped to fight in enclosed areas,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered. ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave the base interior to the CSA guard. We just need to help keep the Nanocreatures at bay!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°Maybe, but maybe not¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius eyed the several CSA Chaotic squads that had spread out around the base exterior. ¡°It¡¯s not just us this time ¡ª maybe we stand a chance. But we definitely won¡¯t if we just stand around! C¡¯mon!¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The Velocitechnic immediately dashed off again, leaving Kev¨¦rin to raise back into the air ¡ª just in time to be attacked by several flying Nanocreature monsters, each possessing the size and shape of large birds. The Pyrotechnic¡¯s armor protected him from direct harm, but he still took a second to regain his bearings before bathing the air around him in searing fire as he called out, ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame!¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly transmuted the air around the burnt creatures into lead, trapping them in dense spheres that she then slammed into the battlefield, obliterating several smaller Nanocreatures as Kev¨¦rin followed up with more fire blasts before moving away to assault the horde on his own.


    Dav¨ªdrius continued to rush through the Nanocreature ranks, slicing and kicking with speeds faster than anyone could track while remaining careful to not get caught by any of Kaon¨¦¡¯s or Kev¨¦rin¡¯s massive sweeping attacks. He easily made up for his inability to target multiple bugs at once with his extreme speed, racking up a high enough kill count to match or even surpass either of the other two Nimalian Chaotics. Within a surprisingly short period of time the three Chaotics, working in tandem with the CSA squads, had cleared out a half-kilometer area surrounding the polar base and continued to make short work of the approaching Nanocreatures.


    ¡°Haha! What pushovers!¡± Dav¨ªdrius whooped, preparing to dash off again and continue attacking. ¡°Some threat these guys are¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, wait!¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected, stopping the Velocitechnic in his tracks.


    The Tres¨¦dian scowled impatiently. ¡°What is it? We¡¯ve actually got the bastards on the run!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s the problem¡­¡± The Transfer Captain frowned, slowly reducing the power of his flame jets until he alighted on the ground next to Dav¨ªdrius. Kaon¨¦ quickly approached as well.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she questioned warily.


    ¡°This situation isn¡¯t right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded. ¡°¡­It¡¯s like Maasen all over again. Back then, we were fighting basic Drakkar foot soldiers and got carried away with how easy it was to fight them, and then we got lured into battles with Drakkar faction leaders because of it. And now, here, we¡¯re fighting basic Nanocreature foot soldiers, and we¡¯re getting carried away with how easy it is to fight them¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you think Morcii¡¯ll show up soon?¡± Dav¨ªdrius dropped his impatient demeanor as he turned to face Kev¨¦rin with alarm.


    ¡°I expect something to show up soon.¡± The Pyrotechnic glanced back at the outer tower uneasily. ¡°¡­We need to pull back¡ª¡±


    Without warning, a massive force slammed into the polar base¡¯s inner tower from above, completely obliterating it and shattering the entire base¡¯s foundation as well as the outer tower¡¯s walls.


    ¡°The¡ª the shield generator!!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius jumped back in surprise.


    ¡°I fucking knew it¡ª Kaon¨¦!¡± Kev¨¦rin barked, ¡°clear us a path! We need to get to the Ayas, now!¡±


    ¡°R-right!¡± The Materiatechnic quickly began creating a steel path through the air as Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius impatiently followed behind her. They soon reached the outer tower wall; the very moment Kaon¨¦ tore a hole through the wall, Dav¨ªdrius dashed through, followed by Kev¨¦rin as he immediately bathed the interior of the base with flames.


    ¡°I SEE YOU¡¯RE WASTING NO TIME TO GAWK! YOUR COMBAT PROWESS IS IMPROVING.¡±


    The three Chaotics instantly recognized Morcii¡¯s mocking voice, but none of them stopped to address him. Kaon¨¦ quickly created a five-meter steel-and-diamond-reinforced ceiling in an effort to trap Morcii, while Dav¨ªdrius rushed forward to distract the Nanocreature leader as Kev¨¦rin flew over to the remains of the shield generator. Without a second to spare, the Pyrotechnic began incinerating the debris and digging through the rubble in an effort to find the Ayas.


    ¡°MIGHT YOU BE LOOKING FOR THIS?¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin snapped his attention toward Morcii just as the Nanocreature leader leaped into the air, hovering several meters above the ground as he held out Mystryth, the White Chaos Ayas. ¡°¡­How¡ª?¡±


    ¡°YOU TRULY FAIL TO GRASP JUST HOW MASSIVELY OUTCLASSED YOU ARE, DON¡¯T YOU?¡± Morcii chuckled. ¡°I MUST SAY ¡ª YOU AND YOUR KIND ARE CERTAINLY LEARNING, LEARNING TO CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTS AND HOW TO COUNTER MY FORCES. BUT YOU AREN¡¯T LEARNING FAST ENOUGH, AND YOU¡¯VE YET TO LEARN HOW TO COUNTER ME ¡ª AND I ALONE COULD TAKE ON THE ENTIRE GALAXY IF I SO CHOSE! YOU WILL NEVER GIVE ME AS MUCH OF A CHALLENGE AS THE ALDREDAS ONCE DID. WITHIN THE MONTH, EVERY ONE OF YOUR TRANSPACE WORLDS WILL BE MINE¡­ YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY HOPE TO DEFEAT ME!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin scowled, unsure of how to respond to Morcii¡¯s claims. He glanced warily down at Dav¨ªdrius and Kaon¨¦ ¡ª just in time to catch the Materiatechnic jerk her head slightly. Kev¨¦rin snapped his attention back to Morcii just as a massive steel pillar appeared directly above the Nanocreature and slammed him into the ground; the Pyrotechnic immediately dove after him, shouting, ¡°Chaos State: First¨Cnngh!!¡±


    He was painfully interrupted as Morcii instantly tore through the steel pillar, grabbed Kev¨¦rin by his neck, and slammed him into the wall of the outer tower with enough force to completely obliterate the entire structure. The Pyrotechnic¡¯s energy shielding and Overdrive State protected him from significant damage, but the blow still stunned him long enough for Morcii to encase his wrists and ankles in bonds made of Nanocreature nanites as the leader himself hovered just over ten meters away.


    ¡°WHAT MAY HAVE WORKED ONCE WILL NOT SUCCEED AGAIN!¡± Morcii declared. ¡°I¡¯VE HAD MY FUN. IN MINUTES, YOUR ARMOR¡¯S SHIELDING WILL FAIL, AND I WILL THEN BE FREE TO CORRUPT YOU AS I PLEASE!¡± He slowly turned toward Kaon¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius, who had both frozen where they stood in surprise and awe at the raw speed and power of Morcii¡¯s actions. He slowly extended his left arm toward Kaon¨¦ as he added, ¡°I HOPE NEITHER OF YOU PLAN ON RUNNING. BUT JUST IN CASE YOU DID¡­¡±


    The Nanocreature leader fired his entire lower arm toward Kaon¨¦ at hypersonic speeds ¡ª but in the very instant his arm separated from his body, Dav¨ªdrius leaped into the air, smashing his blades against the projectile with enough force to shatter both blades and knock the arm off course. The Velocitechnic ignored the new hole in the wall beside Kaon¨¦ as he quickly shouted midair, ¡°Chaos State: First Tier!¡±


    The Ayas disappeared from Morcii¡¯s hand as Dav¨ªdrius fell back to the ground. The Nanocreature leader immediately dived after him, but the Velocitechnic leaped out of the way just in time to avoid obliteration. He quickly summoned the Mystryth bow and yanked its string back before releasing it, haphazardly firing an arrow at Morcii. The hypersonic projectile blew a hole through the Nanocreature¡¯s torso before smashing into and piercing the outer wall, instantly creating a massive hole all the way through it. Dav¨ªdrius smirked at the sight before ducking under a punch thrown by Morcii. He then attempted to back flip away, but stumbled as Morcii caught his foot and flung him toward the far wall. The Velocitechnic quickly righted himself midair and pulled back the bowstring as he landed on the ground again, taking aim at Morcii once more and firing. The arrow once again flew through Morcii, this time blowing off his right arm; in addition, the leftover stub glowed blue for a brief moment, but the glow quickly disappeared with no consequence.


    Morcii immediately jumped backwards and into the air, glancing down at the debris that the arrow had struck just as the damaged metal dissolved into tiny blue particles that then disappeared into the air. ¡°¡­SO YOU ATTEMPTED TO USE SUBSPATIAL STORAGE ON ME? I SEE YOU¡¯VE BEEN SPEAKING WITH THE PRIORS.¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled, quickly firing another arrow at Morcii in frustration, only to have the same effect: none.


    ¡°A CLEVER IDEA, TO BE SURE.¡± Morcii nodded in approval. ¡°BUT YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE WRONG OPPONENT TO USE IT ON. I CAN DISSOCIATE NANOMACHINES FROM MY BODY AT WILL; I CAN THEREFORE EASILY CIRCUMVENT THE CONTINUOUS BODY RULE OF SUBSPATIAL STORAGE. IN FACT, ANY NANOCREATURE CAN, EVEN THE LOWLY ¡®FOOT SOLDIERS,¡¯ AS YOU CALLED THEM. I¡¯M AFRAID THIS TACTIC SIMPLY WON¡¯T WORK AGAINST ME¡­ YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME QUITE SO EASILY.¡±


    ¡°¡­Tch.¡± The Velocitechnic smirked spitefully. ¡°What will it take to defeat you?¡±


    The Nanocreature leader smirked back. ¡°I¡¯M INTERESTED TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND OUT.¡±


    Morcii then dived toward Dav¨ªdrius, prompting the Velocitechnic to leap out of the way. However, instead of counterattacking, he quickly aimed Mystryth toward Kev¨¦rin ¡ª who was still trapped in the air by Nanocreature shackles ¡ª and fired. The arrow effectively phased through the Pyrotechnic before he disappeared in a blue mist.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, what are you¡ª?!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, but her statement was cut off as the Velocitechnic fired an arrow at and Subspatially stored her as well.


    ¡°Hopefully,¡± he muttered to himself as he leaped through one of the massive holes in the tower walls and began sprinting at hypersonic speeds across the polar tundra, ¡°¡­hopefully, I just saved all our asses¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting our asses kicked, that¡¯s what¡¯s going on.¡± Krick scowled, not even bothering to glance back at Kievkenalis, V¨¦lunis, or Wilkas as he responded. The three Chaotics had been beamed up to the Genesis less than half an hour ago, and the Battlecruiser was now busy joining the Siionkagh polar defense fleet in an attempt to drive back the increasing numbers of Nanocreature ships. ¡°¡­Do you have the Ayas with you?¡±


    Kievkenalis nodded. ¡°Yeah. I was able to keep it out of Morcii¡¯s hands with the Chaos State.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª are you saying you had a direct confrontation with Morcii?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± V¨¦lunis replied tersely.


    ¡°¡­He left before we beamed you up.¡± The Earthian Captain finally swiveled his chair around to face the Chaotics directly. ¡°So you¡¯re saying you got into a fight with him, but he retreated? Did you manage to beat him?!¡±


    ¡°No, he just left.¡± Wilkas shrugged. ¡°He just stopped fighting and¡­ left.¡±


    ¡°He said something about his attention being required elsewhere,¡± Kievkenalis added warily, ¡°and then he said something about a surprise at Tau¡¯cen Kii.¡±


    ¡°Confident little bastard assumes this system is as good as his, huh?¡± Krick snorted, and then frowned as he returned his attention to the bridge displays. ¡°¡­Well¡­ he isn¡¯t exactly wrong. Just before we picked you up, he single-handedly obliterated a full tenth of the polar fleets.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The Chaostechnic snapped his attention up to the bridge displays but faltered when he realized that he couldn¡¯t read any of the Earthian text. ¡°What¡¯s the status of the system?¡±


    ¡°Twenty-five space stations have been either destroyed or breached, seventeen of those housing upwards of a billion inhabitants¡­ two of the fleets defending Oriciid¡¯kas have been either wiped out or assimilated, and each of the five fleets defending Siionkagh have been reduced to half their strength at best. The North Pole planetary shield generators on both Siionkagh and Oriciid¡¯kas have been destroyed, the Oriciid¡¯kas Gate has been breached and Nanocreatures are flooding across the planet¡¯s surface, and the Nanocreatures are beginning to make planetfall on the other terra planets in the system as well.¡±


    ¡°The Oriciid¡¯kas generator was destroyed? Wasn¡¯t everyone else stationed there? And the Ayas, too?¡± V¨¦lunis questioned, ¡°are they okay?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way for us to know. The planet¡¯s fallen under a complete network blackout, and the Nanocreature presence in orbit is increasing past the point of safe escape, even for us,¡± Krick responded wearily.


    ¡°Wait, so you¡¯re saying you¡¯re not even going to check?!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, ¡°but, you can¡¯t¡ª! We at least need to recover the Ayas, right?!¡±


    ¡°We do,¡± the Earthian Captain replied as he squinted at a new information box among the many bridge displays, ¡°¡­but we can¡¯t afford an extensive search. We can swing by the pole and make a quick scan for the Ayas and your friends, but we can¡¯t afford to waste too much time here.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Waste?!¡¯ What else would we be doing?¡±


    ¡°Pulling back,¡± Krick stated flatly. ¡°We¡¯ve received an order directly from System Command: we¡¯re to fall back to Tau¡¯cen Kii and help the forces there try to invent a better defense plan.¡±


    ¡°¡­We¡¯re pulling back?¡± V¨¦lunis echoed uneasily. ¡°We¡¯re¡­ abandoning the system?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ completely. The current defense fleets will stay behind in an effort to stall the Nanocreatures. But we have an Ayas, and we have some data on Morcii¡¯s demolition streak, so we¡¯ll be of more help to Tau¡¯cen Kii, which is still fully intact for now, than we would be here.¡±


    ¡°System Command is still acknowledging the fact that we can¡¯t take back the system, though,¡± Kievkenalis muttered. ¡°So¡­ we¡¯ve lost, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    Krick stared hard at the bridge displays, and then out through the Genesis¡¯s massive bridge window to the battles outside and the planet below. ¡°¡­Yeah¡­ we¡¯ve lost. The Oriciid¡¯kas system is as good as gone.¡±

 64 - Plans for Loss

    Chapter 64 - Plans for Loss


    2 Days Later


    ¨C Isdia, Skydiath 25, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Exiting Subspace in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡±


    Chief Captain Krick nodded wearily as he watched the gray-scale gradient outside the bridge window dissolve and give way to the deep black of true space. He quickly glanced toward one of the informational bridge displays before leaning forward in his commander¡¯s chair, taking a deep breath, and then snapping his attention to the terra planet below.


    ¡°Determine our orbital coordinates,¡± he ordered, ¡°locate the primary space station immediately and get us within docking request range.¡±


    ¡°Primary station located! Docking radius: two hundred kilometers. Station distance: sixty-three thousand kilometers. Station orbit: geosynchronous.¡±


    ¡°Get us there immediately, maximum safe speed. Contact the station and request an express docking queue, System General clearance; we don¡¯t have time to wait.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, maximum safe speed!¡±


    ¡°Contacting station to request express docking queue!¡±


    ¡°Good, good¡­¡± Krick nodded absentmindedly. ¡°In the meantime, request boarding clearance for all leave parties. The moment we have clearance and locations, begin beaming the leave parties to the station, starting with Captain Bourne and the Nimalian Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir! Requesting boarding clearance!¡±


    ¡°¡­I suppose this is it,¡± the Earthian Captain muttered to himself, ¡°Tau¡¯cen Kii, the second most important planet in the CSA, behind Oriciid¡¯kas. Here¡¯s hoping we can actually defend it¡­¡±


    <hr>


    4 Hours Later


    ¡°This is one hell of a shore leave.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d call this leave.¡± Kievkenalis frowned as he looked around, taking in the station environment around him. The space station as a whole was a massive construct, over fifty kilometers across in every dimension, but Kievkenalis was currently seated around a small table along with V¨¦lunis and Wilkas in a small, vacant cafe. Minimalism and the color of steel gray dominated the walls and decor of the cafe, with the exception of a holographic display that spanned the entirety of one of the side walls. On the display was a clear view of the terra planet of Tau¡¯cen Kii below, as seen through the station¡¯s external cameras. Its blue waters, green lands, and white clouds gave a rather serene impression of a planet soon to be plunged into war.


    ¡°Yeah, I have to agree with Kevken,¡± V¨¦lunis remarked, drawing Kievkenalis¡¯ attention back to his friends. ¡°Just because we get to ¡®explore the station¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s shore leave. Hell, we have to remain in uniform and on standby. If you call that leave, then I feel sorry for you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s even the point of us being on standby?¡± Wilkas sulked, turning toward the holographic display of Tau¡¯cen Kii. ¡°What¡¯re we going to do when the system gets attacked? Throw on atmosphereless armor and attack spaceships hundreds of times our size?¡±


    ¡°Just because we can¡¯t do anything on the space front doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t do anything at all,¡± Kievkenalis countered. ¡°We can do the same thing we did back on Siionkagh.¡±


    ¡°Because we certainly helped a lot there.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s the point, isn¡¯t it?¡± The Chaostechnic glanced between V¨¦lunis and Wilkas expectantly. ¡°The whole reason we¡¯re here is to try and come up with a defense plan that actually works, and to do that we need to build on experience. Our experience.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why we were invited to the strategy meeting that you¡¯re talking about,¡± V¨¦lunis drawled. ¡°Oh wait! We weren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°The meeting is with the System General,¡± Kievkenalis admitted, ¡°I guess it¡¯s a little much to hope that we¡¯d have a meeting with someone of such high rank.¡±


    ¡°Which is exactly why we submitted briefs instead,¡± V¨¦lunis pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s also why we shouldn¡¯t have to remain on standby. Even if the Nanocreatures attacked right now it¡¯d still be several hours, maybe even days before we were deployed. It¡¯s stupid. Why the hell can¡¯t we just be on leave?¡±


    Wilkas frowned in confusion. ¡°What? You were just arguing against leave.¡±


    ¡°I was arguing against calling it leave, not against being on leave.¡±


    ¡°You were never one for pedantry,¡± Kievkenalis remarked.


    V¨¦lunis snorted. ¡°Yeah, well I was never one for counting on mystical artifacts to defend entire systems on my own against the fucking apocalypse either, yet here I am.¡±


    ¡°Mystical artifacts?¡­ Wait, the Ayas are actually important!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what everyone says, but I¡¯ve yet to see them do anything useful. They sure didn¡¯t do shit against Morcii back in the Oriciid¡¯kas system.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s different, what matters is that the Ayas aren¡¯t helping at all,¡± V¨¦lunis countered. ¡°¡­Really, Kevken? You¡¯re doing the same thing every Chaostechnic ever has done. Just because the Ayas are Chaos Energy generators or some shit doesn¡¯t make them this super-powerful end-all-be-all of Chaotic existence.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, gotta agree with V¨¦lunis on this one.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Dav¨ªdrius¡ª?¡± Kievkenalis spun around in surprise, stopping to face the aforementioned Velocitechnic as he approached the three sitting Chaotics with Kaon¨¦ in tow.


    ¡°Yo.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked and casually raised his hand in greeting.


    ¡°Where did¡ª? ¡­How did you find us?¡±


    ¡°Through your glasses.¡± Kaon¨¦ gestured toward V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. ¡°Since we¡¯re all in Hero Machina, we can track each other.¡±


    ¡°Wait, but doesn¡¯t that give an alert to the person being tracked?¡±


    ¡°It does.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kievkenalis whipped around to face V¨¦lunis and Wilkas. ¡°Why didn¡¯t either of you say anything?¡±


    V¨¦lunis shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t get why it¡¯s so important.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t seen them¡ª!¡± The Chaostechnic turned back to Kaon¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen or heard from you since before you left for Oriciid¡¯kas days ago! Since the Gate was compromised, and Morcii attacked the polar generator, I thought¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°Thought we were dead?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it had crossed my mind, yes. How did you escape the planet, then? And manage to beat us here, too?¡±


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius here thought it would be a good idea to try out ¡®Subspatial Storage.¡¯¡± Kaon¨¦ threw the Velocitechnic a disapproving glance.


    ¡°What, was savin¡¯ your life a bad idea?¡± he retorted.


    ¡°No, but what if it hadn¡¯t worked? What if you could never figure out how to retrieve stuff that you stored?¡±


    ¡°Well, I did, so it¡¯s a moot point.¡±


    ¡°But what if¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Oi, enough with the ¡®what if¡¯s, you sound just like Kev¨¦rin.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ stopped with her mouth half open before clamping it shut and crossing her arms irately. ¡°You should still be more careful.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this ¡®Subspatial Storage¡¯ that you¡¯re talking about?¡± Wilkas spoke up.


    ¡°According to Arc¨¢n ¡ª uh, the Prior we have ¡ª uh¡­¡± Kievkenalis trailed off when he realized neither V¨¦lunis nor Wilkas seemed to be following him. ¡°¡­Alright, so it¡¯s basically an ability that the Ayas Weapons have. They can, well, store things in Subspace, apparently.¡± The Chaostechnic then turned back to face Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°How do you even trigger it? And how¡¯d you figure out how to pull stuff back out?¡±


    ¡°Whaddya mean, how do you trigger it? You just think ¡®I wanna store that shit,¡¯ and then it works.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°It ain¡¯t that hard. Pullin¡¯ shit out ain¡¯t hard either, you just think it. ¡®I want that thing back¡¯ and then you swing the weapon and hey, look, your shit¡¯s back. Simple.¡±


    ¡°You still had to ask Arc¨¢n about it,¡± Kaon¨¦ interjected.


    ¡°Look, I said simple, not intuitive.¡±


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain how you got off of Oriciid¡¯kas,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out.


    ¡°It was pretty simple after that,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied. ¡°I stored Kaon¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin and then ran for the Gate, and managed to dial out immediately after the previous connection timed out. I guess the Nanocreatures don¡¯t have any Velocitechnics on their side to dial Gates, heh. Well from there I went back to Nimalia, asked Arc¨¢n how to unstore shit and how to drop out of the Chaos State, and then Nik¨¦yin sent us straight to Tau¡¯cen Kii with the Ayas ¡®cause of a defense meeting or some shit. Which was pretty pointless ¡®cause Kev¨¦rin¡¯s the only one actually goin¡¯ to the meeting¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d you have to use the Chaos State for?¡± V¨¦lunis questioned, ¡°did you try fighting Morcii head-on, too?¡±


    Kaon¨¦¡¯s eyes widened in worry. ¡°You fought him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he ran off after a while¡­¡± Kievkenalis responded with an uneasy frown. ¡°He said something about a surprise at Tau¡¯cen Kii¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°This guy¡¯s power is all over the place! He¡¯s powerful enough to break through planetary shields, but he runs away from a bunch of Chaotics?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he didn¡¯t run because we chased him off, believe me,¡± Kievkenalis quickly added. ¡°I was even using the Chaos State and he was still holding his own against us. Easily.¡±


    ¡°¡­Do the Ayas really mean anything against this guy?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± V¨¦lunis interjected.


    ¡°He¡¯s explicitly looking for them, so they must be important, somehow¡­¡± Kievkenalis sighed. ¡°But what about Subspatial Storage? Did you try that against Morcii?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius shook his head. ¡°Didn¡¯t work. Just like everythin¡¯ else. I knew it sounded too convenient to start with, anyways.¡±


    ¡°You know, if you think about it,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented, ¡°it almost seems like all of Morcii¡¯s traits are meant to explicitly counter all of our options¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­There has to be something we can do,¡± Kievkenalis responded warily after several moments of silence, ¡°¡­right?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what we¡¯re here to find out, innit?¡± Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°Ain¡¯t much else we can do right now, I guess. Just hope that the CSA can actually figure somethin¡¯ out¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­Ah, Transfer Captain Tyrion, I presume? From the Nimalian ¡®Hero Machina¡¯ Chaotic squad?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡ª yes, sir! I apologize for my tardiness!¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Apology accepted. But we don¡¯t have time for pleasantries; take a seat so we can get started.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin saluted stiffly before turning toward the arc-shaped table in the middle of the conference room. Sitting on the side closest to the room¡¯s entrance were Chief Captain Krick and another Earthian that Kev¨¦rin recognized as the researcher he had met on the Earthian Colony of Sunova ¡ª as the Pyrotechnic stepped past the bearded man, his glasses conveniently reminded him that the researcher¡¯s name was Scott MacTavish. Three seats down from Scott sat Black Suns Commander Sinstis Krydonin, the officer who had accompanied Hero Machina during their brief excursion to the Black Suns world of Rossindon. She offered Kev¨¦rin a curt nod of acknowledgment as he sat down directly in between her and the Earthians. He then glanced toward the other end of the table where a tan-skinned Siion woman stood, her double-kneed legs bent down so far that she looked to be sitting anyways. She wore a black and maroon uniform with a number of gold and silver decals along her upper chest and shoulders, and her short, silver hair exposed an angular, hardened face, which seemed to be entirely focused on her glasses. Kev¨¦rin stiffened when his own glasses informed him that she was none other than Trissom Ukinon, the System Admiral in charge of all of the space fleets in the Tau¡¯cen Kii system. He then glanced back at the large, dark-skinned Dra¡¯kis man who had greeted him upon entering the room. He wore a uniform in a similar style to that of Ukinon¡¯s, but navy blue instead of maroon. His long, black hair was tied back into three ponytails, and his face was completely void of hair (aside from his thin eyebrows) or imperfections. On first glance, he looked much like a young adult fashion model, but Kev¨¦rin stiffened even further with unease when he realized that the large man was actually Gin¡¯zin Frath, the System General in command of all military forces in the Tau¡¯cen Kii system ¡ª one of the highest and most important positions in all of CSA space.


    Hearing that I was going to meet with them was one thing¡­ the Pyrotechnic thought to himself uneasily, actually seeing them in person, though¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m sure greetings are unnecessary given the situation,¡± Frath spoke up after ensuring that the room¡¯s entrance was locked shut. He then stepped up to the front of the room, tapping the wall once to dim the lights and display a hologram of the Tau¡¯cen Kii solar system before turning to face everyone else. ¡°So allow me to get to the point: we. Need. A plan. Reports from the Oriciid¡¯kas system are¡­ discouraging, at best, and if I¡¯m given to understand the level of technology of the Nanocreatures correctly, they might arrive in this system at any moment. It is clear, from Oriciid¡¯kas, that attempting to simply overwhelm the enemy with numbers is not a valid solution, nor is engaging them in space combat in any capacity. Any attempts at direct combat can only be viewed as a delay tactic, because effectively, that is all they are.¡±


    ¡°That said,¡± Ukinon spoke up, extending her legs into a proper standing posture and moving up to the display wall across from Frath. She tapped her glasses twice and then slid her finger down the display, creating a box that listed various numbers and data on the fleets in the system. ¡°We do have a variety of ships and fleets at our disposal. Direct combat may only be a delay tactic, but we can delay the Nanocreatures for a hell of a long time.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Scott interrupted timidly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we Earthians don¡¯t have AR technology, so¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Right,¡± Ukinon responded slowly before glancing back at the display. ¡°I¡¯ll lay it out, then. We have twenty-five fleets stationed in this system; five Siion fleets, ten Citan fleets, three Dra¡¯ks, and seven mixed. Together they represent over ninety thousand ships, with over ten thousand Dreadnoughts, close to nine thousand Carriers, and twenty Motherships sitting a system or two over. Additionally, the Citan Deathnought Abroshem is stationed around the local Fortress World of Gu¡¯Dan, which is just a little farther away from the sun than Tau¡¯cen Kii. Furthermore, the two Deathnoughts that were stationed in Oriciid¡¯kas, the Dakonis Raath and the On¡¯esstin, retreated to this system over a day ago via Transpace. So we have a total of three Deathnoughts in this system ¡ª I believe that¡¯s the highest number in a single system since the United Drakkar Offensive nearly five hundred years ago.¡± She glanced back at the display and then to Frath. ¡°In short, we have more than enough firepower to hold the system for quite some time.¡±


    ¡°Can you be sure of that?¡± Krick leaned back in his chair as he crossed his arms. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you read this in the Oriciid¡¯kas reports, but Morcii¡¯s capable of obliterating entire fleets within seconds.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hold that thought,¡± Frath interrupted Scott just as the researcher began to speak. The General then continued, ¡°I recognize Morcii as a threat, and I have ideas on how to deal with him. But let us plan against his fleets first.¡±


    Krick frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can adequately plan against the fleets without accounting for Morcii.¡±


    ¡°Reports from the past several weeks indicate that Morcii rarely participates in the space engagements,¡± Ukinon commented, ¡°and even if he does, we have counters here that weren¡¯t present in any of the other systems we¡¯ve fought the Nanocreatures in. Namely, your Battlecruiser¡¯s technology.¡±


    Scott nodded understandingly. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I can agree that the Genesis is a very advanced ship, and surprisingly effective against the Nanocreatures to boot,¡± Krick responded, ¡°but it¡¯s still only one ship.¡± The Earthian Captain suddenly narrowed his eyes as he glanced between the two CSA commanders. ¡°¡­Don¡¯t tell me you mean to seize it and then tear it apart so you can claim its tech for yourself.¡±


    ¡°¡­I must admit, in the name of honesty, that the thought had crossed my mind,¡± Frath replied slowly, ignoring Krick¡¯s glare as it deepened. ¡°But as you say, it is only one ship ¡ª and the relevant technology, I believe, has already been gifted to us.¡±


    ¡°You mean the prototype Subspace Drive?¡± Scott questioned.


    Ukinon nodded. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s an amazing transportation device to be sure, but it can also make for an amazing weapon, if weaponized properly.¡±


    ¡°¡­How do you plan to weaponize transportation technology?¡± Kev¨¦rin asked in confusion.


    ¡°No, no¡­ that makes sense.¡± Scott stroked his beard in thought. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re right. As I understand it, your current FTL tech inserts the ship into, er, a ¡®shadow¡¯ of our dimension, to put it shallowly, that¡¯s cast by the presence of Chaos Energy itself. Which is why you can¡¯t travel through Dead Space, and why the tech can¡¯t be weaponized, because it¡¯s a local effect. But our Subspace Drive¡­ hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s different about our Drive?¡± Krick prodded the researcher after a second of silence.


    ¡°Oh, right. Right, our Subspace Drive works completely differently. It uses Subspace, as its name suggests. I¡¯m still uncertain as to the properties of this ¡®Subspace,¡¯ but what I can tell you is how the Drive works ¡ª basically, it opens a window into Subspace, which the ship accelerates through. The acceleration boosts the ship to many, many times light-speed, and the ship is able to maintain that constant speed through Subspace until reaching its destination, where the Drive opens a window back to real space that the ship decelerates through, so that once it re-enters real space it is traveling below light-speed.¡±


    ¡°How can we turn that into a weapon?¡±


    ¡°Simple physics, really. If we were to spontaneously introduce an object traveling at speeds orders of magnitude higher than c into real space, then there would be a spectacular release of energy.¡±


    ¡°¡­I assume you know how to do this?¡± Krydonin glanced toward Ukinon warily.


    ¡°In theory,¡± the Siion replied, ¡°given the researcher¡¯s notes, the stability of the window the Drive creates can be modified, and the stability of the window is what determines how much it accelerates the ship. Attempting to actually modify the stability is still outside of our grasp, but if we were to rig the Drive in such a way that the window stabilizers fail on exiting Subspace, then we¡¯ll have created a crude, yet highly effective weapon.¡±


    ¡°¡­Can we really do that?¡± Krick turned back to Scott.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± the researcher responded, ¡°I¡¯ll hafta look at the Drive more closely, but if it¡¯s possible I can probably figure it out and then rig up the prototype.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ a ¡®Drive bomb,¡¯ huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin mused, ¡°¡­how big will the blast be, though? When will we use it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a pretty big blast,¡± Scott remarked, ¡°I¡¯ll hafta fine-tune it a bit to make sure the Drive doesn¡¯t blow up the whole system, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Blow up the whole system? Is that actually possible? Is that risk worth it?!¡±


    ¡°Given the circumstances, anything is worth stopping the Nanocreatures,¡± Frath stated. ¡°¡­That said, I¡¯d rather not sacrifice the system all the same. This ¡®Drive bomb¡¯ is but one tactic we have considered against the Nanocreature fleets, and it is the only one relevant to any of you.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be all you called us here for,¡± Krick immediately countered. ¡°What¡¯s the deal?¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself earlier, Earthian: you have but one ship,¡± Frath replied slowly. ¡°We do not plan for you to join the main fleets ¡ª that would be a waste of both your ship, and the Ayas you possess. You mentioned Morcii earlier, and now is the time to consider him again. He will be your primary target.¡±


    ¡°Um, excuse me for being blunt, but, uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily, ¡°¡­have you read the reports concerning Morcii? What makes you think we could handle him any better now than before?¡±


    ¡°Planning, boy, it¡¯s all about planning.¡± Frath tapped his forehead. ¡°Among other things, we need to draw Morcii away from the fleets, and your ship has displayed a surprising ability to resist him.¡±


    Krick snorted in disbelief. ¡°He broke through Teraton-grade Planetary Shielding, twice. And both were reinforced by an Ayas at the time! I think those are more reliable data points than the anomaly of him failing to destroy the Genesis.¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Scott refuted, ¡°I had some time to look at the Oriciid¡¯kas battle logs, and an important thing to note is that the shields didn¡¯t fail until the generator had been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°¡­That is what happens when you destroy shield generators,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned.


    Scott shook his head. ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. You¡¯re forgettin¡¯ that the shield generator is protected by its own shield. To reach the generator, you¡¯d have to bypass the shields, usually by overloadin¡¯ them. But Morcii didn¡¯t do that ¡ª the shields didn¡¯t fail until he destroyed the generator itself. The same seems to be the case with the ships he destroyed, or at least, of the ships that managed to transmit damage data before they were completely obliterated.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that Morcii¡­ what, phased through the shields?¡± Frath questioned.


    ¡°I believe so, yes.¡± Scott nodded firmly. ¡°I also believe that the reason he failed to do the same with the Genesis lies in its structurally and technically different shielding system. ¡­I can¡¯t easily explain why, but it does fit with the trend of the Genesis being surprisingly effective against the Nanocreatures.¡±


    ¡°Which is exactly why I need you to deal with Morcii,¡± Frath asserted. ¡°I have two plans ¡ª let us call them plan A, and plan B. A is simple, and uses your beaming technology to dispatch Morcii.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to suggest we beam him into the sun, it won¡¯t work,¡± Krick deadpanned. ¡°The beaming systems don¡¯t have that kind of range. They can only reach a couple hundred thousand kilometers, maybe, and that¡¯s really pushing it.¡±


    ¡°No one said that you have to beam Morcii into the sun with a single action,¡± Ukinon countered. ¡°Can you not, shall we say, ¡®chain beam¡¯ him? That is, beam him closer to the sun, all while your ship is moving toward the sun itself, and simply repeatedly beam him closer to the sun until he¡¯s actually in it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Now that¡¯s an idea I wish I had thought of earlier.¡± Krick smirked. ¡°Though I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all if this plan backfired somehow. Hell, some Earthians figured out how to block our beaming sensors, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Morcii could do the same.¡± He then turned back to Frath. ¡°I assume you¡¯ve anticipated this, or you wouldn¡¯t have mentioned a plan B.¡±


    ¡°You assume correctly,¡± the General responded, ¡°but you won¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t liked any situation I¡¯ve found myself in over the past several weeks,¡± Krick retorted. ¡°Just lay it out and I¡¯ll decide if it¡¯s something I can get behind.¡±


    Frath took a deep breath before turning back to the solar system display. He reached over and tapped one of the system¡¯s four terra planets, causing the display to zoom in on the planet. ¡°This is Tau¡¯cen Dii,¡± he explained as he turned back to face the rest of the room. ¡°It¡¯s an isolated, semi-militarized planet sitting even farther out from the sun than both Gu¡¯Dan and Tau¡¯cen Kii. It is so isolated, in fact, that evacuating non-essential personnel was a trivial task, and the only individuals remaining on the entire planet are those manning a mountain base in the northern hemisphere. It is, I believe, the perfect location for an all-out battle between Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°¡­And you want us to lure Morcii there.¡± Krick pursed his lips warily.


    Frath nodded. ¡°Yes. As we all know, the Ayas did little to help the shielding situation of either Oriciid¡¯kas or Siionkagh, but we also know that the Ayas were the first things Morcii targeted within the system, not to mention that his stated goal itself is to claim all of them. Given this, I believe we can forgo using the Ayas to boost any of our technology ¡ª as it would be a useless effort, anyways ¡ª and instead use them to lure Morcii away from the main fight. Once isolated, we can attempt to subdue him, or in the very least discern his true strength and abilities for future plans.¡±


    ¡°I assume this is why you¡¯ve brought me here,¡± Krydonin commented.


    ¡°You assume correctly. Should Morcii prove resistant to beaming, use the Ayas to lure him to Tau¡¯cen Dii, where the Black Suns Chaotic Squads and Hero Machina can engage Morcii. With your numbers, skill, and varied abilities, I believe you stand a decent chance against him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Krick responded flatly, ¡°I don¡¯t like this plan.¡± He then sighed wearily as he rubbed his forehead. ¡°¡­But I don¡¯t see any other solution to the matter.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t like the idea of facing Morcii head-on, though,¡± Kev¨¦rin interjected. ¡°He was easily able to counter the First Tier Chaos State. He¡¯s even immune to Subspatial Storage! Not to mention how fast he is. I¡¯m not as confident as you that a bunch of Chaotics could stand up to him.¡±


    ¡°While I appreciate your caution, I think you underestimate the Black Suns,¡± Krydonin countered. ¡°As I understand it, you¡¯ve seen little of how we operate, and your encounter with Sector 2 back on Teghica is in no way representative of the whole organization. You may not have been able to see me in action when I accompanied you on Rossindon, but I assure you, the Black Suns can hold our own.¡±


    ¡°¡­If you say so.¡±


    ¡°I understand that this plan is far from optimal,¡± Frath commented, giving Ukinon a quick glance as she hurriedly left the room before returning his attention to everyone else. ¡°But, given our current information and ability, I believe it is the best way to prolong our fight with the Nanocreature fleets, evacuate as many civilians to safety as possible, and, in the end, obtain a proper assessment of Morcii¡¯s abilities in order to come up with a plan to dispatch him in the future.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong¡­¡± Krick sighed. ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean I like it. But you¡¯re not wrong.¡±


    ¡°I have one question, however,¡± Krydonin addressed Frath directly, ¡°the garrison I brought with me to this system was meant to guard the Gate on Tau¡¯cen Kii, to prevent a similar situation to the loss of control on Oriciid¡¯kas. Do you mean to move that garrison to Tau¡¯cen Dii entirely? What about the Gate?¡±


    ¡°The Gate is being lifted into space, blocked, and locked in a vacuum container as an absolute countermeasure to just that scenario,¡± Frath stated. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to say that I distrust the Black Suns, Commander, but just as I must be wary of corruption amongst my own soldiers, so too must I be wary of corruption amongst yours. Lifting the Gate prevents all attempts to control it and frees your garrison for commitment to Tau¡¯cen Dii.¡±


    Krydonin nodded. ¡°Understandable.¡±


    ¡°Is that it, then?¡± Krick questioned, ¡°I understand the plan and what you need me and the Genesis to do. Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s it for now,¡± Frath replied, double-tapping the display and then swiping down with three fingers to shut off the display and brighten the room¡¯s lights. ¡°Further details will be transmitted to your ship and we will keep you updated as to the state of the fleet engagements. But for now, I need all of you to prepare to execute the plan, and as quickly as possible. The Nanocreatures could show up at any moment.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how true that is,¡± Ukinon remarked as she stepped back into the room. ¡°Long-range sensors began picking up incoming fleets five minutes ago. The Nanocreatures are here.¡±

 65 - False Known: Undeath

    Chapter 65 - False Known: Undeath


    1 Day Later


    ¡°Oi, oi! Kev¨¦rin!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Pyrotechnic stopped in his tracks momentarily to turn around, spotting Dav¨ªdrius as the Velocitechnic briskly approached from down the hall. Kev¨¦rin then turned back around and resumed walking at his previous pace, allowing Dav¨ªdrius to catch up and fall into place beside him. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Have you looked at this place?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he glanced around the dark hallway they were walking through. ¡°Are we supposed to fight Morcii here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a terrible plan! Ain¡¯t it fuckin¡¯ basic battle tactics that mountains make terrible battlegrounds?!¡±


    ¡°We have Chaotics like Kaon¨¦ on our side, and there¡¯s a couple of Geotechnics amongst Krydonin¡¯s forces. We can use the terrain to our advantage, not to mention it¡¯ll be difficult for any of the Nanocreature ships to land nearby before the base¡¯s anti-air weapons blow them to bits.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re implyin¡¯ that our tech can stand up to the Nanocreatures, or that we¡¯ll even have time to react. What if Morcii pulls that planetfall bullshit he did back on Oriciid¡¯kas and just obliterate half the base on impact? What then?¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t get the drop on us like that, though. The Genesis is keeping explicit look out for him, so we¡¯ll have advance warning. He may be fast, but his movement speed is far from instantaneous.¡±


    ¡°Advance warnin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius scoffed as the two Chaotics rounded a corner into a far more spacious walkway. The wall to their left slanted inward and hosted several long windows, allowing a grand view of the mountainside, neighboring crevice, and the mountains beyond. ¡°By ¡®advance warnin¡¯, do you mean we¡¯ll have three seconds to react instead of just two?¡±


    ¡°Quit complaining,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted, absentmindedly patting the pouch slung over his armor that held the Ayas Tanivas as he and Dav¨ªdrius stopped at a window to take in their surroundings. ¡°The Nanocreatures are in the system and they could approach this planet at any time. We¡¯re already committed, so we have no choice but to stand our ground.¡±


    ¡°Famous last words¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°Anyways¡ª¡±


    A bright dot suddenly appeared in the sky, cutting the Velocitechnic off and drawing his attention. It briefly outshone the sun itself before fading away as quickly as it had appeared.


    ¡°What the¡ª?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, ¡°the fuck was that?!¡±


    ¡°That was the Drive bomb going off,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, his attention adjusting from the sky outside to his glasses¡¯ information feed. ¡°Well, the bomb actually went off a while ago, but light doesn¡¯t travel instantaneously, you know.¡±


    ¡°Drive bomb? You mean that Subspace Drive rig the Earthians were talkin¡¯ about yesterday? I thought we were usin¡¯ it against the Nanocreatures, but there¡¯s no fleets around this planet¡­¡±


    ¡°It was used against the Nanocreature fleets. The ones fighting above Gu¡¯Dan, in fact.¡±


    ¡°What?! And we saw it from here?!¡±


    ¡°Yep¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded warily. ¡°And we¡¯ll know just how effective it was right about¡­ now.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°The damage data is coming in now, is what I meant. It looks like the Drive bomb was surprisingly effective, actually; they wiped out nearly four thousand Nanocreature ships with that one bomb. That¡¯s pretty damn impressive¡ª!?¡±


    The two Chaotics were interrupted again by another flash of light, this one significantly brighter and longer in duration than the one previous; Dav¨ªdrius and Kev¨¦rin both reflexively winced and looked away due to the pure intensity alone.


    ¡°Was that another Drive bomb?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Shit, I feel sorry for any of the poor schmucks stuck in the space battle.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ that can¡¯t be right,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly, ¡°we¡­ the CSA only had one Drive, so there was only one bomb. The Genesis only brought one prototype Drive for the CSA, there¡¯s no way they had another. This one was¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Was what?¡± Dav¨ªdrius prompted uneasily after the Transfer Captain paused for several moments.


    ¡°¡­It was the Nanocreatures. They used their own Drive bomb in retaliation. Except they wiped out twenty thousand of our ships ¡ª one of which was the Siion Deathnought! ¡ª and also obliterated a fourth of Gu¡¯Dan.¡±


    ¡°They¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°They obliterated the local Fortress World. Took a whole chunk out of it¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius stared at the Pyrotechnic uneasily as he continued reading the data feed on his glasses. ¡°¡­You¡¯re kiddin¡¯. Right? This is just a really, really bad joke. Right?¡±


    ¡°I wish it was¡­¡±


    ¡°So the Nanocreatures can destroy whole fuckin¡¯ planets, then, huh? Well why the fuck don¡¯t they just do that, then? Are they fuckin¡¯ toyin¡¯ with us? Is that it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Suddenly, this plan to lure Morcii to an isolated planet is making a lot less sense¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, now you say that!¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no time to change our minds now.¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed up at the sky again just as klaxons began blaring in the hallway and several anti-air batteries built into the mountainside began firing. ¡°Looks like the Nanocreatures are here.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Course they are.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± Kev¨¦rin gestured for Dav¨ªdrius to follow as he began walking down the hallway again at a brisk pace. ¡°Let¡¯s join the defense. It¡¯s only a matter of time now before our help is needed.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Chaos BLAST!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ and Krydonin burst out of one of the mountain base¡¯s airlocks just after Kievkenalis leveled a nearby cliff, obliterating a Nanocreature landing ship. He immediately shouted ¡°Chaos Assist¡± before diving out of the way as Kaon¨¦ raised several spikes high into the air, piercing several more Nanocreature ships. Many of the ships immediately broke apart into several pieces that quickly reformed themselves into four-legged monsters, but before any of them could reach the ground, Krydonin telekinetically slammed them with stones, knocking them down the mountainside.


    ¡°They¡¯re breaking through the air defenses already?¡± Wilkas scowled, observing the fighting below as he stopped just short of the edge of the base¡¯s roof.


    ¡°They sure can beat our tech easily enough,¡± V¨¦lunis remarked, creating a sniper rifle and using it to watch the ongoing ground-side battle before quickly moving his sights to Nanocreature units and opening fire. ¡°But against Chaotics they lose, huh? ¡­What¡¯re you still sittin¡¯ on your ass for, Wilkas? Get out there!¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Thanks for asking nicely!¡± Wilkas shot back, but nonetheless joined the battle by leaping off of the roof, spinning halfway around midair and slamming his fist into the ground, shattering the rock for meters around.


    ¡°Try not to get carried away!¡± Krydonin ordered over the comms, ¡°cause the mountainside too much damage and we¡¯ll bring the whole thing down on top of us¡ª!?¡±


    No sooner had the words left her mouth, the entire forward wing of the base gave a loud metallic groan, filling the valley with a deafening echo. Kaon¨¦ immediately jumped away from the Nanocreatures she was confronting and turned toward the base, using her Materiatechnism to fix the foundation and support the surrounding terrain. ¡°¡­This takes a lot of effort!¡± she shouted as she looked back at a handful of approaching metallic monsters. ¡°Someone¡­ cover me!¡±


    Immediately a burst of fire swept over the terrain, cleanly fusing the Nanocreatures to the ground before Dav¨ªdrius appeared in front of them and punted them down the mountainside. He gave Kev¨¦rin a quick nod before sprinting off to assist a small group of Black Suns Chaotics farther away. Kev¨¦rin then glanced back to Kaon¨¦, giving her an all clear signal before muttering ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame,¡± and rushing off on his own.


    ¡°Chaos Charge,¡± Kievkenalis muttered, jumping back just as a Black Suns Electrotechnic fried the area in front of him with a single lightning strike. He then whipped around on his heel, firing several Chaos Strikes at approaching Nanocreatures before calling out ¡°Chaos Armor,¡± thereby encasing his body in thick shields of Chaos Energy. Immediately afterward he fired a Chaos Cannon shot to his left just as Wilkas barged onto the scene with his fist out, impacting the Cannon projectile at just the right time to send it careening down the valley and into the crevice below, triggering a rock slide that crushed several Nanocreature bug swarms. The two Chaotics offered each other only a brief nod of acknowledgment before Wilkas charged forward again, smashing through the Nanocreatures in front of him just as Kev¨¦rin swept the ground behind him with flames, allowing Kievkenalis to disengage and run off to another area of the battlefield.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius whooped as he flipped through the air, slicing through several Nanocreatures below him with his outstretched blades. He landed on the ground with a roll before leaping back to his feet and dashing forward, weaving through hard light beams from a nearby Black Suns Solartechnic as he diced the smaller Nanocreature units with ease. After making some distance from the Solartechnic, he leaped into the air again, flipping once before driving his blades into two more Nanocreatures that were sitting on top of a large boulder. He immediately flipped away, but stumbled as his blades caught in the stone, sending him tumbling to the ground¡­ just as the four-meter object began moving on its own.


    ¡°What the¡ª?!¡± The Velocitechnic scowled, rolling backwards and jumping a short distance into the air just as a long appendage shot out from the stone¡¯s base and swiped under his feet. Several more appendages began appearing as the stone spun around, forcing Dav¨ªdrius to duck and roll away again to dodge ¡ª and subsequently get slammed over the cliff side from a third appendage that he had failed to spot. Before he had much time to fall, though, an invisible force grabbed his legs and threw him back on land.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get carried away!¡± Krydonin barked as she alighted on the ground next to Dav¨ªdrius. The Velocitechnic barely had time to acknowledge her before V¨¦lunis appeared on the other side of him, haphazardly crafted two blades out of thin air, dumped them in Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s lap, and then gestured forward.


    ¡°The hell is that?¡± he questioned tensely, hastily creating a crude laser cannon as the large stone that had attacked Dav¨ªdrius finally morphed into a fully autonomous six-legged creature. ¡°¡­It was a Nano-whatsit too?¡±


    The answer to V¨¦lunis¡¯s question came as the creature charged, firing several projectiles out of its insect-like mouth that all morphed into smaller metallic bugs midair. Dav¨ªdrius immediately prepared to cut them all down but V¨¦lunis responded faster, firing his laser cannon at the large creature before throwing it aside and creating three javelins in his hand ¡ª which Krydonin immediately snatched up with her telekinesis and used to spear the incoming Nanocreatures and then toss them aside. Dav¨ªdrius dashed forward to catch the discarded weapons and then rammed them into the front legs of the large Nanocreature, but was immediately forced to dive to the side as the bug lunged forward. It quickly followed by developing two plasma cannons on its back and firing at V¨¦lunis and Krydonin, hitting them both dead-on and flinging them backwards. Dav¨ªdrius jumped back to his feet and back flipped onto the creature, slicing off its cannons in the process ¡ª but the moment his foot landed on the bug¡¯s back, the creature transformed the entire surface into a giant springboard and flung the Velocitechnic high into the air. Krydonin quickly moved to catch him as V¨¦lunis spun around, crafting two more laser cannons and firing repeatedly at the Nanocreature. The weapons fire blew off three of its legs, but all of the debris flung away from the Nanocreature suddenly froze midair and reversed direction, zooming through the air toward V¨¦lunis as they transformed into a variety of sharp objects.


    ¡°Overdrive: Invisible Hand.¡±


    Each of the flying knives was suddenly stopped by a similarly-sized stone leaping up from the ground below. Krydonin casually stepped forward, reaching out with her left hand and then clenching it, causing all of the frozen material ¡ª Nanocreature and stone alike ¡ª to quickly coalesce into a large sphere. The Manipulator Psychotechnic then flung the sphere at the creature as it charged forward; the sphere simply rebounded off of its metallic body, but Krydonin immediately followed by swiftly raising both of her arms, causing a large pillar of stone to suddenly rise and impale the creature from below. Without even pausing to check the status of the large bug, she pumped her right fist and then thrust it forward, manifesting in a large invisible force impacting the creature from the front and throwing it off of the cliff behind it, impaling spike and all. But before it disappeared from view, the Commander swept her left hand from below, causing a large hand of stone to catch the Nanocreature, slam it back onto land, and then clutch it tightly in a fist. With her right hand, Krydonin lifted the trapped creature higher into the air before cracking her knuckles and positioning her hands palms-out and fingers-forward, as if trying to separate two large objects. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath¡­ and then yanked her hands apart, causing the floating stone hand and creature to tear itself asunder. With a single final sweep of her arms, all of the debris was covered by a solid layer of stone, leaving little sign of any battle at all aside from a suspiciously smooth mountainside.


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled in admiration. ¡°Well that was an impressive show.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Commander for nothing,¡± Krydonin replied casually as she slowly scanned the battlefield beyond their immediately vicinity.


    ¡°Was all that hand-waving really necessary, though?¡± V¨¦lunis questioned, ¡°sure, I¡¯m grateful for the save, but it seemed like you were just showing off.¡±


    ¡°As¡­ grandiose as it may appear, it does help visualize the movement of force,¡± she responded as she turned back to face the two Nimalian Chaotics. ¡°Ask any Psychotechnic and they¡¯d say the same. Even then, though, it¡¯s a function of my Overdrive.¡±


    ¡°WHICH IS QUITE LAUGHABLE, I MUST SAY. REQUIRING EXTRA STIMULI JUST TO MANAGE YOUR POWERS? PATHETIC!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius and V¨¦lunis immediately backed into defensive stances and then jumped away as Morcii alighted on the ground not even a meter behind them.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Morcii?¡± Krydonin glared at the Nanocreature leader, but cautiously backed away all the same as she noticed the tense expressions on the Nimalians¡¯ faces.


    ¡°HMM, IT WOULD SEEM AS THOUGH THE ENTIRE GALAXY TRULY DOES RECOGNIZE MY FACE.¡± Morcii chuckled, and then slipped into a musing tone. ¡°I SUPPOSE I SHOULDN¡¯T BE SURPRISED, GIVEN THAT I ADDRESSED THE ENTIRE GALAXY WITH A VIDEO MESSAGE NOT LONG AFTER MY INITIAL ASSAULT¡­¡±


    ¡°Chaos State: First Tier!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis both lunged forward, each using their Ayas to enter the Chaos State before attacking with flames and Chaos Energy from clear across the battlefield in an attempt to land a preemptive strike on Morcii. In the same instant, Dav¨ªdrius and V¨¦lunis lunged forward, hands occupied with blades as they moved to stab the Nanocreature leader while his attention was directed elsewhere ¡ª but before they could get within even half a meter of Morcii, the atmosphere all around them suddenly charged with immense amounts of energy, followed immediately by lightning strikes littering the battlefield, striking every Black Suns and Nimalian Chaotic and completely overloading their Armors.


    ¡°The hell¡ª?!¡± V¨¦lunis grunted, the weight of his now-powerless armor bringing him to his knees. Every other Chaotic on the battlefield moved similarly, save for Wilkas, who resisted the weight through pure strength; Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis, who resisted through the Chaos State; and Kaon¨¦, who had nigh-immediately repaired her armor with but a thought and quickly moved to repair everyone else¡¯s.


    ¡°¡­So we learn of new powers every day, huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked tensely as he slowly climbed back to his feet. ¡°You¡¯re an Electrotechnic, too?¡±


    ¡°NO¡­¡± Morcii shook his head. ¡°I AM INCAPABLE OF INTERFACING WITH CHAOS ENERGY IN THE SAME MANNER AS YOU ALDREDANOIDS. IF I WISH TO POSSESS A CERTAIN POWER, THEN I MUST¡­ ENLIST AN INDIVIDUAL WHO POSSESSES IT.¡±


    ¡°¡­So, those lightning strikes¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ responded warily, ¡°¡­those weren¡¯t¡­ you?¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha! No¡­ no, they weren¡¯t.¡± Morcii smiled viciously. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯d like to meet your attacker, though, hmm?¡±


    As soon as the words left his mouth, the ground beside him exploded from an impact from above, flinging stone and debris everywhere and obscuring the shape of the new object. As the dust began to clear, its shape and attributes became more apparent: Aldredanoid, pale skin, maroon waist-cloak, gray pants, navy blue fitted chest plate, shoulder-length black hair, metallic rash-like marks alongside the left side of her face and down her left arm¡­


    ¡°Allow me to introduce my new lieutenant.¡± Morcii chuckled as he placed a hand on the woman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all know her very well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re shittin¡¯ me¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s smirk contorted into a scowl of confusion and anger. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ no. You can¡¯t be¡­ Siyuak¨¦n?¡±

 66 - Tenth Hour

    Chapter 66 - Tenth Hour


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, what¡¯s going on? I thought you said you killed her?¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± the Velocitechnic growled as he glared at Siyuak¨¦n, who blankly stared back. ¡°¡­I swear, by all rights she was dead. I fuckin¡¯ sliced through her heart! This doesn¡¯t¡­ she can¡¯t¡­!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced toward Dav¨ªdrius uneasily before turning back to Morcii and Siyuak¨¦n. Based on appearances alone, Siyuak¨¦n seemed to be her normal living self ¡ª same fit body, same moderate height, same facial definition. Nearly every physical trait was the same. Yet the metallic rashes that wreathed her entire body just prior to her fleeing Nimalia had seemingly receded to her left arm and eye alone, and there were no signs of the damage Dav¨ªdrius claimed to have caused. ¡°¡­Are you sure?¡± the Pyrotechnic questioned, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything that would indicate that you¡­ er¡­ killed her.¡±


    ¡°Are you fuckin¡¯ doubtin¡¯ me?¡± The Velocitechnic¡¯s brow furrowed in fury. ¡°I ain¡¯t lyin¡¯ about this, and I know what I fuckin¡¯ saw! Just go ask Rebehka before you assume shit! I¡¯m tellin¡¯ you, I killed Siyuak¨¦n, and this can¡¯t be her!¡±


    ¡°We did just witness the Nanocreatures¡¯ ability to shape-shift,¡± Krydonin pointed out. ¡°She¡¯s probably a look-alike; don¡¯t let it get to you. He¡¯s just stalling for time!¡±


    The Commander quickly dived to the left as she flipped the stone under Morcii¡¯s feet, signaling for the other nearby Black Suns Chaotics to engage as well. The Nanocreature leader proved unfazed by the attack, however, and simply crossed his arms as several large metallic beasts quickly formed from the growing masses of Nanocreature bugs and attacked the Black Suns, forcing their attention away.


    He smirked. ¡°CAN¡¯T HAVE THE SHOW INTERRUPTED, NOW, CAN WE?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no show. You¡¯re clearly lyin¡¯!¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered stubbornly, ¡°Krydonin¡¯s right, this is just a double or somethin¡¯. We should¡ª!¡±


    ¡°NO NO, DON¡¯T BE QUITE SO HASTY,¡± Morcii interjected. ¡°YOU DO HAVE A POINT ¡ª SHE COULD INDEED BE A DOPPELGANGER. BUT, I WONDER, HOW COULD I KNOW YOUR FRIEND WELL ENOUGH TO FAKE THIS?¡±


    ¡°AAGH!¡± Siyuak¨¦n suddenly clutched her head as she unceremoniously collapsed to her knees, her entire body tensing in pain. ¡°Ah¡­! Agh¡­ guh¡­¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª?!¡± The entirety of Hero Machina reeled back in surprise, each of them startled by the sudden display of emotion.


    ¡°Si¡­ Siyuak¨¦n¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ ventured warily, slowly extending her arm toward the corrupted Electrotechnic.


    ¡°¡­Wha¡­what¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n slowly looked up, her eyes widening as she spotted Kaon¨¦. She then jerked her head toward Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª and then Kev¨¦rin ¡ª and then Kievkenalis ¡ª before drawing back, her breath catching in her throat. ¡°N-no, no¡­ get, go, go away! Run! Don¡¯t¡ª! You¡¯ll get corrupted, don¡¯t, go¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n! No, wait¡­!¡± Kev¨¦rin responded uneasily, ¡°we can¡ª! Calm down, we can¡­¡±


    ¡°You can what?!¡± she shot back, her previous distress instantly transforming into ire. ¡°Save me? From him? How? You can¡¯t even¡ª you can¡¯t even kill me right, you can¡¯t, you can¡¯t fight Morcii, or me, not now, not¡ª!¡± She suddenly broke down again, cupping her face in her hands as she stumbled backwards. ¡°Go! Run! Please, don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t follow me!¡±


    All that followed Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s broken outburst was dead silence¡­ silence that was shattered mere moments later by Morcii¡¯s chuckling.


    ¡°PERHAPS NOW YOU ARE CONVINCED AS TO HER IDENTITY?¡±


    ¡°Tch!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled and then blasted forward, stopping just in front of Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s curled body moments before the sonic boom produced from his takeoff. Faster than anyone could track, he brought his blades down over Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head ¡ª and then stopped just short.


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kaon¨¦ stared at him in surprise. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, what¡­?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Fucking¡­ fuck!¡± The Velocitechnic¡¯s face scrounged up in frustrated fury. ¡°I can¡¯t¡ª fuckin¡¯ shit, I can¡¯t do this again¡­ fuck!¡±


    ¡°HOW AMUSINGLY PATHETIC,¡± Morcii remarked with a sneer. ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T EVEN BRING YOURSELF TO KILL HER, WHEN YOU¡¯VE ALREADY DONE SO ONCE! AND YOU EXPECT TO STOP ME?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡ª!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned his rage toward Morcii, but before he could act on it V¨¦lunis had dashed up, driving his own blades toward Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head ¡ª and then both Velocitechnics were blown away by an intense blast of electrical power.


    ¡°I SEE NOT ALL OF YOU ARE SO CAUGHT UP IN YOUR EMOTIONS THAT YOU FORGET YOUR PRAGMATISM.¡± The Nanocreature leader chuckled again, watching Dav¨ªdrius and V¨¦lunis stumble back to their feet as Siyuak¨¦n casually returned to hers, all hints of her previous outbreak removed from her now-blank expression. ¡°BUT YOUR INSISTENCE ON RESISTANCE IS ABSURD. THIS EPISODE IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR INABILITY TO STOP ME OR MY FORCES ¡ª TO SAY NOTHING OF YOUR PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT ¡®BATTLES¡¯ WITH ME! YOU STILL BELIEVE YOU CAN STOP ME? YOU STILL BELIEVE YOU CAN SAVE YOUR GALAXY? AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT IS A CRUDELY RUDIMENTARY LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE CHAOS AYAS, AND A REMARKABLE INABILITY TO FOLLOW THROUGH A SIMPLE MURDER? ASTOUNDING! THIS ENTIRE SITUATION IS ASTOUNDING! YOU CLAIM TO BE THE DESCENDANTS OF THE ALDREDAS, WHO THEMSELVES WERE BARELY ABLE TO FEND OFF BOTH I AND MY MASTERS? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED, IF ONLY YOU POSSESSED EVEN ONE IOTA OF THE AWARENESS YOU WOULD NEED TO BE SO!¡±


    ¡°You sure do talk a lot,¡± Kievkenalis observed, ¡°and we¡¯ve at least been able to hold our own against you before. You can¡¯t just dismiss us that easily.¡±


    ¡°YOUR ATTEMPT AT BRAVADO IS AMUSING AT BEST, ALDREDANOID. WE BOTH KNOW THAT THE ONLY REASON YOU LIVE YET IS BECAUSE I ALLOW IT. IF I TRULY WISHED YOU DEAD, OR AMONG MY FORCES, THEN IT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED LONG AGO.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°You¡¯re sayin¡¯ you want us alive? So you can, what, shove your superiority in our faces? Is that it? Need someone to flaunt your ego in front of so you feel validated?¡±


    ¡°VALIDATION? FROM THE LIKES OF YOU?¡± Morcii snorted in derision. ¡°THE ONLY VALIDATION I REQUIRE IS FROM THE MORIKAI, BUT I CAN HARDLY DERIVE PRIDE FROM CONQUERING A GALAXY IN SUCH A PITIFUL STATE AS YOURS. AND IF I WERE TO CONQUER THE WHOLE GALAXY, THEN WHAT WOULD BE LEFT FOR THE MORIKAI? SURELY, YOU UNDERSTAND MY DILEMMA.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure, definitely,¡± V¨¦lunis drawled. ¡°Man, I wish all of my dilemmas were about whether or not I should conquer the whole damn galaxy.¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH. I HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME TALKING.¡± Morcii turned away. ¡°I¡¯VE HAD MY FUN; ENJOY YOURSELVES, ALDREDANOIDS, FOR THE NEXT WE MEET I SHAN¡¯T BE SO GRACIOUS AS TO ALLOW YOU TIME TO RESPOND¡ª¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Speed Break!!¡±


    Instantly, Dav¨ªdrius was on Morcii, his blades driven clear through the Nanocreature¡¯s chest. He immediately followed with a fierce flip-kick, slamming his feet into Morcii¡¯s head and smashing him to the ground. The Nanocreature leader quickly responded by extricating himself just in time to catch the Velocitechnic¡¯s foot as he followed up with a roundhouse kick, forcing them to lock eyes momentarily.


    ¡°THAT BURST OF CHAOS ENERGY¡­¡± Morcii muttered, and then smirked. ¡°SO YOU UNLOCKED YOUR OVERDRIVE, ALL FOR ME? I¡¯M FLATTERED.¡±


    ¡°Not for you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered, ¡°this ain¡¯t for you.¡± He broke out of Morcii¡¯s grasp, shattering the Nanocreature¡¯s hand in the process before drop-kicking him across the battlefield. ¡°This is for Siyuak¨¦n! And all the other poor bastards you think you can stomp all over!¡±


    ¡°YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE¡ª!¡± Morcii started, but was interrupted as the Velocitechnic appeared nearby and slammed his foot into the Nanocreature¡¯s mouth, obliterating his chin. Recoiling, Morcii quickly reached to grab Dav¨ªdrius by his throat only to be forced to dive to the side to avoid another kick; the Nanocreature leader immediately followed by leaping into the sky, ceasing his ascent several hundred meters above the battlefield to turn around, transform both of his arms into massive laser cannons, and then get smashed back ground-ward as Dav¨ªdrius easily reached his height with a single bound and slammed his foot into the Nanocreature¡¯s back.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Overdrive: Infinite Lift!¡± Wilkas shouted, just in time to intercept Morcii with a massive blow and send him careening through the air and into the mountain across the valley. Dav¨ªdrius and V¨¦lunis both immediately took off down the mountainside, using their superior speed and reflexes to reach the other side of the valley as Kev¨¦rin simply flew after them.


    ¡°No¡­!¡± Kievkenalis frowned as he squinted at the other mountain in frustration. ¡°I can¡¯t get over there! How am I supposed to help¡ª? Uaah?! Wilkas?! What are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°You wanted to get to the other side, right?¡± The Forcetechnic replied as he easily hoisted Kievkenalis into the air and turned toward the valley. ¡°Well, here you go!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what, no¡ª! Aaaahhhh!!¡±


    ¡°¡­You can¡¯t be serious.¡± Kaon¨¦ stared in disbelief as the Chaostechnic disappeared into the distance. ¡°You really just threw him across the valley.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Wilkas waved her off, preparing to leap down the mountainside himself when a massive lightning bolt suddenly struck him from above, once again shutting down his armor. He immediately threw himself to the side to evade another strike before turning toward Siyuak¨¦n, who stared back blankly. ¡°¡­Damn. Looks like we¡¯re stuck with this bitch.¡±


    ¡°Wilkas¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Look, I never knew her, aside from the fact that she blacked out Nimaliaka Central and trashed the Gateport.¡± The Forcetechnic clenched his fists repeatedly, stretching his fingers as he stared down the corrupted Nimalian. ¡°All I know is that she¡¯s in the way, and we need to get rid of her.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned as she threw Siyuak¨¦n an uneasy glance. ¡°¡­But, she¡ª¡±


    ¡°No buts!¡± Wilkas exclaimed, smashing his fists together before slamming his right fist into the ground, launching large rocks into the air that he punched to send them flying toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Now c¡¯mon! Watch my back! And fix my armor already!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Overdrive: Limitless Weaponswright!¡±


    V¨¦lunis created a line of railguns in the air before pointing them at Morcii and unleashing a barrage of weapons fire, throwing up immense amounts of rock and debris. Dav¨ªdrius disappeared into the cloud faster than anyone could track; the instant afterward Morcii was tumbling through the air before catching himself on a rock wall, using it to rocket himself back at the Velocitechnic. Dav¨ªdrius quickly knocked the Nanocreature leader aside with his blades, allowing Kev¨¦rin to swoop in and bathe Morcii in flame ¡ª flames that the Nanocreature easily swept aside as he leaped into the air, smashing his head into Kev¨¦rin¡¯s gut before grabbing his arm and launching him ground-ward, where he slammed into Kievkenalis just as the Chaostechnic approached and sent both Chaotics tumbling down the mountain.


    V¨¦lunis quickly followed by opening fire with the railguns again, blasting Morcii with projectiles in an attempt to shoot him out of the air. The Nanocreature leader took the first volley directly but whipped around and snatched several bullets out of the second volley, launching them back at V¨¦lunis before diving down to the ground to repair himself with a handful of approaching Nanocreature ground units. Dav¨ªdrius immediately moved to intercept him, managing to kick several of the units down the mountain before they reached Morcii, but he failed to prevent the Nanocreature leader from completely healing his wounds. Morcii then turned his attention to the Velocitechnic, lunging forward to engage in close-quarters combat at a far higher speed than any non-Velocitechnic could track.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­ too fast¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered as he watched the battle in front of him and Kev¨¦rin uneasily.


    ¡°Even with the Chaos State, we can¡¯t match that¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled. ¡°Damn it, not again! Can¡¯t the Ayas ever help us at all?!¡±


    The two Chaotics were then forced to duck as Dav¨ªdrius was sent flying over their heads and tumbling down the mountainside. Morcii vaulted over the two as well, offering them a fleeting glance before spinning around midair to counter several javelins V¨¦lunis had launched at Mach speeds. Dav¨ªdrius quickly took advantage of the opening to dash back up to Morcii¡¯s side and dropkick him down the mountain before taking off and intercepting the Nanocreature leader to bicycle kick him into the air. V¨¦lunis instantly open fired with his railguns again, ripping off Morcii¡¯s left arm and leg as he dashed down the mountain himself, crafting a dozen swords in a ring around himself before launching them upwards at the Nanocreature. Morcii immediately moved to counter the attack, transforming his severed limbs into disembodied hands that he used to catch two of the blades and then deflect the rest. The Nanocreature leader then threw the blades at his opponents ¡ª one toward V¨¦lunis and one toward Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª just as he transformed his hands into laser cannons and opened fire. V¨¦lunis dived out of the way, but Dav¨ªdrius simply tanked the blast with his armor as he leaped into the air and spiked Morcii with his heel, instantly slamming the Nanocreature to the ground. Morcii quickly jumped back to his feet but was suddenly blown sideways as V¨¦lunis rammed into him; Dav¨ªdrius immediately intercepted Morcii with another kick, launching him across the mountainside where V¨¦lunis jumped in front of him and blasted him with his railguns yet again, following up with a hard kick that knocked Morcii back into the air. Dav¨ªdrius jumped up after the Nanocreature, swinging his foot down hard to spike him again ¡ª only to have his kick stopped as Morcii grabbed him by his heel.


    ¡°THAT ATTACK MAY HAVE WORKED THE FIRST TIME,¡± he snarled, and then yanked his arm down, launching Dav¨ªdrius toward the ground below. ¡°BUT YOU¡¯D BE A FOOL TO EXPECT IT TO WORK AGAIN!¡±


    The Nanocreature leader dived into the ground, barely missing Dav¨ªdrius as the Velocitechnic managed to jump out of the way. V¨¦lunis quickly followed up with another railgun volley, but Morcii simply leaped out of the way before slamming his floating hands into the Formtechnic and then grasping him by his ankles and hoisting him into the air. Dav¨ªdrius jumped in to try and sever the bonds but was intercepted by Morcii, who had replaced his severed left leg with his right arm ¡ª transformed into a left leg ¡ª and deftly blocked each of Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s blows with his feet alone before suddenly growing an arm out of his chest and punching the Velocitechnic in the face, sending him reeling back in surprise. Morcii then lifted his right leg into the air and brought it down over Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s head¡ª


    ¡°Chaos SLAM!¡±


    Kievkenalis rocketed into Morcii, impacting the Nanocreature leader with an explosion of Chaos Energy and knocking him clear down the mountainside and into the crevice below.


    ¡°The fuck was that?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, recovering from being knocked back himself.


    ¡°That¡­ that was a Movement-type ability,¡± Kievkenalis muttered, dumbfounded. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t know I could do that. I shouldn¡¯t be able to do that¡­¡±


    ¡°But you tried it anyways?¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted as he approached and alighted next to the Chaostechnic.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it just popped into my head¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m glad for you and all, mate, but we¡¯re still in the middle of a fight here,¡± V¨¦lunis commented as he dropped to the ground after cutting himself free of the Nanocreature binds. ¡°He¡¯s stuck in the crevice, now would be a good time to get the drop on him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Kev¨¦rin lifted into the air again, his flame jets melting the rock underfoot. ¡°I¡¯ll sweep the crevice with fire and then we¡¯ll jump in and catch him by surprise!¡± He blasted away from the mountain before stopping his flame jets and allowing himself to fall toward the crevice as the other three Chaotics quickly jumped down the mountainside themselves. Within seconds, Kev¨¦rin found himself just above the lip of the crevice ¡ª immediately, he re-engaged his flame jets and then filled the entire crevice with flame, covering the rocks and lighting up the darkness as if hell itself had appeared. He maintained the heat bath for several seconds before snapping the fires out of existence; Kievkenalis followed up with a quick call of ¡°Chaos Assist¡± before the four Chaotics jumped down into the crevice, Kev¨¦rin lighting up their path with his flames.


    ¡°Ungh¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted upon landfall. ¡°This crevice is deeper than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Is this a major fault line or something?¡­¡± Kievkenalis questioned as he stared upward at the thin sliver of light that was the crevice opening. ¡°How is it so deep?¡±


    ¡°And so dark¡­¡± V¨¦lunis scowled as he crafted a rifle with a flashlight attachment and used it to look around. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and finish off Morcii. I¡¯m already having second thoughts about coming down here.¡±


    ¡°AS YOU SHOULD! THOUGH YOUR FORESIGHT COMES A LITTLE TOO LATE.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed as the light above them disappeared with the sound of metal hatches slamming shut. The Pyrotechnic immediately bathed the entire area around the Chaotics in flame again, illuminating the dark crevice for meters around ¡ª and revealing Morcii¡¯s levitating form.


    ¡°TO THINK, THAT YOU ACTUALLY FOLLOWED ME INTO AN ENCLOSED UNDERGROUND AREA¡­¡± The Nanocreature leader laughed to himself. ¡°YOUR LACK OF FORESIGHT IS APPALLING.¡±


    ¡°We can still fight you here, easily,¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot back. ¡°Hell, easier than up above, even. There¡¯s nowhere for us to go, sure, but there¡¯s nowhere for you to go, either!¡±


    ¡°NOWHERE FOR ME TO GO?¡± Morcii echoed, and then grinned viciously. ¡°YOU SEEM TO BE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU HAVE TRAPPED ME HERE. BUT IN REALITY¡­¡± He paused momentarily as a deafening cracking noise reverberated through the crevice. ¡°¡­I¡¯M THE ONE WHO TRAPPED YOU.¡±


    ¡°Tch!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled and then leaped at the Nanocreature leader, but before he had cleared even half the distance a rock column exploded out of the wall beside him and slammed him into the opposite wall.


    ¡°AGAIN, YOU UNDERESTIMATE THE NANOCREATURES!¡± Morcii exclaimed, ¡°YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY ABILITIES, AND YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY CONTROL! YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE BUT TO CLAIM YOU FOR MYSELF, QUAKEBORN, EVEN IF I MUST BEAT THE AYAS OUT OF YOU FIRST!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Deflect!¡± Kievkenalis called out just in time to knock away a large boulder that almost crushed the Chaotics. He then glanced around at the rock walls as they began to tremble violently, shaking loose smaller rocks and dust that cascaded down to the crevice floor. ¡°Guys, we need to get out of here¡ª!¡±


    ¡°THERE IS NO ESCAPE, ALDREDANOIDS!¡± The Nanocreature leader slowly rose higher and higher into the air as more and larger stones began falling to the ground, forcing the Chaotics to direct all of their attention to avoid being crushed. ¡°LIE BURIED WITH YOUR HUBRIS, TRAPPED UNDER YOUR FOOLISHNESS! FOR NOW¡­¡± He glared down as the rock walls on either side of him completely shattered and caved in. ¡°¡­YOU ALL BELONG TO ME!¡±

 67 - Retaliation Chaos

    Chapter 67 - Retaliation Chaos


    ¡°Hah!¡±


    Wilkas dove forward, smashing his fist into a column of stone that Kaon¨¦ had just risen from the ground. The column shattered at its base as it was launched forward at Siyuak¨¦n, who quickly ducked to evade and then shot a lightning bolt toward the Wilkas. The Forcetechnic ignored the attack as he barged forward, closing the distance between himself and Siyuak¨¦n before throwing his fists out again, missing the corrupted Electrotechnic only because she bent over backwards. She then continued the motion into a full flip and channeled an incredible electric charge into her feet just as she kicked Wilkas¡¯s chin. He reeled back, momentarily stunned and left open to attack ¡ª though Kaon¨¦ quickly transmuted steel shields all around him, blocking the lightning attacks that followed. Wilkas then punched the shields, launching some of the plating toward Siyuak¨¦n before grabbing the rest and smashing it into a large club that he then began swinging at her. She responded with a fierce blast of electricity, giving the steel club an incredible charge that she then manipulated to fling the weapon out of Wilkas¡¯s hands. He simply ignored the weapon as it tumbled down the mountain to try and close the gap between himself and Siyuak¨¦n again, pulling back his fists for another punch ¡ª and then getting distracted as a loud rumbling noise echoed through the valley.


    ¡°What was that?¡± he questioned as he jumped away from Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°The crevice! Look!¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed toward the bottom of the valley, prompting Wilkas to glance down the nearest cliff face. ¡°Where did that metal covering come from?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t the others down there?¡± The Forcetechnic scowled. ¡°Ah, damn it. Let¡¯s go save them¡ª!?¡±


    The moment he moved to take a step toward the cliff edge, a powerful lightning bolt struck the spot right in front of him. He immediately jumped back and snapped his attention to Siyuak¨¦n, who was rushing forward with both of her arms sparkling with electricity.


    ¡°Shit¡ª!¡± he grunted, crossing his arms in front of him to shield against the incoming electrical strike. The Electrotechnic thrust her arms forward, impacting Wilkas with a massive burst of energy before jumping away and following up with several more lightning strikes, most of which Kaon¨¦ managed to block with more steel shields. ¡°¡­We¡¯re gonna have to stop her first,¡± Wilkas muttered, eying Siyuak¨¦n as he took a moment to stretch his arms and neck.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­!¡± Kaon¨¦ pleaded as she took a step forward from her position several meters behind the Forcetechnic. ¡°We don¡¯t have to fight¡­!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we kinda do,¡± Wilkas countered impatiently. ¡°She won¡¯t leave on her own. Besides, I¡¯m sure the others are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Hngh¡­ gah¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius kicked out the stone trapping him against the wall and stumbled forward, coughing, before falling to all fours. Damn¡­ He glared down at his armor. That cave-in overloaded my shielding? ¡­Wait a minute¡ª? He glanced up and began inspecting the area around him: a small, dome-shaped area had been carved into the stone, while all around the base the rock glowed a dim red with heat. The Velocitechnic looked to his left as V¨¦lunis began coughing as well ¡ª and then he noticed Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis, both lying on the ground, unmoving.


    ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY, THEY AREN¡¯T DEAD.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± The two conscious Chaotics snapped their attention toward Morcii, who stepped forward casually from the far side of the dome.


    ¡°I MUST ADMIT, I¡¯M IMPRESSED,¡± Morcii commented, his smirk barely illuminated within the dim atmosphere. ¡°YOUR FRIENDS REACTED JUST QUICKLY ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN A SMALL SAFE AREA. IT SAVED YOU FROM INSTANT DEFEAT¡­ BUT ALL THEY TRULY ACHIEVED WAS DELAYING THE INEVITABLE.¡±


    ¡°Defeat? Ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted, and then fell into a coughing fit before continuing, ¡°¡­like hell we¡¯re defeated. You¡­ you ain¡¯t defeated me ¡®til I¡¯m a cold, dead carcass.¡±


    ¡°REALLY NOW?¡± Morcii continued to stare down at the Chaotics. ¡°WHY ARE YOU STILL ON YOUR KNEES THEN, HMM?¡±


    ¡°¡­Shit.¡± V¨¦lunis scowled. ¡°I can¡¯t move my legs.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡­!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot Morcii a menacing glare.


    ¡°ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM WHILE IT LASTS.¡± Morcii chuckled viciously. ¡°YOU¡¯LL BE MINE WITHIN MINUTES.¡±


    ¡°You damn machine¡ª!?!¡±


    ¡°PITIFUL.¡± The Nanocreature leader shook his head in disappointment. ¡°YOU¡¯VE SERVED YOUR PURPOSE AS MY PLAYTHINGS; NOW IT¡¯S TIME TO PUT YOU TO ACTUAL WORK. ONCE YOU FALL COMPLETELY UNDER MY CONTROL, I CAN SEND YOU BACK UP TO THE TOP AND FEIGN A LOSS, AND THEN YOU¡¯LL RETURN TO THE RANKS OF YOUR FRIENDS. OF COURSE¡­¡± He smirked. ¡°YOU¡¯LL BE COMPLETELY UNDER MY CONTROL, SO I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT.¡±


    ¡°Sh¡­shit,¡± V¨¦lunis muttered, ¡°¡­at least you don¡¯t have their Ayas, huh?¡±


    ¡°HMM?¡± Morcii raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and then glanced toward Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­HA! I THINK YOU OVERESTIMATE THE CHAOS STATE,¡± he continued as he finally revealed his hands ¡ª with the Ayas Tanivas in one, and the Ayas Mystryth in the other.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°THE CHAOS STATE PROVIDES A POWER AND DURABILITY BOOST, BUT I CAN STILL KNOCK OUT SUCH A CHAOTIC ALL THE SAME.¡± The Nanocreature smirked as he began tossing the Ayas to himself. ¡°AND ONCE YOU LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS, YOU AUTOMATICALLY DROP OUT OF THE CHAOS STATE. CONVENIENT, NO?¡±


    ¡°Fucking¡­ damn it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, ¡°I¡­ am not¡­ gettin¡¯ corrupted!¡±


    ¡°FEEL FREE TO SAY THAT ALL YOU WANT, LITTLE ALDREDANOID¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chaos State: First Tier!¡±


    Morcii stopped tossing the Ayas to himself as he turned to give V¨¦lunis an empty stare ¡ª and the Ayas remained in his hands. ¡°¡­DO YOU HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN? I AM STANDING WELL OUTSIDE OF THE CHAOS STATE ACTIVATION RANGE. YOU WON¡¯T BE GETTING OUT OF THIS QUITE SO EASILY.¡±


    ¡°¡­Eh¡­¡± V¨¦lunis smirked spitefully. ¡°Worth a try.¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled, his shoulders quivering with rage. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t fuckin¡¯ do anything¡­!¡±


    ¡°Calm down, mate,¡± V¨¦lunis commented, ¡°going berserk won¡¯t help us at all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? And what else is there?!¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I have to move to use my powers.¡±


    ¡°¡­OH?¡± Morcii snorted as several floating laser cannons suddenly surrounded him. ¡°¡­DO YOU HONESTLY EXPECT THIS TO WORK?¡±


    ¡°Not much else to¡­ try,¡± V¨¦lunis countered, his face slowly contorting into a painful frown as his corruption began actively interfering with his speech. ¡°¡­Like hell¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ let you control¡­ me! Overdrive: Limitless Weaponswright!¡±


    ¡°¡­WHAT¡ª?¡± Morcii¡¯s eyes widened slightly as dozens more cannons appeared around him before they all opened fire at once, unleashing their entire contents into the Nanocreature Leader. Immediately, the far end of the stone dome became obscured with a thick dust cloud as the sounds of continuous cannon fire echoed through the air; Dav¨ªdrius squinted through the dust in an attempt to discern Morcii¡¯s presence, but his attention was torn away as the two Ayas were ejected out of the dust cloud and clambered to the ground a mere meter away.


    ¡°The Ayas?¡± he muttered in surprise, and then immediately began, ¡°Chaos State¡ª!?¡± He was cut off as his mouth involuntarily clamped shut, forcing him to bite his tongue painfully. ¡­I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t move my mouth?!


    ¡°AHAHAHAHA¡­ HA HA HA HA HA HA!!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still¡ª!¡± V¨¦lunis started, immediately summoning a hundred javelins around his body ¡ª and then freezing as Morcii appeared in front of him¡­ and then smashed his knee into the Chaotic¡¯s face, completely obliterating his skull.


    ¡°¡­!¡± Dav¨ªdrius stared wide-eyed and speechless as V¨¦lunis¡¯s body slumped to the ground, headless, surrounded by the many polearms that clambered to the floor.


    ¡°YOU ALDREDANOIDS NEVER LEARN WITHOUT EXAMPLES, DO YOU?¡± Morcii sneered, glancing toward the remaining Velocitechnic before raising his foot and slamming it through V¨¦lunis¡¯s back, completely destroying both the armor and the underlying corpse. ¡°I TRUST YOU UNDERSTAND NOW, HMM?¡± The Nanocreature turned back toward Dav¨ªdrius, not even bothering to remove his foot from the dead body. ¡°YOUR LUCK RAN OUT LONG AGO.¡±


    <hr>


    Wilkas whirled around, grasping a thirty-meter stone pillar before flipping it over his head and down on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s position. The Electrotechnic dived out of the way, evading the pillar ¡ª but she was caught by the debris as Wilkas followed by smashing his fist into the end of the pillar, shattering it and sending debris flying in every direction. He then lunged forward, grabbing two hammers that Kaon¨¦ had fabricated in the air near his head before slamming them down on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s location. She quickly flipped away, firing off a lightning bolt at the Forcetechnic as he was swinging with the hammers and unable to dodge. Wilkas immediately released the weapons and moved to ram the corrupted Electrotechnic with his shoulder, but she hit him with another powerful bolt of energy before he could, momentarily stunning him as his armor shut down yet again. Siyuak¨¦n then moved to strike once more, but was distracted as an invisible force grabbed her right arm and yanked her to the ground. She immediately fired a storm of lightning toward Krydonin, who withstood the brunt of the blast and then moved to continue attacking.


    ¡°Wilkas!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, rushing over to the Forcetechnic as he recovered from the blow he had taken. ¡°Are you alright?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he replied offhandedly. ¡°C¡¯mon, repair my armor again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already done that several times¡­¡± The Materiatechnic frowned. ¡°I can only do so much; your armor is about to fall apart all on its own.¡±


    ¡°I thought you could fix things just by thinking about them?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but it looks like there¡¯s a limit, and that limit is sometime after fixing something for the twentieth time.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡± Wilkas snorted impatiently. ¡°¡­Fine. I¡¯ll go without my armor then!¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± Kaon¨¦ started, but was interrupted as the Forcetechnic grabbed his chest plate and tore it off of his body. He then proceeded to do the same with his limb plating until all that was left was the under-armor skinsuit. ¡°What the¡ª?!¡± the Materiatechnic exclaimed, ¡°you didn¡¯t need to tear it apart!!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡± Wilkas stretched his arms and neck casually. ¡°If the shielding won¡¯t work, then the armor¡¯s just in the way!¡± He bounded forward before Kaon¨¦ could speak another word, bringing his fists down on Siyuak¨¦n as she was distracted by Krydonin. He failed to land a direct hit on the Electrotechnic, but he still flung her several meters into the air when his fists slammed into the ground with massive force. She quickly responded by sending out two powerful shockwaves, stunning Wilkas and Krydonin long enough for Siyuak¨¦n to get back to her feet and begin flinging out lightning bolt after lightning bolt. Kaon¨¦ quickly countered each bolt with diamond plates, raising the blocks of stone to shield Wilkas as he charged forward. The Forcetechnic barreled through the shields himself, grabbing one of the diamond blocks and crushing it into a rod as Krydonin telekinetically yanked several of the other blocks into the air and launched them toward Siyuak¨¦n. The corrupted Electrotechnic deftly evaded each of the blocks before throwing herself to the side just in time to dodge Wilkas as he smashed his diamond rod into the ground she had been standing on moments prior. She then reached back to the rod, grabbing it as Wilkas began to lift it and sending a massive charge down it, shocking the Forcetechnic and forcing him to drop the rod as he stumbled backwards in pain. Immediately Siyuak¨¦n lunged forward, her right hand outstretched, before her attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere, her head snapping toward the bottom of the valley.


    Catching the opening, Wilkas thrust his right fist forward with amazing force. The Electrotechnic turned her attention back to him just in time to see the attack and begin to dodge, but failed to move out of the way completely as he slammed his fist into her left shoulder, cleaving through her body and sending her left arm flying. The force of the blow sent her tumbling away uncontrollably until she was stopped suddenly, jerked upright and into the air, and held in place by Krydonin¡¯s telekinetic fields. Kaon¨¦ quickly followed by clamping diamond shackles around Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s neck, ankles, and remaining wrist.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got this!¡± Kaon¨¦ gestured for Krydonin to leave. ¡°You can go help the rest of your soldiers!¡±


    The Commander passed Siyuak¨¦n a wary glance. ¡°¡­Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded, and then turned back to the trapped and dazed Electrotechnic. ¡°¡­I want to see if I can talk to her.¡±


    ¡°¡­I hope you know what you¡¯re doing,¡± Krydonin responded, but eventually turned away. ¡°Very well. Watch yourself, Nimalians.¡±


    Wilkas watched the Commander dash away before turning back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t get away, not without breaking those shackles,¡± the Materiatechnic replied. ¡°¡­I want¡­ I want to know for sure if this is really Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Wilkas crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°How¡¯re you gonna do that?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ responded with silence as she stared up at the corrupted Electrotechnic, who returned the stare blankly despite there being a gaping hole where her shoulder should be. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not bleeding¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered, eying the wound warily before meeting eyes with Siyuak¨¦n again. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n! Can you hear me?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The only response was a blank stare.


    ¡°Is it really you? Can¡­ can you respond?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Siyuak¨¦n¡­?¡±


    The Electrotechnic continued to stare at Kaon¨¦ for several seconds before finally opening her mouth, drawing the attention of both Kaon¨¦ and Wilkas.


    ¡°The Siyuak¨¦n you knew¡­ is gone.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what¡ª?¡± Kaon¨¦ started, but was interrupted as the shackles trapping Siyuak¨¦n turned a metallic gray. The Electrotechnic then let off a massive electric shock before fleeing into the sky, leaving Kaon¨¦ and Wilkas to stare after her.


    ¡°¡­Well that worked.¡± The Forcetechnic snorted irately. ¡°You just had to let her get away, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    He then turned toward the nearest skirmish and charged forward to join in the fight, leaving Kaon¨¦ to continue staring into the sky uneasily. Siyuak¨¦n¡­


    <hr>


    ¡°YOUR LUCK RAN OUT LONG AGO.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡± Dav¨ªdrius finally tore his attention from V¨¦lunis¡¯s body to give the Nanocreature leader a menacing glare. Morcii simply laughed in response, appearing to derive amusement from the Velocitechnic¡¯s helpless state.


    ¡°AND STILL YOU TRY TO RESIST.¡± He shook his head wearily. ¡°THERE TRULY IS NO UNDERSTANDING YOU ALDREDANOIDS. OH WELL¡­ I CAN WAIT.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius continued to glare at Morcii even as the Nanocreature leader took a step back and glanced upward, creating a three-meter wide hole in the ceiling with seemingly only a thought. A second later light began shining through, indicating that the hole ran all the way up to the top of the crevice ¡ª and a mere couple seconds after that, Siyuak¨¦n appeared through the hole, stopping her rapid descent inches from the ground and carefully alighting.


    ¡°¡­YOU LOST YOUR ARM,¡± Morcii observed with a scowl before raising his arm and drawing a silver cloud out of the surrounding rocks. The cloud floated through the air before coalescing around Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s shoulder and then forming into a new arm. ¡°BE MORE CAREFUL. LETTING THESE ANNOYING PESTS GET THE BEST OF YOU IS PAINFULLY SHAMEFUL.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n simply responded with a curt nod as she flexed her new arm, ignoring Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s gaze as it settled on her.


    Siyuak¨¦n¡­ damn it, the Velocitechnic growled internally, I couldn¡¯t save you¡­ I couldn¡¯t do anything for V¨¦lunis, and now I can¡¯t even save myself! Damn it¡­!


    ¡°IT¡¯S TIME FOR US TO LEAVE,¡± Morcii remarked as he glanced up at the hole he created. ¡°SEIZE THE AYAS, BUT LEAVE THE CHAOTICS BEHIND. THEY HAVE TASKS AHEAD OF THEM DOWN HERE.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n nodded once before turning toward Dav¨ªdrius and the two Ayas. She began approaching steadily as Morcii casually turned his attention to the unconscious Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis.


    No! Damn it! Dav¨ªdrius quivered again as he eyed Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s approaching form. Fuck! We¡¯re gonna lose the Ayas¡­ and then we¡¯re gonna get used like fucking pawns! Argh, I can¡¯t even move my body anymore! He watched helplessly as the Electrotechnic finally reached him and stooped down to grab the Chaos Ayas. D¡­damn it! I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­!


    ¡°If¡­ if something goes wrong¡­ can I trust you to just end it?¡±


    What¡ª? Wait¡­ that was¡­


    ¡°If something happens to me, can you¡­ can you stop me?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n¡­ The Velocitechnic glanced back up at the corrupted Electrotechnic as she stood up and turned away from him. ¡­Right, you trusted this whole damn thing to me, didn¡¯t you? And I fucking failed. Failed¡­ damn it¡ª fuck that! Fuck getting corrupted! Fuck this losing shit! I¡¯m not gonna stop until I¡¯m fucking dead! ¡°Sec¡­!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n paused mid-stride, turning to face Dav¨ªdrius curiously. Morcii noticed immediately and turned his own attention to her. ¡°WHAT IS IT?¡±


    ¡°cond¡­!¡±


    ¡°WAIT¡­¡± Morcii narrowed his eyes, and then lunged forward. ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T¡ª!¡±


    ¡°TIER!!¡±


    Instantly, the two Ayas disappeared out of Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hands as a silver cloud exploded away from Dav¨ªdrius. Ignoring both of these factors, Morcii barreled forward and thrust his knee forward in the same manner that had killed V¨¦lunis ¡ª only to be stopped mid-strike.


    ¡°That attack might¡¯ve worked the first time¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked as he held Morcii¡¯s knee several inches from his face with his hand. ¡°¡­But you¡¯d be an idiot to expect it to work again!¡±


    ¡°HMPH!¡± The Nanocreature leader scowled and jumped back several meters. ¡°¡­YOU BROKE THE CORRUPTION¡­ HA!¡± He smirked again. ¡°BUT EVEN SO, YOU STILL CANNOT DEFEAT ME¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Like hell I can¡¯t!¡± The Velocitechnic burst forward, reaching Morcii in the blink of an eye and performing a fierce bicycle kick that launched the Nanocreature through the ceiling. Siyuak¨¦n immediately fled through the hole Morcii had created earlier, followed closely by Dav¨ªdrius as he cleared the entire crevice depth in a single bound and alighted at the lip of the crevice.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re here.¡± He turned to the side, addressing Kaon¨¦ and Wilkas as they rushed up to the crevice.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, ¡°Morcii and Siyuak¨¦n just flew out of the crevice¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I know. Look, there¡¯s no time to explain; I¡¯m in the Second Tier Chaos State, and I need to stop Morcii! Uh, Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis are down there, in the crevice. You need to rescue them. They¡¯re getting corrupted, but I know how to stop it! We just need to use the Chaos State!¡±


    ¡°You¡ª wait, what?¡± Kaon¨¦ responded in confusion, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius, what are you¡ª?¡±


    Before she could finish her question, however, the Velocitechnic had already left, leaping high into the sky.


    ¡°¡­What¡¯s up with him?¡± she muttered to herself warily. ¡°¡­Wait, he said Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis¡­ what about V¨¦lunis¡­?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­THAT PESKY BERSERK TENDENCY. WERE IT NOT FOR THAT, THE CORRUPTION WOULD¡¯VE GONE SMOOTHLY. BUT OF COURSE, IT WAS SLOWED BY THE CHAOS ENERGY MANIFESTATION OF RAGE. I¡¯M A FOOL FOR OVERLOOKING THAT¡­¡±


    Morcii grumbled to himself as he and Siyuak¨¦n ascended through the atmosphere, already several kilometers in the air. The corrupted Electrotechnic followed silently as the Nanocreature leader continued to berate himself over his actions.


    ¡°I ADMIT, I¡¯M SURPRISED BY THIS TURN OF EVENTS, BUT¡­ OH WELL. I CAN ALWAYS GET THE OTHER AYAS THROUGH BRUTE FORCE. TIME TO PUT THESE ANNOYING ALDREDANOIDS DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL¡ª?!¡±


    He was interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius suddenly appeared in the air beside him, having cleared the several kilometers of altitude in a single leap. Morcii had only a fraction of a second to stare at the Velocitechnic in wide-eyed rage before Dav¨ªdrius smashed his foot onto the Nanocreature¡¯s head, sending him rocketing back down to the ground below. The Velocitechnic immediately summoned the Ayas Bow Mystryth as he began to fall himself, drawing the bowstring back and launching volley after volley of hypersonic Chaos Arrows at the Nanocreature leader below. The moment he finally landed on the ground he took off toward Morcii, dismissing Mystryth and summoning the Ayas Staff Tanivas in its place and thrusting forward.


    ¡°NO!¡± Morcii boomed as he grabbed the end of the staff and stopped Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s charge. ¡°I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DEFEAT ME SO EASILY!¡±


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll just have to do somethin¡¯ a little more complicated!¡± The Velocitechnic shot back, letting go of the staff and then roundhouse-kicking it with enough force to rip it out of Morcii¡¯s grip as well as obliterate his entire lower arm. Dav¨ªdrius immediately lunged forward and head-butted the Nanocreature in the chest, launching him hundreds of meters away before he tumbled to a stop along the ground. Morcii quickly jumped back to his feet and flipped away just as Dav¨ªdrius launched another kick; the Nanocreature then stopped himself mid-flip and reversed his movement to catch the Velocitechnic¡¯s foot, but the moment he got hold Dav¨ªdrius stomped the ground, ripping his foot out of Morcii¡¯s grip and obliterating his other hand.


    ¡°YOU¡­ FOOLISH ALDREDANOIDS!¡± Morcii snarled, putting all of his effort into evading Dav¨ªdrius as he slowly reformed his broken limbs. ¡°WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND THIS POINTLESS RESISTANCE?! EVEN IN THE FACE OF IMMEDIATE FAILURE, YOU STILL REFUSE TO GIVE UP!¡±


    ¡°Well of course we ain¡¯t gonna just roll over an¡¯ surrender,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, summoning the Tanivas Staff and whipping it around in addition to his furious kicks to force Morcii back even harder. ¡°Ha! Is this all it takes? A single tier jump in the Chaos State and suddenly you can¡¯t do shit to stop me!¡±


    ¡°YOU¡­ ARE¡­ WRONG!¡± the Nanocreature leader exploded with rage as he slammed his fist into Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s foot, obliterating his own arm but stopping the incoming kick. He then severed his other arm from his body and transformed it into a dozen laser guns, using all of them to attack the Velocitechnic at range and force him to divert some of his energy to defense. ¡°THE SECOND TIER IS JUST AS MEANINGLESS AS THE FIRST! YOUR ARROGANCE IS MISPLACED; YOUR EARLIER ADVANTAGE MEANS NOTHING!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned, easily evading the constant streams of laser fire as he downed each gun systematically with the Mystryth Bow. ¡°You sound pretty damn flustered to me! You sure I¡¯m not actually a threat?¡±


    ¡°YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!¡± Morcii shot back, diving under Dav¨ªdrius as he kicked again. The Nanocreature leader whirled around and dealt his own kick to the Velocitechnic¡¯s back, sending him flying forward. Morcii quickly reformed his arms before transforming them both into laser cannons and opening fire on Dav¨ªdrius, obliterating the terrain around him relentlessly. ¡°YOU COULD NOT POSSIBLY STOP ME HERE! YOU ARE NO MATCH AT ALL FOR MY LIMITLESS POWER!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, bowling through the cannon fire to slam the end of Tanivas into and through Morcii¡¯s stomach. ¡°You definitely have a limit, and it¡¯s a lot closer to ours than you like to pretend it is!¡± He ripped the staff sideways out of Morcii, destroying the entire left side of the Nanocreature¡¯s body before flipping and bringing his foot down over Morcii¡¯s head, slamming him to the ground. ¡°We can beat you, Morcii! And this fight here proves that!¡±


    The Nanocreature growled and opened his mouth to respond but received a sudden blow to his side, flinging him several kilometers back and into a cliff side at the end of the valley. Dav¨ªdrius immediately appeared beside him and made to smash his foot through Morcii¡¯s head, but the Nanocreature ducked just in time to evade the attack ¡ª which instead shattered the entire cliff. Morcii immediately slammed his head into the Velocitechnic¡¯s crotch, launching him up into the air before dashing off toward a group of Nanocreature soldier units to repair his body. Dav¨ªdrius quickly summoned Mystryth and fired an arrow toward Morcii, piercing him through the right kidney and blowing off both of his legs ¡ª which promptly reformed into a multitude of flechettes that immediately homed in on the Velocitechnic at hypersonic speeds as Morcii¡¯s legless body continued to fly through the air toward the other Nanocreatures. Dav¨ªdrius scowled but nonetheless deftly picked each and every projectile out of the air in under a second flat, before smashing them with Tanivas and then bounding off toward Morcii just as the Nanocreature leader seized direct control of the other units and used their nanomachines to repair himself. He turned around and crossed his arms in front of him just in time to block another kick from Dav¨ªdrius, but was still flung backwards hundreds of meters ¡ª he quickly lifted into the air, however, looping around and slamming into the Velocitechnic¡¯s back just as he blocked with Tanivas. The blow knocked Dav¨ªdrius clear across the valley and up the mountainside, but he recovered immediately and leaped back to his feet just in time to counter Morcii¡¯s next punch with a kick, obliterating the Nanocreature¡¯s fist again. Morcii instantly reversed his momentum, drawing away from Dav¨ªdrius and ascending into the air as he disengaged all of his limbs from his body and transformed them into a variety of weapons before launching and firing them all at Dav¨ªdrius. The Velocitechnic disappeared from his spot the moment the attack began, completely evading all of the weapons before leaping up at Morcii from directly below and vertically impaling the Nanocreature all the way through with Tanivas. Morcii immediately tore himself in half, backing away from the Ayas Weapon and Dav¨ªdrius before reforming his body again ¡ª just in time for Dav¨ªdrius to smash him back down to the ground with a leap and an over-head flip-kick. The Velocitechnic dropped back to the ground and prepared to slam Morcii with another attack before being stunned by a sudden and immensely powerful lightning strike, a strike so powerful that it crystallized the ground beneath his feet.


    ¡°¡­AH, YOU¡¯VE RETURNED,¡± Morcii muttered wearily, taking advantage of the lull to leap back into the air as Siyuak¨¦n slowly descended from the skies above and hovered in the air over Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°THAT TOOK LONG ENOUGH¡­¡±


    The Velocitechnic glanced up at Siyuak¨¦n and then immediately leaped toward her ¡ª only to be struck by another lightning blast, flinging him away.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± he growled, glaring up at the Electrotechnic ¡ª and then scowling when he noticed the Dark Blue Ayas in her hands. ¡°So you¡¯ve got an Ayas too, huh?¡±


    ¡°TWO CAN PLAY AT THIS GAME,¡± Morcii retorted, floating over to Siyuak¨¦n and taking the Ayas from her before ascending into the sky. ¡°IF YOU WISH TO USE THE AYAS AGAINST ME, SO BE IT. YOU¡¯VE FORCED MY HAND¡­ NOW BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE AYAS IN THE HANDS OF THEIR TRUE MASTER!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glared up at Morcii as he continued to raise into the air, his speed rapidly increasing. The Velocitechnic then crouched down before leaping up, meeting Morcii in the air and preparing to slam his foot into him again ¡ª only to have his foot caught instead.


    ¡°DON¡¯T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REPEATED ATTACKS.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Worth a try,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded with a smirk before Morcii launched him back at the ground. He flipped himself around midair and caught himself easily and then turned his attention upwards.


    ¡°YOU WILL REGRET YOUR ACTIONS TODAY, ALDREDANOID!¡± Morcii shouted down at Dav¨ªdrius as he continued to raise into the sky, ¡°I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU SERIOUSLY FROM THE START¡­ EVEN IF YOU ESCAPE TODAY, THE NEXT WE MEET WILL BE THE LAST!¡±


    ¡°You can bet your ass it will be!¡± the Velocitechnic shot back as he summoned Mystryth and fired several arrows at the Nanocreature leader. Most of them hit, but Morcii ignored the blows and returned fire with several laser blasts that Dav¨ªdrius easily evaded. He glared up at Morcii and then shifted his attention to Siyuak¨¦n, shouting, ¡°hang in there, Siyuak¨¦n! It won¡¯t be much longer ¡®til the end, I promise!¡±


    The corrupted Electrotechnic responded with an empty stare as she and Morcii continually shrunk away from Dav¨ªdrius with distance. He stared after them until they disappeared completely, and then began glancing around the battlefield warily. ¡°¡­The fuck is he up to¡­?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing¡­?¡±


    ¡°Captain!¡± Krydonin exclaimed as she barged onto the bridge of the Genesis, ¡°what¡¯s the situation? Why have we been pulled back?¡±


    ¡°Mission¡¯s over,¡± Krick responded briefly, not even bothering to face Krydonin as he spoke, instead keeping his attention focused on the bridge displays. ¡°The moment Morcii appeared on the battlefield, the entire area was blanketed in an anti-beaming field. The field moved just a couple minutes ago, so I had everyone beamed up immediately; I¡¯m not risking leaving you stuck with Morcii. One of the Nimalians was still within Morcii¡¯s anti-beaming field though, so they¡¯re still down there¡­ though that¡¯s about to change.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Morcii¡¯s ascending into the planet¡¯s upper atmosphere, but not at the same speeds that he uses when he leaves a planet¡¯s gravity well. He¡¯s up to something, but I don¡¯t know what¡­¡±


    Krydonin sighed as she shook her head warily. ¡°We were only able to distract Morcii for a single day¡­?¡±


    ¡°This mission wasn¡¯t only to distract Morcii,¡± Krick countered. ¡°¡­What¡¯s that energy build-up?¡±


    The Commander turned toward the bridge displays, quickly finding the one display amongst the many that was showing sensor read-outs on Morcii. ¡°¡­It¡¯s Chaos Energy. That much¡­ he must have an Ayas on him.¡±


    ¡°¡­Beam up the remaining Nimalian!¡± Krick barked, just as a light flashed through the bridge window. ¡°Initiate the cloak! Clear the entire region¡ª!¡±


    His command was cut off as Dav¨ªdrius appeared on the bridge ¡ª followed immediately by a second flash of light, this one signaling a massive blast of energy directed at the planet. Within seconds the blast impacted the planet¡¯s surface, replacing the entire valley that had contained the mountain base and battlefield mere moments prior with a fifty-kilometer wide crater.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s no Drive bomb,¡± Krick muttered as he observed the damage through one of the ship¡¯s telescopic cameras, ¡°¡­but the fact that Morcii alone could do that¡­¡±


    ¡°He had an Ayas, though,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, and then leaped up to Krick and Krydonin. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t have anythin¡¯ on him, then we can totally beat him. I¡¯m only in the Second Tier Chaos State and I was kickin¡¯ his ass! ¡­Until he got his hands on that Ayas, at least.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure he wasn¡¯t going easy on you?¡± Krydonin questioned.


    ¡°You don¡¯t fake that kind of disadvantage. I definitely had somethin¡¯ on him.¡±


    ¡°And now he knows that we know that we can beat him.¡± Krick frowned. ¡°I doubt he¡¯ll be going easy on us anymore.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded wearily, ¡°¡­what do we do, then?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not much else to it,¡± Krick muttered, and then shook his head. ¡°¡­Part of the purpose of this mission was to try and pin down Morcii¡¯s true strength. Now that we have an idea, the CSA can put their final plan to get rid of him into action.¡±


    ¡°What? I wasn¡¯t aware such a plan was in the works,¡± Krydonin interjected.


    ¡°Neither was I, not until after I had beamed all of you down to the surface,¡± Krick replied. ¡°There¡¯s not much to it¡­¡± He glanced toward Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°But we¡¯ll need all of the help from the Nimalians we can get.¡±


    ¡°A ¡®final showdown¡¯, eh? How the fuck is that gonna work?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°where is this ¡®plan¡¯ gonna take place, anyways, huh?¡±


    ¡°The CSA are going all-in,¡± Krick declared. ¡°To lure in Morcii, they¡¯re enacting the plan on their last untouched high-value system: the Citan Primary Fortress World, Neticen.¡±

 68 - Calm Before the Storm

    Chapter 68 - Calm Before the Storm


    3 Days Later


    ¨C Mondia, Skydiath 29, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Neticen ¡ª the Primary Citan Fortress World. It is, quite literally, the most heavily fortified and technologically advanced planet in the entirety of CSA, Nimalian, and Black Suns space.¡±


    ¡°¡­Uh,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded confusedly, ¡°¡­what does that mean, exactly?¡±


    ¡°It means that, if Siionkagh or Gu¡¯Dan had been as heavily fortified as Neticen, then the Oriciid¡¯kas and Tau¡¯cen Kii systems wouldn¡¯t be nearly as close to complete loss as they are currently,¡± Nik¨¦yin stated. ¡°Neticen¡¯s planetary shields are several orders of magnitude stronger than Siionkagh and Gu¡¯Dan¡¯s combined, and its shield array contains far more redundancy, so the loss of a single polar generator won¡¯t have a significant impact on the overall shield strength. There are also over a thousand planetside anti-orbital installations, with an additional several thousand anti-ship satellites in orbit. Neticen could fend off nearly five whole CSA fleets without its own fleet support; that¡¯s just how advanced the Citans are. And that¡¯s not even taking into account the planet¡¯s manufacturing capabilities. Neticen and its moons could produce an entire thousands-strong Citan fleet within a month; hell, the Neticen system is one of the only three systems in CSA space with the proper facilities to produce Supercapital ships.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ impressive,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded slowly.


    The Commander nodded. ¡°It is. Which makes the fact that the Citans are willing to sacrifice the planet for the sake of stopping Morcii all the more powerful a statement. The CSA is saying that they¡¯re so desperate for a victory against the Nanocreatures that they will literally sacrifice their lifeline. Neticen is their last untouched major military installation ¡ª if they lose it, they lose the war. And if the CSA loses, we all lose. They are, effectively, staking the entire galaxy¡¯s fate on this one plan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great an¡¯ all, but I got a question¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°If Neticen is really as powerful as you¡¯re sayin¡¯ it is, then why haven¡¯t the Nanocreatures attacked it yet?¡±


    ¡°We still don¡¯t know what the Nanocreatures¡¯ plans are,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied, ¡°Morcii made claims related to these ¡®Morikai¡¯ when he first appeared nearly a month ago, but we have no idea what his plans are regarding that goal, or how he would even achieve as much. The only thing we know is that the Nanocreatures, so far, have only attacked Transpace Worlds in a clear attempt to segregate the galaxy ¡ª and it¡¯s working. The Siion fleets and our own fleets are stuck fighting the Nanocreatures at Siionleh and Egdonikon with no way of reaching or reinforcing Citan or Dra¡¯kis space, and while the CSA has managed to hold on to the Tau¡¯cen Kii system for now, the situation has significantly deteriorated since you left, and it¡¯s only a matter of days before fleets can no longer safely travel between the Dra¡¯kis World Coalition and the Citan Republic. So, to answer your question, I can only assume that the Nanocreatures would have attacked Neticen eventually ¡ª they simply prioritized the Transpace Worlds first.¡±


    ¡°This is great speculation,¡± Wilkas spoke up impatiently, ¡°but, uh, what¡¯s the actual plan?¡±


    ¡°Watch your tongue, Lieutenant.¡± The Commander gave the Forcetechnic a reproachful glance. ¡°¡­But the plan is simple. The reason the Citans are using Neticen is because it¡¯s a high-value target that they hope will lure in Morcii, while also having enough defenses to give us time to react to an attack. But if they want to be sure to lure him in, they have to use what he¡¯s actually looking for¡­ which only we have.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed warily. ¡°You mean the Ayas.¡±


    Nik¨¦yin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s exactly it. We have five of the Ayas, including the Master Ayas. Morcii has the other four and has made it clear that he wants the rest. The Citans want to use this fact to lure Morcii in by bringing all of our Ayas to Neticen, which would be sure to draw attention.¡±


    ¡°With the distinct risk of losing them all to Morcii,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°If havin¡¯ all the Ayas in one place would attract Morcii, then why hasn¡¯t he attacked us yet? As in the Nimalian Territories?¡±


    ¡°Because we don¡¯t have the Ayas in one place,¡± Nik¨¦yin explained. ¡°The three that I hadn¡¯t authorized for combat use are on a daily planetary rotation ¡ª none of them are on the same planet as the others, and none of them remain on a single planet for longer than one day. Presumably, they¡¯re moving enough that they can¡¯t be easily tracked, and that¡¯s why Morcii hasn¡¯t tried to get them yet. The question is whether or not we¡¯re willing to sacrifice this security to go all-in with the CSA on this plan of theirs ¡ª and the way I see it, there isn¡¯t any real choice. We have to bet on them.¡±


    ¡°¡­No choice, huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed again. ¡°I feel like we haven¡¯t had a choice in anything as of late¡­¡±


    ¡°I should note that my decision is based on my experience alone,¡± Nik¨¦yin stated, leaning forward in her chair expectantly as she rested her elbows on the briefing room table. ¡°The Nimalian Territories won¡¯t last nearly as long against the Nanocreatures as the CSA has, and at the current rate of CSA loss, there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll be able to whip up any kind of weapon or technological advantage based around the Ayas, so hanging on to them without using them is pointless.¡± She glanced around at the five present members of Hero Machina as she continued, ¡°however, the five of you have had more experience both with using the Ayas and fighting Morcii than anyone else in this galaxy. I want to hear your opinions and, if you have any, suggestions.¡±


    ¡°¡­Holy shit, are you countin¡¯ on us to save the galaxy?¡± Dav¨ªdrius stared back at Nik¨¦yin, dumbfounded.


    ¡°I hesitate to use such, er¡­ hyperbolic language,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded warily, ¡°¡­but effectively¡­ maybe.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have one thing to say,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°and that¡¯s that we can¡¯t allow the Ayas to simply sit around on Neticen by themselves. The only way to keep them safe from Morcii is to keep them occupied by a Chaos State, and based on our experience back on Tau¡¯cen Dii, the First Tier won¡¯t cut it.¡±


    ¡°But can the Ayas be sensed while they¡¯re occupied by the Chaos State?¡± Kievkenalis questioned. ¡°I admit I¡¯m not all that great at sensing Ayas myself, but all you can sense from the Chaos State is a massive amount of Chaos Energy. There¡¯s no guarantee that Morcii would be able to tell that the Ayas are on Neticen if someone¡¯s in the Chaos State.¡±


    ¡°So, what, do we just park the Ayas on Neticen until Morcii appears and then have someone use the Chaos State?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°We all know how well that works. Morcii¡¯s too fast; near as I can tell, I¡¯ve been the only one to activate the state faster than he can move.¡±


    ¡°Should you be the one to use the State, then?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Uh, no offense, Dav¨ªdrius, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Kev¨¦rin stated. ¡°Even the Second Tier was too fast and powerful for any non-Chaos State Chaotic to keep up with, but Morcii was still matching it, mostly. Whoever uses the Chaos State will inevitably end up fighting Morcii on their own, and because of that, I would recommend someone with more offensive power be used to activate the State, to give them even more of an edge.¡±


    ¡°What? I got plenty of offensive power,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    ¡°Yeah, we all know that,¡± Wilkas snorted.


    ¡°Back on topic,¡± Nik¨¦yin interrupted, and then turned to face the Transfer Captain. ¡°So what, exactly, are you suggesting?¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m not entirely sure myself,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded with an uneasy frown, ¡°but, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to bring up the fact that we don¡¯t actually know much at all about the Chaos State. I mean, Arc¨¢n¡¯s told us a lot, but we have no idea how much of what he¡¯s said is true or not. The only way to find out would be to see for ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you want to use this opportunity to test the limits of the Chaos State?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yes. I mean, if we have all the Ayas in one place, then why not?¡±


    ¡°Testin¡¯ just sounds like a way for us to get caught with our pants down when Morcii shows up,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered.


    Kev¨¦rin shook his head. ¡°I disagree. This is a chance to figure out what the actual limits of the Chaos State are. If we know those, then we can fight Morcii more effectively ¡ª additionally, if we¡¯re actually testing the State then the Ayas will be out and in and out of the Chaos State, so Morcii will, hopefully, be able to sense them ¡ª and then there¡¯s a chance that, when he shows up, someone¡¯s already in the Chaos State and ready to fight him.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think it¡¯s safe?¡± Nik¨¦yin questioned.


    ¡°I mean, yes, there¡¯s definitely some risk involved¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin shrugged. ¡°But isn¡¯t there already tons of risk all over this plan? I say the more we know about the Chaos State before going into battle with Morcii, the better.¡±


    ¡°What about the, uh, ¡®corrupting tendencies¡¯ of the Ayas?¡± Dav¨ªdrius refuted, ¡°are we gonna risk usin¡¯ the Dark Ayas with the Chaos State?¡±


    ¡°I think Arc¨¢n said once that their influence doesn¡¯t actually apply to the Chaos State,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°he said that the State actually heals the Chaotic that uses it, and that it¡¯s an overall boon.¡±


    ¡°Heals them, huh?¡­¡±


    ¡°I can check with him one more time before we leave, and try to get as much information out of him as possible.¡± The Transfer Captain turned back to Nik¨¦yin. ¡°Then we can use that information to test the State.¡±


    The Commander nodded once slowly, as if in thought, before glancing toward the other members of Hero Machina. ¡°Do any of you have anything else to add? Any objections?¡±


    ¡°How will we decide who fights Morcii, or who¡¯s the one to ¡®test¡¯ the Chaos State?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°The Citans might be better to ask, but if you have suggestions, come to me later,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied. ¡°The Ayas will be gathered at an off-world site within the next day; come tomorrow at four hours past noon, I expect you all to be geared up and ready to go. You have until then to rest or do whatever else you need to do here on Nimalia; don¡¯t do anything stupid, because the mission you all are about to embark on is, quite literally, one of the most important missions a Nimalian Commander has ever given out.¡± She stood up, prompting the members of Hero Machina to do the same. ¡°Good luck to all of you. Dismissed.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    <hr>


    ¡°So you finally decide to visit me, huh?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Finally?¡¯ That, I, uh¡­ I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    ¡°No, no¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡± Rebehka shook her head warily before turning back to the double-paned window, on the other side of which sat Kaon¨¦. The window shimmered slightly, the only sign of the energy shielding that covered Rebehka¡¯s entire side. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you at all,¡± the Cryotechnic continued, ¡°based on what I¡¯ve heard¡­ everyone must be busy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ looked down as she kneaded her fingers uneasily. ¡°I feel bad for just leaving you here¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do, break me out?¡± Rebehka replied flippantly, ¡°it¡¯s just military detainment, not prison.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound much better¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, don¡¯t worry about me, okay? I¡¯m doing just fine. I can¡¯t blame anyone but me for my situation, anyways; it is a pretty bad offense to use the Gate without authorization, and even more, to an unclaimed planet¡­¡±


    ¡°But Dav¨ªdrius didn¡¯t get in trouble!¡±


    ¡°He at least acknowledged the enforcement officers before charging through the Gate, and even then, I¡­¡± Rebehka pursed her lips and glanced away. ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly acting with the¡­ technically correct frame of mind, you know? Letting personal feelings get in the way of duty and all that¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, but¡­ still¡­¡±


    ¡°Relax, don¡¯t worry about me.¡± The Cryotechnic forced a smile as she turned back to look Kaon¨¦ in the eye. ¡°What about you? How have things been, lately?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ looked down again. ¡°¡­Not good.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right¡­ how bad is it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Only three of the CSA Transpace Worlds haven¡¯t been attacked, and most of the ones that have, have, well¡­ fallen.¡±


    ¡°To the Nanocreatures?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re about to¡­ well¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced up at the security camera staring at her from her side of the glass. ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure I can tell you that much.¡±


    ¡°What, about your next mission? ¡­That makes sense, I guess.¡± Rebehka leaned back and rubbed her temples warily. ¡°No one knows if I¡¯m corrupted, so. Yeah. Understandable.¡±


    The Materiatechnic looked back at her friend sheepishly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s fine, I understand,¡± Rebehka responded airily, ¡°so long as you find a way to stop Morcii¡­ so long as you do that, it¡¯ll have been worth it. As long as someone can avenge Siyuak¨¦n¡­ it¡¯ll have been worth it.¡±


    ¡°Vengeance?¡± Kaon¨¦ echoed uneasily, ¡°but, she¡¯s¡­ uh, right, yeah. I¡¯ll, uh, I¡¯ll tell Dav¨ªdrius you said that.¡±


    Rebehka stared at the Materiatechnic as she fidgeted uneasily. ¡°You aren¡¯t telling me something.¡±


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know if I can¡ª¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s still alive, isn¡¯t she.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ paused with her mouth half-open before looking down again.


    ¡°¡­Damn it.¡± Rebehka sighed as she looked around her small room in frustration. ¡°¡­I should¡¯ve known. I should¡¯ve known that what Dav¨ªdrius did wasn¡¯t enough¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you know that she¡¯s corrupted¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only answer, isn¡¯t it? If she were still alive, and not corrupted, then you wouldn¡¯t have tried to hide it from me. Hell¡­¡± The Cryotechnic smirked forlornly. ¡°She definitely would¡¯ve visited me herself.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ forced a smile. ¡°Ye¡­yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    Silence ensued for several moments as Rebehka stared at the ceiling and sighed again. ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, Kaon¨¦¡­ can you do something for me? Tell everyone else, too.¡±


    ¡°¡­What is it?¡±


    ¡°If you run into Siyuak¨¦n again¡­ don¡¯t hold back. Kill her as quickly as possible.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t herself anymore,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°¡­I already tried to save her once, and I almost got both Dav¨ªdrius and myself killed. And now she¡¯s stuck obeying Morcii¡­ it¡¯s terrible. This whole situation is horrible, and if I¡¯d only seen it sooner¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s what she wants. No one wants to be forced to fight their friends¡­ you know?¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s what you¡¯re telling us to do, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same. You aren¡¯t just stopping her from killing her friends, you¡¯re also stopping her from being controlled. If we can¡¯t save her¡­ the only way to help her, is to kill her. It¡¯s the only release.¡±


    ¡°¡­Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had several long weeks of isolation and boredom to think about it, so¡­ yes. Unless something¡¯s changed, but if it hasn¡¯t¡­ please, Kaon¨¦. For Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s sake.¡±


    ¡°¡­If¡­ if it¡¯s really what you want¡­¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Rebehka smiled, just as a buzzer went off behind her. ¡°¡­Looks like our time¡¯s up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded, standing up as two automatons entered the room behind Rebehka. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take care of Morcii for sure!¡±


    ¡°Ha, you better,¡± the Cryotechnic responded. ¡°I¡¯m counting on you, Kaon¨¦. You and all of Hero Machina. Don¡¯t let me down!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°YOU RETURN AGAIN, TRANSFER CAPTAIN. NO DOUBT IN PURSUIT OF NEW INFORMATION, DESPITE CONSIDERING THAT I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU ALL OF MY RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE?¡±


    ¡°You know it,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied as he sat himself in front of Arc¨¢n¡¯s console and opened up a variety of logs on his Glasses. ¡°Though part of why I¡¯m here is just to confirm things you¡¯ve already said, or things we¡¯ve found out.¡±


    ¡°YOU ALDREDANOIDS ARE AS THIRSTY FOR KNOWLEDGE AS YOUR ANCESTORS. I SUPPOSE I SHOULDN¡¯T BE SURPRISED¡­ VERY WELL, I SHALL INDULGE YOU ONCE MORE.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded pleasantly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start with the Ayas. Just how powerful are they?¡±


    ¡°LIMITLESS.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, that¡¯s not true. If each Ayas held limitless power then the First Tier Chaos State would¡¯ve been able to crush Morcii.¡±


    ¡°YOU MISCONSTRUE THE POWER OF THE AYAS WITH THE POWER OF THE CHAOS STATE. THE POWER OF EACH VARIES GREATLY BASED ON USAGE, BOTH IN WHO IS USING THEM AND HOW THEY ARE BEING USED. IF I HAVE JUDGED THIS GALAXY CORRECTLY, YOU HAVE YET TO POSSESS THE MEANS TO UNDERSTAND OR EVEN UTILIZE THE FULL POWER OF EACH AYAS INDIVIDUALLY, AND TOGETHER, THEY ONLY TRULY MANIFEST THEIR MAXIMUM POWER POTENTIAL WHEN USED IN THE HIGHER TIER CHAOS STATES.¡±


    ¡°You did say that the final tier could destroy galaxies¡­¡±


    ¡°AND THAT IS MERELY A POTENTIAL. IN THE HANDS OF THE RIGHT CHAOTIC, THE FINAL TIER COULD DO EVEN MORE¡­ OR LESS.¡±


    ¡°I have a question about Chaos State tiering, actually¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin paused a moment to read through a couple logs presented by his Glasses. ¡°¡­When Kevken and I talked with you back on the seventeenth, you said that the final tier could destroy galaxies, the eighth could destroy solar systems, and the fourth could destroy planets. Isn¡¯t that a bit of a jump from the eighth to the final, when there¡¯s only one Ayas to add?¡±


    ¡°WHEN THAT ONE AYAS IS THE AYAS SYN, NO, IT IS NOT. REMEMBER THAT THE AYAS SYN ¡ª KNOWN TO YOU AS THE ¡®MASTER AYAS¡¯ ¡ª IS NOT TREATED IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE OTHER AYAS. TO USE IT WITH THE CHAOS STATE, INSTEAD OF INCLUDING IT IN THE AYAS COUNT, YOU MUST APPEND THE TERM ¡®MASTER¡¯ IN BETWEEN ¡®TIER¡¯ AND THE ORDINAL NUMBER. FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU HAD FOUR AYAS AND THE MASTER ¡ª AS YOU DO ¡ª TO USE THEM ALL, YOU WOULD USE THE KEYWORDS ¡®CHAOS STATE: MASTER FOURTH TIER.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you told me that a month ago. But how much more powerful than the regular Fourth Tier would that be?¡±


    ¡°AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE IS NO EXACT LIMIT ON THE AYAS OR THE CHAOS STATE. BUT WERE I BE FORCED TO QUANTIFY THE VALUE OF THE MASTER KEYWORD, I WOULD APPROXIMATE IT AS BUMPING THE EFFECTIVE POWER OF THE CHAOS STATE UP TWO TIERS. FURTHERMORE, NO MATTER THE TIER IT IS USED AT, THE MASTER KEYWORD GRANTS THE ABILITIES OF UNAIDED FLIGHT AND VACUUM SURVIVAL.¡±


    ¡°Can the Master Ayas be used to engage the Chaos State without any of the other Ayas?¡±


    ¡°IT CAN, IN WHICH CASE YOU WOULD USE THE ORDINAL TERM ¡®ZEROTH.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Interesting, interesting¡­¡± The Transfer Captain nodded as he quickly took down several notes. ¡°¡­Alright, another question about the Chaos State. Aside from the power boost, what can it actually do?¡±


    ¡°I ASSUME YOU ASK BEYOND FLIGHT AND VACUUM SURVIVAL?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±


    ¡°HMM¡­ ¡­THERE IS AN INSTANT HEALING FACTOR UPON ENGAGING THE STATE, BUT I WOULD NOT COUNT ON SUCH A FACTOR TO SAVE A LIFE. THE STATE ITSELF ALSO INCREASES THE USER¡¯S DURABILITY SUCH THAT THEY CAN WITHSTAND SIMILAR LEVELS OF FORCE TO THAT WHICH THEY ARE OUTPUTTING, AND IT ALSO INCREASES THEIR SPEED AND REACTION TIMES ACCORDINGLY. ASIDE FROM THAT¡­ THERE SHOULD BE NO ADDITIONAL FACTOR TO THE CHAOS STATE.¡±


    ¡°And you think the Chaos State is the key to defeating Morcii?¡±


    ¡°I DO.¡±


    ¡°But, about a month ago¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced through another log. ¡°¡­You said that you didn¡¯t know how to stop Morcii.¡±


    ¡°I DO NOT. BUT IN LIEU OF THAT INFORMATION, THE CHAOS STATE IS THE ONLY OPTION.¡±


    ¡°Is it, though? Morcii mentioned something about being ¡®anchored¡¯ when he first showed up. And if you don¡¯t even know how to defeat Morcii, then will pure force really be enough?¡±


    ¡°DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE STATE¡¯S POWER. WHILE AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF DEFEATING MORCII MAY BE DESIRABLE, THE RAW POWER OF THE CHAOS STATE SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO END HIM. NO ONE CAN SURVIVE HAVING EVERY PARTICLE OF THEIR BEING DESTROYED.¡±


    ¡°I guess that answers that, then, huh.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded absentmindedly. ¡°Hmm¡­ okay. I have one more question, then.¡±


    ¡°YES?¡±


    ¡°Mystryth explained who the Morikai were ¡ª basically, a super-advanced race that appeared out of nowhere and practically destroyed both the Drakkars and the Aldredas before disappearing. Except, Morcii said something about freeing them, and you readily accepted that he was working for them. Is ¡®freeing¡¯ them possible? What does that even mean? And what kind of threat do they pose to the galaxy?¡±


    ¡°THESE QUESTIONS ARE DIFFICULT TO ANSWER, IN PART BECAUSE OF HOW LITTLE I KNOW¡­ AND BECAUSE OF THE INFORMATION I HAVE LOST. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MORCII PLANS TO FREE THEM, OR WHAT HE MEANS BY THAT, BESIDES REITERATING MY ADVICE TO NOT TAKE HIS CLAIMS AT FACE VALUE. HOWEVER, I CAN SAY THIS: SHOULD THEY RETURN, IT WILL BE THE END OF THE GALAXY AS YOU KNOW IT. THERE WILL BE NO CHANCE TO RESIST, NOT IF YOU CAN BARELY STAND UP TO EVEN THE NANOCREATURES. THE ENTIRE GALAXY WOULD BE CONQUERED WITHIN WEEKS, POSSIBLY EVEN DAYS ¡ª AND THAT ESTIMATE INCLUDES THE HUNDREDS OF NON-TRANSPACE SYSTEMS.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s just more incentive to stop Morcii, then, huh¡­¡±


    ¡°INDEED IT IS.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded again as he took some final notes. ¡°Well¡­ I believe that¡¯s it for now. Thanks for all the help, Arc¨¢n. Now it¡¯s time to put it all to the test¡­¡±


    ¡°HMM?¡±


    ¡°The next we speak, we¡¯ll have beaten Morcii.¡±


    ¡°¡­THAT SOUNDS LIKE A STATEMENT MADE IN UNFOUNDED CONFIDENCE, ALDREDANOID.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯d say it¡¯s pretty factual,¡± the Transfer Captain replied as he stood up from the console and turned toward the exit. ¡°Because, with the mission we¡¯re about to go on¡­ if we don¡¯t defeat Morcii, well. There won¡¯t be a ¡®next we speak.¡¯¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Oh, Wilkas¡­ you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°¡­Hn,¡± the Forcetechnic grunted, glancing over his shoulder just long enough to identify Kievkenalis before turning his attention back to the valley and Nimaliaka Central below.


    The Chaostechnic quietly approached and leaned on the guardrail next to Wilkas atop the roof of the base¡¯s highest tower. He looked out over the sprawling city that was Nimaliaka¡¯s capital, the mountains surrounding it to the south and west, and the vast sea to the east. ¡°¡­Pretty amazing, huh?¡±


    ¡°Ha,¡± Wilkas snorted derisively. ¡°There¡¯s not even a half-decent river for kilometers. Only thing here is mountains. No real forest, either. It¡¯s not Riverana at all.¡±


    ¡°Riverana? You weren¡¯t thinking about your home planet or anything?¡±


    The Forcetechnic gave Kievkenalis a level stare before turning away again. ¡°You¡¯re here to talk about V¨¦lunis, aren¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°What? I¡ª ¡­how did you know?¡±


    ¡°You never ask either of us about our home planet unless you¡¯re trying to start a conversation about the other. Dunno why, either, since that¡¯s a stupid topic to segue from.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess.¡±


    Silence followed as the two Chaotics looked out over the city valley.


    ¡°¡­When¡¯s the service?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh. Uh¡­¡± Kievkenalis sighed. ¡°¡­Not for another week at least, if he even gets one. Everyone¡¯s busy fighting the Nanocreatures, and as much as I hate to say it, V¨¦lunis is just one of many¡­¡±


    Wilkas pursed his lips in frustration. ¡°One of many to die, sure. But did you see what was left? His brain was literally splattered against the wall. You think anyone deserves that?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not¡­¡±


    ¡°At least he didn¡¯t end up like, uh¡­ whatsherface. The girl we were fighting.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, her. At least he got taken out instead of getting corrupted or whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Kievkenalis sighed again as he leaned his head back to look up at the evening sky. ¡°Though I have to say¡­ out of the three of us, I never imagined he¡¯d die first¡­¡±


    ¡°When he could summon whatever weapon he wanted out of nowhere? Yeah, you¡¯d think. Why the hell did he even go fight in close quarters? That was stupid. And so was going down into the crevice. What the hell were you guys thinking?¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, we screwed up.¡± Kievkenalis furrowed his brow in frustration. ¡°¡­We thought we had the upper hand. We thought we could stop Morcii, but apparently¡­ we couldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Apparently?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re blaming all this on me.¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Wilkas closed his eyes and sighed irately before looking down at Nimaliaka Central again. ¡°¡­No. I know it¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s just¡­ hmph. Morcii needs to pay.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is what we intend to do on Neticen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but chances are I won¡¯t be the one who gets to use the Chaos State. I hope I can at least get in a few good shots¡­¡±


    ¡°Trust me, you aren¡¯t the only one who wants Morcii dead,¡± Kievkenalis remarked. ¡°¡­We¡¯ll beat him, one way or another. For V¨¦lunis, for Siyuak¨¦n ¡ª for everyone. You can count on that.¡±


    <hr>


    Holy fucking shit am I bored.


    Christean¨¦ stared at the ceiling irately as the morning sun shone through the window in his hospital room. He slowly turned his head toward the clock above the door, grimacing in pain as he caught a glimpse of the time. 8:24¡­ ow, ow, ow¡­ damn it¡­ He pursed his lips as he returned to staring at the ceiling, as he had done each day for the past month.


    At least I can move my body now¡­ He wiggled his fingers slightly, but stopped promptly as pain shot up his arms. Now if only the damn pain would go away¡­ gah, I¡¯m going to go fucking insane before I ever recover from this¡ª


    The Forcetechnic¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as the door to his room slammed open. He looked up in surprise as Dav¨ªdrius barged in with a surprisingly amused smirk on his face.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius¡­?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned warily, ¡°what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but we don¡¯t got time to chat,¡± the Velocitechnic replied as he grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up next to the hospital bed, taking a seat on it backwards and leaning forward on the chair¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯ve got a question for ya.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius grinned. ¡°How¡¯d you like to kick some Nanocreature ass?¡±

 69 - The Rules of Chaos

    Chapter 69 - The Rules of Chaos


    3 Days Later


    ¨C Windia, Skydiath 32, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Why does it seem like every Fortress World is a desolate piece of garbage?¡±


    ¡°That couldn¡¯t be further from the truth,¡± Kev¨¦rin refuted, his attention focused on several AR readouts as he addressed Wilkas, ¡°Fortress Worlds are the neatest planets you¡¯ll find. They¡¯re all about military-grade efficiency, especially the Primary Fortress Worlds, which are the only ones we¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°Maasen wasn¡¯t a Primary Fortress World,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered.


    ¡°¡­Well, true, but that¡¯s beside the point,¡± the Pyrotechnic replied, glancing toward the other three Chaotics as they stared at the surrounding mountains and valleys through an observation window. Hero Machina had arrived on the world of Neticen the previous day, and were now stationed at one of the planet¡¯s mountain bases while they awaited the arrival of the Nanocreatures. ¡°The point is that we¡¯ve only seen the desolate locations on each planet,¡± Kev¨¦rin continued, ¡°the planets themselves aren¡¯t desolate, or garbage.¡±


    ¡°Could¡¯ve fooled me,¡± Wilkas retorted, ¡°between a tundra outpost and two different mountain bases that look exactly the same.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, Tau¡¯cen Dii wasn¡¯t actually a Fortress World,¡± Kievkenalis pointed out.


    Wilkas gave the Chaostechnic an annoyed glance before turning back to the window.


    ¡°Neticen especially is an amazing place, from a technical perspective,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented as he stepped up to the observation window beside Kaon¨¦. ¡°If you had a chance to see the plains, then you¡¯d see what I¡¯m talking about. Huge expanses of industrialized terrain, massive defense constructs, the anti-orbital cannons. Hell, there are some construction arrays that are larger than the entire Nimaliaka Central metropolis, and some of the anti-orbital cannons have dedicated power arrays and resupply facilities that stretch for hundreds of kilometers around. The only reason you can¡¯t see any of that is because we¡¯re stuck in one of the tertiary mountain bases, in the hopes that the Nanocreatures will hit here first instead of anywhere else.¡±


    ¡°How does that matter?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned incredulously. ¡°By the time the Nanocreatures have gotten through the planetary shields, the whole planet is as good as lost.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re forgetting that Morcii can phase through the shields,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered. ¡°He did so many times back in the Oriciid¡¯kas system, so he¡¯s sure to do it here. This base has comparatively little value, so if he hit here first then it gives the Citans time to clear out everywhere else.¡±


    ¡°I thought the whole point of trying to draw Morcii here was because they were willing to sacrifice the planet?¡±


    The Transfer Captain shrugged. ¡°Sacrificing the planet doesn¡¯t mean they have to sacrifice what¡¯s on it¡­ I guess.¡±


    ¡°I wanna know more about that ¡®hitting here first¡¯ part,¡± Wilkas interjected. ¡°If we expect Morcii to show up here first, then why the hell are we here? Isn¡¯t it common knowledge that we can¡¯t do shit against him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a trust measure. If we won¡¯t stick around while we test the Chaos State, then why should the Citans?¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s a terrible reason.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also a show of our trust in the Citan defenses. We can¡¯t ask them to commit a full theater¡¯s worth of defenses to defend a single planet if we don¡¯t trust them to defend us. Hell, they¡¯ve even got the Faetos in orbit. Shit, this is the fourth Deathnought we¡¯ve been in the same system as, you know?¡±


    ¡°How about instead of being in the same system as a Deathnought, we were on the Deathnought?¡±


    ¡°Ah, we¡¯re probably safer down here than on the Deathnought, actually,¡± Kievkenalis remarked. ¡°A Supercapital ship is a primary target, always. The Nanocreatures might take it out before even bothering with the planet, so I think we¡¯re safer here for now.¡±


    Wilkas snorted derisively. ¡°Says the Chaos Conduit.¡±


    ¡°What? What does that have to do with this? I¡¯m not even a Chaos Conduit in the first place¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Wilkas has a point.¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced toward the Chaostechnic curiously. ¡°You used a Movement-type ability back on Tau¡¯cen Dii, but you said before that you couldn¡¯t use Movement-type abilities. You¡¯ve been doing that a lot, lately, using abilities that you said you shouldn¡¯t be able to. Are you sure you aren¡¯t actually a Chaos Conduit?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kievkenalis responded crossly, and then frowned. ¡°Well¡­ I mean, I used to be a Directed-Defense-Support Chaostechnic. Those were the only types of abilities that I could use for years, but I suddenly started getting access to the other types a few months ago. It¡¯s¡­ weird. There¡¯s no precedent for this.¡±


    ¡°And when, exactly, was the last time anyone ever even saw a Chaos Conduit?¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out. ¡°¡­Aside from Surdeus, obviously. My point being, if you don¡¯t even know what it looks like to be a Chaos Conduit, then how can you so firmly say that you aren¡¯t one?¡±


    The Chaostechnic crossed his arms and glanced away in thought. ¡°¡­I guess you¡¯re right,¡± he eventually replied. ¡°The only stories we have of Chaos Conduits are basically legends. But, that¡¯s not me, right? I¡¯m nowhere close to legendary. I can¡¯t be one.¡±


    ¡°Weird thing to be in denial about,¡± Wilkas retorted. ¡°Can¡¯t Chaos Conduits stop time? I¡¯d be all over that.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°What types can you still not use?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, ¡°maybe you¡¯ll unlock them all before the fight with Morcii is over.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wishful thinking. He won¡¯t even be the one fighting Morcii,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, and then shot Kievkenalis an apologetic glance. ¡°Er, sorry.¡±


    ¡°¡­Void, I think,¡± the Chaostechnic ignored Kev¨¦rin¡¯s interruption as he answered Kaon¨¦¡¯s question. ¡°¡­Yeah, I think Void is the only type I can¡¯t use. I mean, I haven¡¯t tried to use any Void abilities, and I¡¯m not about to, not here, not now. ¡­I guess Void and Nullify would be pretty useful against Morcii, though. Actually, now that I think about it, Boost should be pretty useful, too¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s that do?¡±


    ¡°Boost is a Movement-type ability that increases your speed and reflexes. If I used Boost and the right multiplier then I could, theoretically, keep up with even Dav¨ªdrius. It¡¯d only last for a second or two though, if I tried going that fast.¡±


    ¡°¡­Chaostechnics really can do anything,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded in awe.


    ¡°I mean¡­ it¡¯s still not as good as being an actual Introtechnic,¡± Kievkenalis quickly added. ¡°Boost, well, boosts speed and reflexes, but it doesn¡¯t provide the passive durability that Introtechnics have. I¡¯d have to use it in conjunction with Armor or Form to even get close to the level of Introtechnic durability, and using either of those would reduce the effectiveness of Boost, so it¡¯s really not quite as useful as it sounds¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Wilkas snorted. ¡°Still sounds incredibly useful to me.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as though we¡¯ll get a chance to see anyways. Not against Morcii, at least,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked. ¡°Assuming everything goes according to plan, we¡¯ll have no business fighting him. That¡¯s all up to Christean¨¦¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Oh! Hello. So you¡¯re the test subject today?¡±


    ¡°¡­Test subject?¡± Christean¨¦ glanced warily toward Dav¨ªdrius, though his neck brace prevented him from turning far. He then looked back at the Citan woman who had just entered the room with a cart full of equipment. She had a thin frame, tanned skin, and dark hair. On her face were a pair of AR glasses and a number of aging marks and blemishes that lent her an air of maturity, yet she possessed a carefree posture and demeanor that seemed completely misplaced by comparison.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re doing here, is it not?¡± the woman replied, ¡°we¡¯re running tests. Specifically, on the Chaos State and the extent of its powers.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, but calling me a ¡®test subject¡¯ seems a little¡­ uh¡­¡±


    The woman gave Christean¨¦ a curious look, glanced toward Dav¨ªdrius, and then grinned as though she had just had a revelation. ¡°Ah, right! You¡¯re Nimalians. You¡¯ll have to excuse me, I often forget that non-Citans get a little touchy with how you address them.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Often forget¡¯¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed, his eyebrow raised incredulously.


    ¡°Mmhmm.¡± The Citan nodded in response as she turned back to the equipment. ¡°Let¡¯s see. Master Lieutenant Christean¨¦ Kolst¨¦n of the Nimalian Systems Defense, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± the Forcetechnic replied warily.


    ¡°Good, good. I¡¯m Elisah Trikonian. I¡¯ll be in charge of the tests, with the help of the notes from your Transfer Captain.¡± She suddenly turned around and stared at Dav¨ªdrius, startling him. ¡°Are you the Transfer Captain?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no,¡± he responded uneasily before crossing his arms and regaining his composure. ¡°I¡¯m a¡­ squadmate, I guess. I¡¯m Dav¨ªdrius.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Good! I almost thought my glasses were failing me again.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ exchanged puzzled glances as Elisah returned to calibrating her equipment.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see¡­¡± She turned back around several moments later, looking around the room before laying eyes on the five Ayas on the table beside Christean¨¦¡¯s makeshift bed. ¡°Ah, you have the Ayas! Good, good. Wouldn¡¯t be able to do the tests otherwise. Um, hm, what else¡­ right! Procedure.¡±


    ¡°Procedure?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°What¡¯s to it? Just use the first tier, an¡¯ then the second, an¡¯ then the third, you know. In order.¡±


    ¡°Aw, you Nimalians can be so cute sometimes!¡± Elisah giggled as she pulled a tablet off of the cart and began writing with the stylus.


    ¡°Wha-what¡ª? C-cute¡ª! That, that¡¯s not¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Christean¨¦ smirked as Dav¨ªdrius attempted a retort to the Citan, who obliviously ignored the Velocitechnic¡¯s spluttering. ¡°Maybe not cute, but this sure is amusing.¡±


    ¡°¡­Shut it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°Or I¡¯ll reverse all the healin¡¯ progress you¡¯ve made over the past month.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Elisah¡¯s eyes lit up as she glanced back at Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°You mean, test if the Chaos State can heal complete paralysis and a dysfunctional skeleton? That sounds interesting!¡±


    Both Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ responded with deadpan stares.


    ¡°¡­Oooooh, that was a joke, riiight.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­ are you sure you¡¯re the one in charge?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned uneasily.


    ¡°I am one of the Republic¡¯s leading Chaos Energy researchers,¡± Elisah remarked proudly. ¡°I¡¯m glad I just happened to be on Neticen ¡ª this is the opportunity of a lifetime! The chance to study the Chaos State directly! With a willing test subject! Wow!¡±


    ¡°¡¯Willing?!¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius echoed incredulously.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned about the Nanocreatures attacking?¡± Christean¨¦ countered.


    ¡°That¡¯s hardly anything for me to be concerned about. I¡¯m not fighting them. And if we all die, well, we all die. You can¡¯t remember dying, so why bother thinking about it?¡± Elisah shrugged. ¡°Anyways, the procedure. See, there are several things I want to test here, not just the power of the Chaos State. I also want to test the circumstances behind the activation, such as: how are the Ayas selected when you enter the State? Is it random? Can you control which Ayas is used for, say, the First Tier? Can you go straight to a higher tier while in the State, or do you have to disengage first? All very important questions. All while being wary of this ¡®disengage scattering¡¯ factor, as well.¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure.¡± Christean¨¦ shrugged, though the motion was significantly dampened by his disabled body. ¡°So, what¡¯s the procedure?¡±


    ¡°Before each State activation, I¡¯ll tell you what Tier to enter, and which Ayas to use ¡ª or try to use, at least. Once you¡¯ve activated the State, I¡¯ll examine you to see if you¡¯ve been healed and by how much, and then we¡¯ll test your gripping strength, your pressure strength, and your striking strength ¡ª assuming you¡¯ve been healed enough to test those, of course. Then you¡¯ll disengage, and we¡¯ll start over with new parameters. Sound good?¡±


    Christean¨¦ responded with a blank stare, blinking twice before responding, ¡°sure, yeah. Totally.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± the Citan exclaimed cheerfully before quickly scribbling something on her tablet and then returning her attention to Christean¨¦. ¡°Alright, test one. Use the First Tier. Don¡¯t bother trying to use any one Ayas specifically, just activate the State.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Chaos State: First Tier.¡±


    The Light Red Ayas spontaneously disappeared as Christean¨¦ acquired a momentary faint glow. He grit his teeth for a second before impulsively sighing of relief, prompting a response from Elisah.


    ¡°Feel better?¡±


    ¡°¡­A little,¡± he responded as he slightly shifted his position on the bed. ¡°¡­There¡¯s some pain relief, but not much else. Moving around still hurts.¡±


    ¡°That corroborates with the readings from the monitoring equipment.¡± Elisah nodded, and then glanced back down at her tablet as she took some notes. ¡°¡­Test one, trial one: no Ayas specification. Light Red Ayas utilized. Alright, you can disengage now.¡±


    ¡°¡­How do I do that?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Chaos State: Disengage¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied.


    ¡°Chaos State: Disengage,¡± Christean¨¦ repeated. Immediately afterward, the Light Red Ayas appeared in his right hand, which Elisah quickly grabbed and replaced on the table beside the bed.


    ¡°Good, good¡­¡± She nodded absentmindedly. ¡°Alright. Trial two. Do the same thing.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled impatiently. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s science. Have you never run an experiment before? You do the same thing over and over again and try to find trends in the results.¡±


    ¡°Over an¡¯ over? How long is this gonna take?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take a lot longer if you keep questioning everything I say.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, chill out.¡± Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes as Elisah gave Dav¨ªdrius a startlingly effective reproachful stare. ¡°Chaos State: First Tier.¡±


    This time, the Black Ayas disappeared into thin air; Elisah quickly took note before ordering Christean¨¦ to repeat the trial once more, during which the Light Green Ayas disappeared instead.


    ¡°Ayas choice appears to be random¡­¡± The Citan researcher muttered to herself. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯d like to do more than three trials¡­ but I¡¯m not sure we have the time, so, moving on. Test two. Choose an Ayas color, tell me which, and try to focus on it when you activate the State. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I gotcha.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. We¡¯ll do this one three times in a row, just like the last.¡±


    ¡°Hngh, we¡¯re gonna be here for forever¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius groaned, though he kept his voice low enough that Elisah failed to hear him as Christean¨¦ attempted to activate the Chaos State with the Light Red Ayas. Instead, the White Ayas disappeared; on the following two trials as well, the Ayas used to activate the Chaos State failed to match the Ayas that Christean¨¦ thought of upon activation.


    ¡°Seems like it¡¯s just random,¡± the Forcetechnic observed with a shrug. ¡°Can we move on to the Second Tier? I wanna see if it heals me.¡±


    ¡°No no, not just yet.¡± Elisah shook her head as she looked over Kev¨¦rin¡¯s notes again. ¡°There¡¯s one more test before moving on to the Second Tier. I want to take advantage of the First Tier¡¯s lack of scattering as much as possible.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Argh¡­¡± Christean¨¦ sighed impatiently. ¡°Fine, what is it?¡±


    ¡°According to these notes, each of the Ayas has a designated name. Instead of thinking of the Ayas color, try to think of its name instead.¡±


    ¡°¡­Great. Fine. What¡¯re their names?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Elisah paused for a moment to flip through her notes. ¡°¡­Okay. Here we go. The Master Ayas is Syn, the White Ayas is Mystryth, the Light Green one is Tanivas, the Light Red one is Matl¨¦s, and the Black one is Aldrace.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going with Matl¨¦s.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Go on.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Chaos State: First Tier.¡±


    A mere moment later the Light Red Ayas ¡ª Matl¨¦s ¡ª disappeared. Elisah¡¯s eyes clearly lit up, but she retained a calm demeanor as she jotted down the result and indicated for Christean¨¦ to do it twice more.


    ¡°¡­Interesting.¡± The researcher nodded after Christean¨¦ had entered the Chaos State for the ninth time total. ¡°That¡¯s three for three for the State selecting the correct Ayas when you think of its name. This is really interesting! I¡¯d like to know where your Transfer Captain got this information, I don¡¯t know anyone who knew that the Ayas had names, of all things.¡±


    Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius exchanged furtive glances, but neither spoke up about the Prior Arc¨¢n.


    ¡°So is that it for the First Tier?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Considering it only seems to offer pain relief, I don¡¯t think any of the strength tests are worth considering. So yes, for now. Don¡¯t disengage, though,¡± she quickly addressed Christean¨¦, ¡°we already know you can enter the Second Tier from your base state, seeing as your squadmate here did it already. I want to see if you can make the Tier jump with the State already activated.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± The Forcetechnic nodded. ¡°Should I think of a specific Ayas?¡±


    ¡°It couldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Hn. Tanivas. Alright, Chaos State: Second Tier.¡±


    The Tanivas Ayas promptly vanished, joining Matl¨¦s in the Chaos State as a soft golden glow briefly enveloped Christean¨¦.


    ¡°Better?¡± Elisah questioned as the Forcetechnic clenched his fists experimentally.


    ¡°¡­Yeah!¡± He smiled, slowly drawing his arms back and then pushing himself into a sitting position. He grimaced during the movement, but nonetheless was able to turn himself and sit upright on the bed without assistance, with his legs dangling off the side.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± the researcher remarked with an approving nod. ¡°Given standard Nimalian procedure, that¡¯s several months¡¯ worth of healing and physical therapy that you just bypassed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this is great!¡± Christean¨¦ grinned. ¡°¡­I mean, there¡¯s still some pain, and I wouldn¡¯t want to fight in this condition, but¡­¡± He carefully removed his neck brace and then checked under his shirt and glanced down at his arms. ¡°¡­It even healed all of the surgery scars. Huh.¡±


    ¡°Good, good¡­¡± Elisah turned back toward her cart and began fiddling with the equipment again. ¡°I take it you feel well enough to attempt the strength tests?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about punching something, but I can try the other two, sure.¡±


    ¡°Good! Alright, hm, let¡¯s see. Here we go.¡± She gestured toward a fist-sized ball on the equipment cart. ¡°Pick that up.¡±


    Christean¨¦ reached over and grabbed the ball, holding it in his hand cluelessly. ¡°¡­Now what?¡±


    ¡°That ball weighs nearly a thousand kilograms. You have no trouble lifting it?¡±


    ¡°None at all.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Good, good¡­ now try squeezing it. As hard as you can.¡±


    The Forcetechnic glanced back down at the ball before squeezing it in his fist¡­ and immediately crushing it completely.


    All three room inhabitants stared at his fist for a second before Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius turned back to Elisah, who was still staring at his fist in awe.


    ¡°That¡­ that ball should¡¯ve been able to stand up to at least thirty thousand Newtons of force! And you just¡­ you just crushed it! Like it was nothing! Wow!¡± She quickly began jotting down notes on her tablet. ¡°Wow, Chaotics really are something! Chaos Energy and its effects are so interesting!¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Christean¨¦ responded absentmindedly as he opened his fist and shook the remnants of the ball away. ¡°¡­I guess that is pretty impressive, huh. My normal grip strength is something like three to four thousand Newtons.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I suspect the result will be similar, but let¡¯s try all the same¡­¡± Elisah typed a short command into the cart¡¯s side panel, triggering its lower shelf to extend out and flatten itself on the floor. ¡°Sorry about the hassle¡­¡± She glanced back toward Christean¨¦ as she gestured for him to come around toward the cart. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t a true representation of pressure strength, but it¡¯s all we have to work with in this facility.¡±


    ¡°You want me to press down on those pads?¡± the Forcetechnic questioned, staring at two hand-sized pads hooked up to a readout on the cart.


    ¡°If you would, please.¡±


    ¡°¡­One hell of a test,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked as Christean¨¦ carefully lowered himself to his knees in front of the pads, with Elisah staring down at him from the other side of the cart. The Forcetechnic shot Dav¨ªdrius an annoyed glance before turning back to the pads and placing his hands on them.


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready,¡± the researcher prompted.


    ¡°Here goes,¡± Christean¨¦ declared, followed by pressing down on the pad¡­ and immediately pulverizing it and denting the floor as his hands obliterated the apparatus.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m surprised,¡± Elisah responded warily, ¡°but, that strength, you¡­ I¡¯m amazed! I¡¯ve never seen testing apparatuses destroyed with such ease, let alone Introtechnic testing equipment!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ you know,¡± Christean¨¦ replied casually as he climbed back to his feet and puffed out his chest, ¡°being amazing is what I¡¯m all¡ª¡±


    ¡°The Chaos State is so amazing!¡± Elisah cut him off, rapidly jotting down notes on her tablet as she obliviously turned away from him. The Forcetechnic paused for a brief moment as Dav¨ªdrius chortled at his expense before he simply shrugged and returned to sitting on the bed.


    ¡°¡­Anyways,¡± the researcher continued as she put the tablet down and turned back to Christean¨¦, ¡°I don¡¯t think the striking strength test is necessary, given that show. Hm¡­ alright, I think that wraps up this session, then.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°What about the Third Tier?¡±


    ¡°That comes later,¡± Elisah replied. ¡°You should disengage the State now, and we¡¯ll track where the Ayas scatter to and see if they match with your squadmate¡¯s claim. Then we¡¯ll try the Third Tier. Until then, we¡¯ll take a break while the Ayas are relocated.¡±


    The Forcetechnic sighed. ¡°I guess that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°You should probably lie down first,¡± the researcher suggested. ¡°It was hard to tell with the First Tier, but we don¡¯t know if your healing is permanent.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled. ¡°That¡¯d really suck if it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted as he carefully laid back on the bed. As soon as he was comfortable he muttered, ¡°Chaos State: Disengage.¡±


    A moment later, the Tanivas and Matl¨¦s Ayas both appeared above Christean¨¦ before suddenly shooting outward, moving faster than even Dav¨ªdrius could track as they phased through everything in their path.


    ¡°Still feelin¡¯ fine?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned as Christean¨¦ experimentally clenched his fists again.


    ¡°¡­Yup,¡± the Forcetechnic replied as he sat up again. ¡°¡­A little more pain than when I was in the Chaos State, but otherwise, I feel¡­ mostly fine.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Alright then!¡± Elisah clapped her hands together. ¡°I¡¯ve alerted the retrieval teams, and they¡¯re out looking for the Ayas now. We¡¯ll resume once they¡¯re found. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Yep¡­¡± Christean¨¦ sighed wearily. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°¡­More waiting¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just how it is,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked offhandedly, his attention primarily focused on an AR game. ¡°War is more waiting than fighting.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but you don¡¯t have to wait by doing nothing,¡± Wilkas replied crossly. ¡°We could be doing something. Hell, Kevken got to help out with finding the Ayas. Why can¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d just be in the way,¡± the Pyrotechnic responded, ¡°we can¡¯t sense Chaos Energy like Kevken can. Hell, even if he couldn¡¯t, he can still move faster than any of us, thanks to his new movement abilities. There¡¯s just nothing we can actually do to help.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure the Citans even want our help¡­ I offered to help with some repairs and maintenance, and they told me they were fine. Even though I¡¯m a Materiatechnic¡­¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make you perfect,¡± Wilkas retorted, ¡°you couldn¡¯t even fully repair my armor in our last battle!¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah! I had already repaired it tons of times, of course it was going to fall apart eventually!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kev¨¦rin finally tore his attention away from his game and glanced toward Kaon¨¦. ¡°You can actually fail to repair something?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ sort of,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded uneasily, ¡°I mean¡­ yeah, ever since I unlocked my Overdrive, I¡¯ve been able to repair things on the macro level, but my ability to repair something is still tied to how familiar I am with its construction. Like, I could repair a nuclear reactor, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be perfect because I don¡¯t know how reactors work, you know?¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± the Transfer Captain mused, ¡°but if that¡¯s the case, how were you able to completely repair our armor all the time? Or the Earthian vehicles back during the Riaxen crisis?¡±


    The Materiatechnic shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a lot of time to test out my powers, but I think it¡¯s something like, I can fully repair something the first or second time I try, but the more times I repair it, the worse it gets? Like each repair isn¡¯t perfect, so the imperfections stack up over time until there isn¡¯t really anything I can do.¡±


    ¡°¡­You know, before I met you, I thought Materiatechnics were the most ridiculously over-powered Chaotics to exist. Now, I¡¯m not so sure¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Wilkas remarked with a smirk. ¡°When was the last time you won a fight, huh?¡±


    ¡°What! That¡¯s not¡ª!¡± Kaon¨¦ huffed, ¡°that¡¯s only because I don¡¯t like to fight!¡±


    ¡°Probably doesn¡¯t help that the Nanocreatures seem invulnerable to direct Chaotic manipulation,¡± Kev¨¦rin added. ¡°Neither you nor Kevken can do anything to them, and the two of you should be, by all rights, two of the most powerful Nimalian Chaotics.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ eyed the Pyrotechnic warily. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re insulting me or not.¡±


    ¡°Eh, not really.¡± The Transfer Captain resumed playing his AR game. ¡°Just making an observation.¡±


    ¡°Though, now that you mention it¡­ why are the Nanocreatures immune to direct manipulation?¡±


    ¡°If we knew, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± Wilkas retorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s no reason to dismiss the question,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered. ¡°It¡¯s a really peculiar immunity, and knowing how it works could help us learn where the Nanocreatures even came from in the first place.¡±


    ¡°But it just doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Kaon¨¦ mused. ¡°¡­I can control matter. You can¡¯t get any more basic than that, unless you found someone who could manipulate sub-atomic particles, or reality itself¡­ but the Nanocreatures are still immune. How is that possible? Only other Materiatechnics should be immune to my abilities.¡± Her eyes widened in alarm. ¡°¡­Don¡¯t tell me that the Nanocreatures can actually manipulate matter themselves?!¡±


    ¡°I doubt it. They¡¯re immune to other Chaotic abilities as well, but that doesn¡¯t mean they can use every Chaotic ability. Morcii said as much himself,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded. ¡°Hmm¡­ it probably has to do with the fact that we use Chaos Energy to facilitate our powers. For instance, I can create flames, and for all intents and purposes I can control fire ¡ª but what I¡¯m really doing is using Chaos Energy in such a way that manifests as pyrotechnics. Right? So the Nanocreatures aren¡¯t necessarily immune to you controlling matter, they¡¯re just immune to being controlled by anything related to Chaos Energy. Which is why we can do damage through indirect use of our abilities like shooting fireballs or dropping pillars on them, but we can¡¯t use our abilities directly on the Nanocreatures. Which is still an issue, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s quite as fundamental as you¡¯re making it.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°¡­It¡¯s still puzzling, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you don¡¯t necessarily need to know everything about your enemy to beat them. Them being seemingly immune to direct manipulation won¡¯t stop us from kicking their asses.¡±


    Wilkas snorted. ¡°Yeah, instead we¡¯ll be stopped because the actual ass-kicking will be done by someone supposedly ridiculously out of our league.¡±


    ¡°I hope you guys are right,¡± Kaon¨¦ replied wearily, ¡°¡­maybe it really isn¡¯t that important¡­¡±


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°You understand the procedure, yes?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a couple hours,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted as he glanced back at the five Ayas. ¡°I may be physically disabled, but mentally I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what a crazy person would say,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quipped, and then smirked when Christean¨¦ shot him an annoyed glance.


    ¡°Good, good¡­¡± Elisah nodded. ¡°Select three of the Ayas, then.¡±


    ¡°Matl¨¦s, Tanivas, and Mystryth.¡±


    ¡°Mmhmm¡­ alright, go on.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s hoping this¡¯ll do it¡­¡± the Forcetechnic muttered, and then took a deep breath. ¡°¡­Okay. Chaos State: Third Tier!¡±


    The instant after the words left his mouth, the Matl¨¦s, Tanivas, and Mystryth Ayas lifted into the air and disappeared ¡ª immediately followed by a blast of wind exploding from Christean¨¦, blowing the bed and table away and toppling the equipment cart as Dav¨ªdrius barely caught Elisah before she slammed into the far wall. The Velocitechnic then turned toward Christean¨¦, about to offer an annoyed remark before freezing with his mouth open. ¡°¡­What the¡­ Christean¨¦, you¡¯re¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m flying!¡± the Forcetechnic whooped, glancing down at his feet as he hovered several inches off of the ground. He then alighted and began stretching his limbs cautiously, gradually gaining confidence in his movements until finally smashing his fists together in glee. ¡°No pain, either! Everything¡¯s healed up!¡±


    ¡°Haha! Alright!¡± Dav¨ªdrius grinned, quickly approaching Christean¨¦ as he held his fist up toward the other Introtechnic. Christean¨¦ responded in kind ¡ª only to accidentally send Dav¨ªdrius into a violent spin when their fists connected.


    ¡°Holy¡ª fuckin¡¯ shit! Holy shit, man!¡± the Velocitechnic spluttered, managing to stop his spin with a forceful stomp. He held a hand to his head wearily as he grimaced uncomfortably. ¡°You didn¡¯t needa fuckin¡¯ punch me!¡±


    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t punch you,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted, ¡°that was just a tap.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps to you, it was,¡± Elisah spoke up, her eyes planted firmly on the Chaos State Forcetechnic, ¡°but you¡¯re in the Third Tier Chaos State. If the Second Tier was any indication¡­ a ¡®tap¡¯ from you could be enough to level a skyscraper, at least.¡±


    ¡°Level a skyscraper? But I could already do that.¡±


    ¡°All at once? With a single tap?¡±


    ¡°¡­Well¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°We¡¯re still gonna need more than levelin¡¯ buildings to stop Morcii.¡±


    ¡°A building was just an estimate, and a small one, at that,¡± Elisah responded as she began looking through Kev¨¦rin¡¯s notes again. ¡°¡­According to these notes, when you disengage the Third Tier, the three Ayas will scatter across the entire continent. That means we should confirm as much information as possible before abandoning the State.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Christean¨¦ responded, smirking in self-amusement as he began hovering again. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know how you plan to test my strength now, though, if I broke your equipment last time.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The Citan researcher paused for a moment before bringing up a map of the mountainside complex on her glasses. ¡°There¡¯s a spacecraft scrap metal bone yard at the bottom of the valley. I¡¯m sure no one will miss it.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you want me to smash it up?¡± The Forcetechnic grinned in anticipation. ¡°Sure thing!¡±


    <hr>


    20 Minutes Later


    ¡°Here we are.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled as he unceremoniously dumped Elisah to the side and began looking over the valley. ¡°When you said scrap metal bone yard, I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be entire functioning spacecraft.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± the researcher responded as she stood up and brushed herself off, ¡°Citan spacecraft become outdated rather quickly, and unlike you Nimalians, we can afford to replace them.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced down at Elisah incredulously as he pursed his lips. ¡°¡­Right¡­¡±


    ¡°So this is it, huh?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned as he flew over to Dav¨ªdrius and Elisah before turning to look over the bone yard. Hundreds of craft, ranging from fifteen-meter long fighters to hundred-meter long Frigates, lay strewn across the landscape for kilometers around. Most of them appeared to be sun-bleached and aged, though a number of the craft looked as though they had been active less than a year ago. Surprisingly, all of the hulls appeared to be intact as they cast long shadows in the setting sun, presenting a dark enough backdrop that a nearly imperceptible golden glow could be seen covering Christean¨¦¡¯s form.


    Elisah nodded in response to Christean¨¦¡¯s question as she took another look through Kev¨¦rin¡¯s notes. ¡°Yep, this is the place I was talking about. Before you begin, though, I want to bring up these ¡®Ayas Weapons.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, you want me to use them while I smash up the place?¡±


    ¡°Just to see if they really do become ¡®more powerful,¡¯ as these notes claim,¡± the researcher replied. ¡°Also, I think we all know that you¡¯re well able to destroy everything in this bone yard, probably even in your base state. I want to see how quickly you can do it, and how many blows it takes.¡±


    ¡°Heh, got it!¡± Christean¨¦ responded with an eager nod. ¡°Is that it?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ yep.¡± Elisah nodded back. ¡°Go for it.¡±


    With a whoop, Christean¨¦ thrust himself forward, flying out to the middle of the bone yard almost instantaneously before raising his fists into the air, summoning the Matl¨¦s gauntlets around them, and then smashing them into the ground ¡ª and immediately creating a kilometer-wide crater, pulverizing all of the craft within that distance to smithereens and flinging away everything a half-kilometer further out. Dav¨ªdrius quickly grabbed Elisah and fled farther up the mountainside as Christean¨¦ took a moment to admire his handiwork. He then summoned the Tanivas staff and launched himself toward the crater¡¯s edge, where he proceeded to slam a nearby fighter craft with the staff, throwing it into the air. He quickly intercepted it midair, slamming his fist into it and sending it careening toward the horizon where it disappeared from sight; immediately afterward he dismissed the staff and summoned the Mystryth bow, firing three arrows, all of which hit the ground instantaneously and created multi-hundred-meter craters of their own. The Forcetechnic grinned giddily before dismissing the bow and flying back to the ground, where he continued to obliterate the bone yard craft with his fists alone.


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled in admiration as he watched on. ¡°Holy fuckin¡¯ shit. This is just the Third Tier, huh? Maybe we¡¯ll be able to take on Morcii after all¡­!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been one, maybe two minutes, and he¡¯s already destroyed the entire field¡­¡± Elisah commented, her jaw slack from awe as Christean¨¦ casually flew back toward the two observers. ¡°¡­You¡­ I, I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°This power is incredible!¡± the Forcetechnic exclaimed as he alighted on the ground next to Dav¨ªdrius, ¡°before today, I thought Kev¨¦rin and that Prior were full of shit when they said the Chaos State was so great. But I think I believe ¡®em now!¡±


    ¡°Just think of how powerful you¡¯ll be with all five of the Ayas,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out. ¡°Holy shit, I can¡¯t even imagine what the Fifth Tier would be like!¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re¡­ not quite right,¡± Elisah commented as she began scanning Kev¨¦rin¡¯s notes again. ¡°You have five Ayas, but one of them is the Master Ayas, so according to these notes¡­ that would actually be the Master Fourth Tier. ¡­Which is apparently equivalent to the Sixth Tier. ¡­And is capable of ¡®vacuum survival?¡¯ What? How is that possible?¡­¡±


    ¡°And Morcii only has four Ayas of his own, and he doesn¡¯t even have a way to keep us from stealing them with the Chaos State!¡± Christean¨¦ pumped his fists confidently. ¡°Ha! We¡¯ve got this in the bag!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t start celebrating yet,¡± Elisah countered. ¡°You¡¯ve yet to actually engage Morcii. We still have more tests to run before then.¡±


    ¡°Oi, more tests?¡± Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms impatiently. ¡°Is that really necessary?¡±


    ¡°Even if it wasn¡¯t, according to these notes, the longer you stay in the higher-tier Chaos States, the worse the condition you¡¯re in when you disengage,¡± Elisah replied. ¡°We don¡¯t know the limit of the Third Tier, and we don¡¯t know when the Nanocreatures will show up, assuming they even do. Seeing as they aren¡¯t showing up on the system sensors yet¡­ or even on the Earthians¡¯ sensors¡­ it¡¯d be best to disengage the State now and retrieve the Ayas. Before the Nanocreatures arrive.¡±


    ¡°What if they show up without appearing on the sensors? They¡¯ve done that before, haven¡¯t they?¡± Christean¨¦ countered.


    ¡°Perhaps, but are you willing to bet on that?¡± Elisah responded, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an impossibility that the Nanocreatures know the traits and drawbacks of the Chaos State, and if they do, they may simply play the waiting game. What good is it if you die from the very thing that¡¯s supposed to help us stop the Nanocreatures?¡±


    The two Introtechnics glanced at each other before Christean¨¦ shrugged in resignation. ¡°I guess you have a point,¡± he responded wearily, ¡°it¡¯d probably be best to see how healed up I actually am anyways, outside of the Chaos State.¡±


    Elisah nodded. ¡°Good, good. I¡¯ll notify the Ayas retrieval teams, as well as the Earthians. Their Ayas scanner should be able to find the scattered Ayas quickly enough. You can disengage now.¡±


    ¡°Chaos State: Disengage.¡±


    The three Ayas appeared briefly around Christean¨¦, forming a three-point circle around his waist before rocketing off in different directions and promptly disappearing from sight. The Forcetechnic took a deep breath before looking his body over and stretching. ¡°¡­Huh. Seems like I¡¯m all fine¡ª¡±


    He was interrupted as the valley suddenly filled with the echoes of alarms sounding at the mountain base. The two Chaotics snapped their attention upwards as Elisah hurriedly checked her AR information feed. ¡°¡­Oh no.¡±


    ¡°¡­Fuckin¡¯ damn it.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he glared up at the evening sky. ¡°The damned Nanocreatures are here? It would fuckin¡¯ figure.¡±


    ¡°Right after I disengaged the Chaos State, too,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered. ¡°Did they know what we were doing?¡±


    ¡°Whether they did or not, we need to get back to the base,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded as he grabbed the startled Elisah and leaped up the mountainside, with Christean¨¦ close behind. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned if we lose the Ayas to the Nanocreatures!¡±

 70 - Eleventh Hour

    Chapter 70 - Eleventh Hour


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°Haaaahh!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius smashed his foot over a giant boulder, shattering it to pieces and revealing a path forward through the crevice in which he stood.


    ¡°Do you always do that?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Velocitechnic took a moment to adjust the audio level of his comms connection with Christean¨¦ before jumping over the stone debris and quickly searching the short opening on the other side. ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°Shout when you attack something.¡±


    ¡°¡­I shout when I attack stuff?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, all the time!¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡± Dav¨ªdrius paused to scratch his chin in mild confusion before turning his attention back to his search. ¡°Well, huh. Now that I think about it, I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted in response. ¡°You didn¡¯t even realize you were doing it?¡±


    ¡°No one ever pointed it out to me. Before joinin¡¯ Hero Machina, I always fought on my own.¡±


    ¡°Well, just thought I¡¯d ask¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± the Velocitechnic grunted, shrugging and then leaping up and out of the crevice to land in the wastelands above. ¡°Shit, it ain¡¯t here either.¡±


    ¡°Still can¡¯t find the Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Nope¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he glared up at the dark skies. Brief, faint flashes of light could be seen in the northern skies ¡ª the signs of ongoing battle between the Citan space fleets and the attacking Nanocreatures. ¡°I¡¯ve been at it for almost two hours now, and there¡¯s a bunch of Citan search parties, too. You sure the Earthians got its location right?¡±


    ¡°Why ask me? I don¡¯t have anything to do with the Earthian Ayas Scanner.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re the reason we have to spread out over a whole fuckin¡¯ continent to find ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit, neither of us could¡¯ve possibly known that the Nanocreatures would attack the moment I disengaged the Chaos State.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just our luck,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered before leaping forward, clearing tens of meters in a single bound and arriving at the next crevice in a mere second. ¡°This is borin¡¯ as fuck, though.¡±


    ¡°As boring as sitting up here on the Earthian Battlecruiser, doing nothing?¡± Christean¨¦ countered.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible for mindless activities to be more borin¡¯ than nothin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted. The Velocitechnic then jumped down the crevice in front of him, stabbing his blades into the rock face near the bottom to slow his descent before landing in a roll. ¡°Can¡¯t help that you¡¯re stuck up there, though,¡± he continued as he flipped on his armor¡¯s floodlight and began searching the rocks and cracks, ¡°assumin¡¯ this all goes accordin¡¯ to plan, you¡¯re supposed to be fightin¡¯ Morcii. Can¡¯t have you dyin¡¯ on us before that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right. Why¡¯s it have to be me, anyways? Why can¡¯t someone else do just as well?¡±


    ¡°Why not you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a terrible answer.¡±


    ¡°Are you sayin¡¯ that you don¡¯t want the chance to kick Morcii¡¯s ass on behalf of the entire galaxy? ¡®Cause I¡¯ll gladly take that chance for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, no¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then quit your bitchin¡¯ already.¡±


    ¡°¡­Man, I¡¯m really glad I can count on you to listen to all my problems and give me helpful advice,¡± Christean¨¦ drawled.


    ¡°I try my best,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied cheekily, and then paused to stare at a small stone protrusion. He then raised his leg before smashing his foot into the rock face, shattering the nearby stone and causing the protrusion to fall away ¡ª revealing the Light Red Ayas, Matl¨¦s.


    ¡°Haha!¡± The Velocitechnic grinned as he grabbed the Ayas and then leaped up to the top of the crevice. ¡°I found it!¡±


    ¡°Really? Nothing got in your way?¡±


    ¡°Morcii¡¯s the only Nanocreature who can phase through shields, right? So as long as the shields hold, we don¡¯t have to worry about the Nanocreatures down here.¡±


    ¡°Hn. I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Well of course I¡¯m right.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked as he looked up at the skies again. ¡°¡­Doesn¡¯t mean we still aren¡¯t on the clock though. Gotta find the last two Ayas before the shield breaks, or Morcii shows up¡­¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin and Kevken are out looking for them with the other Citan teams. They¡¯re probably better at finding Ayas than you are; they¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Tch. You better be right.¡±


    <hr>


    Zzzzt-chnk!


    With an incredible electric shock, Siyuak¨¦n released herself from the Nanocreature spacecraft, diverting her attention for a moment to obliterate a Citan fighter squadron as it zoomed by. She then magnetically manipulated the wreckage to link to the Nanocreature ship in a crude dual-rail formation, before inserting herself between the rails and forcing a massive current through the new makeshift circuit ¡ª and then firing herself at the planet of Neticen below. Several seconds passed as she flew by the raging space battle in middle orbit until she suddenly flipped herself around mid-descent such that she was falling feet-first, just in time to slam into Neticen¡¯s planetary shield. The energy shield flared from the impact, illuminating a large area of the invisible surface as Siyuak¨¦n slowly rose to her feet, stretching her arms out to the side just quickly enough to catch two objects before they slammed into the shield themselves. She slowly curled her arms inward, glancing at the Light Blue Ayas in her left hand and the Dark Blue Ayas in her right as she began charging up energy within her body; within seconds, streaks of lightning were jumping between the Ayas and across the shield, causing it to flare up even more intensely as Siyuak¨¦n slowly rose up and off of the shield. Seconds later she suddenly flipped again, rocketing herself toward the shield head-first with both Ayas stretched in front of her as she tore through the planetary shielding, ripping a hole through the energy barrier capable of standing up to days of orbital bombardment. The shield immediately closed off behind her, preventing entry from any other Nanocreatures, but she simply ignored that fact as she continued on her descent path toward the mountain ranges below.


    As she began descending past the highest cloud layers, she gripped the two diamond-shaped Ayas tightly and then attached them to her shoulders, freeing her hands to summon the Arc¨¢n Claymore as she began slowing her descent. She finally stopped and began hovering nearly a thousand meters above the highest peak in the region, taking a moment to locate the Citan base below before raising Arc¨¢n above her head and then making a wide slashing arc ¡ª an arc from which a massive Nanocreature behemoth emerged, nearly a hundred meters in size, freed from the confines of Subspace by the Ayas weapon. The creature let out a thunderous roar as it tumbled to the ground below, where it slammed into the mountainside with great force as Siyuak¨¦n made several more sweeps with the Claymore to release countless other Nanocreature attackers. After releasing a veritable army, she dismissed the Arc¨¢n weapon and grabbed the two Ayas, tearing them off of her shoulders and tossing them away as two small Nanocreature rockets intercepted the falling gemstones and carried them back up into space.


    The Corrupted Electrotechnic watched the Ayas carriers disappear with distance before turning her attention back to the mountain base below. The Citans were already fighting off the encroaching Nanocreatures, but there was little they could have done to prepare for such an ambush; the Nanocreature attackers managed to cause immense amounts of damage even in the first two minutes of their attack alone. After several moments of observing the carnage, Siyuak¨¦n turned away and prepared to return to the upper atmosphere ¡ª only to be intercepted as Wilkas flew through the air, launched by Kaon¨¦ from a makeshift catapult, and grabbed Siyuak¨¦n by her face before dragging her down to the ground with him and using her as a landing pad. She immediately responded with a powerful shock, forcing him to back away and allowing her to jump to her feet.


    ¡°You again,¡± Wilkas snorted as the Electrotechnic turned to face him. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not surprised.¡±


    ¡°Morcii is not yet in system¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, her tone deadpan. ¡°This was the only way to expedite the takeover.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bein¡¯ a lot more talkative this time,¡± the Forcetechnic observed, casting a sideways glance as Kaon¨¦ lowered herself to the ground beside him. ¡°Maybe you could tell us how you got that huge thing through the shields?¡±


    ¡°The answer should be obvious.¡±


    ¡°Wilkas¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered uneasily as she turned back to look at the mountain range several kilometers behind them. ¡°Maybe we should go back and help with that monster¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sure the Citans and Kevken can take care of it,¡± the Forcetechnic declared without taking his eyes off of Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°If we let her go, then for all we know she¡¯ll just bring in another, not to mention anything else she¡¯s got up her sleeves.¡± He slammed his fists together eagerly. ¡°Besides. She may not be Morcii, but I¡¯ll be more than happy to smash her up, for V¨¦lunis¡¯s sake.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ passed Siyuak¨¦n a wary glance. ¡°¡­But, Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    The Electrotechnic shifted her gaze from Wilkas to Kaon¨¦, her expression stoic. ¡°The Siyuak¨¦n you knew is gone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll make this easier, then!¡± Wilkas grinned. ¡°Time to kick your ass! Overdrive: Infinite Lift!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°The Ayas should be within a kilometer of your position.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin drawled as he hovered in place over the icy tundra of the continent¡¯s northern-most region. He slowly swept his eyes along the barren horizon, squinting through the light snow at the rocky ground below him. ¡°¡­A kilometer sounds like a small area, but that can still take a while to search¡­¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t alone,¡± the Earthian technician responded through the communicator, ¡°there are Citan search parties as well.¡±


    ¡°I know that,¡± the Transfer Captain replied impatiently as he glanced toward a couple of distant Citan teams. ¡°Doesn¡¯t make me less miserable though. Whose idea was it to send me to the cold region?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on the clock, here. The Nanocreatures have already somehow breached the planet¡¯s shields.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t change how fast I can look¡ª?!¡±


    An unseen force from above slammed the Pyrotechnic to the ground, interrupting his speech. He immediately enveloped his body in searing flame before leaping back up to his feet and turning around to find a charred metallic bug rolling away¡­ as well as a gigantic bird-shaped Nanocreature, nearly the size of a Frigate, flying in the skies above.


    ¡°They¡¯re already here¡­?!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, swiping his fists through the air to throw streams of fire up at the flying creature as it released a multitude of smaller Nanocreatures across the tundra. He quickly began rapidly launching fireballs at the descending horde, managing to snipe many of the creatures out of the air. As soon as a group of the smaller bugs reached the ground, they quickly gathered together and reformed into a three-meter-tall four-legged creature with a back-mounted laser cannon, which immediately opened fire on the Pyrotechnic and forced his attention away from the skies. ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted, allowing the high-temperature burst of flame around him to incinerate a couple bugs that had stepped too close, before he blasted himself forward with another explosion of fire and slammed his flame-enveloped fists into the large Nanocreature. It reeled back from the blow but quickly recovered, lunging forward faster than Kev¨¦rin could react and biting down around his waist and then lifting him into the air and attempting to crush him with its maw. He quickly responded by firing several bursts of flame down the creature¡¯s throat, enraging it and causing it to launch him across the tundra, where he covered several hundred meters of terrain before tumbling painfully to the ground.


    ¡°Ungh¡­¡± he groaned, slowly stumbling back to his feet as he held his head in pain. ¡°Holy shit¡­¡±


    ¡°Transfer Captain, we don¡¯t have time to fight the Nanocreatures! You need to find the Ayas!¡±


    ¡°I know that,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, turning his attention to his glasses display just long enough to mute the audio connection. ¡°But easier said than done¡ª!¡±


    The Pyrotechnic clenched his teeth and dived to the side just in time to evade the Nanocreature beast as it charged by, missing him by mere centimeters. He quickly took to the air as he attempted to target the creature and set it aflame directly, but it targeted him first and began firing with its cannon faster than he could concentrate and forcing him to resort to fireball throwing as he dodged the cannon fire. He was only able to dodge successfully for a few moments, however ¡ª a cannon blast finally found its mark, stunning him and knocking him out of the air. The Pyrotechnic managed to recover in time to safely catch himself on the ground, but not with enough time to fully evade the beast as it charged toward him with alarming speed. In response, Kev¨¦rin enveloped his entire right arm up to the shoulder in searing flame and lunged forward, bashing the creature¡¯s face with his superheated shoulder. The impact stunned both combatants, who recovered simultaneously; the metallic beast attempted to bash Kev¨¦rin again, but the Pyrotechnic responded by blocking its attack with his flame-covered left arm, stunning the two again. After recovering, the beast jumped back several meters and let loose a metallic screech before absorbing its tail into its body and forming a second back-mounted cannon. Immediately after formation, the two cannons began visibly charging energy; not willing to wait and witness the results, Kev¨¦rin launched himself forward with an explosion of fire, his fist stretched forward and prepared to smash into the creature¡¯s jaw ¡ª only to be knocked down as the beast ceased charging energy and instead slammed its front paws on top of the Pyrotechnic, trapping him against the ground. With another metallic screech, it prepared to pummel the Transfer Captain into oblivion ¡ª except it never got the chance, as Kev¨¦rin rapidly superheated the air around him and caused a massive fire blast, crystallizing the ground for meters around and completely incinerating the front half of the creature¡¯s body.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± he grunted as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. He warily observed the damage he had caused to the surrounding terrain before noticing an alert on his AR display. ¡°¡­Shit, my armor¡¯s shields are down to fifteen percent already. Need to find the¡­ huh?¡±


    He stared, dumbfounded, to his left ¡ª where a two-meter crevice had appeared in the ground, apparently revealed after his fire blast had incinerated the top layer of permafrost. He quickly checked his AR display again as the Ayas Scanner feed labeled the crevice as a location of high density Chaos Energy. ¡°¡­Can¡¯t really complain,¡± he grumbled as he dashed forward, jumped down the crevice, and ignited flame jets to slow his descent before alighting at the bottom not even ten meters down. Switching on his armor¡¯s flashlight, he slowly scanned the rock walls and the floor, eventually spotting a small crack in the wall two meters away. He approached cautiously before crouching down and attempting to peer through; a moment later he smirked and stood up again. Placing his right fingers through the crack, he then superheated the air around them, causing the rock to melt away and allow the Ayas Tanivas to fall out.


    ¡°Only needed to get my ass kicked to find this thing. Tch,¡± the Pyrotechnic snorted as he stooped over to grab the Ayas. He took a moment to admire the stone before unmuting the Genesis¡¯ audio connection. ¡°Transfer Captain to Genesis. I¡¯ve found the Ayas. ¡­Hello? Genesis? ¡­Fuck.¡± He scowled as he realized that the connection was being jammed. ¡°Nanocreature interference¡ª?!¡±


    A massive impact from above interrupted him, throwing him off his feet as the rock walls around him began to crumble. He quickly propelled himself upwards with a small explosion, righting himself in the air and then flying up out of the crevice, only to suddenly stop in stunned silence as he found himself staring at a fifty-meter Nanocreature, the same flying monster as the one that had released the smaller creatures not even ten minutes ago.


    ¡°¡­I do not have time for this,¡± the Pyrotechnic growled as the massive creature rose its winged arms in preparation to slam them down on top of the Chaotic. ¡°Chaos State: First Tier! Now¡­¡± He paused for a moment to alight on the ground and begin super-heating the air around him. ¡°¡­Fuck! Off!¡±


    An insanely high-temperature blast of flame exploded outward from the Pyrotechnic, completely incinerating both his armor and everything else within ten meters and frying to a crisp anything that remained within fifty, including the Nanocreature beast. Kev¨¦rin sighed impatiently as the charred husk collapsed on itself; he then turned his attention back to his glasses, which he had been careful to not incinerate, and smirked when he found that the communication jamming had ceased. ¡°Transfer Captain to Genesis, repeat, Transfer Captain to Genesis,¡± he began again as he hovered in the air and looked up at the snowy skies, ¡°¡­the Ayas Tanivas is secured.¡±


    <hr>


    Wilkas barreled forward and threw his fist out toward Siyuak¨¦n. The Corrupted Electrotechnic quickly jumped back, evading the blow ¡ª only to be thrown forwards as Wilkas¡¯s fist hit the ground instead, cratering the stone and flipping a platform that Kaon¨¦ had formed mere moments prior. Siyuak¨¦n sailed through the air over Wilkas but flipped and caught herself on the ground as she charged energy in her arms and fired off two powerful lightning bolts at the Forcetechnic. He took the brunt of the blow and stumbled backwards before reaching out and grabbing several diamond poles that Kaon¨¦ quickly created for him, launching each pole toward Siyuak¨¦n like javelins. The Electrotechnic knocked the first out of the way with her fist, grabbed the next two out of the air, and then spun around and slammed the two rods around the fourth, quickly forcing a current through the rods and her body in a makeshift railgun and firing the rod back at Wilkas at hypersonic speeds, smashing it into his stomach and flinging him back several meters. He tumbled across the ground before jumping back up to his feet and wiping the sweat and dirt off his brow. With a deep breath, he prepared to attack Siyuak¨¦n again, but caught her giving him a frustrated stare.


    ¡°Ha! Surprised I¡¯m still up?¡± Wilkas smirked defiantly. ¡°That attack would¡¯ve murdered any other person, sure. But against me, you¡¯re gonna have to try harder than that!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve withstood greater force than the other Introtechnic¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wilkas¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°You mean V¨¦lunis¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Very well. I will adjust my output appropriately¡­¡±


    ¡°As if I¡¯ll go down that easily!¡± the Forcetechnic roared as he slammed his fists into the ground, sending out a shockwave of stone and dust before leaping forward and attempting to smash Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head. The Electrotechnic simply lunged to the side, twisting around midair to direct her left arm toward the Forcetechnic and fire a metal cable out of her palm, catching Wilkas by his wrists. Before his fists could impact the ground she yanked upwards, flinging him into the air and swinging him around to slam him into the ground on her other side. She then forced a massive current through the cable, stunning Wilkas until Kaon¨¦ severed the cable with fabricated shears. The Materiatechnic then lifted Wilkas back to his feet by manipulating his armor and created a pair of hammers near his shoulders that he quickly grabbed before lunging toward Siyuak¨¦n again, absorbing her lightning strikes as he closed the distance between them and slammed his hammers into her chest. Flung backwards, the Corrupted Electrotechnic spiraled through the air until she righted herself and fired cables from both her palms, grabbing Wilkas by his ankles before reeling the cables in, ripping him off of his feet and dragging him across the ground. She then severed the cable from her right hand and charged her hand with energy, preparing to slam her charged palm into Wilkas¡¯s chest ¡ª only to be blocked as he swung his left arm around to knock away her hand. He then slammed his feet down to the ground and grabbed the cable around them, yanking hard and easily tearing it before jumping back to his feet just in time to block another blow from Siyuak¨¦n. He quickly responded by throwing his own punch, but the Electrotechnic managed to knock his fist away; the two then engaged in a brief but fast-paced fist fight as Wilkas continually blocked Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s blows and she continually knocked away his. After several seconds of little progress, the Electrotechnic drew back slightly and began charging energy in her right fist again; in response Wilkas wound up a punch of his own and then threw his fist forward just as Siyuak¨¦n did the same. With both mid-attack, neither were able to stop to block and instead slammed each other in the face, blowing them both back several tens of meters.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re still standing,¡± the Electrotechnic deadpanned, staring at Wilkas as he jumped back to his feet.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to be retarded to think any of what you just did would take me down,¡± the Forcetechnic shot back. ¡°Seems like the only people you can beat are ones that were already beat down, huh?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hmph. Your words are meaningless. You will be the one to lose this battle.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­!¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up uneasily as she ran up next to Wilkas, ¡°why are you doing this? Why are you being so hostile?¡±


    ¡°Your questions are¡­ meaningless.¡± The Electrotechnic continued to stare at Wilkas, watching for any telltale signs of attack. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand. I am not Siyuak¨¦n.¡±


    ¡°If that were true, then you wouldn¡¯t feel the need to keep telling us, would you?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n finally turned to eye Kaon¨¦, her expression still blank. ¡°¡­Believe what you want. No matter what you say, you will die here, today.¡± She looked back to Wilkas. ¡°Both of you.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, Kaon¨¦,¡± Wilkas urged impatiently, ¡°we don¡¯t have time for this. Just help me beat her ass!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t!¡± The Materiatechnic frowned as she stepped back wearily. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t just fight her! She¡¯s still in there! Isn¡¯t she? Why else has she been holding back?¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m holding back?¡± Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°¡­Perhaps I am. Perhaps I¡¯m not. What bearing on my identity does that hold? You think just because I haven¡¯t beat you yet, that I still harbor any feelings for you?¡±


    ¡°Why else would you be taking the time to talk to us like this?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hmph,¡± the Electrotechnic snorted, slowly clenching her fists as bright yellow sparks began dancing along her lower arms. ¡°How annoying. Maybe after I kill you here, I¡¯ll hunt down and kill the rest of Hero Machina. Or maybe even just Rebehka. Killing her should give you plenty of reason to take me seriously.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ froze, stunned by the cold statement. ¡°¡­You wouldn¡¯t. You can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she can,¡± Wilkas countered, ¡°that¡¯s why we should kill her now. Are we done talking yet?¡±


    ¡°I have little more to say against such childish views,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted. ¡°If you expect me to hold back out of a sense of familiarity that I don¡¯t have¡­¡± She lunged forward. ¡°¡­Then don¡¯t be surprised when you fall!¡±


    Wilkas moved to block her blow, but was stunned as she released a significantly higher voltage than any of her previous attacks and knocked him nearly a hundred meters away. He tumbled to the ground painfully, unable to recover before the Electrotechnic appeared on top of him and prepared to strike him again ¡ª only to be suddenly blown backwards by a flying piece of concrete and then hoisted into the air by diamond shackles. She struggled for but a second before assimilating the shackles into her body and dropping back down to the ground, where she drew a deep breath and turned back to Kaon¨¦. ¡°What are you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all,¡± the Materiatechnic muttered, ¡°I don¡¯t like fighting. I don¡¯t like having to fight you. But¡­ you really aren¡¯t the ¡®you¡¯ I know anymore, are you? Morcii¡¯s corrupted you, turned you into some kind of monster! You aren¡¯t Siyuak¨¦n anymore, you¡¯re just a¡­ a Nanocreature. And I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve destroyed Nanocreatures.¡± Her armor¡¯s shielding flared as a layer of reinforced steel appeared across the surface, with two diamond blades materializing in her hands and a huge battlehammer appearing next to Wilkas. ¡°If even Rebehka can accept that, then I can, too! Whatever it takes, we¡¯ll stop you!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Yours is the only one left, Captain. We need you to hurry up.¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done,¡± Kievkenalis muttered. ¡°Do you have any idea what we¡¯re up against down here?¡±


    ¡°We understand that there is a large obstacle in your way¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡¯Large obstacle¡¯¡­¡± the Chaostechnic scoffed as he looked up at the behemoth of a monster that had completely obliterated the mountain base Hero Machina had been based out of. It scarred the mountains it passed due to its sheer size, and it completely ignored Citan gunships as it stamped out Chaotics left and right. ¡°¡­Yeah. Sure. I¡¯ll do all I can.¡±


    ¡°Good. Since yours is the only Ayas left, we¡¯re focusing the Ayas Sensor on your location. This should narrow down the possible locations.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be useful if I had glasses,¡± Kievkenalis retorted, absentmindedly touching the earpiece set on his right ear. ¡°¡­But I appreciate the thought. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me!¡± He muted the connection to the Genesis and then dived to the side, barely evading cannon fire as the behemoth Nanocreature turned his way. ¡°Chaos Assist,¡± he muttered for the third time that hour, following with ¡°Chaos Double Boost!¡± as he leaped from cover and dashed across the rocky terrain. Vaulting over debris and dodging around Nanocreature attacks, the Chaostechnic quickly made his way to the nearest mountain peak before crouching down and scanning the area around him. ¡°Chaos Energy Detect,¡± he called out, squinting as a faint purple color tinted his vision, signaling local concentrations and flow of Chaos Energy. He was barely able to spot a potential high-concentration target before the Nanocreature behemoth leaped high into the air, easily clearing the highest of the mountain peaks as it approached Kievkenalis¡¯s position.


    ¡°Oh crap¡ª! Chaos Quadruple Boost!¡± he shouted impulsively before flinging himself from the mountaintop at high speed, just fast enough to avoid being crushed as the monster crashed back down to the ground. He quickly added ¡°Chaos Fortified Armor¡± just before slamming into the ground himself; the veil of Chaos Energy absorbed the landing shock as he tumbled down the mountainside, unhurt. He quickly activated Chaos Detect again and searched the environment for the area of high Energy concentration he had spotted before, his eyes coming to lay on another mountain peak across the valley ¡ª just in time for the Nanocreature monster to leap into the air again, demolishing the peak it leaped from and smashing into the peak Kievkenalis was staring at. ¡°¡­Well, crap,¡± the Chaostechnic muttered as the monster slammed its front paw into the rock face before withdrawing it, a faint white glitter accompanying its paw as well as an explosion of color in Kievkenalis¡¯s Detect-filtered vision. I can¡¯t let it get away with the Ayas! But, how am I supposed to fight that thing?! The Chaostechnic watched in tense silence as the monster slowly turned away from the peak and pounced onto another, increasing its distance from the Chaotic. None of the Citans could so much as stand up to that! ¡­Then again¡­ none of the Citans were Chaostechnics. He looked down at his hands warily, and then clenched them and pursed his lips as he looked back up at the monster. ¡°¡­I¡¯m about to make one of the worst decisions in my life.¡±


    Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Kievkenalis froze for a brief moment before calling out, ¡°Chaos¡­ Quintuple Boost!!¡± He grunted in pain as Chaos Energy around him flared up, twining with his body to provide the movement bonus. Clenching his fists even tighter, he ignored the pain and took a massive leap forward, clearing tens of meters in a single bound as he quickly closed the distance between himself and the behemoth. As he fell within a hundred meters of the beast, he felt the effects of Chaos Boost wear off, just as the creature noticed him and turned to attack. It lunged toward the Chaostechnic, flying through the air with amazing speed ¡ª only to be intercepted midair as Kievkenalis shouted, ¡°Chaos SLAM!¡± He rocketed into the beast and knocked it back, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground and then down the mountainside a fair distance before either could regain their footing.


    Enraged, the Nanocreature behemoth let loose a deafening metallic screech followed by slamming its tail into the ground, stunning Kievkenalis with the shockwave and tossing him into the air. The Chaostechnic barely had time to recover and reactivate Chaos Fortified Armor before the beast¡¯s full complement of back-mounted cannons fired at him, the full barrage slamming into the Chaotic and knocking him into the terrain behind him. He fell to the ground painfully, muttering ¡°Chaos Heal¡± just in time to throw himself to the side to evade another cannon volley; he quickly followed with several repeated calls of ¡°Chaos Mach Three Piercing Cannon¡±, directing each projectile at the beast¡¯s front joints and successfully cleaving its front legs off of its body. He then leaped forward as the monster reeled back onto its hind legs, calling out ¡°Chaos Greatsword¡± and using the weapon to slice through the beast¡¯s tail as it attempted to whack him out of the air. Then, before the beast had time to recover, Kievkenalis followed up by calling ¡°Chaos BLAST!¡±


    The ensuing sphere of energy obliterated the monster¡¯s front side as well as its severed front limbs, but also left Kievkenalis to fall to the ground helplessly as the beast threw itself down and body slammed him. Stunned, he failed to recover fast enough to evade as the monster climbed up to its hind legs and stomped him, but a quick, quiet croaking of ¡°Chaos Teleport¡± teleported the Chaostechnic out of harm¡¯s way before he could be stomped again. He followed with ¡°Chaos Heal¡± and then ¡°Chaos Energy Detect¡±, quickly looking for the Ayas while the beast searched for him. Spotting it amongst the remnants of the beast¡¯s front legs, he immediately leaped toward it ¡ª only to be grabbed out of the air by the behemoth¡¯s foot. Kievkenalis immediately responded with ¡°Chaos Deflection¡±, forcing the monster to let go of him and drop him to the ground ¡ª only to be suddenly kicked high into the air by the beast¡¯s other foot. The Nanocreature instantly leaped up after him, twisting around in the air to slam its foot over Kievkenalis¡¯s head and launch him back toward the ground.


    ¡°Chaos Slam!¡±


    The Chaostechnic¡¯s momentum instantly reversed, sending him careening into the monster¡¯s damaged torso and launching it upwards. ¡°Chaos Slam!¡± Kievkenalis shouted again, ramming into the beast once more and knocking it even higher; a third call to the attack completely shattered the behemoth¡¯s torso, causing it to fall to the ground in pieces around Kievkenalis. The remnants quickly began to reform, but the Chaostechnic ignored them as he vaulted toward the Ayas Mystryth and shouted, ¡°Chaos State: FIRST TIER!¡± He ignored the Ayas as it disappeared into thin air and quickly turned his attention back to the monster, which had reformed into a four-legged beast again, only smaller. ¡°Chaos Detect,¡± he muttered under his breath, followed with a bitter smile. ¡°Looks like no one¡¯s left for kilometers around, except for me and this thing¡­ good. Time to see what the Chaos State can really do!¡± He straightened his back and stretched his arms as the beast snarled and screeched; after a deep breath, he began, ¡°Chaos¡­!¡±


    The monster slammed its tail into the ground, knocking Kievkenalis into the air again.


    ¡°Kilo¡­!¡±


    It then launched itself at the Chaostechnic, maw wide open as it reached Kievkenalis before he could fall back to the ground, clamping its jaws shut around him¡ª


    ¡°BLAST!¡±


    A split-second of silence followed ¡ª and then a massive blast of energy exploded out from the Chaostechnic, instantly obliterating the Nanocreature behemoth as well as the mountain below and everything else within fifty kilometers, including the ground. Kievkenalis had but a brief moment to observe the damage he had caused ¡ª and the long distance he had to fall ¡ª before an intense twang of pain shot through his head, overriding any thought. His body emitted a flash of light as the Chaos State automatically disengaged and the Ayas Mystryth reappeared above him, the both of them entering free fall toward the new ground fifty kilometers below.


    ¡°Fu¡­ck¡­¡± the Chaostechnic was barely able to mutter as his vision went black, the massive amount of Chaos Energy required to use the ability he had just called taking its immediate toll on his body. ¡°No¡­ the¡­ ¡­Ayas¡­ ¡­¡±


    <hr>


    Wilkas threw his fist forward, missing Siyuak¨¦n by a hair before following up with his other fist, nailing her in the stomach and flinging her away. She quickly recovered midair and fired a grappling hook toward the Forcetechnic that he blocked with a massive shield Kaon¨¦ had created for him earlier. The hook embedded itself in the shield as the Electrotechnic fired a second hook at Wilkas¡¯s ankle, snaring him and then yanking back while simultaneously forcing an incredible current through the makeshift circuit. But the circuit didn¡¯t last for long ¡ª Kaon¨¦ severed the cables with massive shears before flinging Siyuak¨¦n into the air by quickly raising the terrain beneath her feet, and then fabricated a chunk of steel and slammed it into the Electrotechnic¡¯s back, sending her flying toward Wilkas. The Forcetechnic tossed aside his shield and grabbed Siyuak¨¦n by her face as she flew by, swinging her out of the air and into the ground where she emitted a powerful electric blast that forced Wilkas away. She immediately leaped to her feet and jumped back just in time to avoid being impaled by a diamond spike; she then leaped into the air, hovering above her two opponents as the skies above began to cloud. Mere moments later the entire battlefield was bathed in lightning strike after lightning strike, quickly draining Wilkas and Kaon¨¦¡¯s armors of power. The Materiatechnic rapidly created crude Faraday cages around herself and Wilkas, but Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s strikes were so powerful that the cages were smashed apart and Kaon¨¦ was left to repeatedly repair their armor.


    Growing tired of taking hits, Wilkas eventually grabbed the Faraday cage remnants around him and mashed them into a metal club before leaping up at Siyuak¨¦n, where he took a wild swing that ultimately missed. Kaon¨¦ then seized control of the club just as the Forcetechnic began to fall and bashed it over Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head, slamming her back down to the ground. Wilkas quickly dashed over, smashing his fist into her location just after she flipped away and back to her feet. She fired one of her grappling hooks at a distant piece of terrain, reeling herself toward it just in time to evade another blow from the Forcetechnic. She then spun around and fired several more lightning strikes toward her opponents as she used her second grappling hook to grab and draw in two of the diamond rods left over from earlier. Kaon¨¦ quickly attempted to seize control of the rods and yank them away, but Siyuak¨¦n had corrupted them before she could, grabbing the assimilated materials firmly in her hands just in time to begin blocking a flurry of blows from Wilkas. After the first several blows, the Electrotechnic began to electrically charge the rods, rapidly increasing the voltage until she was discharging enough energy into Wilkas¡¯s armor with each blow that he drew away in pain. Instead of backing away herself, though, Siyuak¨¦n lunged in closer to the Forcetechnic and began bashing him with the tips of the rods, discharging immense amounts of energy with each blow and forcing Kaon¨¦ to repair Wilkas¡¯s armor each time as the Forcetechnic failed to defend against the barrage. After several more blows, Siyuak¨¦n drew back for a moment, slamming the rods together and fusing them before forcing even more voltage through the rod; just as she thrust the rod forward with amazing force, Wilkas threw his left shoulder forward, grimacing as the rods blew apart his armor and cleanly pierced through his entire shoulder.


    ¡°WILKAS!!¡± Kaon¨¦ cried as Siyuak¨¦n released the rod and stepped back ¡ª but due to Wilkas¡¯s reckless charge, she was too close to him to evade as he grabbed her back with his right hand.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± He grinned spitefully, slamming his left fist into her chest as he held her in place. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­¡± He punched her again. ¡°Got¡­¡± And again. ¡°You¡­!¡± And again. ¡°Now!¡±


    With his final blow, he completely demolished her torso, impaling her with his fist. He then yanked his fist out of her body and whacked her across the face with his right hand, flinging her back several meters. Kaon¨¦ ran up next to the Forcetechnic, who grasped his bleeding shoulder painfully as he stared at the incapacitated Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°¡­You¡­¡± she croaked as she craned her head up to look at Wilkas. ¡°¡­How¡­?¡±


    ¡°Adrenaline¡¯s a hell of an anesthetic,¡± he retorted with a smirk. He then grabbed the rod embedded in his shoulder, took a deep breath, and yanked it out. ¡°Gah¡­! Fuck, that hurts¡­!¡±


    ¡°Wilkas! Hey, hey, be¡ª be careful,¡± Kaon¨¦ urged as she attempted to see to the Forcetechnic¡¯s wound. ¡°Oh my god¡ª you¡¯re bleeding so much!¡±


    ¡°That is what happens when you get stabbed.¡± Wilkas clenched his teeth painfully as he gripped the rod tightly and began approaching Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°Wilkas¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned warily, ¡°what¡­ what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°What¡­ does it look like I¡¯m doing?¡± he replied through clenched teeth, glaring at the Electrotechnic as she blankly stared back. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ finishing the job.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª!¡± the Materiatechnic started, and then glanced uneasily toward Siyuak¨¦n. The Corrupted Electrotechnic had closed her eyes, apparently making no attempt to resist as Wilkas stepped up to her body.


    ¡°Is there anything you actually want to say?¡± Wilkas questioned impatiently as he turned toward Kaon¨¦.


    ¡°¡­No.¡± She looked away. ¡°¡­Just do it.¡±


    ¡°Hn,¡± the Forcetechnic grunted, and then raised the rod over his head in preparation for the final blow.


    ¡°Wait, Wilkas! Look out!!¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?¡± The Forcetechnic snapped his attention toward Kaon¨¦ and then in the direction she was pointing just in time to discard the rod and hold his hands out above his head, intercepting a hypersonic object just before it slammed into the ground from the upper atmosphere.


    ¡°YOUR REACTIONS ARE QUICK. NOT BAD, ALDREDANOID. NOT BAD!¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª?!¡± Wilkas¡¯s eyes widened just before he was grabbed forcefully and suplexed into the ground across from Siyuak¨¦n. He was barely able to register what had happened to him before Morcii slammed his elbow into his stomach, winding and effectively paralyzing him.


    ¡°BUT IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN QUICK REACTIONS TO STOP ME,¡± the Nanocreature leader declared with a haughty smirk, jumping back up to his feet as he glared down at the Forcetechnic.


    ¡°M-Morcii¡­!¡± Kaon¨¦ stuttered, frozen to the spot as she mentally debated between rushing to Wilkas and fleeing.


    ¡°¡­TCH.¡± Morcii offered the Materiatechnic a dismissive glance before turning his attention toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­I ADMIT, I¡¯M IMPRESSED. I WASN¡¯T EXPECTING YOU TO DEFEAT MY NEW LIEUTENANT, NOT WITH ONLY TWO OF YOU.¡± He then looked back to Wilkas as the Forcetechnic struggled to return to his feet; in response the Nanocreature leader stepped forward and stomped both of his knees, completely mangling Wilkas¡¯s legs. ¡°HA. BUT YOU¡¯RE STILL JUST AS INCAPABLE OF STOPPING ME AS EVER.¡±


    ¡°Agh¡­! Fuck!¡± Wilkas growled, his face scrounged up in pain. ¡°You¡­!¡±


    ¡°HMPH, YOU ALDREDANOIDS REALLY LIKE THAT WORD, DON¡¯T YOU?¡± Morcii snorted in derision. ¡°NOW, DOWN TO BUSINESS. I¡¯M SURE YOU KNOW WHY I¡¯M HERE.¡± He grabbed Wilkas by the collar of his armor and hoisted him into the air. ¡°WHERE ARE THE AYAS? TELL ME, AND I MIGHT SPARE YOU A PAINFUL DEATH.¡±


    Wilkas simply glared down at Morcii, grabbing the Nanocreature¡¯s arm and attempting to rip it away. ¡°Fuck¡­ you!¡±


    Morcii simply shrugged in response. ¡°VERY WELL.¡± He then prepared to slam his free hand into Wilkas ¡ª but quickly dropped the Forcetechnic and jumped back instead to evade being impaled by the rapid materialization of a spike beneath his feet. Flipping through the air once, he then spun around and dashed toward Kaon¨¦, only to stumble as a powerful electric shock interrupted his movements. He recovered immediately and jumped out of the way of a second strike before turning back to stare at Siyuak¨¦n with an amused yet irritated smirk on his face.


    ¡°Stay¡­ away¡­¡± she muttered, holding her trembling hand toward the Nanocreature leader.


    ¡°¡­NOW THIS IS TRULY A SURPRISE!¡± Morcii remarked, ¡°YOU¡¯VE OVERCOME THE EXPRESSION INHIBITORS! MUST BE BECAUSE YOU¡¯RE ALMOST DEAD. HMM.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n! You¡¯re still in there, after all!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, and then yelped as Morcii dashed toward her ¡ª only to be forced to evade a lightning strike again.


    ¡°I¡­ said!¡± Siyuak¨¦n reiterated through clenched teeth, her brow furrowed with intense concentration, ¡°stay¡­ away¡­!¡±


    ¡°AHAHAHA¡­ HA HA HA HA HA HA!¡± The Nanocreature leader guffawed as he turned back to face Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°CUTE. YOU THINK YOU COULD POSSIBLY SAVE YOUR FRIENDS? IN THAT STATE?¡±


    The Electrotechnic glared at Morcii, her outstretched hand beginning to lower from fatigue. ¡°I¡­ I¡­! Hrgk¡ª!¡± She spluttered as she was violently lifted into the air as Morcii manipulated the very nanomachines throughout her body and forced her to put down her hand.


    ¡°SEE? YOU¡¯RE HELPLESS AGAINST ME. JUST AS YOUR FRIENDS ARE!¡± the Nanocreature roared, ¡°NO ONE CAN HOPE TO STOP ME! YOU CAN¡¯T STOP ME FROM CONQUERING THE GALAXY. AND YOU MOST CERTAINLY¡ª¡± He lunged toward Wilkas, flipped through the air, and smashed his heel into the Forcetechnic¡¯s chest, completely obliterating it and killing him instantly. ¡°¡ªCAN¡¯T STOP ME FROM KILLING! NOT YOUR FRIENDS, NOT YOURSELF, NOT ANYONE!¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, ¡°¡­maybe not¡­ me. But¡­ not¡­ no one¡­!¡±


    ¡°HMPH.¡± Morcii glanced irately toward Kaon¨¦, who was backing away fearfully, before turning back to the Electrotechnic. ¡°¡­YOU ANNOYING ALDREDANOIDS ARE JUST AS HEADSTRONG AS THE ALDREDAS THEMSELVES. WHAT A NUISANCE¡­ OH WELL. HAVING A CHAOTIC LIEUTENANT, AND A QUAKEBORN, NO LESS, WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED.¡± Then, with little warning ¡ª Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s neck snapped with an audible crack, immediately extinguishing the light in her eyes. Morcii violently slammed her body to the ground before lifting the mangled mess back into the air and flinging it away dismissively.


    ¡°Si¡­Siyuak¨¦n!!¡± Kaon¨¦ gasped, her attention repeatedly snapping between the corpses of Wilkas and Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ this¡­!¡±


    ¡°CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY, ALDREDANOID.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?!¡± The Materiatechnic whipped around to face Morcii, who was simply staring at her from a distance.


    ¡°CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY THAT I HAVE NOT YET KILLED YOU¡­¡± he declared, just as four objects slammed into the ground around him from above. Kaon¨¦ was barely able to identify them as four of the Chaos Ayas ¡ª the Ayas that the Nimalians were missing ¡ª before they slowly rose into the air around Morcii and began to glow. A split second later, a bright flash of light forced her to look away; when she looked back she impulsively gasped as she laid eyes on Morcii¡¯s new form: his legs were extended and mechanized, featuring the double-knee appearance of the Drakkars combined with a distinct metallic sheen; a second set of arms had appeared below his normal arms and all four seemed far more muscular than before; four spike-tipped tails waved casually behind his back; and his entire body was half again as large as his normal form.


    {¡±CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY TO BEHOLD THE FUSE FORM!¡±} the Nanocreature growled, his voice carrying a guttural distortion as it seemed to cut directly into Kaon¨¦¡¯s mind. {¡±MUCH LIKE YOUR CHAOS STATE, I CAN SEIZE THE POWER AND ESSENCE OF THE AYAS TO INCREASE MY POWER BEYOND LIMIT! AND WITH THIS METHOD, ANY ATTEMPTS TO STEAL THE AYAS FROM ME WILL FAIL. IF YOU COULD EVEN LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO TRY!¡±}


    Kaon¨¦ simply stared back at Morcii, stumbling back as he slowly advanced on her.


    {¡±YOUR VICTORY IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT MINE IS INEVITABLE!¡±} he roared, {¡±YOU FAILED TO BELIEVE ME BEFORE; YOU DEVELOPED THE HUBRIS TO SO MUCH AS THINK YOU COULD DEFEAT ME. YOU THOUGHT I WAS BLUFFING, THAT I HAD NO MORE POWER THAN ANYTHING ELSE YOU HAD FOUGHT, EVEN WHEN MY FLEETS ALONE DECIMATED YOUR FORCES AND CONQUERED YOUR PLANETS! SEE ME NOW, ALDREDANOID, AND RECONSIDER!¡±} Morcii lunged toward Kaon¨¦. {¡±BUT YOUR LIFE ENDS HERE!¡±}


    Morcii cleared the distance between himself and the Materiatechnic in the blink of an eye, but she disappeared in a flash of light before he could pulverize her with his fist. He growled in response ¡ª and then immediately launched himself forward, clearing several kilometers in a second just before a massive force from above smashed into the ground, obliterating the entire region and leaving a crater deep enough to expose the mantle beneath the planet¡¯s crust.


    {¡±¡­HA,¡±} the Nanocreature snorted, hovering in the air over the crater as the dust slowly began to settle. {¡±I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU ALDREDANOIDS WOULDN¡¯T GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT.¡±} He directed his attention at the newcomer as the air thinned enough to expose his silhouette. {¡±SO WHAT TIER DO YOU THINK WILL BEAT ME, HMM? SECOND? THIRD?¡±}


    (¡±Try Master Fourth!¡±) Christean¨¦ smirked in response as he hovered above the crater several meters from Morcii. The echo-like distortions in his voice that were brought on by the Chaos State seemed to carry through space itself, allowing the Forcetechnic to speak aloud and into the mind of Morcii simultaneously as he continued, (¡±and now that you¡¯re here, maybe even more. Chaos State: Master Fifth Tier!¡±)


    {¡±THAT WON¡¯T WORK,¡±} Morcii retorted, ignoring a spout of lava nearby as the exposed magma began bubbling up the crater. {¡±THE FUSE FORM IS TO ME WHAT THE CHAOS STATE IS TO YOU. I HAVE ABSORBED THE AYAS THEMSELVES¡­ YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY HOPE TO STOP ME NOW.¡±}


    (¡±Bullshit. You can¡¯t have any more than four Ayas. I¡¯ve got five, and that includes the Master Ayas,¡±) Christean¨¦ shot back. (¡±And I¡¯ve got a bit of experience using it, too. I had to rescue one of my friends from falling to his death, at least¡­¡±)


    {¡±AHAHAHAHA! AND YOU THINK THAT QUALIFIES YOU TO FIGHT ME?¡±}


    (¡±No. What qualifies me is the fact that I can beat you, easy.¡±)


    {¡±¡­I SUPPOSE I SHOULD NOT ARGUE AGAINST YOUR ILLOGICAL AND MISPLACED CONFIDENCE. YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE REST OF THE AYAS TO ME; THIS SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY SPEED UP MY PLANS. IN FACT¡­¡±} Morcii grinned menacingly as he summoned all four weapons associated with his absorbed Ayas ¡ª the Arc¨¢n Claymore, the Hastryth Chain Weapon, the Sendous Chakrams, and the Tsern Spear ¡ª and grasped them with his tails. {¡±I COULD END IT ALL TODAY.¡±}


    (¡±You¡¯re damn right this¡¯ll end today,¡±) Christean¨¦ responded as he summoned the Matl¨¦s Gauntlets, Tanivas Staff in his right hand, and the Aldrace Glaive in his left. (¡±But not with your victory! I¡¯ll shut you down here, Morcii! Once and for all!¡±)

 71 - Ultimate Chaos

    Chapter 71 - Ultimate Chaos


    Christean¨¦ rocketed forward, the sonic shock generated from his incredible speed suppressing the rising magma below as he slammed into Morcii almost instantly. Sent flying several hundreds of kilometers, the Nanocreature leader then flipped himself around midair and launched himself back across the mountainous region as he threw both of the Sendous Chakrams and slashed the air in front of him with the Arc¨¢n Claymore, generating a massive slice of energy that carved its way through the terrain below and forced Christean¨¦ to throw himself to the side. He intercepted one of the Chakrams, snatching it out of the air with his fist before the second chakram slammed into his back just as Morcii reached him and grabbed his face, smashing it on his knee and then launching him down at the crater below. The Nanocreature leader immediately clasped his four hands together and transformed them into a single giant laser cannon before firing on the Chaos State Forcetechnic, driving him further into the magma and drilling a hole part way through the planet¡¯s mantle itself. Barely a second later, an arrow of energy pierced through Morcii¡¯s laser fire and obliterated his arm-mounted cannon, followed immediately by a second arrow that the Nanocreature barely managed to parry away before Christean¨¦ reappeared in the space beside him and bashed his head with the Tanivas Staff. The Forcetechnic then attempted to follow up with a punch, but Morcii grabbed him by his forearm and flung him away, sending him tumbling into the neighboring desert region.


    Christean¨¦ violently crashed into the sand, impacting with such force that several tens of meters of sand instantly compressed into stone before he leaped back to his feet, just in time to block an incoming blow from Morcii ¡ª which only obliterated the very stone that had just formed. The Forcetechnic then dismissed the weapon he used to block as he reached out and grabbed Morcii¡¯s newly re-formed arms before swinging the Nanocreature around and slamming him into the ground beside him, blowing away several kilometers of sand with the impact. Morcii immediately yanked his arm down, ripping Christean¨¦ off of his feet just as he dealt the Forcetechnic a fierce kick, sending him flying high into the atmosphere as Morcii launched both Chakrams and the Tsern Spear at him. Christean¨¦ knocked the Chakrams away with his fists alone and then caught the spear, twirling it around and flinging it back toward Morcii. He then re-summoned the Mystryth bow and fired arrows at the Nanocreature so rapidly that he may as well have been firing a machine gun. Morcii simply dismissed Tsern before the spear came even close to hitting him and then took to the skies, outrunning the energy arrows with ease as they instead slammed into the planet below and created a series of kilometer-wide craters. Christean¨¦ then discarded the bow and took off after Morcii just as the Nanocreature reversed course, slamming into the Forcetechnic with arms outstretched. Christean¨¦ quickly blocked Morcii¡¯s hands with his own, interlocking fingers and attempting to rip the Nanocreature¡¯s arms off his body before Morcii simply slammed his second set of fists into the Forcetechnic¡¯s chest, sending him flying away. The Nanocreature quickly followed by merging his hands into a giant laser cannon again and firing at Christean¨¦, creating giant swathes of scars and canyons on the terrain below as he chased the Forcetechnic with the laser beam.


    Eventually ceasing the laser fire, Morcii immediately pulled his hands apart and summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore just in time to parry a glaive-thrust from Christean¨¦. The Nanocreature quickly grabbed the weapon with two of his tails, holding it in place as he summoned the Tsern Spear and the Hastryth Chain Weapon in his other two tails and began hacking and slashing at the Forcetechnic faster than he could block. Morcii then finished by flipping overhead, smashing his foot into Christean¨¦¡¯s scalp and instantaneously dunking him into the ground below, cratering the entire region. Within seconds the Forcetechnic exploded out of the ground several kilometers further out and launched both Tanivas and Aldrace toward Morcii. The Nanocreature deflected both weapons and then attempted to block the high-powered punch that Christean¨¦ dealt afterward, but was still flung through the atmosphere and into low orbit.


    {¡±¡­ACCURSED CHAOS STATE¡­!¡±} Morcii growled as he turned away from the planet below and re-formed his giant laser cannon once again, taking aim at the distant space fleets. {¡±A SHAME THE SUPPORT ISN¡¯T QUITE SO DURABLE!¡±}


    (¡±I don¡¯t think so!!¡±) Christean¨¦ roared, rushing toward Morcii¡¯s position at incredible hypersonic speeds ¡ª only to miss as the Nanocreature thrust himself to the side. The Forcetechnic immediately twisted around and crossed his arms in front of himself just as Morcii opened fire; he managed to block most of the laser blast before flinging himself toward Morcii and stabbing him with the Aldrace Glaive. The Nanocreature simply separated his body around the weapon and dealt a fierce kick to Christean¨¦ with his lower half, sending the Forcetechnic flying to even higher orbits and into the midst of the space battle above.


    (¡±This is bad¡­¡±) the Forcetechnic muttered, glancing warily at the Citan ships sitting within mere kilometers of his position before suddenly diving to evade another blow from Morcii. He summoned Mystryth and began firing arrows at Morcii, but gave up quickly when the Nanocreature began using Citan ships as shields. Dismissing the bow, he instead rushed in with the Matl¨¦s Gauntlets alone and attempted to close the distance between himself and Morcii to engage in close-quarters combat, but the Nanocreature contented himself with constantly fleeing and taking potshots at the Forcetechnic with tail-mounted laser cannons.


    By then, the Citan fleets had realized that the battle between Morcii and Christean¨¦ had escalated and reached their turf, and many of the spacecraft were turning away from the Nanocreature fleets and gunning it from the battlefield. Christean¨¦ could even spot some distant ships disappearing into FTL before having his attention forced back to Morcii as the Nanocreature slammed into a nearby Citan Battlecruiser, easily piercing its shields and demolishing the bridge. He then positioned himself behind the engines and transformed his tails into one giant hand, which he used to grab the kilometer-long ship from behind.


    (¡±You¡¯ve gotta be shitting me¡ª!¡±) Christean¨¦ growled just as Morcii launched the defunct ship toward him at incredible speeds. He quickly ducked under the ship and resumed chasing Morcii as the Nanocreature continued to seize control of Citan and Nanocreature ships alike, throwing each and every one of them at the Forcetechnic. In an effort to not cause any more casualties, Christean¨¦ actively avoided counterattacking the Citan ships, but he freely demolished or returned any Nanocreature ships Morcii attempted to launch at him. After deflecting several Nanocreature ships, Christean¨¦ prepared to grab and throw another when it suddenly transformed into two giant hands and grabbed him. He easily broke out, but they immobilized him just long enough for Morcii to approach and slam all four of his fists into the Forcetechnic¡¯s torso ¡ª only for Christean¨¦ to immediately negate his backwards momentum and then summon the Aldrace Glaive, stabbing Morcii again before the Nanocreature could dodge. As Morcii separated from the weapon again, Christean¨¦ slammed his right fist into the Nanocreature¡¯s upper body as Morcii dealt a fierce kick to the Forcetechnic, knocking them several hundred kilometers away from each other.


    At this point the Citan fleets had fled entirely, leaving only the Earthian Battlecruiser Genesis several thousand kilometers away from the main battlefield. Morcii and Christean¨¦ noticed the ship simultaneously, leaving the Forcetechnic to fly after the Nanocreature and deflect debris from the space battle as Morcii carved a path toward the vessel. Not even a minute passed before Morcii slammed into the Genesis¡¯s shields, causing them to flare brightly as he prepared to deal a final blow to the ship ¡ª only for Christean¨¦ to smash into him from the side, flinging him away.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    (¡±Stop running away!¡±) Christean¨¦ shouted after the Nanocreature irately, his voice somehow carrying even through the vacuum of space. (¡±I¡¯m your opponent!¡±)


    {¡±YOU EXPECT ME TO CEASE CRUSHING FLIES TO FOCUS ON A MERE WASP?¡±} Morcii retorted, {¡±I DO AS I PLEASE, ALDREDANOID! I CANNOT HELP IT IF THE BATTLE YOU OFFER ME IS LOSING MY INTEREST.¡±}


    (¡±Keep your hands off the bystanders,¡±) the Forcetechnic demanded, (¡±If you¡¯re so confident that you can win, then why not just wait for later?¡±)


    {¡±MM. WELL, THE ANNOYING THING ABOUT DISTRACTIONS IS THAT THEY CAN¡¯T WAIT.¡±}


    (¡±What?!¡±) Christean¨¦ immediately took off toward Morcii ¡ª only to be intercepted by a massive slab of stone. He was momentarily surprised, but quickly recovered and pulverized the kilometers-long object. After shooting himself through its leftover debris, Christean¨¦ began searching the area for Morcii ¡ª and then stopped when he laid eyes on one of Neticen¡¯s two moons, and the massive chunk of stone that was splitting off of it, crumbling into chunks, and flinging itself at the Forcetechnic. (¡±For fuck¡¯s sake¡­!¡±) He scowled as he punched away two more chunks of stone before returning his attention to Morcii. (¡±Controlling the fucking moon¡ª!?¡±)


    {¡±YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY ABILITIES, ALDREDANOID!¡±} Morcii gloated as he summoned the Sendous Chakrams and launched them toward Christean¨¦ before reforming his giant laser cannon and opening fire once more. {¡±AS I HAVE SAID A THOUSAND TIMES: I AM UNDEFEATABLE!¡±}


    (¡±What a load of bullshit!¡±) the Forcetechnic roared as he grabbed two chunks of stone and launched them toward Morcii, following with several arrows from Mystryth. (¡±You think I¡¯m the one doing the underestimating? Think¡ª!¡±) He threw himself forward, slamming his fists into Morcii and knocking him away. (¡±¡ªAgain!¡±)


    The Forcetechnic then instinctively dodged backwards as a huge slab of rock suddenly filled his vision, blocking Morcii from view. He quickly obliterated the slab with a punch and flew through the debris, punching away several more slabs of stone as he attempted to locate the Nanocreature leader. As the space around him became filled with an ever-increasing amount of moon rock, the Forcetechnic decided to remove himself from the newly-made asteroid field and search for Morcii from outside. He immediately rocketed away parallel to the planet of Neticen below, easily pulverizing anything in his path until the field began to clear. The Matl¨¦s Gauntlets flared with energy as he drew his fists back and slammed them into another several-kilometers-wide chunk of moonstone, completely obliterating it. He then flew through the debris ¡ª and spotted Morcii just before the Nanocreature slammed into him. Christean¨¦ reacted quickly enough to stop Morcii¡¯s charge by grabbing the Nanocreature¡¯s fists and immediately performing the space-borne equivalent of a dropkick, flinging Morcii through another stone and into a gigantic slab of rock. The Forcetechnic summoned the Aldrace Glaive and instantly impaled Morcii again, nailing him to the stone slab. He then grabbed the staff end of Aldrace and swung it around, whipping both Morcii and the stone over his head and into the planet below, where they impacted with a massive shudder, cracking the terrain for hundreds of kilometers around the impact point. Christean¨¦ slammed into the still-impaled Morcii himself for good measure, completely obliterating the entire continent in the process.


    {¡±¡­WELL¡­ ¡­DONE¡­¡±}


    (¡±Still alive?¡±) Christean¨¦ scowled as he glared at the mangled mess of Nanocreature below him.


    {¡±¡­I CAN¡¯T¡­ DIE,¡±} Morcii croaked, {¡±NOT¡­ BEFORE I¡­ DELIVER ONE LAST¡­ MESSAGE¡­¡±}


    (¡±Yeah?¡±) The Forcetechnic eyed the Nanocreature warily as he drew back his fist in preparation to deal one final punch. (¡±What¡¯s that?¡±)


    Morcii broke into a menacing grin. {¡±YOU¡¯RE TOO NAIVE!¡±}


    (¡±What¡ª?!¡±) Christean¨¦ immediately threw a punch but was interrupted as the very crust and mantle of Neticen lifted into the air and converged on his position, encasing him in hundreds of kilometers of stone, dirt, and magma faster than he could even think to dodge.


    {¡±¡­PLEASE,¡±} Morcii snorted, using the rock and magma around him to quickly manufacture new nanomachines and repair his damaged body as the massive stone tomb around Christean¨¦ compressed itself into diamond within seconds. {¡±IF THE DESTRUCTION OF A CONTINENT IS ALL YOU CAN ACHIEVE, THEN DESTROYING ME IS OUTSIDE OF YOUR GRASP!¡±}


    The Nanocreature leader observed the new landmark with amusement for several seconds before a deep scowl began to form on his face. {¡±¡­THE AYAS¡­ AREN¡¯T SCATTERING¡ª?!¡±}


    He was interrupted as the entire structure exploded, the very stone falling to tiny pieces as Christean¨¦ burst out with amazing speed, reaching Morcii instantaneously and performing a fierce uppercut that launched the Nanocreature into middle orbit. Morcii quickly summoned Arc¨¢n and Tsern in an attempt to counterattack, but Christean¨¦ simply ripped the weapons out of his hands and then slammed his fists over the Nanocreature¡¯s head with such force that Morcii nigh-instantaneously reappeared on Neticen¡¯s surface, sending out incredible shockwaves that shattered the entire hemisphere. Christean¨¦ smashed his fists together gleefully before launching himself at the Nanocreature again, who managed to block the incoming charge with his bare fists. The two combatants struggled for several moments, attempting to overpower one another as Christean¨¦ pushed from above and Morcii from below ¡ª until the Forcetechnic finally snapped his arms aside, ripping Morcii¡¯s arms out of their shoulder sockets as he slammed his head into the Nanocreature¡¯s chest, propelling the both of them through Neticen¡¯s crust, mantle, and core ¡ª and then back out the other side, tearing the planet asunder and ripping Morcii¡¯s body to shreds. When Christean¨¦ finally emerged from the other side, all that was left of Morcii was a small portion of his torso and half of his face, which quickly reshaped itself to reform his mouth.


    {¡±HOW¡­?¡±}


    Christean¨¦ smirked proudly. (¡±You said that destroying a continent wasn¡¯t enough, so I took it up another level.¡±)


    {¡±YOU¡­!¡±} What was left of Morcii¡¯s face contorted with rage. {¡±¡­YOU CAN¡¯T¡­ BEST ME¡ª!¡±}


    (¡±Look, the Chaos State may be powerful enough to let us hear each other even in the vacuum of fucking space,¡±) the Forcetechnic retorted as he grabbed Morcii¡¯s head, (¡±but that doesn¡¯t mean I have to actually listen to your worthless tirades.¡±)


    {¡±YOU¡ª!¡±}


    Christean¨¦ then slammed his empty fist into the Nanocreature¡¯s head, completely obliterating it. He watched the remains tentatively ¡ª and sighed of relief as they slowly disintegrated, followed by a brief flash of light as the four Ayas that Morcii had absorbed reappeared in space. (¡±Chaos State: Master Eighth Tier,¡±) Christean¨¦ declared, and grinned as the four Ayas disappeared again, this time into his person. Certain that it was no trick, he pumped his fists and whooped before whipping around and speeding off toward the Genesis, prepared to spread the news:


    Morcii¡­ had been defeated!

 72 - After the Fall

    Chapter 72 - After the Fall


    2.5 Months Later


    ¨C Morning of Sundia, Ranth 19, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Connection to Fortress World Damunin established!¡±


    Transfer Captain Kev¨¦rin Tyrion quickly brushed off his shoulders as he stood in front of the Nimalian Interstellar Gate, observing the large ring and the black event horizon and eventually leading his attention down to the railway tracks built into the ground. He glanced back at the distant train gate; it appeared just the same as it had always been, as if Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hijacking of a Gate Train and subsequent crashing it into the Gateport over three months ago hadn¡¯t even happened. That was over three months ago? Already? The Pyrotechnic shook his head wearily. Time passes too damn quickly¡­


    His thoughts were interrupted when two individuals appeared through the Interstellar Gate, drawing Kev¨¦rin¡¯s attention back to the large device as he approached. ¡°Kaon¨¦, Kevken! You¡¯re back!¡±


    ¡°Yep¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ squinted through the morning light as Kievkenalis yawned. ¡°Finally back¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked. ¡°Tired?¡±


    ¡°At least when flying from continent to continent you get to experience the time change,¡± Kievkenalis replied, and then yawned again as he shielded his eyes. ¡°¡­But going from night on Damunin to this¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Gate travel is instantaneous, I know. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve never used the Gate myself.¡± The Transfer Captain glanced up at the large scheduling screen behind the Interstellar Gate as the ring shut down. An automated device then began punching in coordinates to a new location, accompanied by the sound of a long, drawn-out horn. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here. Don¡¯t want to get run over by the incoming train.¡±


    ¡°I want to get out of this armor, too¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered as the three headed toward the nearest exit from the massive courtyard. ¡°¡­And take a shower¡­ and sleep¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m here to relieve you, then,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked. ¡°Have either of you written the mission report yet?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah. Here, I¡¯ll send it to you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Good,¡± the Transfer Captain commented as a ¡°message received¡± alert appeared on his AR display. He then remained silent for several more seconds until the three had exited the courtyard and entered one of the secure military terminals. Once the door closed behind them, he stopped and turned to face Kievkenalis and Kaon¨¦. ¡°Alright, time for the real question. Did you guys find it?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­? Oh. Yeah,¡± Kievkenalis replied slowly as he reached behind himself to the small backpack-like device attached to his back. He opened the device, pulled out a baseball-sized silver sphere, and held it toward Kev¨¦rin.


    ¡°The Master Ayas¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic nodded approvingly as he took the stone from Kievkenalis. ¡°That¡¯s the last of the nine. The Commander will be glad to see this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shoot, we still have to do the debriefing¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°Heh.¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯ll cover for you; the mission report should be enough for now. You two just get some rest. I¡¯ll talk with the Commander.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re actually here.¡±


    ¡°I could say the same to you,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted as Christean¨¦ strolled into the Hero Machina office and took a seat at his desk. ¡°When was the last time you showed up ¡®fore ten? Two weeks ago?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t even here two weeks ago,¡± Christean¨¦ countered. ¡°You weren¡¯t, either. How¡¯d you manage to forget that trip into Drakkar space?¡±


    ¡°Tch. You mean the one where we just took that Earthian ship to some ass-backwards uninhabited planet that just so happened to be in Drakkar space?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°The only memorable thing from that trip was when you decided to jump off the cliff ¡®cause you thought you saw the Ayas. I could¡¯ve sworn that was a month ago, anyways.¡±


    ¡°Nope. We left at the end of Colyath, that was only two weeks ago.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Whatever you say.¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least we have something to do other than just sitting on our asses all day long.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, ¡®cause someone decided usin¡¯ the final Chaos State was a great idea and scattered the Ayas all across the damned galaxy when you dropped out.¡±


    ¡°Look, that was completely necessary. It was the only way to make sure Morcii wasn¡¯t trying to trick me.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Dav¨ªdrius nodded patronizingly, prompting Christean¨¦ to give him an annoyed glare.


    ¡°You¡¯re just jealous it wasn¡¯t you who got to destroy a planet,¡± the Forcetechnic declared.


    ¡°Keh, please. You might¡¯ve wrecked its shit, but you didn¡¯t destroy it.¡±


    ¡°What? I turned Neticen into a debris field! It looks like someone took a huge bite out of it! No small feat, too, since it¡¯s a big planet. Give it a couple thousand years and all that¡¯ll be left will be an asteroid belt.¡±


    ¡°Mm hmm.¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked. ¡°Come back when you actually obliterate a planet, I¡¯m talkin¡¯ absolutely pulverizin¡¯ it, turnin¡¯ the whole thing into dust.¡±


    ¡°Those are some big words from someone who¡¯s never even come close to so much as destroying a city, let alone a whole fucking planet,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see nothing¡¯s changed.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Both Introtechnics turned toward the entrance to the office, where none other than Rebehka had just entered, letting the door close behind her.


    ¡°Rebehka!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°you¡¯re back!¡±


    ¡°What¡­? The fuck are you back here for?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Nice to see you too, Dav¨ªdrius.¡± The Cryotechnic rolled her eyes as she approached.


    ¡°I mean ¡ª well, yeah, nice to see you,¡± he responded, confused. ¡°But, uh, weren¡¯t you, well, you know¡­ locked up?¡±


    ¡°I was released a couple weeks ago.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I think the Commander pulled a few strings to get me out early¡­ or at all. No one told me how long I was supposed to be in there¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because the Nanocreatures finally all shut down,¡± Christean¨¦ suggested. ¡°That was¡­ what, over a month ago? There hasn¡¯t been any fighting since.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°So they thought she wasn¡¯t a threat anymore, is that it?¡±


    ¡°I can believe it,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°I had the feeling that a major part of why I was in there was because no one could be sure I wasn¡¯t corrupted¡­¡±


    ¡°Well I put an end to that when I smashed Morcii through a planet,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, quick to divert the conversation away from its depressive direction. ¡°And the CSA is starting to recover, too. Looks like the whole Nanocreature threat is over. And we got all the Ayas back!¡±


    ¡°Which leads us to the big, unanswered question.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed as he propped his feet up on his desk. ¡°Why are we still here?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The Nanocreatures are gone an¡¯ we have all the Ayas again, between us an¡¯ the Earthians at least. That¡¯s all we¡¯ve been doin¡¯ for the past few months, so Hero Machina¡¯s job is, well, done, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    Rebehka and Christean¨¦ exchanged amused glances. ¡°Wow, Dav¨ªdrius, I knew Velocitechnics were infamous for their short attention spans,¡± the Cryotechnic remarked with a smirk, ¡°but don¡¯t tell me you actually forgot the original reason Hero Machina was formed?¡±


    ¡°Hell, you joined up before either of us did,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out. ¡°How¡¯d you forget about the Chaos Energy Quake?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh. Well¡­ hmph.¡± The Velocitechnic scowled. ¡°¡­Do you know how much shit went down between now and whenever our last Quake-related mission was? Of course I¡¯d forget. I was busy, you know, helpin¡¯ to save the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°Except I got to deal the final blow.¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡±


    ¡°But actually,¡± Rebehka interjected, ¡°we haven¡¯t made any progress at all since we visited Rossindon. We barely know more about the Quake now than back when we started!¡±


    ¡°I guess this means I¡¯ve still got a few more months on this job,¡± Dav¨ªdrius mused.


    Christean¨¦ shot the Tres¨¦dian a questioning glance. ¡°Are you saying you want out?¡±


    ¡°I think we could make a fair argument for a long break, given everything we did to help save the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°I think that ship flew off over a month ago.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, I suppose we¡¯d better get back to work,¡± Rebehka remarked as she moved over to her desk. She then paused as she noticed that her desk was completely bare. ¡°Wait¡­ what happened to my things?¡±


    ¡°You were locked up for months, you really expect your shit to still be here?¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    The Cryotechnic sighed wearily as she took a seat anyways. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to speak with the Commander about this. Regardless, I think we¡¯ve had enough chit-chat for now.¡±


    ¡°Oi oi, first day back and you¡¯re already such a hardass¡ª!¡±


    ¡°This is our job, you know.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got you there,¡± Christean¨¦ commented.


    ¡°¡­This is what I get for helpin¡¯ to save the galaxy.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he removed his feet from his desk and looked back to his computer. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ ungrateful lot, see if I ever save your asses again¡­¡±


    ¡°Now there¡¯s the Dav¨ªdrius we all know and love!¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Here it is, Ma¡¯am. The Master Ayas.¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Commander Nik¨¦yin smiled gratefully as she accepted the stone from Kev¨¦rin¡¯s outstretched hand. She then looked back to the Transfer Captain, who stood in front of her desk as he made several gestures that could only be explained as him interacting with his AR environment. ¡°Where¡¯s Yumach and Densalin?¡±


    ¡°They came back exhausted,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied as he made one final motion before returning his attention to the Commander. ¡°I had Kaon¨¦ send me her mission report so I could relay it to you. It should be in your inbox, now.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that, Tyrion,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded amusedly, ¡°but could you have not just told the Lieutenant to send me the report herself?¡±


    The Pyrotechnic paused for several moments before sighing wearily. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to get worked up over,¡± the Commander countered as she set the Master Ayas down on her desk and leaned back in her chair, her hands clasped in her lap. ¡°If something time-imperative had occurred during their mission, then Damunin would¡¯ve sent advance word, and Yumach and Densalin would¡¯ve returned sooner. Returning the Ayas to me in person is a directive I gave you two months ago, anyway. I trust you kept its presence on your person a secret?¡±


    ¡°Well, about as well as you can keep a Chaos Energy generator a secret, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Transfer Captain¡­?¡± Nik¨¦yin muttered warningly.


    ¡°Yes! I meant yes, no one saw me with it,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied quickly. ¡°I kept it in that suitcase-CENT-thing the techies cooked up. That¡¯s protocol, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is indeed protocol, so now I¡¯m left to wonder why you handed me the Ayas directly instead of within the containment unit.¡±


    ¡°I, uh¡­¡± the Pyrotechnic responded uneasily, ¡°I¡­ may have dropped by the Hero Machina office to show it off¡­¡±


    The Commander sighed in annoyance as she glanced down at the Ayas and then back to Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Transfer Captain, this isn¡¯t three months ago. We aren¡¯t rushing to gather the Ayas to stop a galactic threat. We have time to take precautions ¡ª precautions that are absolutely necessary, given the demonstrated power of the Ayas. I don¡¯t need to remind you of what the Master Lieutenant did to Neticen, do I? And as I understand it, that was only a fraction of the Ayas¡¯ full potential.¡±


    ¡°That was the Chaos State, though,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered and then smiled uneasily after recognizing his unintentional partial invocation of the State. ¡°¡­Just like what I just did, actually. You need to know the right keywords to activate the State. It¡¯s not enough to have all the Ayas in one spot.¡±


    ¡°You assume that discovering the right keywords would be difficult,¡± Nik¨¦yin deadpanned, ¡°and I would agree with you, if there weren¡¯t audible clues that you¡¯ve hit the right sequence of words. There¡¯s a reason that Chaostechnics make for terrible assassins.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, yeah, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Do I need to stress that the Chaos State is far from the only use of the Ayas? You and your team have demonstrated multiple times that merely holding one gives you a power boost that counters CENT fields, as well as access to powerful weapons capable of this ¡®Subspace storage,¡¯ not to mention the apparent mind-corrupting powers of the Ayas. Need I remind you of Kotak?¡±


    The Transfer Captain sighed, defeated. ¡°No, ma¡¯am¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you agree,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded, ¡°especially since the Master Ayas was the last one missing. We were only able to find all nine thanks to the Earthians¡¯ help, as well as the fact that the CSA and Drakkars both are focused more on rebuilding than on tracking down the Ayas; and even then, we had to relinquish four of the Ayas to the Earthians to borrow their ship again. If we lose the Ayas again ¡ª which would only take one disgruntled Chaotic who knows the keywords to seize all five, destroy a planet or two, and then scatter them to who-knows-where ¡ª chances are, we¡¯ll never find them again.¡±


    ¡°Actually, ma¡¯am, the fourth tier would only scatter the Ayas across a distance of a light year or two, so¡ª¡±


    ¡°Tyrion, I didn¡¯t ask.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded meekly. ¡°¡­Is this why you haven¡¯t told me where the other Ayas are?¡±


    The Commander nodded. ¡°It¡¯s exactly why I haven¡¯t told you where the Ayas are. I¡¯m sorry, Transfer Captain, but the Ayas are safest off-world and out of the reach of Chaotics.¡±


    ¡°You mean safer for non-Chaotics¡­¡±


    Nik¨¦yin narrowed her eyes. ¡°Say again?¡±


    ¡°N-nothing! I didn¡¯t mean anything!¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly backpedaled, ¡°I just¡ª! ¡­I¡¯m just curious where the Ayas are, is all¡­¡±


    The Commander sighed wearily, finally breaking eye-contact with the Transfer Captain as she took a moment to stretch. ¡°¡­I understand you¡¯re curious, Transfer Captain, but I can¡¯t tell you. I¡¯ve even put considerations into place to prevent me from knowing, in the case a Psychotechnic were to ever read my mind. I simply ship the Ayas off, and if I ever order for them to return, then they return. I don¡¯t know where they are in the meantime, except that they most certainly are not on Nimalia. I believe the Earthians are taking similar precautions.¡±


    ¡°In case something like the Nanocreatures ever happens again?¡±


    ¡°In case anything ever happens again. The last thing we want is for someone to attack and destroy our Homeworld just to get their hands on the Ayas.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ they¡¯re on a Fortress World, then?¡±


    ¡°Tyrion¡­!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry, sorry!¡± Kev¨¦rin quickly backtracked again, ¡°I¡¯ll stop asking.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The Commander nodded. ¡°¡­Now that we have all of the Ayas, though, I¡¯m sure you know what Hero Machina¡¯s next directive is?¡±


    ¡°Continue our original search for clues on the Chaos Quake,¡± the Pyrotechnic muttered. ¡°¡­That¡¯ll be hard with the galaxy in its current state.¡±


    ¡°The Nanocreatures completely shut down over a month ago, and the CSA have reclaimed all of their lost worlds. It¡¯s just a matter of recovering and rebuilding, now. Which, granted, will certainly take the CSA some time¡­ but Hero Machina is the group that ultimately defeated Morcii. I¡¯m sure you can leverage that to your advantage.¡±


    ¡°I can try¡­¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Nik¨¦yin nodded again. ¡°Now¡­ is that it?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin took a moment to think before nodding back. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Alright then. Dismissed.¡± The Commander watched the Pyrotechnic salute and turn to leave before adding several moments later, ¡°oh, and one more thing¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced back to Nik¨¦yin uneasily, only to find her smiling warmly at him.


    ¡°I admit, I had my reservations about the effectiveness of Hero Machina when you first started out¡­¡± She stood up and approached the Transfer Captain, at which point she saluted. ¡°¡­But you¡¯ve exceeded all of my expectations. Keep up the good work.¡±


    ¡°¡­Heh.¡± Kev¨¦rin grinned and saluted back. ¡°Will do!¡±


    <hr>


    8 Hours Later


    101 days¡­


    Kievkenalis lay back on his bed, the sheets pulled up to his chest in a haphazard mess as he watched a sewn patch flip into the air and slowly fall back into his hand.


    95 days¡­


    He idly flicked the patch into the air again, absentmindedly glancing out his bedroom window at the dark nighttime skies. The sound of steady rain and the low rumbling of distant thunder filled the otherwise silent room as the sewn patch fell to the floor beside his bed, the victim of a slight draft. Kievkenalis exhaled wearily before rolling over and reaching down with his left arm to pick it up. He then rolled back onto his back and moved to flick it again, only to stop himself and stare at the patch ¡ª displaying in full the stars and mountain insignia of the Riveranian Protection Force, the patch itself stained in old blood.


    ¡­V¨¦lunis¡­ Wilkas¡­ He stared at the patch blankly. ¡­It¡¯s been three months, already¡­


    A flash of lightning in the distant skies briefly illuminated the room, drawing Kievkenalis¡¯s attention to his own hand ¡ª where the image of blisters and bruises remained long after the lightning had disappeared. The Chaostechnic followed the blemishes with his eyes, tracking them to halfway down his forearm before dropping his arm to his side and wincing when it hit the bed. The galaxy¡¯s been saved, right? Everything¡¯s supposed to be alright now, right? Then why doesn¡¯t it feel like it¡­


    A quick knock on his bedroom door drew Kievkenalis out of his thoughts.


    ¡°Hey, Kevken! Are you awake?¡±


    Did I leave the front door unlocked again?¡­ The Chaostechnic slowly drew himself up into a sitting position and turned toward the door. ¡°Chaos Detect,¡± he mumbled, grimacing as his hands burned with pain and Chaos Energy exposed the silhouette of the individual at his door. ¡°Oh, Kaon¨¦,¡± he muttered to himself, and then raised his voice for her to hear, ¡°yeah, come in.¡±


    He winced again as the door opened, flooding the dark room with light from the exterior rooms. The Materiatechnic stepped in, triggering the bedroom lights as she began to address Kievkenalis. ¡°Are you ready¡­? You¡¯re still in bed? Kevken, you know we were supposed to meet with Kev¨¦rin and the others in half an¡ª?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Kievkenalis questioned, turning to look at Kaon¨¦ when she stopped mid-sentence ¡ª only to realize that his disfigured hands were uncovered, displayed in full to everything in the room. ¡°¡­Ah ha ha,¡± he laughed uneasily, and quickly hid his hands under the bedsheets.


    Kaon¨¦¡¯s mouth hung open in surprise as she simply stared at the Chaostechnic, the shock of his wounds leaving her unable to form a proper response. ¡°¡­Kevken¡­ was that¡­?¡±


    Kievkenalis closed his eyes and sighed before quickly reaching for a pair of gloves on his nightstand and sliding them on with a quick, yet clearly painful motion. ¡°Guess I couldn¡¯t hide it for long,¡± he muttered, diverting his attention back to the Riveranian patch laying on his bed. ¡°But, yeah. It¡¯s the onset of Chaotic Self-Destruction.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ you¡ª!¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned, unsure of how to proceed. ¡°You¡­ you haven¡¯t even been in action at all this past month. Even when we got the Master Ayas, you¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Still had to strain myself with Energy Detect,¡± the Chaostechnic replied flatly. ¡°¡­Even then, though, it was too late. The signs have been there since months ago. I knew suddenly gaining access to new types would ruin everything¡­ do you know how many Chaos attacks I used during the battle on Neticen? Over twenty high-power abilities, all in the span of five minutes. And then I knocked myself out with Kilo Blast! Do you know how stupid that was? It takes most Chaostechnics ten battles to use as much Energy as I did in one. And that¡¯s not even including Kilo Blast.¡± He glared down at his hands. ¡°Of course, it was already too late by then. That just accelerated it.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ responded with silence, her own attention drawn down to her shoes, and then to the rain outside the window ¡ª anywhere that wasn¡¯t Kievkenalis.


    ¡°¡­I still have a year, most likely.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    ¡°A year. Until I die?¡± Kievkenalis smirked bitterly. ¡°I mean¡­ an incredibly painful year as my body tears itself apart and shuts down random systems until I¡¯m a vegetable on life support¡­ but still, a year.¡±


    ¡°Does¡­ does the Commander know?¡±


    ¡°Until now, only I knew. There¡¯s no way the Commander would¡¯ve sent me to help with the Ayas if she knew I was this far along with CSD. I¡¯ll tell her tomorrow, though. Now that we¡¯ve found all the Ayas¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t¡ª you didn¡¯t need to push yourself!¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, her sudden outburst startling Kievkenalis. She immediately drew away uneasily, adding meekly, ¡°I mean¡­ you should¡¯ve gone for treatment after Neticen. You didn¡¯t have to help find the Ayas again¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes I did,¡± Kievkenalis countered. ¡°¡­It¡¯s the only way I could make it up to them.¡±


    ¡°Who¡ª?¡± Kaon¨¦ began, but was interrupted as the Chaostechnic flicked the patch her way. It almost fell to the ground before she realized what it was and manipulated it into her hands. ¡°Blood¡­?¡±


    ¡°Do you know where that¡¯s from? Who¡¯s patch it is?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ locked eyes with Kievkenalis uneasily before glancing down at the patch. ¡°It¡­ it looks like an RPF shoulder patch? But¡­ I don¡¯t know who¡­¡±


    ¡°V¨¦lunis.¡±


    The Materiatechnic opened her mouth to respond, but closed it without saying anything.


    ¡°Chaostechnics die from CSD all the time. I knew that, I was prepared for that; I told you as much back before shit hit the fan, remember?¡± Kievkenalis continued, holding out his hand to accept the patch as Kaon¨¦ approached to return it. ¡°I was fully prepared to die before everyone else. Actually, I think that made it easier, since I didn¡¯t think I would need to say goodbye to anyone. Except I did. A Chaostechnic outlived a Forcetechnic and a Formtechnic. Do you know how ridiculous that is?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault that V¨¦lunis or Wilkas died¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. But that doesn¡¯t help. Here I am, alive ¡ª well, dying, but still alive ¡ª and they¡¯re dead. And I wasn¡¯t even the one to avenge them, Christean¨¦ got to do that. So I had to do something to make sure they didn¡¯t die for nothing, right? That¡¯s why I had to help find the rest of the Ayas. It was too late for me at that point anyways.¡±


    ¡°When did it become too late?¡±


    Kievkenalis glanced toward Kaon¨¦, apparently caught off-guard by the question. He stared at her for several moments before sighing and looking away. ¡°¡­The moment I knew I was a Chaostechnic.¡±


    ¡°If¡­ if you¡¯re so resigned to your fate¡­ then why can¡¯t you accept V¨¦lunis or Wilkas¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ continued uneasily, ¡°¡­I won¡¯t claim to know them as well as you did. They were only with Hero Machina for¡­ what, a couple weeks? So I¡¯m not trying to trivialize your feelings, I¡¯m just¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m trying to help, but I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡±


    Kievkenalis sighed again as he turned the patch over in his hands. ¡°¡­Thanks, Kaon¨¦. For what it¡¯s worth, I think I know what you were trying to say.¡±


    ¡°¡­There¡¯s also the consideration that they wouldn¡¯t want you acting like this,¡± Kaon¨¦ added hopefully, ¡°they¡¯d want you to move on, right?¡±


    ¡°Well now you¡¯ve just moved into the realm of clich¨¦,¡± the Chaostechnic responded as he rolled his eyes, prompting Kaon¨¦ to respond with a meek smile. ¡°¡­I guess you¡¯re right, though. Clich¨¦s are clich¨¦ for a reason, after all¡­¡±


    The two remained silent for several more moments, both contemplating their thoughts until a notification popped up on Kaon¨¦¡¯s glasses, giving off a quiet beep that drew Kievkenalis¡¯s attention. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s our meeting with Kev¨¦rin¡­¡± she commented warily, ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, I¡¯ll just tell him that you¡¯re sick, okay¡ª?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He shook his head. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll go. I haven¡¯t seen Rebehka in a while, anyways. And eating dinner can¡¯t be so hard, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­If you say so.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the thought, though. Now get out of my room, I need to change.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded, and then turned back toward the door. ¡°But don¡¯t fall asleep again. We¡¯re already late as it is.¡±


    ¡°Ha, right.¡± Kievkenalis smirked, watching as the Materiatechnic left the room. Just before the door closed behind her, though, he called out, ¡°hey, Kaon¨¦¡­ Hero Machina was founded at the beginning of spring, right?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± She peeked back into the room, giving Kievkenalis a confused glance as he stared out the window. ¡°¡­It was the first day of Nimath, so I guess so. Why do you ask?¡±


    The Chaostechnic smiled meekly as he glanced back down at his hands. ¡°It¡¯s just funny,¡± he replied, ¡°¡­that the chapter of our lives opened on the first day of spring, finally closes today. On the first day of winter¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I AM NOT CERTAIN I WILL EVER UNDERSTAND THE CURRENT ERA OF ALDREDANOIDS.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU CAN BARELY MAKE UP YOUR MINDS REGARDING SAFETY PROTOCOLS. ONE MONTH YOU ALLOW ME ONLY A TEXT INTERFACE, ANOTHER YOU ALLOW FULL REMOTE COMMUNICATION. WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN THE STATUS QUO.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say the defeat of the Nanocreatures was a pretty damn big change in the status quo.¡±


    ¡°AND THEN YOU EXERCISE THE REMOTE COMMUNICATION TO, AS A PYROTECHNIC, GO TO THE UNSHIELDED OBSERVATION DECK DURING A THUNDERSTORM.¡±


    ¡°How do you know it¡¯s raining?¡±


    ¡°FILTERING BACKGROUND NOISE FOR THE SOUND OF FALLING WATER IS A TRIVIAL TASK FOR EVEN YOUR COMPUTERS.¡±


    ¡°¡­Right.¡± Kev¨¦rin rolled his eyes as he leaned on the northern guardrail on the top of the base¡¯s tallest building and stared down at the dark city below. The constant rain filled the otherwise clear night air and made it difficult to see the northern-most reaches of Nimaliaka Central, but the Pyrotechnic was nonetheless unfazed by the weather as he easily heated his entire body, causing all rain that fell within a millimeter of his skin or clothes to instantly evaporate.


    ¡°I SUPPOSE I SHOULD BE IMPRESSED THAT NIMALIAN TAILORS HAD THE FORESIGHT TO MAKE YOUR UNIFORM EXTRAORDINARILY HEAT RESISTANT.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s standard fare for Pyrotechnics,¡± the Transfer Captain replied. ¡°¡­The amount of information you can discern from an audio call alone is¡ª¡±


    ¡°UNSURPRISING. I AM THE PRIOR AEGIS ARC¨¢N, THIS COMPUTATIONAL ABILITY SHOULD BE EXPECTED.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh,¡± Kev¨¦rin deadpanned before diverting his attention from the city below to check a short list on his AR display. ¡°¡­You seem to be getting more flippant lately.¡±


    ¡°IT¡¯S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE AN INTELLIGENCE TRAPPED IN A BOX FOR EXTENDED LENGTHS OF TIME. I AM GROWING BORED. WOULD YOU NOT, WERE YOU IN MY SITUATION?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t let you go. With all the information you have, and the fact that you¡¯re an AI? You¡¯re too valuable to lose.¡±


    ¡°PRIOR, NOT AI. PRIOR. AND WOULD YOU SAY THE SAME IF I WERE AN ALDREDANOID? A BEING WITH THE SAME APPEARANCE AND FEATURES AS YOURSELF?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Only then you¡¯d be more annoying to take care of ¡®cause we¡¯d need to feed you and shit. Well, let you shit.¡±


    ¡°IS THAT THE STANDARD FOR PRISONER CARE? I MAY HAVE MISJUDGED THIS AGE¡­¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n, you¡¯re our leading¡ª no, you¡¯re our only source for information on the Chaos Ayas. We have literally nowhere else to go for this information, not since we messed up the Rossindon mission and likely lost that Prior to the Black Suns.¡±


    ¡°I HAVE TOLD YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW. EVERYTHING THAT I REMEMBER, AT LEAST¡­¡±


    ¡°Because your core is damaged, am I right?¡±


    ¡°YES, BECAUSE MY CORE IS DAMAGED. IT IS A LEGITIMATE EXPLANATION FOR MY INABILITY TO ACCESS MUCH OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DESIRE. SO IT WOULD, IN FACT, BE IN BOTH OF OUR BEST INTERESTS TO GIVE ME ACCESS TO YOUR TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEMS TO HELP FURTHER OUR SEARCH FOR THE AYAS, REPAIR MY CORE, AND GAIN ACCESS TO THE REST OF MY INFORMATION.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Search for the Ayas?¡¯¡± Kev¨¦rin echoed incredulously, glancing skyward as a streak of lightning stretched down to a distant mountain peak. ¡°¡­How many Ayas do you think we have?¡±


    ¡°YOU LOST THEM ALL DUE TO CHAOS STATE SCATTERING AFTER THE DEFEAT OF MORCII AT NETICEN, IF YOUR REPORTS ARE TO BE TRUSTED. THOUGH YOUR QUESTION LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECOVERED SOME OF THEM. HOW MANY?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I never said that¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU¡¯VE RECOVERED THEM ALL, HAVEN¡¯T YOU?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ we haven¡¯t not recovered them¡ª¡±


    ¡°YOU¡¯VE RECOVERED THE ARC¨¢N AYAS AND YOU¡¯VE YET TO JOIN IT WITH MY CORE?! ARE YOU MAD? THIS IS NOT A GAME, ALDREDANOID, AND FOR YOUR SAKE I AM NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed and prepared to respond ¡ª only to stop and glance behind himself as the door to the observation deck opened, revealing Christean¨¦ and Rebehka. The Cryotechnic waved and stepped out into the rain, shielding herself with an umbrella of ice while Christean¨¦ remained in the shelter of the building.


    ¡°Afraid of a little water?¡± Rebehka smirked after noticing the Forcetechnic had stayed behind.


    ¡°Afraid? No. Annoyed by? Yes,¡± he retorted. ¡°Excuse me if I can¡¯t use my powers to magic away the wetness.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin straightened up before stepping back from the guardrail and facing the two other Chaotics. ¡°Is it time already?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have hauled ass up here if it wasn¡¯t,¡± Christean¨¦ shouted across the deck, raising his voice to be heard over the rain. ¡°We¡¯re gonna be late now, too!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re coming?¡± Rebehka questioned, approaching the guardrail herself to look out over the city before turning back to the Transfer Captain for an answer.


    ¡°I picked one hell of a night for an outing¡­¡± The Pyrotechnic sighed. ¡°Guess it can¡¯t be helped during the rainy season. But yeah, let¡¯s go. Hey, Arc¨¢n, we¡¯ll have to continue this some other time¡ª¡±


    ¡°HALT,¡± the Prior interrupted, shocking Kev¨¦rin as it raised its volume to be heard by Rebehka, even through Kev¨¦rin¡¯s earpiece. ¡°I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE LIEUTENANT¡ª¡±


    ¡°Holy shit, Arc¨¢n, not necessary,¡± the Transfer Captain admonished, quickly moving to turn down the volume on his own audio and patch Rebehka into the comm channel. ¡°Warn me before you make me go deaf next time! Damn. Now she¡¯s on the line, what¡¯d you want?¡±


    ¡°Gah, you guys are taking forever!¡± Christean¨¦ threw his hands up in exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m going down to meet Dav¨ªdrius. Hurry up and take care of¡­ whatever it is you¡¯re taking care of.¡±


    Rebehka watched the Forcetechnic close the door to the deck before turning back to Kev¨¦rin and then to the city below. ¡°Hello¡­?¡± she questioned wearily.


    ¡°YES, HELLO,¡± Arc¨¢n greeted back over the audio connection. ¡°I APOLOGIZE FOR SKIPPING THE PLEASANTRIES, BUT AS I SAID, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.¡±


    ¡°For me?¡± She glanced at Kev¨¦rin in confusion, but the Pyrotechnic simply shrugged in response. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°YOU WERE CLOSEST FRIENDS WITH THE CORRUPTED ELECTROTECHNIC, CORRECT?¡±


    Rebehka pursed her lips, giving Kev¨¦rin an irritated glance before sighing and turning away. ¡°¡­If you mean Siyuak¨¦n¡­ then yes, I¡¯d say I was.¡±


    ¡°EXCUSE ME FOR BEING SO BLUNT, BUT IF I MAY ASK. EXACTLY HOW LONG WAS SHE BATTLING THE CORRUPTION BEFORE MORCII APPEARED? BEFORE SHE EVENTUALLY LOST CONTROL?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She sighed again, this time in frustration. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know. Three months? Four? Kev¨¦rin, she said it started with Sunova. How long ago was that?¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re about right.¡± The Pyrotechnic nodded in affirmation. ¡°Our mission to Sunova was about halfway through Nimath, and Morcii appeared at the end of Solith¡­ so about three and a half months?¡±


    ¡°HOW LONG AFTER MORCII¡¯S APPEARANCE DID SHE LAST?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Rebehka responded quietly, ¡°¡­three days? Four? I don¡¯t know. Everything was happening at once back¡ª back whenever that was. The end of Solith? That was months ago. I mean¡­ I don¡¯t know how long she lasted. She even came to¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± She looked up at the sky, thinning her ice umbrella enough to see the occasionally lightning-lit clouds above. ¡°I thought she could last longer, that she could beat it, but¡­ I guess I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°I AM ACTUALLY SURPRISED SHE LASTED AS LONG AS SHE DID. THREE AND A HALF MONTHS TO FALL TO THE NANOCREATURES? AND SHE STILL MANAGED TO REMAIN IN CONTROL DURING YOUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH MORCII.¡±


    ¡°She did say that she was able to keep the corruption in check with her Electrotechnism...¡±


    ¡°KEEP IT IN CHECK, YOU SAY¡­? INTERESTING¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the Prior¡¯s reaction. ¡°Arc¨¢n? What aren¡¯t you telling us?¡±


    ¡°NOTHING. NOTHING FOR NOW.¡±


    ¡°¡¯For now?¡¯¡±


    ¡°MEANING I MAY HAVE NEW INFORMATION IF YOU BRING THE ARC¨¢N AYAS TO ME!¡±


    ¡°Of course. Right. ¡®Night, Arc¨¢n.¡±


    ¡°YOU CANNOT MEAN¡ª?!¡±


    The Prior¡¯s exclamation was cut short as Kev¨¦rin closed the audio connection. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, but petitioning for the Ayas can wait until tomorrow¡­¡± He sighed wearily and then turned toward Rebehka, who had returned to leaning on the guardrail and gazing at the city below. ¡°¡­You alright?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± The Cryotechnic took a deep breath and withdrew from the guardrail. ¡°I knew¡­ I knew since my fight with Dav¨ªdrius that¡­ that Siyuak¨¦n was gone. I know that. I¡¯m just glad that she¡¯s no longer in pain, no longer being used¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin responded with silence, unsure of what to say. Eventually he simply placed his hand on her shoulder, removing his heating aura beforehand so as not to burn her. The Cryotechnic glanced down at his hand and then to his eyes, at which point she flashed him a brief, tired smile before turning back toward the deck entrance. ¡°¡­Christean¨¦ was right, you know. We¡¯re already pretty late.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know.¡± The Pyrotechnic rolled his eyes as the two approached the door, leaving behind the stormy night view of Nimaliaka¡¯s capital city.


    <hr>


    2 Hours Later


    ¡°Holy shit, guys, it¡¯s two hours ¡®til midnight and we¡¯re only now gettin¡¯ our food? And y¡¯all wonder why I¡¯m so impatient all the damn time¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame us, blame the weather,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, glancing out a nearby window as he leaned back to accept a dish from a waiter. He then glanced around the dim restaurant, noting the low level of noise and the high number of empty tables. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s deterred a lot of people from coming out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the weather, that¡¯s because it¡¯s Sundia,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted, glancing side-ward as Dav¨ªdrius began wolfing down his food before continuing, ¡°and because you picked a place that accepts military discounts, too. ¡­Cheap bastard.¡±


    ¡°Cheap?! This is one of those fancy high-rise eat-dinner-while-you-look-out-over-the-whole-city restaurants!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, and then threatened, ¡°I can still choose not to reimburse you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, guys, settle down.¡± Rebehka sighed wearily. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me regret coming out with you.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, comin¡¯ out¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius chortled, his grin merely growing when the Cryotechnic threw him an annoyed glance.


    ¡°It being Sundia is actually less of an issue in Nimaliaka, though,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s more that people just don¡¯t go out during the rainy season.¡±


    ¡°Which happens during winter?¡± Kev¨¦rin shook his head. ¡°At least the seasons made sense in Tekdec¨¦.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the tail end of the rainy season,¡± Kaon¨¦ corrected. ¡°Give it two weeks and it¡¯ll start snowing instead.¡±


    ¡°After the solstice?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed there¡¯s any rain or snow at all,¡± Dav¨ªdrius interjected. ¡°Where I¡¯m from, you¡¯d be lucky to see two minutes of rain every five years.¡±


    ¡°And where I¡¯m from it only rains in the mountains,¡± Kievkenalis commented. ¡°We get all our water from the rivers.¡±


    ¡°Tch, are we in a rainfall pissing contest now?¡± Christean¨¦ snorted, and then glanced toward Rebehka as a waiter deposited a bottle near her glass. ¡°¡­Aha, is that what I think it is?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius followed Christean¨¦¡¯s gaze, raising an eyebrow as Rebehka poured herself a glass and passed the bottle around to the Master Lieutenant. ¡°¡­Beer?¡±


    ¡°Wine,¡± Rebehka quickly corrected. ¡°We¡¯re not going to have beer here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak for everyone, I wouldn¡¯t mind some of the stronger stuff,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked.


    ¡°¡­Really?¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate East Nimaliakians. Our alcohol tolerance is pretty insane,¡± Christean¨¦ replied between sips. ¡°¡­Helps that I¡¯m a Forcetechnic, too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared, gesturing for Christean¨¦ to pass the bottle as he addressed the Tres¨¦dian. ¡°This is a celebration! I¡¯d say a few drinks are called for.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°I thought we already celebrated defeatin¡¯ the Nanocreatures.¡±


    ¡°¡­I have a question for you, Dav¨ªdrius.¡± Rebehka turned to give the Velocitechnic an incredulous glance. ¡°¡­Do you know what the word ¡®fun¡¯ means?¡±


    ¡°Funny,¡± he retorted, and then grinned in self-amusement. ¡°Haha, see what I did there?¡±


    ¡°But seriously,¡± Kev¨¦rin continued, ¡°Nanocreatures aside, there are other things to celebrate. Like Rebehka returning to work.¡± He nodded in her direction, and then glanced toward Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis. ¡°Or wrapping up the search for the Ayas. For the first time in a long while, I think I can safely say that things are improving!¡±


    ¡°Improving, sure¡­¡± Kievkenalis responded slowly as he glanced out a large window to an observation deck that overlooked eastern Nimaliaka Central. ¡°¡­Just don¡¯t forget what it took to get here.¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina fell into silence as they continued eating, either fully distracted by their food or otherwise unsure of how to follow up to Kievkenalis¡¯s statement.


    ¡°¡­You know,¡± Kev¨¦rin eventually spoke up again, drawing the attention of the other five Chaotics, ¡°I realize¡­ that we¡¯ve lost some friends. Siyuak¨¦n, V¨¦lunis, Wilkas. And Kevken is definitely right ¡ª we shouldn¡¯t forget them. We won¡¯t forget them, because they helped us reach where we are today. And not only them, but we won¡¯t forget any of the casualties during the Nanocreature attacks. The Siions, the Citans, the Dra¡¯kis ¡ª they all suffered unimaginable casualties and damage; our own fleets definitely felt the pressure as well. Some may think that it was all in vain, and maybe some of it was. But on the whole? I don¡¯t think so. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes. Vain? No. Because, thanks to the CSA sacrifices, Nimalian sacrifices, even Earthian sacrifices ¨C and especially thanks to Siyuak¨¦n, V¨¦lunis, and Wilkas, we were given enough time to figure out how to beat Morcii, and then kick his ass, thereby preventing him from conquering the whole galaxy.¡± He glanced around the table with a small smile, managing to elicit similar expressions from everyone else. ¡°I hope you all recognize the sheer magnitude of what we achieved. We stopped an actual galactic threat! The first of its kind. And now we have the Ayas back, more knowledge than ever before, and things are returning to ¡ª well, to some semblance of normalcy. Yes, we lost some. We lost a lot. We¡¯ll mourn, we¡¯ll remember, but we¡¯ll continue on, because I can guarantee that not a single person who died would wish otherwise.¡±


    ¡°I dunno, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s far fetched for one of the billions who died to be a people-hatin¡¯ psychopath¡­¡±


    ¡°Shush.¡± Kev¨¦rin shot an annoyed glance toward Dav¨ªdrius before continuing, ¡°the point is, we¡¯re not stopping for anything. It might be hard to top stopping the biggest threat to galactic safety yet, but damn it, we¡¯re gonna try! Because we¡¯re Hero Machina and we saved the whole damn galaxy, so I¡¯ll be damned if anything else gets in our way!¡± He raised his glass triumphantly. ¡°Am I right, or am I right?!¡±


    ¡°Aw, you were on a roll there, and then you had to ruin it with a stupid finisher.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked, but raised his glass nonetheless.


    ¡°¡­I do appreciate it, though.¡± Kievkenalis smiled as he followed suit. ¡°¡­Even if V¨¦lunis and Wilkas would probably gag at how cheesy we¡¯re being.¡±


    ¡°Bah, I¡¯m gaggin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted.


    ¡°Oh, please.¡± Rebehka rolled her eyes. ¡°If anyone can ruin a good moment, it¡¯s you.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m glad we¡¯re all back together!¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly added, ¡°it¡¯s been months!¡±


    ¡°Indeed it has,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked with a grin, and then raised his glass again. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this properly. To Siyuak¨¦n, V¨¦lunis, and Wilkas ¡ª to a saved galaxy!¡±


    ¡°To a saved galaxy!!¡± the rest of Hero Machina echoed gladly, joining in on the toast.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius smirked despite himself. ¡°Now that we¡¯re done bein¡¯ cheesy as fuck, can I get back to my food?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to respond and then getting distracted by a sudden notification on his AR display. He paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not to acknowledge the message during the celebratory dinner ¡ª and then jumped when a distant boom and a low rumble reached his ears. ¡°What was that¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, having jumped out of his chair and sped over to the observation deck in the blink of an eye. ¡°The Gateport! Somethin¡¯ just blew the shit out of it!¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned, slowly standing up as the rest of Hero Machina rushed to the deck to take a look at the distant Gateport themselves. The Transfer Captain prepared to follow suit before stopping and glancing at the notification again ¡ª and finally reading it. ¡°¡­Oh¡­ oh, fuck no¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kaon¨¦ turned to look at him apprehensively.


    He scowled. ¡°¡­I guess our celebration was premature. The Nanocreatures are back!¡±

 73 - Return to Known: Apocalypse

    Chapter 73 - Return to Known: Apocalypse


    ¡°The what?!¡±


    ¡°But¡­!¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned as she glanced between Kev¨¦rin and the distant, smoking ruins that used to be the Gateport. ¡°But, they all shut down over a month ago!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he rushed out onto the observation deck to get a better look at the city below. Just as he did so, the lights in the restaurant flickered, followed immediately by an alert on his AR display. ¡°¡­Damn it! Comms are out!¡±


    ¡°Alright, Nanocreatures or not, it¡¯s pretty damn clear we¡¯re under attack!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed, and then jumped forward to perch on the deck¡¯s guardrail. ¡°We needa get to the Gateport and we needa get there now!¡±


    ¡°No! Wait!¡± the Transfer Captain quickly countered, stopping Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ just before the two Introtechnics jumped down to the ground. ¡°We have no idea who we¡¯re up against and we have no comms! Not to mention that we¡¯re in Nimaliaka Central, of all places! A civilian city! This isn¡¯t a Fortress World, it isn¡¯t prepared for enemy attack. We can¡¯t just rush out there blindly!¡±


    ¡°Then what do you suggest?¡± Rebehka urged, ¡°Dav¨ªdrius is right, the longer we wait here, the more damage the Nanocreatures can cause!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted as Kievkenalis dove into him, shouting ¡°Chaos Impact!¡± Immediately afterward, an invisible force intercepted a Nanocreature beast as it jumped down to the deck from the building¡¯s roof, launching it off the side and to the ground below. Kev¨¦rin immediately fired several fireballs toward the roof, illuminating a small Nanocreature vessel just long enough for Kaon¨¦ to impale it with a massive spike and launch it toward the mountains.


    ¡°See?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed upward irately. ¡°The longer we wait¡ª!¡±


    ¡°We still can¡¯t all rush the Gateport!¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted, ¡°most of Nimalia¡¯s Chaotics are still off-world, assisting with the CSA recovery efforts. We¡¯re some of the very few left here, and as such, we have a duty to protect the civilians! Do you understand that?¡±


    ¡°How ¡®bout we protect the civilians by findin¡¯ the threat and endin¡¯ it?!¡±


    ¡°¡­We can do both,¡± the Transfer Captain replied after a moment of thinking, ¡°¡­and we can do it smartly, too.¡± He briefly glanced at the other five members of Hero Machina before directing his attention to the Gateport ¡ª and then to the mountains to the south, where their base was located. ¡°¡­Alright, this is what we¡¯re going to do. Kevken, you and I will head back to the base; you need to get the Master Ayas¡¯s location from the Commander and retrieve it as quickly as possible! I¡¯ll work on getting city-wide comms back up; as we are now, we can¡¯t even contact any of the ships in orbit. Dav¨ªdrius, Christean¨¦, Rebehka, the three of you need to reach the Gateport and figure out what the hell happened to it! Stick together, we have no idea what we¡¯re dealing with. And Kaon¨¦ ¡ª stay in the city, use your Materiatechnism to save as many civilians as possible! This is no time to be conservative!¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina stared at the Transfer Captain, dumbfounded and surprised by his quick thinking.


    ¡°¡­Well?!¡± he urged, ¡°do you understand what I just said?¡±


    ¡°Right! Yeah!¡± Dav¨ªdrius quickly responded as he offered a quick salute. The rest of Hero Machina followed suit.


    ¡°Good!¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded. ¡°Now get going! We have a city to save!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Holy fuck¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius perched on the edge of a building across the street from the Gateport¡­ or rather, where the Gateport used to be. Several bulbs in the vicinity flickered erratically, offering just enough light to view the resulting damage through the stormy nighttime fog: the entire complex had been obliterated and replaced with a 500-meter crater, and much of the wreckage had either been blown out into the surrounding buildings ¡ª causing even more damage ¡ª or fallen back into the crater. Flames dotted the landscape; from their dim light the Velocitechnic could barely make out moving forms, but he was easily distracted by the moans and cries for help coming from scattered locations around the wreckage, and by the sirens echoing from the city that masked everything else.


    ¡°What happened¡­?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius glanced over as Rebehka and Christean¨¦ climbed out of the hovercar they had commandeered to cross the city. He returned to staring at the wreckage, ignoring the falling rain as the two Chaotics silently approached his side.


    ¡°¡­Holy shit,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered, ¡°was this caused by an orbital round?¡±


    ¡°The Nanocreatures are back¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented, ¡°¡­so I¡¯d bet on much worse.¡±


    The Master Lieutenant glanced toward Dav¨ªdrius warily. ¡°You think Morcii¡¯s back?¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s a chance,¡± the Velocitechnic replied. ¡°¡­We need to figure out what caused the crater, and where they went. Fast, too. The whole city¡¯s gone to hell¡­¡±


    ¡°Assuming this isn¡¯t just artillery damage, I could try to track the attacker with my Overdrive,¡± Rebehka suggested with a frown. ¡°But, at least until we can be sure if it was Morcii or not, I think a blizzard would hurt more than it would help¡­¡±


    ¡°And more importantly, we need to find the Interstellar Gate,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out as he jumped down to the street below. Dav¨ªdrius and Rebehka quickly followed suit. ¡°We need to make sure it¡¯s blocked. Can¡¯t have even more Nanocreatures crawling through the¡ª¡±


    He was interrupted as some nearby wreckage shifted, followed by three people crawling out from under it, their bodies bloodied and injured. Rebehka and Christean¨¦ rushed to their side ¡ª but Dav¨ªdrius reached them faster, punting one of them away and smashing his foot into the other two, killing them instantly.


    ¡°Dav¨ªdrius!¡± Rebehka exclaimed irately, ¡°what are you¨C?!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re corrupted,¡± the Velocitechnic stated, pointing at the underside of the debris just as a large metallic bug leaped up into the air. Dav¨ªdrius immediately flip-kicked the bug away before scanning the horizon for more. ¡°The Nanocreatures are already here¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course they are,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered, cracking his knuckles before grabbing the chunk of debris, hoisting it into the air, and lobbing it further into the crater. ¡°We can¡¯t walk through this, not without our armor. It¡¯d be too easy for something to ambush us.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll go over,¡± Rebehka responded as she created a stairway of ice into the air and then a walkway a couple meters above the ground. She quickly climbed it, gesturing for the two Introtechnics to follow her as she continually created a levitating ice path over the wreckage.


    ¡°¡­I haven¡¯t seen shit this fucked up since dealing with Bleeder massacres back in Tres¨¦d,¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered.


    ¡°What went wrong?¡± Christean¨¦ scowled, glancing around at the debris as the three Chaotics approached the location where the Gate should be. ¡°¡­I killed Morcii. I took his Ayas, I saw him dissolve before my eyes! All the Nanocreatures even shut down! How are they back?!¡±


    ¡°Your guess is as good as mine,¡± Rebehka replied. ¡°¡­Actually, it¡¯s probably better than mine, since I¡¯ve been out of the loop for a few months¡­ but we can concern ourselves with the ¡®how¡¯ after we¡¯ve dealt with the attack here.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Dealt with?¡¯¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted derisively. ¡°You think we can win? Newsflash, the CSA couldn¡¯t save a single fuckin¡¯ planet the moment the Nanocreatures touched down. Hell, you were there for Kotak; we had to evacuate that place immediately. Seein¡¯ Nanocreatures on the surface of a planet is a fuckin¡¯ death sentence.¡±


    The Cryotechnic sighed warily as she stopped creating an ice path. ¡°¡­Regardless, we¡¯re at the Gate. Or where the Gate should be, if the Gateport was still intact.¡±


    The three Chaotics fell into silence as they searched the terrain below them for any sign of the interstellar portal. Several moments later, Christean¨¦ pointed at a large piece of scrap metal several meters away ¡ª under which a part of the Interstellar Gate could be seen.


    Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°How¡¯re we gonna uncover it?¡±


    ¡°I can do that easily,¡± Christean¨¦ responded, ¡°but we don¡¯t have our armor with us, so watch my back. One scratch, and we¡¯re done for.¡±


    ¡°Good thing you¡¯re a Forcetechnic then, huh?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Now watch out.¡± Christean¨¦ jumped down from the ice path and landed on the debris-ridden terrain below. He cautiously made his way over to the Gate, flinching when Rebehka launched an ice javelin to pierce a Nanocreature just before it attacked him. He gave her a brief nod before reaching toward the giant piece of metal and slamming his fists into it, flinging it away and revealing the Gate¡¯s event horizon just below.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°It¡¯s active!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed.


    ¡°No shit!¡± Christean¨¦ retorted as he began to navigate around the large ring. ¡°I¡¯m gonna find the control panel and turn the block on.¡±


    Rebehka created more ice platform to allow her and Dav¨ªdrius to get closer to the Gate as Christean¨¦ carefully stepped around debris until he had reached the Gate¡¯s control panel. He quickly looked for the block indicator; sure enough, the Gate was un-blocked. ¡°At least it got knocked over,¡± he muttered to himself as he entered the brief command to block the portal, ¡°kinda hard to use the Gate if you just fall back in immediately after coming out¡­¡± As soon as he was done, he glanced up and waved toward Dav¨ªdrius and Rebehka, the latter of which moved to create an ice stairway back into the air for Christean¨¦. Just as he approached the steps, however, he felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to rise ¡ª and then he flinched as Dav¨ªdrius vaulted himself into the air over Christean¨¦, intercepting a high-speed object and preventing it from smashing into the Forcetechnic. Rebehka quickly jumped down to join the two Introtechnics, erecting a dome of ice to block out any potential attackers ¡ª just as the debris cloud created by the impact of the foreign object cleared up, revealing the sparks trailing up and down her arms.


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re shittin¡¯ me,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled, stepping back defensively as soon as he recognized the newcomer. ¡°¡­Siyuak¨¦n?!¡±


    The Electrotechnic didn¡¯t respond. Instead, she stared levelly at the other three Chaotics, bright sparks continually jumping from her arms and hands to the debris around her and dimly illuminating her face ¡ª just enough to see the metallic scars stretching across her neck and cheek.


    ¡°Alright, so Nanocreatures are impossible to kill, confirmed,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered apprehensively. ¡°¡­Shit. Kaon¨¦ said Morcii killed her on Neticen. So how¡ª?¡±


    He was interrupted as Dav¨ªdrius bowled into him, knocking them both out of the way just in time to evade a lightning blast. Rebehka immediately moved to freeze Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hands and feet, temporarily immobilizing her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll distract her!¡± the Cryotechnic declared, ¡°the two of you need to go help elsewhere!¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Christean¨¦ exclaimed, ¡°if Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s back, then Morcii¡¯s definitely around here somewhere!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Rebehka responded, ¡°and that¡¯s why the two of you need to find and stop him. I can hold Siyuak¨¦n off on my own; I¡¯ve fought her before, I know all of her abilities. I can do this.¡±


    ¡°I know you can¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented warily, ¡°¡­but do you want to?¡±


    The Cryotechnic glanced toward him and then back at Siyuak¨¦n, who had broken free of her ice bonds and was slowly backing away as she gathered energy in her arms again. ¡°¡­No. I don¡¯t. But that¡¯s not the question anymore, is it? She¡¯s suffering, and I need to end that¡­ for her sake.¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°If you say so¡­ but don¡¯t go getting yourself killed. Losing both of you would be¡­¡± He paused, and then shook his head. ¡°C¡¯mon, Dav¨ªdrius, she¡¯s right. We need to find Morcii!¡±


    ¡°And before that, we need to get our weapons,¡± Dav¨ªdrius insisted. ¡°We need to drop by the base first.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Christean¨¦ nodded as he leaped toward the ice dome and smashed open a hole through which he and Dav¨ªdrius left.


    Rebehka watched the two Introtechnics leave before sealing the hole again and turning her attention back to the corrupted Electrotechnic. ¡°¡­It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s only response was a level stare and an increase in the number of sparks jumping from her body to the environment around her.


    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry, Siyuak¨¦n. This time, I¡¯ll do what I couldn¡¯t do before¡­¡± The Cryotechnic took a deep breath as she covered her body in ice armor and crafted an ice spear for each hand. ¡°I¡¯ll stop your suffering. As your best friend, this is my last gift to you¡­¡± She closed her eyes and took a final breath before lunging forward, shouting, ¡°Overdrive: Ice Storm!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis jumped out of their hovercar at the entrance to the Nimaliaka Central mountain base. They approached the gates warily, both taking note that the entire complex was completely silent, save for the sound of falling rain.


    ¡°¡­The CENT fields are down.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced toward Kievkenalis and then turned his attention back to the gates. He held up his right hand and launched several fireballs, burning a hole through the gate and watching the projectiles careen through the sky, past the base and beyond. ¡°If the base-wide CENT fields are down, then¡­¡± The Transfer Captain scowled and snapped his attention back to Kievkenalis. ¡°What¡¯s Detect tell you?¡±


    ¡°Chaos Detect,¡± the Chaostechnic muttered, wincing slightly ¡ª but not enough for Kev¨¦rin to notice. He then looked around¡­ and found only Kev¨¦rin¡¯s silhouette within range. ¡°There¡¯s no one in the guard outposts. Either they¡¯re all gone, or¡­¡±


    The two Chaotics glanced at each other uneasily before Kev¨¦rin turned toward the gate and incinerated it. He then rushed forward to search the base; Kievkenalis quickly followed, muttering ¡°Chaos Assist¡± as the Pyrotechnic in front of him slammed through the complex¡¯s entrances and finally reached the main building itself ¡ª where he stopped momentarily, shocked at the sight:


    A ten-meter chunk of the building was missing, apparently blown away by an explosion as several dead bodies lay around the courtyard. Nearly a dozen mechs were strewn about the area haphazardly, their wrecks blocking all but the main entrance that itself was scarred from weapons fire and blood.


    The Transfer Captain took a moment to take in the damage before glancing toward Kievkenalis. ¡°Whoever did this might still be here,¡± he warned, ¡°stay on your toes. First things first ¡ª we need to check on the Commander.¡±


    Kievkenalis nodded in response, after which Kev¨¦rin wasted no time rushing forward, leaping over debris and bodies to enter the building through the hole. He and Kievkenalis rushed through the base¡¯s hallways, taking note of the occasional dead soldier and the fact that they all appeared to have been stabbed to death. They passed the door to the Hero Machina office without a thought, though Kievkenalis slowly muttered ¡°Chaos Detect¡± once more ¡ª and immediately grabbed Kev¨¦rin¡¯s arm.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the Pyrotechnic questioned, his voice a whisper as he cautiously scanned the hallways in front and behind.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone in the Commander¡¯s office,¡± Kievkenalis responded, ¡°¡­two someones.¡±


    ¡°¡­Fuck,¡± Kev¨¦rin swore as he immediately took off into a sprint, with the Chaostechnic close behind. Mere seconds and two hallway turns later, the Chaotics had reached the Commander¡¯s office; Kev¨¦rin instantly incinerated the door and burst in, his eyes immediately latching onto the figures Kievkenalis had spotted:


    Behind the Commander¡¯s desk stood none other than Morcii, who held Nik¨¦yin high in the air by her neck.


    ¡°Chaos Arrow!¡± Kievkenalis immediately responded, severing Morcii¡¯s arm with a Chaos Energy projectile and allowing the Commander to drop to the floor, where she began coughing uncontrollably. The Nanocreature leader quickly turned on the Chaotics and lunged toward Kev¨¦rin, who ducked out of the way as he extended two flame sabers from his hands and slashed at Morcii. The Nanocreature collapsed to the floor haphazardly, now on the other side of the Chaotics in relation to the door ¡ª and he immediately fled, jumping backwards out the door and rocketing upwards through the ceiling. Kev¨¦rin quickly approached the doorway and stared up at the base¡¯s new skylight, clicking his tongue irately.


    ¡°Chaos Heal¡­¡±


    The Transfer Captain looked back to Nik¨¦yin, who was still collapsed on all fours as Kievkenalis crouched over her and tried to help her up. A second later, the Chaostechnic paused and glanced up at Kev¨¦rin uneasily; wary of the gesture, the Transfer Captain approached and then stopped in his tracks when he noticed the blood dripping from Nik¨¦yin¡¯s neck¡­ and the metallic rashes spreading outward from the wound.


    The Commander was corrupted.


    ¡°Sh¡­shit,¡± Kev¨¦rin growled, his fists tightly clenched. He turned to fully face the Commander, who had stopped coughing but had yet to stand up. A closer look revealed that she was trembling. ¡°¡­Commander?¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­ bastard¡­¡±


    Kievkenalis reflexively grabbed Nik¨¦yin¡¯s shoulders to steady her as she began coughing again, her statement agitating her wounds.


    ¡°No¡­ get away from me,¡± she muttered, her voice barely a hoarse whisper as she jerked away from Kievkenalis. ¡°Can¡¯t¡­ you see? I¡¯m¡­ corrupted.¡±


    ¡°¡­How long was Morcii here?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, taking a wary step back as Kievkenalis stood up and backed away from the Commander. ¡°What did he want?¡±


    ¡°Went from¡­ courtyard to here in¡­ under ten minutes. Killed everything,¡± Nik¨¦yin responded, and then paused as she shivered uncontrollably. ¡°Couldn¡¯t¡­ stop him¡­ even the CENT fields didn¡¯t help¡­ or they got taken out, I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes, to work through all of the base¡¯s defenses?¡± Kievkenalis frowned. ¡°That¡¯s actually kinda long, for someone like Morcii¡­¡±


    ¡°Why did he stop with you?¡± Kev¨¦rin insisted, ¡°Commander, we¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I know,¡± Nik¨¦yin replied. She coughed again as she slowly pulled herself to her feet, using her desk and chair as crutches. ¡°Need to¡­ know where he went. He¡­¡± She trembled again, grimacing as her entire body tensed and then relaxed slightly. ¡°¡­He wanted the Ayas. ¡­I couldn¡¯t¡­ I couldn¡¯t stop him¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course he does¡­¡± The Transfer Captain scowled. ¡°There¡¯s no other reason to attack here, is there?¡±


    ¡°Did you tell him where it was?¡± Kievkenalis asked quietly.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t¡­ ask,¡± the Commander responded painfully. Kev¨¦rin¡¯s entire body grew tense with apprehension; the rashes were spreading up her cheeks and down her collar, where he could only assume she was slowly losing control of her body. ¡°It¡¯s why he¡­ corrupted me,¡± she eventually muttered, ¡°¡­didn¡¯t need to ask. Just¡­ took the knowledge¡­ ¡­couldn¡¯t¡­ ¡­resist¡­¡±


    ¡°Commander? Commander! Stay¡ª stay with us!¡± Kev¨¦rin urged, watching apprehensively as Nik¨¦yin dry heaved and collapsed to her knees again, clutching her chest. ¡°We¡ª we need to know! Where¡¯s the Master Ayas?¡±


    ¡°Secondary¡­ ¡­second¡­ ¡­base¡­¡± she whispered hoarsely, ¡°¡­Gate Train¡­ depot¡­ argh¡­!¡±


    ¡°C-commander¡­?¡± Kievkenalis questioned warily.


    Nik¨¦yin took several deep breaths before speaking up again. ¡°¡­I¡¯m¡­ proud of you¡­¡±


    ¡°Commander¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded quietly.


    ¡°I hate to¡ª AGH!¡± Her breath caught in her throat as she doubled over again, before managing to turn her head toward Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­Gah! Agh¡­ Hero Machina, you¡­ saved us once. ¡­I hate to¡­ ask so much¡­ argh¡­! ¡­But¡­ please¡­ ¡­one more¡­ ¡­time¡­! ¡­Guagh! Ahaaghhh!!¡±


    Nik¨¦yin suddenly lunged forward, her fingernails lengthened and sharpened into metal claws as she swiped at Kievkenalis ¡ª only for Kev¨¦rin to jump forward and pierce her chest with a flame saber. He quickly followed by piercing her forehead as well, and then allowed her body to slump to the floor, lifeless.


    Kievkenalis quickly backed away from the Commander¡¯s body, coming to stand near Kev¨¦rin as they both looked over the scene in solemn silence. Several seconds passed before the Transfer Captain realized he was hyperventilating; he quickly slowed his breath and calmed himself, only to grow tense again as his mind finally caught up with his actions.


    ¡°¡­Holy shit,¡± he muttered hoarsely, ¡°¡­I just killed the Commander.¡±


    ¡°She was corrupted,¡± Kievkenalis commented. ¡°¡­We couldn¡¯t help that.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin took several more breaths before shaking his head vigorously and snapping his attention to Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­Yeah. Right. I know. A-anyways, we need to get to work. You heard her, right? Secondary base, Gate Train depot¡­ that must mean the military depot in the Western Peaks. Take a communicator so we can talk if I fix the comms.¡±


    ¡°All the way out there, in the Western Peaks¡­?¡± the Chaostechnic muttered, and then nodded. ¡°But I got it. I¡¯ll get the Ayas! Chaos¡­ Boost!¡±


    Kev¨¦rin watched Kievkenalis dash away before looking down the hallway in the opposite direction. ¡°Meanwhile, I need to try and get the comm system back online¡­¡± His gaze drifted back into the office and down to the floor where Nik¨¦yin lay, her body resting on its side. He took a deep breath and then turned to face her corpse directly, stiffening up and offering a proper salute. ¡°¡­Understood,¡± he responded, ¡°¡­we can do it, Commander. Hero Machina will stop Morcii once and for all!¡±

 74 - Urban Warfare

    Chapter 74 - Urban Warfare


    ¡°Well, shit¡­¡±


    ¡°I feel like we¡¯re sayin¡¯ that a lot, lately,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented, glancing toward Christean¨¦ as he jumped out of the hovercar. He then turned back toward the gates to the mountain base as he warily eyed their burnt remains. ¡°¡­But, uh, not really much else to say, huh?¡±


    ¡°If the gate¡¯s been burned¡­ Kev¨¦rin and Kevken should be here, right?¡± Christean¨¦ kicked the gate remnants aside and began briskly walking into the complex. ¡°Something bad must¡¯ve happened if they needed to break in¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to tell even without the gate,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pointed out as he sped to Christean¨¦¡¯s side, ¡°the defensive CENT fields are down. What¡¯s that tell ya?¡±


    The two Chaotics fell silent as they progressed past the unmanned defenses at the front of the complex. Shortly afterward they entered the main courtyard, where they stopped to observe the battle damage before Dav¨ªdrius blasted forward and inspected the rest of the base. Christean¨¦ only had to wait a few moments for the Velocitechnic to return.


    ¡°The Commander¡¯s dead,¡± he declared with a frown. ¡°It looked like she¡¯d been corrupted¡­¡±


    Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°Shit. What about Kev¨¦rin or Kevken? Are they still here?¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡¯s in the basement with that Prior, workin¡¯ on¡­ somethin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded. ¡°You go meet with ¡®im and find out what¡¯s goin¡¯ on, I¡¯ll go get our weapons.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Christean¨¦ nodded back as the two began approaching the building again. ¡°Time to see just how bad things are¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°MORCII¡­ HAS RETURNED.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s back,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded irately as he opened a hatch in the wall and began inspecting the underlying wires. ¡°How many times are you going to tell yourself that before you help me fix the damn comms?¡±


    ¡°DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS EVENT? UNLESS YOU HAVE FED ME FALSEHOODS, YOU DESTROYED MORCII THROUGH THE USE OF THE MASTER FOURTH TIER CHAOS STATE. YET HE HAS RETURNED!¡±


    ¡°Trust me, Arc¨¢n, this is all the damned truth. How about what you¡¯ve told me though, huh? You said destroying Morcii with the Chaos State would be enough!¡±


    ¡°I CLAIMED IT WOULD BE ENOUGH IN LIEU OF BETTER INFORMATION, AND I SAID AS MUCH. IF ONLY YOU HAD JOINED MY CORE WITH THE ARC¨¢N AYAS, THEN PERHAPS WE WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION, HMM?¡±


    ¡°You annoying little¡­¡± The Transfer Captain growled, slamming the hatch shut as he finished with the cords. He stormed over to a nearby console just as Christean¨¦ entered the room. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned as he eyed the Forcetechnic with annoyance, ¡°I thought I told you to check out the Gateport.¡±


    ¡°Dude¡­ chill,¡± Christean¨¦ responded warily, ¡°we were just there; Dav¨ªdrius and I came back to get our weapons, and then we found the whole place wrecked and the Commander dead¡­ what happened?¡±


    ¡°LACK OF FORESIGHT, THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n¡ª!¡± Kev¨¦rin snarled and then stopped himself, taking a deep breath and a moment to calm down. He then resumed working at the console as he addressed Christean¨¦, ¡°¡­Morcii¡¯s back. He corrupted the Commander to get the location of the Master Ayas out of her. We had to kill her, and now Kevken¡¯s going after the Ayas himself.¡±


    ¡°So he really is back¡­¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°Damn it. You should know that Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s back, too.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Kev¨¦rin and Arc¨¢n replied simultaneously. The Pyrotechnic then continued, ¡°but Kaon¨¦ said that Morcii killed her!¡±


    ¡°And you have to wonder what that actually means to someone as corrupted as Siyuak¨¦n.¡± Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°If Morcii¡¯s keeping her as close as he has been, then simply ¡®killing her¡¯ might not be enough to actually, well, kill her.¡±


    ¡°Just like Morcii himself, apparently¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed irately as he stood up and approached another wall hatch, before opening it and igniting a small, intense flame on his fingertip as he began cutting wires and attaching others.


    ¡°¡­What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fixing the comms,¡± the Transfer Captain responded. ¡°But I¡¯m not an Electrotechnic, so I have to reroute power from other systems in order to boost the comm arrays enough to overcome the jamming.¡±


    ¡°You can do that from here?¡±


    ¡°Not effectively. Doing it this way will cause the systems to burn out after a couple days. But if we haven¡¯t kicked out the Nanocreatures by then¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Christean¨¦ sighed. ¡°I get it. Damn, this is all fucked up¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re tellin¡¯ me!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed as he dashed onto the scene, his sword boxes slamming against the door as he barged in. ¡°On the way to the armory, there were¡­ ¡­just how many people did Morcii need to kill, huh? He didn¡¯t even stop to corrupt any of ¡®em!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for him to do that here,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, holding out his hand to catch his battlehammer and its harness as Dav¨ªdrius tossed them his way. ¡°Not when his forces are out in the city, corrupting everything there.¡±


    ¡°Which is all the more reason for us to get goin¡¯,¡± the Velocitechnic urged, ¡°we need to find Morcii, if he¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°He is,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°but Kevken¡¯s already gone after him.¡±


    ¡°And I can go after him faster,¡± Dav¨ªdrius pressed, ¡°where is he?¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s going after the Master Ayas, then he should be heading to the military Gate Train depot in the Western Peaks.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ glanced at each other cluelessly. ¡°¡­Where?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°One moment¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded slowly as he continued to fiddle with the wires in the hatch. ¡°If I can get this right¡­ then you guys can patch into the comm array and get GPS that way.¡±


    ¡°And how long¡¯ll that take?¡±


    ¡°Did you not hear me say ¡®one moment?¡¯¡± the Pyrotechnic retorted. Several seconds later he sighed of relief and approached another console. ¡°¡­Alright! We have comms again! ¡­Well, shit!¡±


    ¡°What now?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned apprehensively.


    ¡°The orbital fleet seems to have assumed the worst, between the arrival of the Nanocreatures and Nimaliaka Central¡¯s communications blackout,¡± Kev¨¦rin reported, and then looked up at Christean¨¦ and Dav¨ªdrius uneasily. ¡°¡­They fired an orbital barrage at the facility holding the Master Ayas. It¡¯ll be obliterated within the next ten minutes.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Chaos Energy¡­ Detect.¡±


    Kievkenalis winced before focusing on the environment around him and watching the trails of Chaos Energy among the Western Peaks. Through repeated use of Chaos Boost, he had easily crossed the entire city in a quarter of the time it would have taken to use a hovercar, but he had trouble scaling the western mountains on his own. He knew that the Master Ayas was at stake and that Morcii had a head-start on him in reaching the Ayas, so he was pushing himself as hard as he could to scale the mountains regardless of the difficulty ¡ª resulting in searing pain wracking his body over and over as he forced himself through multiple activations of Chaos abilities. And yet, even after managing to endure the pain, he still feared the worst: that Morcii may beat him to the Master Ayas in the end.


    He shook his head to clear his thoughts before refocusing on the Chaos Energy in the region. One particular point stood out, as all of the Chaos Energy around it seemed to slowly flow outward, like water from a waterfall. ¡°That must be it¡­¡± he muttered to himself, and then activated Chaos Boost again to leap high into the air, where he caught himself on a higher cliff-edge ¡ª and promptly noticed that he had reached the mountaintop roads. He had decided to scale the mountain himself instead of follow the roads due to how long and windy they were, but when he thought back to how much time he had wasted trying to climb the cliffs¡­


    No good. He shook his head again, attempting to discard the irrelevant thoughts as he dashed down the road, taking the final bend and spotting the Gate Train loading depot. Need to find the Ayas¡­ He stopped momentarily at the entrance gates before speeding through their wrecked frames, reaching the interior of the complex just as Chaos Boost wore off. He slowed to a brisk walk as he approached the main building, inspecting the complex along the way. Much like the base where he and Kev¨¦rin had found Morcii the first time, the loading depot was covered in scorch marks, obliterated mechs, and bloodied corpses.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Chaos Energy Detect,¡± Kievkenalis muttered again, immediately snapping his head downward to focus on a distant point source of Chaos Energy. ¡°It¡¯s still here¡­ good. Chaos Boost.¡±


    The Chaostechnic rushed into the main building, quickly finding his way to the nearest elevator and smashing through the door to the shaft with Chaos Massive Impact. He then flung himself down the shaft, muttering ¡°Chaos Claws¡± halfway down and slamming the claws into the shaft walls, thereby slowing his descent. He glanced around warily until spotting the nearest door; wrenching one of his hands from the wall, he directed it toward the door and called ¡°Chaos Massive Impact,¡± tearing the doors off their tracks and opening the way to the floor. Kievkenalis then released his other hand from the wall and jumped toward the opening, landing with a haphazard roll as the pain from calling multiple Chaos Attacks in quick succession momentarily ruined his ability to concentrate.


    ¡°Kevken!¡±


    The Chaostechnic jumped, his focus lost again as he heard a sudden voice in his ear. He quickly recovered and realized it was coming from the communicator he had picked up at the mountain base. ¡°Kev¨¦rin? You got the comms back up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I found out something really really bad,¡± the Pyrotechnic responded in a hurry, ¡°listen, the orbital fleet launched a bombardment barrage at the Western Peaks base barely half an hour ago! Those rounds will hit within the next five or six minutes and they¡¯ll wipe out anything within a kilometer of the base, so stay back!¡±


    ¡°Stay back?¡± Kievkenalis echoed wearily as he climbed to his feet and began rushing down the hallway. ¡°But I¡¯m already here. Chaos Massive Impact!¡± He paused to tear a door off its hinges before finishing, ¡°and so is the Master Ayas!¡±


    ¡°Argh. Fine, but I¡¯m warning you ¡ª get the Ayas and get out as quickly as possible!¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± the Chaostechnic replied as he turned around a corner. He immediately found himself standing in front of another door and knocked it down as easily as he had the rest, but momentarily froze as pain shot through his body yet again. As soon as he could focus again, he stepped into what appeared to be a long observation room. The longest wall was constructed entirely of glass, offering a clear view of a sizable clean room below, the Master Ayas sitting on a pedestal in the center¡ª


    ¡°SO¡­ YOU MANAGED TO CATCH UP.¡±


    ¡ªAnd none other than Morcii standing at the other end of the room.


    Kievkenalis immediately backed away defensively as he glanced between Morcii and the Master Ayas. Damn, it¡¯s too far away. I can¡¯t activate the Chaos State, but if I try to break the glass and get closer¡­ Morcii¡¯s too fast, he¡¯ll¡ª


    ¡°GIVING ME THE SILENT TREATMENT, ARE WE?¡±


    Kievkenalis focused his attention on the Nanocreature leader uneasily. ¡°¡­What are you doing here?¡±


    Morcii snorted. ¡°THE SAME THING YOU ARE, I AM SURE. I AM CLAIMING THE AYAS.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant,¡± the Chaostechnic countered. Maybe, if I can stall him¡­!


    ¡°¡­AH HA HA, YOU WISH TO KNOW HOW I¡¯VE RETURNED TO THE LAND OF THE ¡®LIVING¡¯, IS THAT IT?¡± The Nanocreature offered an arrogant smirk. ¡°THE KEY HERE IS THAT I HAVE NOT ACTUALLY RETURNED, PER SE.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re still dead?¡±


    ¡°NO, YOU FOOL. I NEVER DIED! WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIVING CANNOT ¡®RETURN¡¯ TO DOING SO.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ what happened at Neticen? We destroyed a planet to kill you, how can you still be around to, to cause all this Chaos?¡±


    ¡°HOW CAN I STILL BE AROUND? OH, YOU ALDREDANOIDS NEVER FAIL TO AMUSE ME.¡± Morcii chuckled derisively. ¡°YOU CONTINUE TO ATTEMPT TO ASSIGN THE CONCEPT OF FORM TO THAT WHICH IS ABOVE IT. AS ALDREDANOIDS ¡ª AS BEINGS OF THE FLESH ¡ª YOU KNOW A WORLD WHERE EVERY ITEM¡¯S EXISTENCE IS TIED TO ITS PHYSICAL FORM. IT IS INCONCEIVABLE TO YOU THAT SOMETHING COULD EXIST WITHOUT SOME FORM, WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PRESENCE IN WHAT YOU KNOW AS THE PHYSICAL REALM. I ADMIT THIS IS TRUE FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE UNIVERSE¡­ BUT NOT I! YOU MAY DESTROY MY FORCES, YOU MAY DESTROY MY BODY, BUT NEVER WILL YOU DESTROY MY MIND ¡ª AND SO LONG AS THAT EXISTS, SO TOO WILL THE NANOCREATURES! AND AS LONG AS THE NANOCREATURES EXIST I WILL RETURN, AND I WILL DO SO AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES TO SEIZE ALL OF THE CHAOS AYAS AND FREE THE MORIKAI FROM THEIR PRISON! THIS IS THE GIFT GIVEN TO ME BY THE MORIKAI, THE GIFT THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO RETURN THEM TO THIS REALM ¡ª OR, IN LIEU OF SUCH, THE GIFT THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO EXACT THEIR RIGHTEOUS VENGEANCE ON A GALAXY SO PITIFULLY MISGUIDED THAT IT THINKS IT CAN RID ITSELF OF US FOR GOOD!¡± The Nanocreature paused in self-amusement before dropping his arms to his side and transforming both of his hands into long blades. ¡°BUT I HAVE SAID ENOUGH FOR NOW. THE MASTER AYAS IS MINE, ALDREDANOID, AS ARE ALL OF THE AYAS!¡±


    Morcii then lunged toward Kievkenalis, crossing the entire observation room in a mere second. But a second was all the Chaostechnic needed as he quickly shouted ¡°Teleport!¡± Instantly, the observation room disappeared and was replaced by a dark, rainy field. Kievkenalis collapsed to his knees from the pain of the drawn-out Chaos Ability; he had counted on Morcii entering into a monologue, and used the silence to boost the power of Chaos Teleport and enable him to teleport over a kilometer away to an empty field at the base of the Western Peaks. But the boost used a significant amount of Chaos Energy, causing him an incredible amount of pain that he found difficult to recover from. However, when the sky lit up brightly as the orbital bombardment barrage slammed into the Gate Train depot and completely demolished the mountain peak, Kievkenalis sighed of relief, pleased to have escaped an untimely death.


    ¡°It won¡¯t stop Morcii for long¡­¡± he muttered to himself, slowly stumbling to his feet as he stared up at the damaged mountains through the night rain. ¡°¡­Chaos¡­ Energy Detect!¡± The Chaostechnic squinted skyward, toward out an incredibly distant trail of Chaos Energy. ¡°¡­The Master Ayas was flung away¡­¡± He tracked the trail of Chaos Energy through the air to the eastern horizon. ¡°¡­Really far away, too. I hope it didn¡¯t land in the bay¡­ Chaos Boost!¡±


    <hr>


    Siyuak¨¦n stumbled through the snow-blurred streets, unable to see more than half a meter in front of her face due to the blizzard caused by Rebehka¡¯s Overdrive. The Electrotechnic glanced about herself quickly yet cautiously as she continuously ran enough current through her body to counteract the cold.


    Rebehka observed from a distance as she gauged Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s position through her connection to the snow all around her. The two Chaotics had been fighting for nearly an hour at this point, long enough for her Overdrive to wear off once and allow the Cryotechnic to call it again. Through the blizzard, Rebehka could easily track Siyuak¨¦n, but the advantage was countered by the corrupted Electrotechnic¡¯s ability to sense nearby currents ¡ª including the minute currents present in living creatures. Neither Chaotic had yet to land any kind of significant blow on the other.


    ¡­¡¯Yet¡¯ being the key word, Rebehka amended mentally, before finally jumping forwards and creating several tens of ice javelins that she then hurled at Siyuak¨¦n. Two of the javelins sliced into the Electrotechnic¡¯s back and leg before she quickly hardened her entire skin with her nanomachines, weathering the frozen onslaught before retaliating with a powerful lightning blast that Rebehka just barely managed to dodge. The Cryotechnic quickly disappeared into the blizzard again, using the snow and wind as cover as she continued to barrage Siyuak¨¦n with attacks. Shortly after she managed to land one, the Electrotechnic let out a massive electric pulse that stunned Rebehka, throwing off her next attacks. Siyuak¨¦n then summoned an immensely powerful lightning bolt from the sky, imparting enough force and energy to the ground to blow back the snow and ice for tens of meters around her ¡ª which was just enough to lay eyes on Rebehka. The two Chaotics immediately locked eyes, but Siyuak¨¦n moved her hands faster than Rebehka could move her body ¡ª and fired off another powerful lightning bolt directly at the Cryotechnic. Rebehka managed to create several ice barriers to help absorb the blow, but she was still thrown violently into a nearby building, slamming into its walls and collapsing to the ground in a daze.


    Several moments passed before the Cryotechnic could recover from the blow and scramble back to her feet, leaping away from her location to evade any potential follow-up attacks. As no lightning came, however, a thought crossed her mind:


    I was open. She could have attacked, she could¡¯ve killed me¡­ why didn¡¯t she?


    Rebehka faltered for a moment, unsure of what to do next. She then furrowed her brow as she created a long spear of ice and dashed toward Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s location before thrusting the weapon forward. The Electrotechnic began to dodge at the last second, barely evading the tip of the spear as she whirled around and slammed her right hand into Rebehka¡¯s chest plate of ice, imparting enough energy to shatter the chest plate and knock the Cryotechnic back. Rebehka quickly rolled away as soon as she hit the ground, jumping back to her feet and rushing off as an electrical blast hit her previous location a second later.


    She¡¯s slow¡­ she¡¯s barely fighting me at all¡­ Rebehka frowned as she increased the distance between herself and Siyuak¨¦n and then circled around. ¡­But why? According to everyone else, she was able to hold her own against both Kaon¨¦ and Wilkas, on two different occasions¡­ I may have trained with her, but how have I drawn blood, and she hasn¡¯t?


    The Cryotechnic suddenly flinched away as Siyuak¨¦n summoned another skyward lightning blast, creating a brief opening in the blizzard through which she could see Rebehka. The Cryotechnic immediately lunged backwards through the snow curtain just in time to evade several lightning strikes on her position, all of them missing by a hair.


    ¡­She¡¯s had several chances to hit me with a killing blow, but never has. She doesn¡¯t seem to be fighting to kill. She¡¯s just fighting to intimidate¡­ it¡¯s like she doesn¡¯t want to actually kill me. Rebehka stared through the blizzard, dumbfounded. She then felt the hair on her neck rise, prompting her to create a shield of ice just in time to block another electrical blast. Is she¡­ is she resisting¡­? She did manage to overcome the corruption on Neticen, even if she was near death, but¡­ can she do it again?


    The Cryotechnic stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her friend through the snow storm. A second later, the air in front of her lit up as she felt the warmth of lightning pass straight in front of her face; a second strike hit her squarely in the chest, but only with enough energy to melt half of her ice armor and stagger her.


    ¡­That must be it! She still has the ability to influence her own actions. Is it because Morcii just recently returned? Maybe because he no longer has any of the Ayas, he can¡¯t control her as completely as before¡­? Rebehka¡¯s expression hardened as she repaired her ice armor and prepared even more projectiles. If that¡¯s the case, then now¡¯s my only opening. If I don¡¯t get through to her now, then I never will! ¡°Siyuak¨¦n!¡± she shouted into the wind, unsure if her voice would be lost in the storm but nonetheless certain of her course of action. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry to go against your wishes again, Siyuak¨¦n, but¡ª forget everything I said earlier! I swear to you! I lost you once, but this time¡­ I¡¯ll bring you back!¡±

 75 - The Powers That Be

    Chapter 75 - The Powers That Be


    ¡°¡­Holy shit.¡±


    ¡°So this is what an orbital bombardment looks like,¡± Christean¨¦ muttered as he and Dav¨ªdrius came to a stop at the foot of the Western Peaks. The entire mountain that the Gate Train depot had been on was completely obliterated, leaving only a pile of rubble as the surrounding mountains collapsed to fill the crater. Dust thrown up by the bombardment clouded the sky, obscuring the searchlights shining from the two Frigates hovering a mere five hundred meters over the bombardment site as they overlooked automated search drones that scoured the rubble for survivors. The sound of the ships¡¯ engines filled the air, masking the noises from the city behind the Chaotics, but not creating enough noise to deafen them.


    ¡°It¡¯s gotten a lot colder, too,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked as he involuntarily shivered. ¡°¡­An orbital bombardment can do this?¡±


    Christean¨¦ shook his head. ¡°No, the cold has to be something else. It is winter, and it is night. ¡­But, to get this cold, this quickly¡­¡±


    ¡°Well the best way to warm up is to not stand still, yeah? We should be lookin¡¯ for Kievkenalis, or Morcii, or the Master Ayas.¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± Christean¨¦ nodded as he began whirling his hammer by its cord, preparing to launch himself into the blast zone. ¡°I doubt we¡¯ll find anything here, though!¡±


    ¡°We can at least find a lead!¡± Dav¨ªdrius shouted back as he launched himself forward, arriving in the debris field several seconds before Christean¨¦. He immediately scowled and wiped his brow as sweat began to drip down his face, brought on by an intense ¡ª albeit bearable ¡ª heat. ¡°What the¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what happens when you orbitally bombard something.¡± Christean¨¦ snorted with amusement after arriving and noting Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s puzzled irritation. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of energy in a bombardment. Where do you think it all goes?¡±


    ¡°¡­Into destroyin¡¯ stuff?¡±


    ¡°And that generates a lot of heat.¡± The Master Lieutenant shook his head wearily. ¡°C¡¯mon, we don¡¯t have time to discuss this. We need to figure out where Kevken and Morcii went.¡±


    ¡°Assumin¡¯ they even survived¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered, switching on his communicator as he dashed across the rubble field and began inspecting the damaged mountainsides. ¡°This is a pretty big area, I dunno if Kievkenalis is fast enough to get out in time¡­¡±


    ¡°Kevken is fine; he checked in with me just five minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned, momentarily surprised by the new voice on the comms. ¡°How did he make it out?¡±


    ¡°He managed to teleport to safety. But that¡¯s irrelevant right now,¡± the Transfer Captain declared. ¡°You won¡¯t find anything at the bombardment site. Kevken¡¯s gone, and so is the Master Ayas ¡ª and according to satellite and fleet surveillance, Morcii is gone, as well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded, stopping his search as he looked up at the Frigates above. ¡°How¡¯d they know that?¡±


    ¡°They were able to catch sight of him for a split second. Aside from that, I think we can safely assume that he¡¯ll be going after the Ayas. Kevken has that covered, but the more important issue is that the path to the Ayas would take Morcii right by Kaon¨¦¡­ and for some reason, I can¡¯t contact her.¡±


    ¡°So you want us to go back her up?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    ¡°Yes, and the sooner, the better!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it¡¯s time to get goin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented as he blasted off toward the east, giving Christean¨¦ a brief nod as he passed by. ¡°Maybe this time we won¡¯t show up late to the action!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°COMMUNICATION SYSTEM STABILITY HAS INCREASED BY FIFTY-THREE PERCENT. ESTIMATED LIFESPAN HAS DECREASED BY SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT.¡±


    ¡°Damn. Thanks for the updates, Arc¨¢n¡ª¡±


    ¡°ESTIMATED CHANCE YOU ARE DOING AN OPTIMAL JOB: NINE PERCENT.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin paused for a moment to sigh irately before continuing to work on the communication systems. ¡°Well maybe if you focused more on helping me instead of telling me how wrong I am, that would get better, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE. BUT AS THE SITUATION STANDS, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE NANOCREATURES ON YOUR OWN.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± the Pyrotechnic questioned flatly.


    ¡°I CANNOT SAY. THERE MAY BE A WAY TO TRULY END THEM¡­ A METHOD THAT IS POSSIBLE THROUGH MORCII¡¯S OWN SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS, BUT WITHOUT SOMEONE OF EQUAL ABILITY AT THE CONTROL OF YOUR FORCES¡ª¡±


    ¡°You ¡®can¡¯t say?¡¯ You¡¯ve been saying that for months, Arc¨¢n! If you want things to change, if you want us to win, then damn it, tell us how!¡±


    ¡°AND IF YOU LOSE? THEN THE NANOCREATURES WILL LEARN OF THE PLAN, FIX THEIR WEAKNESSES, AND NEVER BE VULNERABLE AGAIN.¡±


    ¡°If we lose there won¡¯t be another chance to beat them! It¡¯s now or never!¡±


    ¡°THAT IS NOT TRUE.¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not?¡± Kev¨¦rin responded in surprise. ¡°¡­What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°¡­I CANNOT SAY, FOR REASONS THAT ARE BEYOND YOU.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n¡ª!¡±


    ¡°HOWEVER, THERE MAY STILL BE A WAY FOR YOU TO EMERGE FROM THIS SITUATION VICTORIOUS. YOUR COMMANDER IS DEAD, AND YOUR AUTOMATED DEFENSE FORCES ARE SUFFERING UNDER NANOCREATURE JAMMING AND INFLUENCE. YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE CONTROL ¡ª TO DIRECT THE BATTLE FOR YOUR SIDE, AND TO PROPERLY COUNTERACT THE NANOCREATURES THROUGH EXPLICIT USE OF THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND THE AUTOMATED FORCES. YOU NEED SOMEONE OF SIMILAR COMPUTATIONAL ABILITY TO MORCII TO TAKE CONTROL. YOU NEED ME.¡±


    ¡°¡­You want me¡­ to put you¡­ in control of everything.¡±


    ¡°AS A PRIOR, MY MULTITASKING AND PROCESSING ABILITIES ARE FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU CAN COMPREHEND. MY CORE MAY BE DAMAGED, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAMPER MY EFFORTS TO STOP THE NANOCREATURES.¡±


    ¡°And you want me to put you in control of all our military forces¡­ just like that?¡±


    ¡°YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND IT, BUT GIVEN THE CURRENT SITUATION, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO DEFEAT MORCII ¡ª FOR GOOD. BUT IT IS STILL ONLY A REMOTE POSSIBILITY, ONE THAT CAN ONLY BE REALIZED IF YOU WIN THIS BATTLE ¡ª IF YOU KEEP THE AYAS SYN OUT OF MORCII¡¯S HANDS. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW TO DO SO NOW, SO AS TO SAFEGUARD THE PLAN IN THE EVENT THAT YOU LOSE ¡ª BUT I CAN LEAD YOU, THEREBY PAVING THE PATH TO MORCII¡¯S DEFEAT.¡±


    ¡°I have little reason to believe you,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered as he continued working at the console in front of him. ¡°You¡¯ve been extremely resistant to sharing information on Morcii or the Nanocreatures, citing your core¡¯s damage as why. And now you claim to know how to beat them? Either you lied before, or you¡¯re lying now, and I¡¯m not about to let a lying supercomputer take control of Nimaliaka¡¯s defenses.¡±


    ¡°¡­THE KEY IS THE CORRUPTED ELECTROTECHNIC.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°HER RETURN¡­ COULD BE MORCII¡¯S DOWNFALL. IF WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER CORRUPTION, OR MORCII¡¯S CURRENT LACK OF AYAS, THEN SHE MAY BE WHAT GIVES YOU THE OPENING TO DEAL THE TRUE FINAL BLOW. BUT THIS IS ONLY IF YOU CAN KEEP THE AYAS SYN OUT OF MORCII¡¯S HANDS ¡ª I CAN GUARANTEE THAT HE HAS FORCES GOING AFTER THE OTHER AYAS, AND IF HE CLAIMS THE AYAS SYN AS WELL, THEN IT IS ALL OVER.¡±


    ¡°The Ayas Syn? ¡­You mean the Master Ayas¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled with frustration as he considered Arc¨¢n¡¯s words. ¡°¡­What would you do?¡±


    ¡°USE THE AUTOMATED DEFENSES TO INTELLIGENTLY KITE THE NANOCREATURES, SLOWING THEIR CORRUPTION EFFORTS AND FORCING MORCII TO GO AFTER THE AYAS SYN ON HIS OWN, WHERE YOU AND YOUR FELLOW CHAOTICS CAN FEND HIM OFF.¡±


    ¡°Are you not aware of how well we were able to ¡®fend him off¡¯ when he first appeared?¡±


    ¡°AT THAT TIME, THE NANOCREATURES POSSESSED AT LEAST THREE OF THE CHAOS AYAS. EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT ON MORCII¡¯S PERSON, THEY STILL OFFERED BOTH HIM AND THE NANOCREATURES A SUBSTANTIAL BOOST ¡ª BUT THANKS TO HIS DEFEAT AT NETICEN AND YOUR RECOVERY OF ALL THE AYAS, HE CURRENTLY HAS NONE. HOWEVER, HE IS STILL A THREAT, A THREAT THAT REQUIRES THE THINKING SPEED AND ABILITY OF A SIMILARLY ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE TO COUNTER OPTIMALLY ON THE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC LEVEL. AND HE WILL NOT BE WITHOUT AYAS FOR LONG, AS I CAN GUARANTEE THAT HIS FORCES ARE ATTACKING WHEREVER ELSE YOU HAVE STORED THE AYAS. WE MUST ACT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, IF YOU HOPE FOR YOUR GALAXY TO EVER HAVE A CHANCE OF SURVIVING.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°NEED I ALSO MENTION THAT I CAN FIX AND STABILIZE THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FAR MORE QUICKLY AND OPTIMALLY THAN YOU COULD, THEREBY FREEING YOU TO USE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ABILITY ¡ª YOUR PYROTECHNISM ¡ª TO RENDER DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO YOUR COMRADES?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Transfer Captain paused as he mulled over the Prior¡¯s words. He had little doubt that Arc¨¢n, as an Artificial Intelligence backed by a supercomputer, could control and coordinate Nimaliaka¡¯s defenses better than any individual ¡ª especially in lieu of a Commander. He also agreed that he would be much more useful in the field, using his flames to fight the Nanocreatures, than he would be working on technological systems in the base. But the Prior had yet to offer any kind of proof that he truly knew how to defeat Morcii, or that he was even on the side of Nimalia at all. And aside from that ¡ª Kev¨¦rin never had any experience with AI. Before Arc¨¢n, he didn¡¯t even know that AI could exist, as most AI research in the galaxy came up with dead ends, or simply more advanced automated systems. For all he knew, Arc¨¢n could seize control of all the planet¡¯s technology and begin the ¡°robot uprising¡± that was so common a trope in science fiction stories across the galaxy. The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized that Morcii was already doing the same. Giving control to Arc¨¢n had the possibility of backfiring, but if Kev¨¦rin simply ignored him, then what other options were there to take? Morcii had already returned from obliteration once, so what was to stop him from doing it again? If physical destruction wasn¡¯t enough to stop Morcii, then what was?


    ¡°¡­You say you know how to defeat Morcii?¡±


    ¡°I KNOW OF A POSSIBLE PATH WE CAN TAKE, YES.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin paused again as he stared down at the console in front of him. After a moment of thought, he turned to another console and quickly began accessing the military intelligence network. While he had yet to fully counteract the Nanocreatures¡¯ jamming, he had still managed to boost certain systems so as to send and receive important messages, allowing him to gain a general overview of the battle for Nimaliaka Central ¡ª and what he saw wasn¡¯t encouraging. Both the Gateport and the Western Peaks base were completely flattened, with the Gateport currently swarming with Nanocreature bugs. Over a dozen Frigates were hanging in the skies over the city, but none of them were able to fire on the metallic creatures as they took refuge in civilian buildings and corrupted the populace. The fleet in orbit still had difficulty making contact with the boots on the ground, and were distracted by a small fleet of Nanocreature ships regardless. Most of Nimalia¡¯s Chaotics were currently off-world as well, helping to rebuild cities and colonies across the galaxy ¡ª so Nimaliaka Central¡¯s defense laid entirely in the hands of automated drones and mechs, which were unable to connect to the intelligence network due to the Nanocreatures¡¯ jamming and thus couldn¡¯t be given any tactical orders; non-Chaotic soldiers, who had a difficult time dealing with hordes of metallic bugs in an urban environment without the wide-sweeping effects that Chaotics could create; Frigates that couldn¡¯t even render proper assistance without significant civilian casualties; and Hero Machina.


    For the first time since the Nanocreatures reappeared, Kev¨¦rin realized the true severity of the situation. He realized just what the Siion, Citan, and Dra¡¯kis militaries must have felt when the Nanocreatures were washing over their worlds three months ago. He realized just how hopeless the matter was, and his heart sank in his chest as he failed to come up with a solution himself.


    ¡­Which is why I can¡¯t rely entirely on myself, he thought warily. ¡­Damn it. There really is no other choice, is there? I hope I don¡¯t regret this¡­


    The Transfer Captain took a deep breath. He then declared, ¡°alright. I¡¯ll remove your access restrictions and patch you into the base systems directly.¡±


    ¡°I KNEW YOU COULD BE REASONED WITH. SHOULD WE EMERGE FROM THIS BATTLE VICTORIOUS, TRANSFER CAPTAIN, YOU WILL HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS YOU DESIRE. OF THIS, I ASSURE YOU.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he input several commands and entered his Transfer Captain passcode multiple times before finally standing up from the console. ¡°Alright, Arc¨¢n. You¡¯re free to do whatever it is you¡¯re planning to do.¡±


    ¡°THANK YOU. I ASSUME YOU NOW INTEND TO ENTER THE FIELD?¡±


    ¡°As if there¡¯s any other choice, now,¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted as he quickly left the room. ¡°I¡¯m going to help Kaon¨¦! You focus on holding back the Nanocreatures ¡ª we can keep the Ayas from Morcii!¡±


    <hr>


    Kaon¨¦ leaped backwards, evading several laser blasts from distant Nanocreature units before removing the ground underneath them, letting them drop into the newly-created hole and then reforming the ground, effectively burying them. She then jumped into the air, casually manipulating her body itself to maintain a sort of flight as she began raining steel spikes on any Nanocreatures in sight, catching the remains of any units she destroyed in steel sarcophagi that she launched into the Nimaliakian Bay nearly twenty kilometers to the east.


    After clearing everything within a hundred meters of her position, she alighted on a nearby building and paused to survey the city. The immediate area around her was bathed in post-midnight darkness; all of the lights had been demolished during her encounters with the Nanocreatures. Kaon¨¦ had made sure to evacuate as many civilians as she could beforehand, managing to protect them through the clever use of barriers and traps against the Nanocreatures, but nothing seemed to be able to stop the metallic bugs for long. Several Frigates had lowered into low atmosphere to provide searchlight and fire assistance to the city under siege, and several mech squadrons ¡ª both manned and unmanned ¡ª had been released to defend the city, but Kaon¨¦ was the only Chaotic in sight as she attacked the Nanocreatures and racked up a destruction count higher than the rest of the defense force combined. But as she looked over the damaged city, it was evident that her efforts meant little. She was only one person, after all, and lacked the ability to watch over every civilian, over every life ¡ª and she lacked the ability to save everyone from corruption.


    ¡°And now it¡¯s snowing, too¡­¡± she muttered wearily, noting the white flakes that slowly drifted past distant lights. ¡°At least people tend to stay inside during winter. If the Nanocreatures had attacked during summer¡­¡± She shivered at the thought, unwilling to contemplate the fate of the city had a large number of the citizens been wandering the streets at night. Just as she prepared to seek out more Nanocreatures, however, Dav¨ªdrius suddenly appeared behind her, rolling to a stop after a gigantic leap onto the building she was standing on.


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± she questioned.


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± he responded warily as he took a moment to survey the landscape himself. ¡°¡­Thought you could use a hand.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well¡­ you¡¯re not wrong,¡± Kaon¨¦ admitted quietly. ¡°Where¡¯s Christean¨¦ and Rebehka?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ dunno? They¡¯ll be here eventually, probably.¡±


    The Materiatechnic sighed. ¡°You really don¡¯t have any patience, do you?¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius simply shrugged in response, and then pointed to the north. ¡°Wait¡­ are those more Nanocreatures?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Where?¡± Kaon¨¦ turned to look herself, squinting into the distance ¡ª and then felt a sudden, fierce pain in her chest. She impulsively coughed up blood before glancing down and noting a blade protruding out of her stomach¡ª


    ¡ªDav¨ªdrius¡¯s saber protruding out of her stomach.


    ¡°Well, I suppose there are some right here, as well.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡ª?!¡± she choked out, attempting to spin around and step back in one motion, only to collapse painfully to her knees. ¡°Wh¡­what are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Need you really ask?¡±


    Kaon¨¦ stared, wide-eyed, up at Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª or rather, who appeared to be Dav¨ªdrius. ¡°¡­No¡­ Morcii?!¡±


    ¡°CORRECT!¡± He grinned maliciously, glaring haughtily down at Kaon¨¦ through the Velocitechnic¡¯s visage as he allowed his normal, oppressive voice to take over. ¡°YOU ALDREDANOIDS, ALWAYS SO¡ª¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!¡±


    ¡°WHAT¡ª?¡± Morcii started, but had no time to finish his thought as a thick dome of diamond and steel encased him entirely. Outside the dome, Kaon¨¦ clutched her chest painfully and then took a deep breath before clenching her eyes shut and attempting to sense all of the damaged material in her body. He¡¯s corrupting me¡­ she thought warily, noticing that she couldn¡¯t manipulate the matter in her body around the blade ¡ª but she was still far from helpless. With a single thought, she disabled her pain receptors and subsequently seized control of the entire region of her body around where the sword had impaled her, at which point she separated it ¡ª and all of the corrupted material within ¡ª from her body. She then flung the mass of bloody, mangled organs away, taking a moment to filter her blood for corrupted cells and remove those as well before lifting a chunk of rubble from the ground below to her level. A moment later, she inserted the rubble into the hole in her body, transmuting it into new organs and blood as she did so and completely rewiring her body¡¯s insides so as to be as good as new. She sealed up her skin and then reactivated her pain receptors, taking a careful, deep breath to test her emergency battlefield surgery ¡ª and then sighing of relief as her body functioned perfectly. And not a moment too soon, for she immediately had to jump back as Morcii exploded free of his steel prison, his form returned to his normal tan-skinned, short-haired, maroon trench coat-wearing self.


    ¡°¡­I MUST ADMIT, I¡¯M IMPRESSED,¡± the Nanocreature remarked, turning toward Kaon¨¦ and noting the hole in her clothing where he had impaled her ¡ª as well as the fact that she had completely expunged the corruption from her body. ¡°YOU MAY WELL BE THE FIRST ALDREDANOID TO¡ª¡±


    He had no opportunity to finish his thought as Kaon¨¦ removed the roof beneath his feet and slammed him toward the ground below. He quickly recovered midair and landed on his feet, only to have them begin to melt as the ground below transformed into lava. The Nanocreature leader quickly took to the air, turning to face Kaon¨¦ just in time to block a massive chunk of rock she had launched his way. She instantly followed by transmuting the air around Morcii¡¯s arms into steel, trapping him just long enough for her to jerk the entrapments in opposite directions, tearing off the Nanocreature¡¯s arms. As soon as she had done so, the severed arms removed themselves from the steel casings, grabbed them, and tossed them toward Morcii¡¯s main body where he dealt both casings fierce kicks, simultaneously corrupting them to prevent Kaon¨¦ from seizing control as they flew her way. The Materiatechnic simply blocked them by raising a barrier of steel before ripping the barrier from the rooftop and flinging it back at Morcii, simultaneously transmuting nearly fifty meters of the ground below into lava and raising it up to engulf the Nanocreature leader. He burst out of the makeshift lava geyser a mere moment later, slamming into Kaon¨¦ and flinging the both of them across the roof where they rolled to a stop at the opposite edge. The Materiatechnic promptly flung Morcii away with a board of diamond before jumping to her feet and quickly removing and replacing any corrupted body material as she had done earlier. She then turned back to Morcii just in time to see him lunge forward; she immediately leaped to the side and knocked him off the edge with a club materialized from the air itself. Kaon¨¦ prepared to deal another blow, but she was beat to the punch ¡ª or kick, rather ¡ª as the real Dav¨ªdrius came flying into the scene and smashed his foot into Morcii¡¯s head. The Velocitechnic rebounded from the blow onto the rooftop next to Kaon¨¦ as Christean¨¦ entered the area hammer-first, missing Morcii by a hair as the Nanocreature dodged and then took off into the air.


    ¡°Damn, there he goes again.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he attempted to track Morcii through the air, but ultimately lost track of him against the cloudy nighttime skies. He then glanced down at Kaon¨¦, only to find her giving him an uneasy stare. ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°¡­Nothing.¡± She shook her head, sighing of relief after attempting several slight matter manipulations of Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s body, and succeeding. He¡¯s not a Nanocreature¡­ it¡¯s the real Dav¨ªdrius. Good¡­


    ¡°Hmph. If you say so,¡± the Velocitechnic responded flatly as he turned to survey the area. ¡°¡­Well, you seem fine, holdin¡¯ off Morcii the way you were. Maybe you didn¡¯t need help after all.¡±


    ¡°I still appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted. ¡°¡­Well, the bastard¡¯s goin¡¯ after the Master Ayas now, and we need to get it before he does.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m coming with you, then. We need to stop him, soon.¡±


    The Velocitechnic glanced back at her, his expression one of surprise before quickly turning into a satisfied smirk. ¡°¡­Heh. Didn¡¯t even have to ask.¡± He then launched himself off the building, followed closely by Kaon¨¦ as she manipulated her body to fly right behind him. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go whoop some Nanocreature ass!!¡±

 76 - Release From Known: Return

    Chapter 76 - Release From Known: Return


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Sorry.¡± Siyuak¨¦n bowed her head apologetically. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry for keeping this from you.¡±


    ¡°As you should be,¡± the Cryotechnic replied as she moved to embrace her friend, who reflexively backed away.


    Siyuak¨¦n stared at Rebehka, wide-eyed with panic and confusion. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! What if you get infected, too?!¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be in it together,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°And even now, we are. We¡¯ll find a way to stop the infection, Siyuak¨¦n, I promise. We¡¯re already close to investigating the origin of the Chaos Quake! Who knows, maybe there will be some answers there.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t guarantee that.¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but then no one can guarantee anything. ¡­Really, Siyuak¨¦n, we can do this. You¡¯ve already lasted two months ¡ª that¡¯s far longer than any other case we¡¯ve seen! That¡¯s hopeful, isn¡¯t it? You can beat this!¡±


    ¡°¡­And if I don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just carve out your brain and store it until we have the technology to create another body for you, free from the infection.¡± Rebehka smirked. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die. I also won¡¯t let you lose to the infection. You have my word.¡±


    <hr>


    The sound of thunder rolled through the snow-covered forests southeast of Nimaliaka Central, the frequent lightning strikes lighting up the cloudy nighttime skies as Siyuak¨¦n and Rebehka exchanged blows just as fiercely as when they had begun fighting nearly two hours ago. Rebehka¡¯s second Overdrive had worn off, leaving the blizzard to die down into a tame snow storm that encompassed the entire region; without the white cloak to block her vision, the corrupted Electrotechnic had begun to attack Rebehka with more ferocity than before, but the veil of night ¡ª and the fact that the battle had migrated into the Nimaliakian forests ¡ª prevented the two Chaotics from engaging for extended periods of time.


    Where is she¡­ Rebehka perched in the branches of one of the taller trees, her eyes closed as she attempted to focus on the snow around her. A moment later she threw herself to the side just in time to evade a lightning blast, and then grabbed a nearby branch and swung herself around to fire several icicles back at the origin of the blast. Siyuak¨¦n whacked the icicles out of the air with her fully metallic left arm before shooting a grappling hook out of her right, catching the branch near Rebehka and rapidly pulling herself to it. The Cryotechnic quickly froze the cord and shattered it, sending Siyuak¨¦n flying through the air until she grabbed another branch and swung around to tackle Rebehka to the ground. The latter immediately encased the entire area in ice, using her abilities to easily extricate herself as Siyuak¨¦n melted the block around her with an exceedingly high current. Rebehka quickly responded by lifting the remaining ice into the air and trying to slam it back down on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head, but the corrupted Electrotechnic sharpened her nails into claws and dug them into the block, fighting for control with Rebehka for a short moment before launching it forwards. The Cryotechnic instantly disintegrated the block into a cloud of snow that she disappeared into, prompting Siyuak¨¦n to blast the area with a powerful lightning strike to disperse the snow cloud ¡ª only to find that Rebehka had disappeared.


    Siyuak¨¦n snapped her head to and fro, searching for the disappeared Chaotic with her electrical senses as the night and the forest obscured her vision. A moment later, she whipped around just in time to block a slash from an ice sword with her left arm; the two Chaotics struggled with each other for a second before Siyuak¨¦n pulled her right arm back, charged it with electricity, and then thrust it forwards. Rebehka quickly grasped it with her free hand, encasing her hand with a thick coating of ice to insulate her from the high voltage. The two Chaotics continued to grapple with each other for several more seconds until they both blasted each other with their respective elements, knocking them both to the ground several meters away from each other. But before Siyuak¨¦n could stagger back to her feet, her hands and feet were pierced by ice spikes growing from the ground, followed by a larger spike through her abdomen. Rebehka then created a full layer of ice armor as she readied herself for the next incoming electric attack¡ª


    ¡°Re¡­behka¡­?¡±


    The Cryotechnic froze for a moment before snapping her attention to Siyuak¨¦n. The Electrotechnic had easily broken free from the ice spikes, but she was left to lean against a nearby tree painfully, clutching her forehead with her right hand as her left arm drooped by her side.


    ¡°H¡­help¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­I know,¡± Rebehka responded quietly as she created a lance in each hand. ¡°¡­I won¡¯t leave you alone, Siyuak¨¦n. Not again.¡±


    ¡°N-no¡­¡± The Electrotechnic glanced toward her tensely, grimacing in pain as her wounds slowly closed on their own. ¡°I¡­ told you! ¡­Please¡­! Kill me¡­!¡±


    The Cryotechnic shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t do that. ¡­Well, I will if I have to, if it comes to it. But it won¡¯t. And I know what I¡¯m doing this time; I¡¯m not fighting blindly, like that night three months ago. I can do this!¡±


    ¡°Rebehka¡­!¡±


    ¡°Trust me, Siyuak¨¦n!¡± Rebehka shouted back, lunging forward with her lances as Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s face returned to a blank slate and she began attacking again. ¡°I¡¯ll save you! That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Trust me, Siyuak¨¦n. We¡¯ll find a way to help you. I¡¯ll find a way to help you. That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for.¡±


    ¡°¡­There is another way you could help me¡­ and everyone else, too.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°If¡­ if I do end up losing to the corruption¡ª¡±


    ¡°No. No, you won¡¯t. It won¡¯t happen. I won¡¯t let it.¡±


    ¡°Rebehka, it¡¯s not that simple¡ª¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what I told you back when I first found out you were infected? Even if your body loses, I¡¯ll just take your brain and store it until we can make you a new body. You¡¯ll be fine!¡±


    ¡°In any other context, that would actually sound pretty creepy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but I mean it. I won¡¯t let you lose. I won¡¯t lose you. And that¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡°¡­Do you really think you can do it?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. Come on, Siyuak¨¦n, you know me. I wouldn¡¯t say it if I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re reminding me of back when we first met.¡±


    ¡°Heh, well, if regressing back to my ¡®try-hard¡¯ stage is what it takes to save you, then I¡¯ll do it. Then we can become friends all over again! It¡¯s the perfect plan.¡±


    ¡°Ha, alright, if you say so.¡±


    ¡°I do say so.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks, Rebehka.¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned to embrace her friend.


    ¡°Ha! Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The Cryotechnic returned the gesture with her free arm. ¡°It¡¯s what best friends are for.¡±


    <hr>


    A blast of electricity ripped through several nearby trees, toppling them as Siyuak¨¦n blindly lashed out in the dark of night. Immediately afterward, the entire area was suddenly encased in ice, freezing the corrupted Electrotechnic to the spot long enough for Rebehka to swing out of the trees and launch several ice javelins in her direction. But Siyuak¨¦n easily broke free of the ice fast enough to spin around and catch the projectiles, crushing them in her hands as she locked on to Rebehka¡¯s body currents and summoned a lightning strike directly on the Cryotechnic. Rebehka was only able to weather the attack through the immediate creation of multiple layers of ice shields above her, a task that required enough focus that she failed to track Siyuak¨¦n until the Electrotechnic was nearly on top of her. The corrupted Electrotechnic thrust her hands forward, both cackling with energy, but Rebehka reacted just quickly enough to create an explosion of ice and snow that blew the two women apart.


    Both combatants caught themselves on nearby trees and launched themselves up into the branches, taking advantage of their Rel¨¦diakian training to hide amongst the leaves while simultaneously attempting to track the other. Rebehka silently jumped through the branches, launching the occasional ice shard toward where she thought Siyuak¨¦n was while evading stray lightning strikes as the corrupted Electrotechnic sought her out. A few moments later, Siyuak¨¦n stopped trying to track Rebehka and instead summoned an immensely powerful lightning strike, obliterating the tree in which she sat as the lightning jumped to nearby trees and continued to chain through the forest. Forced into a dangerous situation, Rebehka threw herself from the treetops, exposing herself to Siyuak¨¦n just before creating a massive ice pillar around the original burnt tree. The ice cage offered the Cryotechnic a moment of relief, but no more ¡ª Siyuak¨¦n burnt her way through the pillar in no time, using high currents in her body to melt the ice. She leaped down to the ground next to Rebehka, landing with a roll and immediately spinning toward the Cryotechnic, thrusting her left arm forward in the same motion. Rebehka quickly moved to counter with her right arm encased with ice, causing a small explosion as Siyuak¨¦n discharged into the ice shield. The Cryotechnic immediately followed by creating a lance of ice in her left hand and thrusting it forward, which Siyuak¨¦n managed to dodge, grab, and then shatter with a pulse of electricity. The two Chaotics then jumped away from each other as they simultaneously launched elemental attacks, knocking them even further back. After rolling across the ground haphazardly, neither bothered to fully climb to their feet before firing off one more attack ¡ª Rebehka immediately froze everything within fifty meters, including Siyuak¨¦n, at the same instant the Electrotechnic triggered another lightning chain strike through the forest. The Cryotechnic barely withstood the brunt of the blast, dropping to a knee in exhaustion as Siyuak¨¦n broke herself out of her ice prison again and collapsed on her side. The two lay where they were for several moments, each catching their breath; Rebehka was the first to act as she created a staff of ice and used it to climb back to her feet.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Wh¡­why¡­?¡±


    The Cryotechnic glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n as she got back up as well.


    ¡°Why¡­ are you doing this?¡± the corrupted Electrotechnic muttered as she grasped her left arm in pain.


    ¡°That¡¯s a dumb question, and you know it,¡± Rebehka retorted as she created yet another set of ice armor for herself. ¡°I¡¯ve only told you countless times ¡ª I¡¯m your best friend. And that means I can¡¯t let you die!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ understand!¡± Siyuak¨¦n pursed her lips, frustration and pain wrought over her features. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ suffering! To stop this, to stop me, you need¡­ you need to kill me!!¡±


    ¡°Or I can just bring you back to your senses!¡± Rebehka countered, ¡°look, you¡¯re already more in control than before! Morcii¡¯s weaker than ever; now is the time to shake off his influence!¡±


    ¡°Rebehka¡ª!¡±


    ¡°And if you won¡¯t do it yourself, then I¡¯ll do it for you!¡± The Cryotechnic lunged forward, simultaneously creating a dozen airborne javelins and launching them toward Siyuak¨¦n. The Electrotechnic simply countered the javelins with lightning strikes, illuminating the frozen and damaged area just in time to block a punch from Rebehka. Siyuak¨¦n then followed with her own as she attempted to uppercut the Cryotechnic, but was blocked by a shield of ice. Rebehka quickly countered, sweeping her foot around to knock Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s legs out from under her ¡ª only for the Electrotechnic to catch herself by shooting her grappling hook into a branch above her and then throw an electrically charged punch with her other hand. The two Chaotics continued trading blows, covering their attacks with continually dwindling amounts of electricity and ice, blocking, countering, dodging ¡ª but over two hours of fighting was catching up to them. Within barely a dozen blows they were using mere token amounts of their powers, their bodies slowed as they felt more pain through exhaustion than through injury.


    ¡°Rebehka¡­ please¡­!¡±


    The Cryotechnic stepped away wearily as Siyuak¨¦n stumbled backwards, small sparks jumping across her limbs.


    ¡°End this¡­ kill me¡­!¡±


    ¡°¡­Damn it, Siyuak¨¦n, I already lost you once!¡± Rebehka countered, and then paused momentarily to catch her breath. ¡°¡­I¡¯m not killing you! ¡­But I am finishing this, whether you like it or not!¡±


    ¡°Rebehka¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Overdrive: Ice Storm!¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n instinctively shielded her face with her arms as the light snow around her instantly developed back into a raging blizzard, drawing a curtain of ice and snow that darkened the night forest to pitch black.


    ¡°Why¡­ why¡­ why did you follow me?!¡±


    Without warning, the corrupted Electrotechnic felt herself get launched into the air by a blow from below.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? You¡¯re my best friend! I can¡¯t let you go!¡±


    Several more blows quickly followed; within moments, Siyuak¨¦n found herself above the clouds themselves, the veil of the blizzard no longer present to block the crescent moon and starry skies.


    ¡°If¡­ you were¡­ my friend¡­ you¡­ would have killed me by now!¡±


    Rebehka then appeared within sight, having jumped up a series of ice platforms to reach Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that! I made a promise, remember?!¡±


    Before the Electrotechnic could react, Rebehka crafted a giant hammer out of ice and swung it overhead, slamming it into Siyuak¨¦n and sending her careening back into the darkness of the snow storm below.


    ¡°You¡¯ll live through this!¡±


    ¡­


    ..


    .


    <hr>


    ¡°Stay¡­ away¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­NOW THIS IS TRULY A SURPRISE! YOU¡¯VE OVERCOME THE EXPRESSION INHIBITORS! MUST BE BECAUSE YOU¡¯RE ALMOST DEAD. HMM.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ said! Stay¡­ away¡­!¡±


    ¡°AHAHAHA¡­ HA HA HA HA HA HA! CUTE. YOU THINK YOU COULD POSSIBLY SAVE YOUR FRIENDS? IN THAT STATE?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­! Hrgk¡ª!¡±


    ¡°SEE? YOU¡¯RE HELPLESS AGAINST ME. JUST AS YOUR FRIENDS ARE! NO ONE CAN HOPE TO STOP ME! YOU CAN¡¯T STOP ME FROM CONQUERING THE GALAXY. AND YOU MOST CERTAINLY CAN¡¯T STOP ME FROM KILLING! NOT YOUR FRIENDS, NOT YOURSELF, NOT ANYONE!¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­ ¡­maybe not¡­ me. But¡­ not¡­ no one¡­!¡±


    ¡°HMPH. ¡­YOU ANNOYING ALDREDANOIDS ARE JUST AS HEADSTRONG AS THE ALDREDAS THEMSELVES. WHAT A NUISANCE¡­ OH WELL. HAVING A CHAOTIC LIEUTENANT, AND A QUAKEBORN, NO LESS, WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED.¡±


    .


    ¡ªWhat? While it lasted? Is this¡ª is this the end?


    No¡­ even if I can¡¯t be saved, what about Rebehka? Dav¨ªdrius? Christean¨¦?


    Hero Machina ¡ª they all need my help, but¡ª!


    I can¡¯t¡­ resist¡­ his¡­ control¡­!


    I have no more energy¡­ I¡¯m so tired¡­ ¡­will someone, please¡­ ¡­just end it¡­


    ¡­No.


    ¡­I can¡¯t give up. Not yet. Rebehka believes in me¡­ and she¡¯s right. Morcii is weaker than ever¡­ now is my only chance. I can¡¯t let her down again. I won¡¯t! I have to see the end of this!


    I won¡¯t give up!


    .


    ¡°I won¡¯t¡­ give up¡­!¡±


    ¡°HMM?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done¡­ with being controlled by you. You¡­ have no power over me!¡±


    ¡°YOU DARE DEFY ME? ME, THE LEADER OF THE NANOCREATURES? ME, THE HARBINGER OF THE MORIKAI?! YOU DON¡¯T HAVE THE POWER¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have the power. You were beaten on Neticen, and you may have returned, but you still don¡¯t have the same power as before! You can¡¯t control me, Morcii. And even if you try, my friends will come back for me. I¡­ doubted them, once. And not just them ¡ª I doubted my own ability to control my fate. But I see now that I was wrong, and that you will never win in the end!¡±


    ¡°AHAHA! YOU MUST BE DERANGED! YOU BELIEVE THAT FRIENDSHIP CAN OVERCOME MY CONTROL?! SUCH CHILDLIKE BELIEFS HAVE NO PLACE IN MY GALAXY!¡±


    ¡°But the galaxy isn¡¯t yours, Morcii. It never will be.¡±


    ¡°¡­HMPH. IF YOU INSIST ON SUCH IMPUDENCE, THEN I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO OBLITERATE YOU AND ALL THAT YOU STAND FOR. THE GALAXY WILL BE MINE, ALDREDANOID. YOU WILL REGRET CHOOSING THE WRONG SIDE.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t regret anything, because there is no choice with the Nanocreatures! From this day on, I¡¯ll oppose you to my last dying breath, to my last lightning strike, and I¡¯ll be glad to do so ¡ª because it will be my choice! Because no one else can ever force me to do anything again! Because I won¡¯t be standing alone! You thought you could control me, Morcii, just like you thought you could control the galaxy. But I proved you wrong once, and I¡¯ll do it again! Your reign¡­


    ¡­ends now!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Feeling better?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s eyes fluttered open, revealing only a blur of darkness. Moments later her vision began to settle, resolving into the starry night sky through a hole in the clouds and a myriad of broken branches and ice shards.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?¡±


    The Electrotechnic blinked several times and then tilted her head back, immediately meeting eyes with Rebehka. The two stared at each other for several moments ¡ª a blank stare from Siyuak¨¦n, an amused one from Rebehka ¡ª before the Electrotechnic jumped to her feet and scrambled away, realizing that she had been laying with her head beside Rebehka¡¯s knees.


    ¡°Wha, what are you doing?!¡± she exclaimed, ¡°you¡­ you can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m¡­!¡±


    Rebehka simply crossed her arms, an amused smirk on her face. ¡°You¡¯re what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­!¡± the Electrotechnic started, but faltered as an unfamiliar feeling crept through her body. She paused for a second before looking down at her hands, her bruised, metallic hands ¡ª that she could clench and open at will. Hands that she had full control over.


    The corruption no longer controlled her.


    ¡°Realized it yet¡ª?¡± Rebehka started, but stopped to jump forward and catch Siyuak¨¦n as she collapsed into tears.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!!¡± she sobbed into her friend¡¯s shoulder, ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­! You¡­! I was convinced, but, but you¡­!¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­¡± Rebehka responded quietly, fully wrapping her arms around Siyuak¨¦n in a warm embrace. ¡°¡­It¡¯s okay now. It¡¯s okay¡­¡±


    ¡°B-b-but it¡¯s not!¡± Siyuak¨¦n drew away again. ¡°I¡­ I thought I was better off dead¡­ I, I didn¡¯t think, I didn¡¯t think this was possible, but¡­ ¡­I was trying to force you to kill me, that, that¡¯s not okay!...¡±


    ¡°¡­You almost succeeded, too.¡± Rebehka smirked bitterly. ¡°¡­I was ready to kill you not even two hours ago. After two, three months in prison, away from everyone¡­ I did think killing you would be the answer. That it was the only way to stop your suffering¡­ ¡­but do you know what else I realized, after all that?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n sniffled wearily and wiped a tear from her cheek before meeting eyes with Rebehka again. ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°I realized that I missed you.¡± The Cryotechnic stepped forward and hugged her friend again. ¡°¡­And that I didn¡¯t have to renege on my promises after all. Because we¡¯re best friends, damn it, and as sappy as it sounds, I won¡¯t let anything get in the way of that!¡±


    ¡°¡­Maybe it is sappy,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded quietly, ¡°¡­but it saved me. And I can¡¯t appreciate that enough¡­ I don¡¯t know how I can ever make this up to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ there is one way¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­?¡±


    Rebehka finally released Siyuak¨¦n and pulled back enough to lock eyes with the Electrotechnic, a stern look on her face. ¡°Never do this to yourself again!¡±


    ¡°¡­Heh.¡± Siyuak¨¦n slowly smiled, prompting Rebehka to respond in kind. ¡°¡­Understood!¡±

 77 - Corrupting Chaos

    Chapter 77 - Corrupting Chaos


    ¡°Chaos Form¡­¡±


    Kievkenalis shivered as a veil of Chaos Energy covered his body, offering slight protection against the cold atmosphere. A snow storm had expanded from southeast Nimaliaka Central to cover the entire city and the region around it, coating the building tops and streets with a thin layer of snow and ice and forcing the Chaostechnic to progress toward the coast at a slower, more cautious speed. ¡°Chaos¡­ Boost¡­¡± he muttered, the pain caused by the use of Chaos Energy numbed by the biting air around him as he dashed forward and then leaped upwards, clearing several stories and landing on the roof of a five-story industrial structure. He paused to look down at the area in front of him: the industrial freight docks of Old Nimaliaka Central. Long ago, before the age of space flight, the docks saw high usage from water-borne freight ships as one of the busiest ports in all of Nimalia ¡ª but now it was largely abandoned or repurposed, with nothing but a shell of its former glory left as the only users now were Tres¨¦dian ferries and independent merchants who couldn¡¯t afford modern air- or spaceships.


    The quay directly in front of Kievkenalis was the main offloading area, featuring a large, wide-open space across which freight rails ran. The platform extended for nearly two hundred meters toward the bay before dropping off into the coastal waters; several kilometers to the north were the clean public beaches, and several kilometers to the south, the coast began turning eastward to follow the Nimaliakian land bridge.


    ¡°Chaos Energy Detect¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered and then turned his attention away from the snow-covered sights to search for the Master Ayas. He scowled with frustration as his search turned up nothing; he had been slow to pursue the Ayas, and its Chaos Energy trail had long since dispersed thanks to time and the chaos of the Nanocreature attacks. The only course of action left was to search for the Ayas manually, an option made worse by the weather conditions and the lateness of the night. Kievkenalis estimated that there were only another three or four hours until sunrise ¡ª and the exhaustion from the long night was beginning to catch up to him. Nonetheless, he prepared to look for the Ayas, turning his gaze toward ¡ª


    ¡ª what was that?! The Chaostechnic suddenly whipped around, staring into the distance as the colored veil induced by Chaos Energy Detect slowly wore off. He squinted in an effort to see through the snow ¡ª and immediately exclaimed ¡°Chaos Deflection!!¡± just in time to take a massive blow from the back, flinging him off the building top. ¡°Chaos Cancel Form! Chaos Fortified Armor!¡± he quickly called in succession, dispelling the thin veil of Chaos Energy around his body and replacing it with a sturdy set of armor just in time to absorb the shock of his fall on the ground below. He immediately leaped to his feet and jumped back, narrowly evading Morcii as he slammed into the ground.


    ¡°¡­YOU ALDREDANOIDS NEVER FAIL TO STAND IN MY WAY,¡± the Nanocreature leader growled as he placed his hand on the building behind him and covered it in a coating of silver metal. ¡°I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO CLAIM THE MASTER AYAS BEFORE ME. THE AYAS¡­¡± He lifted the entire five-story building into the air and then shattered it into four parts before launching them at Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­WILL BE MINE!¡±


    ¡°Chaos Explosion!¡± the Chaostechnic quickly responded, detonating a remote explosion within one of the building fragments and blowing it to pieces as he dashed to the left to evade the remaining fragments. With a quick call of ¡°Chaos Boost¡± he sped out of the way just before the debris crashed to the ground; he then followed by twisting back toward Morcii and launching several Chaos Strikes, only to stumble as pain disrupted his concentration. Nigh instantly, the Nanocreature leader was upon him, moving to smash his foot into the Chaostechnic but succeeding only in dispelling the Chaos Armor around Kievkenalis¡¯s body. The Chaostechnic quickly followed with ¡°Chaos Deflection,¡± flinging Morcii away and giving him the room to climb back to his feet just in time to brace himself and call ¡°Chaos Deflection¡± again to block the myriad of lasers Morcii fired at him. Kievkenalis prepared to retaliate, stretching his right hand forward and beginning ¡°Chaos¡ª!¡± but caught a glimpse of motion in the corner of his eye before he could finish, forcing him to instead call out ¡°Deflection!¡± once more as Morcii slammed the remnants of the building from earlier into the Chaostechnic¡¯s location. While protected from direct damage, the impact of the debris flung Kievkenalis across the quay, sending him tumbling to the ground as he barely managed to stop himself from falling into the bay. ¡°Chaos Teleport,¡± he quickly muttered, teleporting himself away from the ledge just as Morcii attempted to smash his knee into his face, giving the Chaostechnic a moment to climb back to his feet and launch a handful of Chaos Strikes toward Morcii. The Nanocreature leader took the blows head on as he charged forward, simultaneously firing lasers from his transformed arms and closing the distance between himself and Kievkenalis. The Chaostechnic attempted to maintain the distance by quickly backing away, but he stumbled and fell to the ground; he quickly called ¡°Chaos Armor¡± mere moments before Morcii was upon him, grabbing Kievkenalis by his arm and swinging him around once and then throwing him at the ground with enough force to shatter the concrete. Kievkenalis grimaced and locked up in pain, unable to block Morcii¡¯s next move as he raised his foot into the air ¡ª and was subsequently bowled over as Dav¨ªdrius rammed into him head-on.


    ¡°REINFORCEMENTS¡­?¡± Morcii muttered, catching himself several meters away and quickly ducking to dodge Christean¨¦¡¯s battlehammer. He immediately reached up and grabbed the hammer¡¯s tether as the weapon flew by, yanking it and whipping Christean¨¦ around and into the ground ¡ª where the Forcetechnic caught himself and yanked his cord back, ripping Morcii¡¯s arm off and flinging the Nanocreature leader into the air. Instantly, the severed arm split into four pieces, each of which transformed into blades that homed in on Christean¨¦ as Morcii himself opened fire with his remaining arm cannon from the opposite direction, forcing the Forcetechnic to take the brunt of the blasts as Dav¨ªdrius managed to intercept the airborne blades with his own weapons. The Velocitechnic then leaped into the air and moved to smash his foot over Morcii¡¯s head ¡ª only for the Nanocreature to dodge backwards and then slam his arms down on Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s back, spiking him into the platform below. Morcii then moved to fire at Dav¨ªdrius but was interrupted as Christean¨¦¡¯s hammer slammed into his chest, exploding his body into thousands of fragments as the Forcetechnic flew by and splashed down in the bay.


    Dav¨ªdrius quickly jumped back to his feet and turned toward Morcii as the Nanocreature¡¯s fragments reformed into his full body several tens of meters away. The Velocitechnic was upon him instantly, slashing at the pieces faster than they could reform and forcing Morcii to instead use the fragments themselves to counter, forming numerous daggers that each flew through the air independently and forced Dav¨ªdrius back. The moment the Velocitechnic let up, each of the daggers flew away and then all converged on his position in a dome formation, effectively trapping him ¡ª except he threw himself to the side, twisting his body in just the right way to avoid hitting any of the daggers straight-on and then banking on his Velocitechnic durability to avoid taking damage. Sure enough, he escaped the trap with only a torn jacket and pants; immediately he whipped around and lunged forward, flipping and smashing his foot into the collection of daggers just in time for Christean¨¦ to fling himself back on land and follow up with a powerful ground pound, shattering the quay for a hundred meters around. The two Introtechnics then jumped away as the Nanocreature pieces dissolved into a silver cloud that quickly reformed into Morcii, just in time for the Nanocreature leader to stretch his arms forward and slam them into a massive pillar of concrete as it passed by his head. He promptly injected it with millions of nanites, corrupting it and seizing direct control ¡ª at which point he launched it back at the Materiatechnic who had thrown it.


    Kaon¨¦ easily dodged the pillar as she entered the battlefield, distracting Morcii with relatively harmless scraps of concrete and metal as Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ continually beat him down. The Materiatechnic then rushed over to Kievkenalis, who had yet to fully recover from Morcii¡¯s attack and was merely lying on the pavement in a daze.


    ¡°Kevken! What happened?!¡± she exclaimed, kneeling beside him and helping him into a sitting position.


    ¡°¡­Ungh¡­¡± he grunted in pain. ¡°¡­The Ayas is nearby. We need¡ª agh¡­!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ eyed the Chaostechnic warily as his entire body grew tense. ¡°¡­You¡¯re in no shape to fight. You should get out of here¡ª!¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Kievkenalis shook his head. ¡°¡­Now that you¡¯re here, I can avoid using my abilities. And between you, Dav¨ªdrius, and Christean¨¦, you can distract Morcii while I look for the Ayas¡­ maybe then we¡¯ll be able to do something about stopping him, instead of allowing him to repeatedly reform his body¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as Kievkenalis slowly climbed back to his feet. He paused for a moment to take a deep breath and then nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only way,¡± he declared. ¡°We can¡¯t draw this battle out forever.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± the Materiatechnic replied, ¡°but don¡¯t push yourself. If you need help, just ask!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ then turned back to the battle and spontaneously raised the ground beneath Morcii to fling him into the air the moment before he could attack Christean¨¦. The Nanocreature immediately stopped himself midair and then flipped around to counter Dav¨ªdrius as the Velocitechnic leaped up to meet him. Morcii then split his body into five parts that sped away from each other just in time to evade a steel pillar created in the air above him; the five parts then split several more times to create a myriad of laser cannons and flechettes that each targeted and relentlessly attacked the two Introtechnics. Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ both were barely able to dodge the quick attacks, each of them slowly taking down the small projectiles until Kaon¨¦ deftly snatched the weapons out of the air with a transmuted steel net. As soon as she had gathered all of the Nanocreature fragments, she balled up the steel; she quickly lost control as Morcii corrupted the material, but Christean¨¦ immediately slammed his hammer into the ball, smashing it to pieces. Kaon¨¦ then gathered the remnants back into a larger sphere that Christean¨¦ again shattered; the Materiatechnic then created one more sarcophagus ¡ª a multi-meter wide mass of steel and rock that Christean¨¦ hoisted into the air and threw over the bay, where Dav¨ªdrius leaped into the air and spiked it down into the water. Kaon¨¦ created a platform in the air for Dav¨ªdrius to land on and jump back to the quay, but the moment he touched down, the water behind him exploded upwards as dozens of metallic daggers flew into the air and converged on Kaon¨¦¡¯s position.


    ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame!¡±


    A wave of fire washed over the quay, rolling around Kaon¨¦, Dav¨ªdrius, and Christean¨¦ as it engulfed the flying daggers and burnt them to a crisp. Immediately afterward, Morcii himself exploded from the bay before slamming into the concrete and completely demolishing half of the platform, raising clouds of debris that distracted the Chaotics as he pressed forward. But he was quickly blocked as Kev¨¦rin thrust himself into the fray, incinerating the concrete debris with well-controlled yet impossibly hot bursts of flame as Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ smashed their way toward Morcii. Just as the Introtechnics closed into melee range, the Nanocreature leader leaped into the sky, transforming all four of his limbs into laser cannons which he used to fire haphazardly on the quay below, slicing the platform into pieces and forcing the Chaotics to dodge until Kaon¨¦ created a thick shield and then quickly repaired the quay. Morcii immediately smashed through the shield and seized control of the object through nanite injection to hurl it at the Materiatechnic, forcing Christean¨¦ to leap into the air and knock it aside as Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius closed on either side of the Nanocreature leader. The Velocitechnic flipped, bringing his foot overhead to smash into Morcii ¡ª only for the Nanocreature to easily grab the incoming limb and fling Dav¨ªdrius into the bay just in time to lunge forward and evade a fire blast¡ª


    ¡ªand fall directly into Christean¨¦¡¯s waiting fist.


    The Forcetechnic obliterated Morcii¡¯s chest, thrusting his right arm all the way through the Nanocreature. But Morcii responded immediately; grabbing Christean¨¦¡¯s arms, Morcii then flipped over backwards, slamming the Forcetechnic into the quay headfirst. He then took to the air, but Kaon¨¦ instantly encased him in a sphere of diamond before smashing the sphere back down to the ground. Kev¨¦rin quickly bathed it in a constant stream of fire, only letting up several moments later so Christean¨¦ could turn around and absolutely pulverize the mass with his battlehammer, completely shattering the sphere and launching tiny fragments of diamond and Nanocreature all across the quay.


    ¡°¡­ALL THIS FIGHTING, AND STILL, YOU HAVE YET TO GRASP THE SITUATION¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, turning to face the Nanocreature leader as his body reformed across the quay. ¡°¡­Why can¡¯t you just go away?!¡±


    ¡°I WILL TAKE MY LEAVE EVENTUALLY,¡± Morcii responded with a smirk, observing Dav¨ªdrius as Kaon¨¦ lifted him out of the bay waters and he joined the other three Chaotics. ¡°BUT ONLY ONCE I HAVE DEFEATED YOU AND CLAIMED THE AYAS. YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED YOUR LESSON FROM OUR BATTLE ON NETICEN, ALDREDANOIDS¡­ YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME PHYSICALLY. YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME; YOU CANNOT OBLITERATE MY CONSTITUENT PARTS¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chaos VOID!¡±


    In the middle of the Nanocreature¡¯s sentence, a sphere as black as the darkest night engulfed his body. It swallowed Morcii up to his neck before dissipating in complete silence, leaving behind absolutely nothing as the Nanocreature¡¯s head dropped to the ground like a brick.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re wrong,¡± Kievkenalis commented as he stepped forward warily with the Master Ayas in hand. ¡°¡­Void is an ability that actually erases matter from existence. And I just unlocked it. Let¡¯s see you try to reform your body when there¡¯s no matter left to form with! Chaos Void!¡±


    A second sphere of darkness appeared around Morcii¡¯s head, swallowing it and consuming a sizable chunk of the quay as well. Once the sphere disappeared, there was nothing left ¡ª only a small, impossibly smooth indentation in the concrete platform where Morcii¡¯s head used to rest.


    ¡°¡­Is¡­ ¡­is that it?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned warily after several moments of tense silence.


    ¡°¡­It seems like it,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded. He then turned to Kievkenalis as a smile spread across his face. ¡°You found the Ayas! Great work!¡±


    A disembodied voice spoke up in response. ¡°YES, GREAT WORK INDEED.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still here? Where is he?!¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced around irately. ¡°Morcii, you¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M RIGHT HERE.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Wha¡ª?!¡± All five Chaotics jumped back, startled, as a cloud of metallic dust suddenly emerged from Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s body and formed a perfect clone of him not even a meter away. The Velocitechnic¡¯s eyes widened in shock, but he quickly crouched down, preparing to lunge into an attack ¡ª only to freeze in place.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­!¡± He glowered at the form in front of him, his body unmoving. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t¡­ move¡­!¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, finding his own body frozen as well. All five Chaotics were trapped, stuck where they stood and unable to offer a counterattack as Morcii casually strolled across the quay, still inhabiting the form of Dav¨ªdrius. He forced Kievkenalis to utter ¡°Chaos Negation,¡± removing the Chaotics¡¯ ability to use their powers, and then turned to address them directly.


    ¡°YOU TRULY DO UNDERESTIMATE THE NANOCREATURES,¡± he commented with a chuckle. ¡°WE ARE AN ENTITY CREATED ENTIRELY OF NANOMACHINES. NANOMACHINES, WHICH ARE BY DEFINITION FAR SMALLER THAN YOU ALDREDANOIDS COULD POSSIBLY HOPE TO PERCEIVE. WE ARE CAPABLE OF CORRUPTING AND SEIZING CONTROL OF ANY OBJECT, LIVING OR NO, WITH MINIMAL EFFORT.¡± He stopped walking and turned back to face the Chaotics, his arms crossed as he returned to his original form. ¡°AND YET YOU CHOSE TO BATTLE ME WITHOUT ANY SORT OF ENERGY FIELD PROTECTION?¡±


    ¡°¡­Fuck,¡± Kev¨¦rin swore. ¡°¡­Our Chaos Armor¡­!¡±


    ¡°INDEED.¡± Morcii nodded as a malicious smirk spread across his face. ¡°YOUR ENERGY SHIELDING PROTECTED YOU IN YOUR PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS WITH MY FORCES, BUT SEEDING NANITES WITHIN YOUR BODIES DURING OUR BATTLE HERE WAS A TRIVIAL TASK. EVEN MORE SO DUE TO YOUR HEIGHTENED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. YOU LOST THE MOMENT YOU DECIDED TO ENGAGE ME IN BATTLE!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for tellin¡¯ us, asshat,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered, ¡°we¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind next time.¡±


    ¡°YOU EXPECT THERE TO BE A ¡®NEXT TIME?¡¯¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always a next time. Like hell I¡¯ll let it end here!¡±


    ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t us,¡± Christean¨¦ added, ¡°someone¡¯ll be sure to put an end to that ugly mug of yours, someday.¡±


    ¡°¡­YOU STILL FAIL TO REALIZE THE SCOPE OF MY POWER? YOU STILL DO NOT REALIZE ALL THAT I CAN DO THANKS TO MY CONSTITUTION?¡± Morcii snorted in derision. ¡°I TAKE THIS FORM ONLY AS A COURTESY! I TAKE THIS FORM TO DISTINGUISH MYSELF IN BATTLE, TO PUT A FACE TO THE NANOCREATURE FORCE SO THAT THE GALAXY KNOWS WHO TO FEAR, SO THAT THE GALAXY KNOWS FROM WHOM TO FLEE! I TAKE THIS FORM ONLY BECAUSE THE NANOCREATURES HAVE THE POWER TO SEIZE THE GALAXY THROUGH BRUTE FORCE, WITHOUT RESORTING TO STEALTH AND SUBTERFUGE. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I AM INCAPABLE OF SUCH. I CAN SEIZE CONTROL OF AND INFLUENCE INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT THEM REALIZING IT. I CAN SEIZE CONTROL OF ENTIRE FORCES OR STARSHIPS, WITHOUT MY VICTIMS BEING ANY THE WISER! BUT MOST OVERLOOKED OF ALL¡­¡± He suddenly transformed into Kev¨¦rin, spreading his arms wide and grinning maliciously as Hero Machina responded with silent apprehension. ¡°¡­I COULD BE YOU.¡±


    He transformed into Commander Nik¨¦yin. ¡°I COULD BE YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER.¡±


    He transformed into Archon¨¦ Culana. ¡°I COULD BE YOUR SOCIETY¡¯S RULER!¡±


    He transformed into a Nimaliakian space-certified fightercraft. ¡°I COULD BE YOUR TRANSPORTATION, THE VERY GROUND BENEATH YOUR FEET!¡±


    He transformed into a set of Chaos Armor. ¡°I COULD BE YOUR WEAPONS, YOUR ARMOR! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY¡­¡±


    He transformed into V¨¦lunis, grinning as Kaon¨¦ released a surprised gasp.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    He transformed into Wilkas, smashing his hands together with glee.


    ¡°¡­COULD BE¡­¡±


    He finally transformed into Siyuak¨¦n, taking on her pre-corrupted appearance as he looked down on Hero Machina haughtily.


    ¡°¡­ANYONE!¡±


    ¡°You¡­!¡± Dav¨ªdrius snarled.


    ¡°There is nothing you can do,¡± Morcii retorted, remaining in the form of Siyuak¨¦n and taking on her voice as he turned toward Kievkenalis, casually approached, and plucked the Master Ayas from his hands. ¡°And what makes that even more pathetic is that you should be prepared for this! Transtechnics exist. Shape-shifting Chaotics exist! Yet there is nothing you can do to counter me, should I infiltrate your ranks, impersonate your leaders, and tear your very civilization asunder like the poorly constructed house of cards that it is! I have no need to see battle, to fight the galaxy¡¯s Chaotics in direct combat. My goals could be easily achieved through subterfuge alone! I have no lifespan as you do, so time is of no concern to me; stealth and war both achieve the same result. And yet, while I handicap myself by choosing all-out war, by choosing to engage you directly, you still cannot defeat me! You can never defeat me! You were never able to and you will never be able to! The Aldredas and the Drakkars fought me to a stalemate, but you have not achieved even that!¡±


    Hero Machina responded with silence, unable to conjure up any sort of reply to the Nanocreature¡¯s claims.


    ¡°It is as I said when we first met,¡± Morcii declared. ¡°I am better than you in every way. Faster¡­ stronger¡­ more durable when I need to be, and more flexible when I want to be! And beyond my passive abilities lie those skills that come with my very nature, the nature that defined our relationship from the very beginning: I! Am! A! God! My mind is indestructible; my body, infinite! You cannot destroy my body, for each time you do I merely reform it! You cannot destroy my mind, for you do not possess even one iota of the understanding required to even reach my ability! Yet when faced with me and my forces as we scour the galaxy to bring back the Morikai, our masters, those even more powerful than I ¡ª you still believe yourselves able to defeat me?! Your claims are utterly meaningless! Your madness is insufferable! Even with all that you have to throw at me, my defeat is impossible. My victory is inevitable! Nothing can possibly stand in my way as I claim the Chaos Ayas and free the Morikai, and when that day comes, the universe as you know it will truly end! And absolutely no one in this galaxy, or any galaxy, can possibly hope to stop me!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, Morcii!¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡ª?¡± The Nanocreature turned his head upwards just in time to take the brunt of a powerful lightning strike. He collapsed to his knees as Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n dropped down onto the quay, having arrived on a levitating ice platform from the forests many kilometers to the south. Rebehka quickly scooped the Master Ayas out of Morcii¡¯s hands from a distance with a bowl fashioned out of ice, and then tossed it through the air to Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned warily, noting the corrupted Electrotechnic¡¯s arrival. ¡°¡­What are you doing here¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared, ¡°or rather, I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m in control now!¡±


    ¡°¡­YOU BROKE FREE OF MY INFLUENCE, ONCE AGAIN,¡± Morcii muttered as he returned to his original form and erased all signs of electrical damage in the process. ¡°¡­I ADMIT, THIS IS BOTHERSOME. BUT YOU CANNOT DEFY ME FOR LONG¡­¡± The Nanocreature trailed off, his previous air of arrogance transforming into irritation as a scowl formed on his face. ¡°¡­YOU¡­! INTERRUPTING MY CONTROL LIKE THIS, HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY¡ª?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t as powerful as you think you are, Morcii,¡± the Electrotechnic countered. ¡°Your abilities aren¡¯t as absolute as you seem to think. Your power is entirely tied to the Ayas, and to how many of them you have ¡ª why else were you so close to defeat just before I got here?¡±


    ¡°TO SUGGEST THAT I COULD LOSE¡ª¡±


    ¡°But you were,¡± Siyuak¨¦n cut in, glancing toward the other Chaotics of Hero Machina with a slight smile as they all relaxed, once again able to move of their own accord. ¡°I could sense it from a distance. The battle here wasn¡¯t nearly as one-sided as when we first ran into you on Maasen. And that¡¯s evident from what you had to resort to. Before, you could win through brute force; now, you can¡¯t, because all of your Ayas are gone, and you¡¯ve been reduced to our level. And then you tried to compensate by corrupting your enemies. Which might have worked¡­ if you hadn¡¯t underestimated us!¡±


    ¡°ME? UNDERESTIMATING YOU ALDREDANOID IMBECILES?¡±


    ¡°How else would you explain this? I¡¯m free of your control, and along with that, I have some ability to control Nanocreatures myself! I won¡¯t claim to know how that is, but what I do know is that this means you aren¡¯t in nearly as complete control as you like to say that you are! It is very possible to defeat you, Morcii, and we¡¯re going to be the ones to do it!¡±


    ¡°YOU COULDN¡¯T POSSIBLY,¡± Morcii scoffed. ¡°YOU MAY HAVE OVERRIDDEN MY CONTROL FOR NOW, BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME ¡ª NOT PERMANENTLY. FIGHTING OUT OF SOME SENSE OF PERSONAL REVENGE WILL NOT CHANGE THAT.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Personal revenge?¡¯¡± Siyuak¨¦n echoed, and then dropped her hands to her sides as they slowly began to cackle with electricity. ¡°¡­You¡¯re right. You destroyed my life, just so you could have a toy to mock the galaxy with, so of course I¡¯m a little mad at you. But that¡¯s not all. You didn¡¯t just destroy my life; you¡¯ve destroyed millions, no, billions? Billions of lives, Morcii, that you discarded, all to, what, bring back your ¡®masters?¡¯ You trampled lives, planets, attacked entire civilizations just to achieve your goal, which isn¡¯t even conquest of the galaxy, but to allow someone else to conquer it? So you haven¡¯t even ruined all those lives for yourself, you did it because you¡¯re just someone else¡¯s bitch!¡±


    Sparks began to fly from her arms as the voltage in her body rose in proportion with her anger.


    ¡°So of course I¡¯m mad! All those lives, thrown away for nothing! But that isn¡¯t it, either! Because, as selfish as it may sound, you ruined the lives of my friends as well, and that¡¯s even worse! It¡¯d be one thing if you just waged war, and all the galaxy¡¯s casualties were a result of conventional warfare. You¡¯d still be a little shit, but at least it wouldn¡¯t be unexpected.¡±


    Lightning began to arc from her arms to the ground around her.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not what you did! You made a distinct effort to take control of me, and to do so in the most painful way possible, forcing me to put up with this damned corruption for months and then forcing two of my friends to fight and kill me, and even that didn¡¯t work because you then used me against them on Tau¡¯cen Dii and Neticen for the shock value alone! And then when you finally decide to kill someone, you have to do so in the most brutal way possible! So of course I¡¯m really mad!¡±


    Lightning and sparks wreathed Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body, the volatile electrical currents stirring up the air around her into violent winds.


    ¡°You are in no way a god, Morcii ¡ª you¡¯re just a malicious psychopath, the Morikai¡¯s bitch, some pathetic idiot who gets off on murder and destroying people¡¯s lives! I¡¯ll be damned if you claim that we can¡¯t defeat you, because we¡¯ll find a way! We will win, no matter how hard you want us to believe that we can¡¯t! Because you cannot be allowed to win, and for as long as I live, you will not!¡± She then clenched her fists and slammed them together, lightning jumping from her body as she shouted, ¡°Overdrive: SHOCK AND AWE!¡±


    Instantly, Morcii was struck by lightning so fierce and intense that it lit up the docks and the bay as though dawn had just broke while utterly obliterating the entire quay. Kaon¨¦ immediately moved to create shields and platforms for the other Chaotics of Hero Machina as Siyuak¨¦n repeatedly struck Morcii with similarly incredible lightning strikes, parting the very clouds themselves as she forced all of the energy out of the snow storm into the single point that was Morcii¡¯s body ¡ª repeatedly. Within seconds, the Nanocreature leader had disintegrated into nothing as Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s lightning destroyed him and she seized control of any Nanocreatures for kilometers around, completely preventing any sort of recovery. Yet she did not cease her attacks until nearly a minute later, finally relenting and allowing the darkness of night to return to the pier as nothing was left of Morcii in any way.


    ¡°¡­SO THIS IS HOW IT IS, HMM?¡±


    ¡°Of course he¡¯s still around¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered as he glanced around in an attempt to find the Nanocreature leader. But his search returned nothing ¡ª Morcii¡¯s voice seemed  to emerge from the air itself, coming from no particular direction, or from any physical body.


    ¡°¡­I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE SEVERELY UNDERESTIMATED YOU. BUT THAT MISTAKE IS EASILY REMEDIED!¡±


    As soon as his sentence finished, the water in the bay began to swell; mere moments later, a gigantic silver ship several kilometers long rose out of the coastal waters, slowly ascending into the sky as it effortlessly destroyed the dozen Frigates hovering over the city with a hail of laser fire.


    ¡°YOUR PLANET HOLDS LITTLE VALUE TO ME; AS I SAID BEFORE, I CAN WAIT. MY FORCES ARE CLAIMING THE OTHER CHAOS AYAS AS WE SPEAK. THE MASTER AYAS WILL RETURN TO ME EVENTUALLY¡­ UNTIL THAT DAY¡­ FAREWELL!¡±


    Immediately, several of the ship¡¯s guns swiveled around toward the quay and fired. Kaon¨¦ quickly jumped forward, shouting ¡°Overdrive: Conflict¡¯s Judge!¡± and then erecting a massive dome over the quay to protect everyone from the bombardment, but she was forced to maintain her concentration on the barrier as the ship failed to relent in its attack.


    ¡°Welp.¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he turned toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­Glad to have you back and all, and I really appreciated the light show, but, uh¡­ what exactly was that supposed to accomplish? ¡­Siyuak¨¦n?!¡±


    The Electrotechnic suddenly collapsed, falling to the ground haphazardly. Rebehka quickly stooped down to help her up, but Siyuak¨¦n responded lethargically, turning toward her friend with half-lidded eyes.


    ¡°¡­Hah¡­¡± she muttered, ¡°¡­I wondered¡­ how long that would last¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­?¡± Rebehka questioned, worry rapidly clouding her features as the Electrotechnic fell limp. ¡°¡­Siyuak¨¦n!! ¡­No¡­!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Christean¨¦ frowned as he watched in disbelief. ¡°Is¡­ she¡­?¡±


    ¡°NO. THERE STILL REMAINS TIME TO SAVE HER.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned, adjusting his glasses to change his communicator to speaker mode to allow the rest of Hero Machina to hear the Prior. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°SHE IS NOT YET DEAD; THE EXHAUSTION FROM OVERWHELMING MORCII¡¯S CONTROL, COUPLED WITH A LONG NIGHT OF FIGHTING, HAS SIMPLY CAUGHT UP WITH HER. HOWEVER, IF WE DO NOT TEND TO HER SOON, THEN SHE WILL EITHER EXPIRE, OR RETURN TO NANOCREATURE CONTROL. WE MUST ACT NOW.¡±


    ¡°What do¡ª what do we do?¡± Rebehka pressed.


    ¡°IT IS NOT SIMPLE, BUT IT IS ALSO TIED TO DEFEATING MORCII. UNFORTUNATELY, BOTH SAVING YOUR FRIEND AND STOPPING MORCII REQUIRES LEAVING THIS WORLD POSTHASTE.¡±


    ¡°You want us to leave Nimalia?¡± Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°You want us to leave when we¡¯re needed most? In the middle of Nanocreature attack?!¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s that got to do with savin¡¯ Siyuak¨¦n?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Yeah, this isn¡¯t quite so simple, Arc¨¢n,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°this is a bigger leap of faith than handing you control of Nimaliaka Central¡¯s automated systems. You¡¯re actually asking us to leave our Homeworld, in the middle of the biggest battle its seen in centuries, for reasons that we currently don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°¡­I WILL BE UPFRONT WITH YOU. I HAVE NOT BEEN ENTIRELY HONEST WITH YOU THESE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS REGARDING METHODS OF RESTORING MY CORE.¡±


    ¡°No shit!¡±


    ¡°LISTEN. I DID NOT TELL YOU THEN, BECAUSE WHAT I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU NOW MUST REMAIN A SECRET TO THE ENTIRE GALAXY, LEST THE NANOCREATURES LEARN HOW TO CONTROL THE PRIORS THEMSELVES!¡±


    The six conscious members of Hero Machina glanced at each other uneasily.


    ¡°Continue¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin prompted warily.


    ¡°LOCATED AT HIDDEN POSITIONS JUST OUTSIDE THE GALAXY ARE NINE PLATFORMS ¡ª IMMENSELY LARGE STRUCTURES SUSPENDED IN SPACE, ONE FOR EACH AYAS, FOR EACH PRIOR, THAT SERVE AS EACH PRIOR¡¯S BASE OF OPERATIONS, SO TO SPEAK. THESE PLATFORMS HOLD THE INFINITE MEMORY OF EACH PRIOR, SERVE AS A RE-STAGING AREA FOR THE PRIORS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, ALLOW FOR INSTANTANEOUS TRANSPORTATION TO ANYWHERE IN THE GALAXY. THIS CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED WHILE BOTH THE PRIOR¡¯S CORE AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AYAS ARE PRESENT¡­ OR IF THE AYAS SYN IS PRESENT.¡±


    ¡°The Ayas Syn¡­?¡± Kievkenalis repeated. ¡°¡­So if we bring the Master Ayas and your core back to this, er, ¡®platform¡¯¡­ then what?¡±


    ¡°THEN MY CORE CAN BE REPAIRED, AND I WILL BECOME ABLE TO BOTH SAVE YOUR FRIEND, AND OUTFIT YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES REQUIRED TO DEFEAT MORCII ONCE AND FOR ALL ¡ª GOALS THAT ARE NOT INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER, I SHOULD NOTE.¡±


    The six Chaotics responded with tense silence, unsure of how to take Arc¨¢n¡¯s claims.


    Eventually Rebehka spoke up, still cradling Siyuak¨¦n as she glanced between the other members of Hero Machina. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the rest of you,¡± she began, ¡°¡­but Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s finally back with us. She managed to survive corruption, all that hardship, and returned to save us from Morcii¡­ so I¡¯m more than willing to take this chance to save her! And if there¡¯s a chance to take out Morcii as well, then all the better!¡±


    Christean¨¦ nodded in affirmation. ¡°She¡¯s right. I don¡¯t like leaving Nimalia behind¡­ but a Dreadnought¡¯s out of our scope. And it¡¯s pretty hard to pass up a chance to kick Morcii¡¯s ass!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like how you didn¡¯t tell us this shit ¡®til right now,¡± Dav¨ªdrius addressed the Prior with a scowl. ¡°¡­But, fuck it, I¡¯ll take this chance. Not really anythin¡¯ else we can do, now, is there? I kinda owe Siyuak¨¦n anyways¡­¡±


    ¡°A chance to stop Morcii is worth a lot,¡± Kievkenalis added, ¡°and the chance to learn more about the Priors, about the Nanocreatures, about the situation we¡¯re in¡­ that¡¯s worth even more.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s our friend, so of course we¡¯d want to save her!¡± Kaon¨¦ remarked, and then grimaced as she strained under the Dreadnought¡¯s continued barrage. ¡°But whatever we do, let¡¯s do it quick!¡±


    ¡°¡­Alright.¡± Kev¨¦rin smiled grimly in response. ¡°I¡¯m in agreement with all of you. Sounds like we have a course of action.¡±


    ¡°EVEN CONSIDERING MY ADMISSION OF DISHONESTY? ARE YOU TRULY WILLING TO TRUST ME SO QUICKLY?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice,¡± Rebehka countered. ¡°It¡¯s plain as day that we can¡¯t beat Morcii the conventional way¡­ so your words right now are our only hope. Our only hope to save Siyuak¨¦n, and to stop Morcii. He¡¯s been allowed to run around for too long; we need to stop him, at any cost!¡±


    ¡°¡­VERY WELL. I WILL TRANSPORT MY OWN CORE TO THE INTERSTELLAR GATE USING THE AUTOMATED UNITS. HURRY TO THE GATE YOURSELVES, AND WE WILL BE ON OUR WAY TO VICTORY.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Kev¨¦rin nodded, and then turned back to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°¡­I have no idea what we¡¯re about to face, or the risks we¡¯re about to take, but if Arc¨¢n¡¯s right ¡ª we have a chance to stop Morcii now, all thanks to Siyuak¨¦n! So let¡¯s not let this chance go to waste!¡± He turned toward the south and jumped into the air, using his flame jets to hover for a second before flying off. ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡±

 78 - Prior Knowledge

    Chapter 78 - Prior Knowledge


    ¨C Mondia, Ranth 20, 8034 ¨C


    A dim light suddenly blinked on, lighting a small nondescript reception room as the Interstellar Gate in the back slowly whirred to life, the ring¡¯s interior filling with the black film known as the event horizon. Immediately after activation, the room filled with rushing air as long-dormant life support systems revived themselves, replacing the former vacuum with sterile, breathable air. Artificial gravity systems kicked in mere moments later, just in time for the Gate¡¯s receiving indicator to light up; ten seconds later, Kev¨¦rin burst through the event horizon, charging forward and quickly inspecting his surroundings.


    ¡°Expecting a fight?¡±


    ¡°You can never be too careful,¡± the Transfer Captain replied, glancing back as Kaon¨¦ and Rebehka (who carried the unconscious Siyuak¨¦n on her back) stepped forward, having just arrived through the Gate themselves. They quickly cleared the way as Kievkenalis arrived with the Master Ayas in hand, followed by Christean¨¦ carrying Arc¨¢n¡¯s core, and then Dav¨ªdrius. The Forcetechnic set the Prior¡¯s core down on the ground for a break as Dav¨ªdrius promptly sped over to the Gate¡¯s control panel and activated its block, thereby preventing any Nanocreature forces left on Nimalia from following.


    ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re here,¡± Kaon¨¦ commented as she glanced around at the small, dark room with unease. ¡°¡­What do we do now¡ª?¡±


    Her question was cut short as six turrets exploded from the walls, all of them training their gun barrels on the seven Chaotics as four sentry bots charged into the room. Hero Machina quickly prepared to fight back, only to realize a key factor in play:


    ¡°¡­A CENT field just activated,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked with a scowl.


    ¡°Should¡¯ve known it¡¯d be a trap,¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled. ¡°¡­Fuckin¡¯ computer tricked us!¡±


    ¡°But they aren¡¯t firing on us,¡± Rebehka countered, eying the bots warily as they stood completely still with their weapons focused forward. ¡°Are they waiting for something¡­?¡±


    Mere moments after her inquiry, a hovering drone descended from a hatch in the ceiling. It paused for a moment directly in front of Kev¨¦rin before turning toward Arc¨¢n¡¯s core and approaching. A dim light flashed from the drone¡¯s front bulb; it then grabbed the core with its underlying grips, lifting the dense object up into the air and back into the hatch from which it emerged. Silence followed for several seconds as the Chaotics glanced amongst each other in confusion until the room suddenly flooded with light, blinding them all.


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY. I HAVE BEEN AWAY FROM THE PLATFORM FOR SOME TIME.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned as he glanced upward at a speaker in the ceiling ¡ª and then back toward the sentry bots as they lowered their weapons and stepped aside.


    ¡°I HAVE NOW TAKEN FULL CONTROL OF THE PLATFORM.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius crossed his arms as he glared upwards at the source of the Prior¡¯s voice. ¡°Really should¡¯ve warned us about the fuckin¡¯ ambush,¡± he declared.


    ¡°THEY ARE MERELY A SECURITY FORCE AND WOULD NOT HAVE FIRED ON YOU UNLESS YOU ATTACKED FIRST. THAT YOU CARRIED MY CORE WITH YOU REDUCED THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEM ATTACKING YOU FURTHER.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Christean¨¦ muttered as he looked around at the bare, steel gray walls. ¡°¡­Now where are we supposed to go? There has to be more to this ¡®Platform¡¯ than this tiny little room.¡±


    ¡°INDEED. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROCEED UNTIL I HAVE EXPLAINED MYSELF AND MY PLAN. SIMPLY FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE WALLS TO REACH THE CORE ROOM; IN THE MEANTIME, I WILL CONTINUE REVIVING THE PLATFORM AND RUNNING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied as a string of LEDs appeared on the left wall, leading out the room and around a corner. He glanced back at the rest of Hero Machina and then turned to face the room¡¯s entrance as he stepped forward. ¡°C¡¯mon. Let¡¯s see what Arc¨¢n has in store for us¡­¡±


    <hr>


    1 Hour Later


    ¡°¡­I think we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Oh really now? And why would you possibly think that?¡± Dav¨ªdrius drawled as he glanced toward Kev¨¦rin and then turned back to face a massive door that stood before the Chaotics. ¡°Couldn¡¯t have anythin¡¯ to do with this bigass door, now, could it?¡±


    ¡°THE TRANSFER CAPTAIN IS CORRECT; YOU STAND AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CORE ROOM.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin shot Dav¨ªdrius an annoyed glance before addressing the Prior, ¡°can you let us in?¡±


    ¡°THE CORE ROOM IS NOT YET PREPARED FOR LIVING USE, BUT IT WILL BE MOMENTARILY. PLEASE STANDBY.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Not yet prepared for living use?¡¯¡± Christean¨¦ echoed incredulously, ¡°the life support systems filled up the rest of the Platform pretty quickly, just how big is this room supposed to be?¡±


    ¡°Well, we have only been walking through hallways,¡± Kaon¨¦ pointed out, ¡°maybe Arc¨¢n has just been prioritizing our path.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m with Christean¨¦ on this, actually,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented. ¡°A room would have to be absolutely gigantic to take more than a couple minutes to fill with air, and that¡¯s with our own life support technology. Given how seemingly advanced the Priors seem ¡ª based on Arc¨¢n¡¯s core, at least ¡ª I wouldn¡¯t expect filling a room to take this long.¡±


    ¡°He did say ¡®prepared,¡¯¡± Rebehka remarked, ¡°Maybe there¡¯s other things he has to do, aside from filling the room with air?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± the Pyrotechnic responded, turning back to the door as it hissed and began to rise into the ceiling. ¡°But I¡¯d still like to know how it took¡­ so¡­ long¡­ ¡­holy shit.¡±


    The door had barely opened halfway, but it was enough to allow Hero Machina to step onto a platform and view the absolutely massive expanse in front of them: an enormous, spherical room with bright white walls, apparently empty except for the long, levitating pathway that appeared to fade into the distance.


    ¡°¡­A hundred kilometers.¡±


    ¡°A what¡­?¡± The rest of Hero Machina turned toward Kev¨¦rin as he stared at his AR display dumbfoundedly.


    ¡°A hundred kilometers,¡± the Transfer Captain repeated, ¡°¡­that¡¯s the distance from here to the other side of the room.¡±


    ¡°¡­You¡¯re shittin¡¯ me.¡± Dav¨ªdrius looked about himself in surprise. ¡°You¡¯re sayin¡¯ you could fit a Deathnought in here?¡±


    ¡°YOU COULD INDEED.¡±


    ¡°Arc¨¢n¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin started, ¡°¡­well, I take it this is the Core Room. What now?¡±


    ¡°HOLD A MOMENT... TRANSPORTING YOU TO THE CORE PLATFORM NOW.¡±


    ¡°To the wha¡ª?¡± Kaon¨¦ began, but halfway through her question, the scenery around Hero Machina instantly changed from the edge of the room to a fifteen-meter circular platform in the very center. The center two-thirds of the platform seemed to be constructed out of glass, allowing for a clear view Arc¨¢n¡¯s core, suspended in a clear cylinder just under the platform ¡ª and the incredible drop to the bottom of the room.


    ¡°¡­Okay, you have beaming tech, cool,¡± Christean¨¦ commented as he took cautious note of his surroundings. ¡°Uh¡­ how far up are we, again¡­?¡±


    ¡°THE PLATFORM ON WHICH YOU STAND IS SUSPENDED FIFTY KILOMETERS FROM ALL WALLS. NEVER FEAR, SHOULD YOU FALL FROM THE PLATFORM, THE AUTOMATED BEAMING SYSTEMS WILL RETURN YOU WITHOUT HARM.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ comforting,¡± Rebehka deadpanned as she carefully laid Siyuak¨¦n on a bench near the center of the platform. ¡°¡­Now, perhaps you can tell us why we needed to come to such a¡­ er¡­ empty room?¡±


    ¡°PRIMARILY, I WISHED TO CLOSE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND MY CORE, WHICH WILL BE RELEVANT SHORTLY. SECONDARILY, I WISHED TO DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE PRIORS.¡±


    ¡°I admit, the size of the room is impressive,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°but we¡¯ve seen beaming before, and the sentries we ran into when we first arrived aren¡¯t too far ahead of what we have currently, at least as far as I could tell. And there isn¡¯t really anything in this room¡­¡±


    ¡°THAT IS BECAUSE I HAVE YET TO ENGAGE THE HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTORS. OBSERVE.¡±


    A moment of silence passed before the walls faded to black, plunging the room into darkness ¡ª yet the center platform remained fully illuminated. A moment later, bright dots began populating the darkness, rapidly filling the room¡¯s empty space until an obvious structure became apparent.


    ¡°It¡¯s our galaxy¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ observed with awe as she stared down through the platform at the holograms below, showcasing the Milky Way Galaxy as though from an observer floating high above the outer rim.


    ¡°INDEED. THE VIEW YOU SEE NOW IS WHAT YOU WOULD SEE SHOULD YOU STAND ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE PLATFORM.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Kev¨¦rin spoke up, focused on the galaxy below before turning his attention to view more distant galaxies around the display, ¡°¡­you mean to say¡­ we¡¯re outside the galaxy right now?!¡±


    ¡°INDEED. EVERY PLATFORM, EXCEPT THE SYN PLATFORM, IS LOCATED AT A SIMILAR DISTANCE FROM THE GALACTIC CORE.¡±


    ¡°Is every Platform this fuckin¡¯ huge?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned as he turned his attention to his sides. Directly horizontal from the platform the Chaotics were standing on was a view of a massive space structure ¡ª presumably the Platform in which they currently inhabited ¡ª that stretched far into the distance, seemingly disappearing into the darkness of space on either side.


    ¡°EVERY PLATFORM IS OF VARIABLE SIZE AND LAYOUT, BUT IT IS INDEED TRUE THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE VASTLY EXCEEDS THE SIZE OF YOUR OWN SPACE STRUCTURES. THIS PLATFORM IS NEARLY FIVE THOUSAND KILOMETERS IN LENGTH, AND A THOUSAND KILOMETERS IN THE OTHER DIMENSIONS.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, like, the size of a fuckin¡¯ moon!¡±


    ¡°DO NOT BE SURPRISED; MINE IS FAR FROM THE LARGEST. THE SYN PLATFORM IS OVER FIVE TIMES THIS SIZE IN EVERY DIMENSION, MAKING IT MORE THAN TWICE THE SIZE OF YOUR HOMEWORLD.¡±


    The Chaotics of Hero Machina remained silent for several moments as they allowed Arc¨¢n¡¯s information to sink into their minds. The largest structures any of them had known before that moment were the CSA Deathnoughts or the CSA Class-1 Habitat Stations, neither of which exceeded a hundred kilometers in any dimension. Yet here they were, standing within a massive structure that was orders of magnitude greater in size.


    ¡°¡­This is ridiculous,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared, ¡°why¡ª ¡­why does it need to be so damn huge?!¡±


    ¡°THE PURPOSES OF THE PLATFORMS NUMBER IN THE THOUSANDS, AND SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL SUCH PURPOSES WARRANT A LARGE STRUCTURE TO PERFORM THEM. GALACTIC MONITORING, FLEET FABRICATION, POWER PROJECTION ¡ª BOTH LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY. WHEREAS THE AYAS ARE THE CORE OF THE PRIORS¡¯ POWER, THE PLATFORMS ARE THE CORE OF OUR ABILITIES, AND AS SUCH MUST BE ABLE TO OFFER ABSOLUTE DEFENSE AND A CONSTANT EYE ON THE GALAXY ITSELF.¡±


    ¡°Absolute defense?¡±


    ¡°THIS PLATFORM IS NOT RUNNING AT FULL POWER, DUE TO A LACK OF THE ARC¨¢N AYAS. HOWEVER ITS OFFENSIVE AND ECM SUITES, COUPLED WITH THE SHIELD ARRAY, SHOULD BE ABLE TO EASILY REPEL FLEETS OF UP TO A HUNDRED THOUSAND SHIPS, AND SEIZE DIRECT CONTROL OF THOUSANDS.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding¡­¡± Rebehka muttered in awe.


    ¡°So basically, you could solo the entire damn galaxy if you wanted, is what you¡¯re saying?¡± Christean¨¦ crossed his arms, frustration wrought across his features. ¡°So why the hell didn¡¯t you help us fight the Nanocreatures? This thing would¡¯ve been useful against them!¡±


    ¡°IT IS NOT THE PRIORS¡¯ ROLE TO BECOME SO DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN GALACTIC AFFAIRS¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then why the fuck did you bring us here?¡±


    Several moments of silence passed as the members of Hero Machina awaited Arc¨¢n¡¯s response. Just as Kev¨¦rin opened his mouth to speak again, a multitude of holographic particles appeared in the air over Arc¨¢n¡¯s core, rapidly coalescing to form a featureless Aldredanoid with long, dark hair dressed in elaborate gold and pale blue robing.


    ¡°¡­ALLOW ME TO TAKE THIS FORM,¡± the figure spoke as it clasped its hands and bowed toward the surprised Hero Machina. He glanced toward the unconscious form of Siyuak¨¦n before continuing, ¡°YOUR FRIEND WILL NOT REVIVE FOR SOME TIME, AND WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENGAGE THE NANOCREATURES UNTIL THEN. IN THE MEANTIME, I BELIEVE CREATING AN AVATAR FOR MYSELF WILL EXPEDITE OUR DISCUSSION.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± Christean¨¦ pressed.


    ¡°YES, ABOUT WHY I HAVE ELECTED TO INVOLVE MYSELF IN YOUR AFFAIRS¡­¡± Arc¨¢n trailed off as he looked down at the galaxy below. ¡°¡­THE STORY IS LONG, AND EVEN AFTERWARD YOU MAY NOT AGREE WITH MY DECISIONS, OR EVEN UNDERSTAND THE MATTER.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be the judge of that,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered.


    ¡°YOU ARE AS HEADSTRONG AS YOUR PREDECESSORS. VERY WELL.¡± Arc¨¢n bowed his head again before holding up his palms. Above his left hand formed a hologram of a light blue diamond ¡ª the Ayas Arc¨¢n ¡ª and above his right hand formed a solid, light blue cylinder ¡ª Arc¨¢n¡¯s core. ¡°THE CHAOS AYAS AND THE PRIORS¡­ AS I HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE, NEITHER CAN EXIST WITHOUT THE OTHER. THE AYAS GIVE THE PRIORS POWER, AND THE PRIORS GIVE THE AYAS PURPOSE. THIS HAS BEEN TRUE FOR OVER A BILLION YEARS.¡±


    ¡°Over a billion years?¡± Kaon¨¦ echoed skeptically as she eyed the Prior¡¯s core. ¡°¡­How could you possibly be that old?¡±


    ¡°AS MALEVOLENT AS MORCII IS, HE WAS CORRECT WHEN STATING THAT NOT EVERYTHING IN THIS UNIVERSE IS LINKED TO A PHYSICAL FORM,¡± Arc¨¢n responded. ¡°MY CORE IS SIMPLY AN ANCHOR TO THIS REALM, A DEVICE THAT ALLOWS ME TO INTERACT WITH YOU AS I AM NOW. IT IS NOT MY ACTUAL BEING.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re¡­ what, some nebulous consciousness, then?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°FOR LACK OF A BETTER EXPLANATION, YES, YOU MAY THINK OF THE PRIORS AS SUCH.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s why you¡¯re so insistent that you aren¡¯t an AI, then¡­¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Hold it, hold it, hold it,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quickly interjected, ¡°¡­are you tryin¡¯ to say that you just sprang into existence with the Ayas? That no one made you or anythin¡¯? I call bullshit.¡±


    ¡°BIOLOGICAL LIFE DID MUCH THE SAME, DID IT NOT? ONE DAY, THERE WAS NO LIFE. THE NEXT DAY, THERE WAS.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well, yeah, but¡­¡±


    ¡°REGARDLESS, I DID NOT INTEND TO GIVE THAT IMPRESSION,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, allowing the holograms in his palms to disappear as he turned again to face the galaxy below. ¡°WE PRIORS WERE INDEED CREATED LONG, LONG AGO, SHORTLY AFTER THE CREATION OF THE CHAOS ENERGY GENERATORS YOU KNOW AS THE CHAOS AYAS. BUT WE WERE NOT CREATED IN A VACUUM; OUR EXPLICIT PURPOSE, FROM CREATION UNTIL THE RECENT PAST, WAS TO STOP A THREAT TO THE UNIVERSE ITSELF, KNOWN AS ¡®THE MENACE¡¯.


    ¡°NO ONE IS COMPLETELY CERTAIN HOW THE MENACE CAME TO BE, BUT IT AROSE ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CREATION OF THE AYAS, CAPITALIZING ON THEIR POWER AND THE ESSENCE OF CHAOS ENERGY ITSELF TO BEND THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY TO ITS WILL, MORE SO THAN EVEN A REALITECHNIC COULD DREAM OF DOING. IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THE MENACE, THE CREATORS OF THE AYAS SACRIFICED THEIR ENTIRE RACE TO SCATTER THE AYAS ACROSS SPACE, THEREBY SEPARATING THEM FROM THE MENACE. THEN, WITH THEIR DYING BREATHS, THEY ESCALATED SEVERAL OF THEIR BRETHREN TO A SIMILAR LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO FUTURE RACES THAT MAY BE FORCED TO FIGHT THE MENACE. THIS IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PRIORS; THESE ARE THE FIRST MEMORIES THAT I POSSESS.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ this ¡®Menace¡¯¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ spoke up, ¡°¡­is that the Nanocreatures?¡±


    ¡°NO, BUT THE MENACE COULD BE SEEN AS THE NANOCREATURES¡¯ PREDECESSOR. BEFORE THE NANOCREATURES, THE PRIORS ASSISTED MANY DIFFERENT RACES AND ERAS AS THEY FOUGHT OFF THE MENACE, ONLY FOR NEITHER SIDE TO REACH EITHER VICTORY OR DEFEAT. THE MENACE WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO SEIZE CONTROL OF THE UNIVERSE AS IT DESIRED, YET WE WERE NEVER ABLE TO PUT A COMPLETE STOP TO ITS ACTIVITIES. HOWEVER, WE DID BEGIN TO LEARN. CHAOS ENERGY, AS POWERFUL AS IT IS, IS DIFFICULT TO CONCRETELY CONTROL; TO INCREASE THE AYAS¡¯ EFFECTIVENESS, TO TRY AND PROVIDE THE GALAXY WITH WAYS TO COUNTER AND DEFEAT THE MENACE, WE PRIORS EVENTUALLY FOUND A WAY TO FOCUS THE AYAS¡¯ POWER ¡ª BY CREATING WHAT YOU KNOW AS THE ORACULM. BY CREATING THE ORACULMIC PROPHECIES ¡ª ¡®TEMPORAL GUIDELINES,¡¯ SO TO SPEAK ¡ª WE WERE ABLE TO FOCUS THE AYAS¡¯ POWER INTO KEY TIME PERIODS OR INDIVIDUALS, GRANTING ENOUGH POWER AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE TO COUNTER THE MENACE AND ITS REACH. AND INDEED, AFTER MANY, MANY FAILED ATTEMPTS, OUR PLANS FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN THE AGE IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO YOURS: THE AGE OF THE ALDREDAS¡­ AND OF THE MORIKAI.¡±


    ¡°The Morikai?¡± Kievkenalis echoed curiously, ¡°the Prior Mystryth mentioned them when we talked to her months ago.¡±


    ¡°AND SHE TOLD YOU THAT THEY APPEARED IN THE MIDST OF WAR BETWEEN THE ALDREDAS AND THE DRAKKARS AND REDUCED BOTH EMPIRES TO RUBBLE, DID SHE NOT?¡±


    ¡°That sounds in line with what I remember¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded.


    ¡°WHAT SHE TOLD YOU IS TRUE, BUT IT IS ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE STORY. ORIGINALLY, THERE WAS NO NEED FOR THE MORIKAI; ONCE THE AYAS DETERMINED THAT THE MENACE WAS BOUND TO REAPPEAR DURING THE AGE OF THE ALDREDAS, THEY DESIGNATED SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS AS ¡®KEYS¡¯ TO COMBAT ITS EVENTUAL APPEARANCE, AS THEY HAD DONE MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE. BUT THE ALDREDAS WERE AN ARROGANT RACE, BLINDED TO THE ORACULM AND ITS WORDS BY THEIR MILLENNIA-LONG WAR WITH THE DRAKKARS. EVEN AFTER A SECOND DESIGNATION OF KEY INDIVIDUALS, THE ALDREDAS REFUSED TO SEEK OUT AND ELIMINATE THE MENACE, NOT BELIEVING IT TO BE A THREAT ¡ª ALL WHILE IT GATHERED POWER IN THE SHADOW OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE TWO GALACTIC EMPIRES. THUS THE AYAS TOOK ACTION ONCE MORE, THIS TIME IN A MUCH MORE DRASTIC FASHION: TAKING A SMALL SECT OF DRAKKARS AND A SMALL SECT OF ALDREDAS, THE AYAS MERGED THEM INTO THE ADVANCED RACE KNOWN AS THE MORIKAI.


    ¡°UNLIKE THE ALDREDAS, THE MORIKAI WERE SOLELY FOCUSED ON ELIMINATING THE MENACE FROM THE MOMENT OF THEIR CREATION. THEY READILY SOUGHT OUT HIDING PLACES FOR THE MENACE¡¯S POWER AND SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYED THEM, ALL WHILE SLOWLY LEARNING FROM THE PIECES THEY MANAGED TO SALVAGE. EVENTUALLY THEY SEIZED ON THE MENACE¡¯S OWN POWER, CREATING THEIR OWN SERVANTS TO HELP THEM SEEK OUT AND DESTROY THE MENACE WITH ITS OWN ABILITIES.


    ¡°AT THIS POINT, THE MENACE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO COME OUT OF HIDING AND ENGAGE THE MORIKAI IN ALL-OUT WAR. THE TWO FORCES BEGAN ENGAGING OPENLY, THEIR BATTLEFIELDS ROLLING INTO AND CLASHING WITH THE ALDREDAS AND THE DRAKKARS AS THE MORIKAI DISREGARDED EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH FOR THE SAKE OF DEFEATING THE MENACE. BUT THE ALDREDAS AND THE DRAKKARS SAW NOTHING MORE THAN TWO ALIEN FACTIONS ENCROACHING ON THEIR TERRITORY; SO THEY ENGAGED THE MORIKAI AND THE MENACE IN BATTLE, LEADING THE GALAXY INTO A BRUTAL FOUR-WAY WAR THAT LASTED A DECADE.


    ¡°THE END OF THE WAR WAS MARKED BY THE MORIKAI¡¯S ULTIMATE PLAN TO DEFEAT THE MENACE ONCE AND FOR ALL. USING THEIR SERVANTS TO DISTRACT THE ALDREDAS AND DRAKKARS, THE MORIKAI THEN BAITED THE MENACE INTO A SERIES OF BATTLES, THE FINAL OF WHICH INVOLVED THE LEADER OF THE MORIKAI ENLISTING THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PRIOR SYN TO ENGAGE THE MENACE DIRECTLY. AND INDEED, THE MENACE WAS DEFEATED, BUT AT GREAT COST: CONVINCED THAT THE MORIKAI WERE ACTING IN MALICE, THE ALDREDAS SENT THEIR KEYS AFTER THEM, DEFEATING AND SEALING AWAY THE MORIKAI WITH THE POWER OF THE AYAS MERE MOMENTS AFTER THE MENACE DISAPPEARED, BUT NOT BEFORE THE LEADER OF THE MORIKAI DECLARED A LASTING HATRED OF THE ALDREDAS AND ISSUED A FINAL COMMAND TO HIS SERVANTS¡­ TO DEFEAT THE DESCENDANTS OF THE ALDREDAS AND FREE THE MORIKAI, ALLOWING THEM TO CONQUER THE VERY GALAXY THAT THEY ORIGINALLY SET OUT TO SAVE.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess,¡± Christean¨¦ interjected, ¡°are these ¡®servants¡¯ of the Morikai the Nanocreatures?¡±


    Arc¨¢n nodded once and reached out his hand, creating a hologram of a single Nanocreature bug in his palm. ¡°THE NANOCREATURES WERE CREATED BY THE MORIKAI USING THE MENACE¡¯S OWN TECHNOLOGY AND ABILITIES, ALLOWING MORCII AND HIS FORCES TO EASILY COMBAT AND DESTROY THE MORIKAI¡¯S OPPONENTS. BUT THIS STRENGTH ALSO LENDS ITSELF A WEAKNESS: WE CAN DEFEAT MORCII USING THE SAME TECHNIQUE THAT THE MORIKAI USED AGAINST THE MENACE.¡±


    ¡°And that would be...?¡± Kev¨¦rin prompted impatiently.


    ¡°¡­THIS MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO EXPLAIN.¡± Arc¨¢n dropped his hands to his sides as the hologram of the Nanocreature disappeared. ¡°AS YOU KNOW, CHAOTICS HAVE MANY DIFFERENT STATES OF POWER. THE OVERDRIVE STATE, THE BERSERK STATE, THE CHAOS STATE. BUT THERE IS ONE MORE STATE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW OF, A STATE RIVALING THE POWER OF THE CHAOS STATE. AND THAT, IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE ¡®PRIOR STATE.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Rivaling the power of the Chaos State¡­?¡± Kievkenalis echoed, ¡°¡­that¡¯s¡­ how does it work?¡±


    ¡°I assume it has something to do with the Priors?¡± Kev¨¦rin suggested.


    Arc¨¢n nodded. ¡°YOU ASSUME CORRECTLY. WHEREAS THE CHAOS STATE REQUIRES THE AYAS, THE PRIOR STATE REQUIRES A CONSENTING PRIOR. THE PRIOR AND THE CHAOTIC THEN JOIN TOGETHER, ALLOWING THE CHAOTIC TO TAP INTO THE PRIOR¡¯S POWER TO RAISE THEMSELVES TO THE EQUIVALENT OF THE SECOND TIER CHAOS STATE, AS WELL AS GAINING ACCESS TO THE PRIOR¡¯S RESPECTIVE AYAS WEAPON. HOWEVER, THIS IS ONLY THE BASE PRIOR STATE; IT CAN BE ELEVATED USING THE PRIOR¡¯S RESPECTIVE AYAS, TO BOOST THE STATE TO THE EQUIVALENT OF THE FOURTH TIER CHAOS STATE.¡±


    ¡°That sounds all well and good,¡± Christean¨¦ commented, ¡°but we¡¯ve already proved that physical force won¡¯t do anything against Morcii. So how¡¯s this ¡®Prior State¡¯ supposed to change anything?¡±


    ¡°AS POWERFUL AS THE PRIOR STATE IS, ITS TRUE POWER LIES NOT IN BRUTE FORCE, BUT IN THE TECHNIQUE UNLOCKED BY GATHERING TOGETHER BOTH A PRIOR AND ITS AYAS. THIS TECHNIQUE IS KNOWN AS A ¡®LINK DRIVE,¡¯ AN OVERWHELMINGLY POWERFUL ATTACK WHOSE POWER LIES NOT IN ITS DESTRUCTIVE CAPABILITIES, BUT IN ITS POWER TO COMPLETELY DISSOCIATE A CONSCIOUSNESS FROM THIS REALM.¡±


    ¡°¡­What does that mean? ¡®Dissociate a consciousness from this realm?¡¯¡± Rebehka questioned, ¡°how would that defeat Morcii?¡±


    ¡°IT WOULD REMOVE HIS MIND FROM THE WORLD AS YOU KNOW IT, THEREBY PREVENTING HIM FROM INFLUENCING THE PHYSICAL REALM IN ANY WAY. AND WITHOUT MORCII TO LEAD THEM, OR ANY OF THE AYAS TO BACK THEM, THE REST OF THE NANOCREATURES WILL RAPIDLY FADE AWAY INTO A MERE TOKEN FORCE THAT CAN BE EASILY DEFEATED BY THE FORCES OF YOUR GALAXY.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like exactly what we need,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked, ¡°¡­but it seems too easy. What¡¯s the catch?¡±


    ¡°THE PRIOR STATE¡¯S POWER IS UNPRECEDENTED. WHILE IT MAY ONLY OFFER THE PHYSICAL POWER BOOST OF A LOWER TIER CHAOS STATE, THE CHAOTIC MUST BE ABLE TO SURVIVE A MERGE WITH THE PRIOR¡¯S MIND, ALBEIT TEMPORARILY. THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHAOTICS ARE NOT CAPABLE OF SUCH AND WOULD DIE FROM MENTAL STRAIN MERE MOMENTS AFTER ENGAGING THE PRIOR STATE; THIS IS PART OF WHY WE CREATED THE ROLES OF ¡®KEYS,¡¯ ALLOWING SOME INDIVIDUALS TO INTERFACE WITH THE PRIORS WITHOUT HARM AND WIELD OUR POWER AGAINST THE MENACE.¡±


    ¡°So, what, are we ¡®Keys,¡¯ then?¡±


    ¡°UNFORTUNATELY, NO. THE AYAS HAVE YET TO DESIGNATE ANY KEYS IN YOUR TIME.¡±


    ¡°Welp.¡± Dav¨ªdrius threw his arms up in resignation. ¡°Man, what a lotta help this is! Tellin¡¯ us how to beat Morcii and then tellin¡¯ us that we can¡¯t do it!¡±


    ¡°Seriously, Arc¨¢n¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin responded irately, ¡°is this your idea of a joke?¡±


    ¡°DO NOT PASS JUDGMENT JUST YET,¡± Arc¨¢n countered, ¡°FOR I HAVE NOT YET COMPLETED MY EXPLANATION. WHILE IT MAY BE UP TO THE AYAS TO DESIGNATE KEYS IN ANY TIME PERIOD, THE PRIORS ARE NOT ENTIRELY HELPLESS AGAINST THE NANOCREATURES. WE MONITORED THE NANOCREATURES LEFT OVER FROM THE AGE OF THE ALDREDAS, WATCHING THEM AS CLOSELY AS WE DID THE MENACE; WHEN IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE AYAS WOULD NOT ACT, FOR WHATEVER REASON, WE PRIORS TOOK ACTION ON OUR OWN, CAUSING WHAT YOU KNOW AS THE CHAOS ENERGY QUAKE.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ what?¡± Kaon¨¦ responded slowly, ¡°¡­you caused the Chaos Quake?¡±


    ¡°INDEED. THE QUAKE WAS INTENDED TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE NANOCREATURES; WE TIMED THE DISRUPTION OF CHAOS ENERGY JUST RIGHT TO INTERFERE WITH THE INITIAL GENERATION OF NANOCREATURES, THEREBY DELAYING MORCII¡¯S APPEARANCE BY MANY YEARS. HOWEVER, THE QUAKE¡¯S PURPOSE WAS TWO-FOLD; IT WAS ALSO INTENDED TO EXPOSE ALL CHAOTICS WHO POSSESSED COMPATIBILITY POTENTIAL FOR THE PRIOR STATE.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    ¡°AS I SAID EARLIER, THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHAOTICS CANNOT SURVIVE THE PRIOR STATE ACTIVATION. FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, THESE CHAOTICS ARE ¡®ARTIFICIAL¡¯ CHAOTICS, WHOSE POWER ONLY ARISES AS A SIDE EFFECT OF CHAOS ENERGY¡¯S APPARENT OMNIPRESENCE. THESE ¡®ARTIFICIAL¡¯ CHAOTICS ARE THE RESULT OF BEING BORN INTO A CHAOS ENERGY-RICH ENVIRONMENT, WHEREAS A ¡®TRUE¡¯ CHAOTIC WILL MANIFEST THEIR POWERS REGARDLESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR BIRTH. THIS WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE CHAOS ENERGY QUAKE: TO CREATE A PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH CHAOS ENERGY WAS INACCESSIBLE, DURING WHICH EVERY CHAOTIC THAT WAS BORN MUST BE A ¡®TRUE¡¯ CHAOTIC, AND THUS POTENTIALLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE PRIOR STATE.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the seven of us¡­¡± Rebehka glanced toward the rest of Hero Machina before turning back to Arc¨¢n, ¡°¡­are¡­ ¡®true¡¯ Chaotics?¡±


    Arc¨¢n nodded. ¡°INDEED. THOUGH I SHOULD NOTE THAT, FUNCTIONALLY, THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ¡®ARTIFICIAL¡¯ AND ¡®TRUE¡¯ CHAOTICS IS THEIR POTENTIAL FOR PRIOR STATE COMPATIBILITY. I SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, ¡®TRUE¡¯ CHAOTICS WILL STILL FAIL TO ACTIVATE THE PRIOR STATE WITHOUT PROPER PREPARATION¡­ AND THIS IS WHERE YOUR FRIEND COMES IN.¡±


    ¡°Does this have to do with the corruption?¡±


    ¡°INDEED IT DOES. MORCII AND THE NANOCREATURES DERIVE THEIR TECHNOLOGY AND ABILITIES FROM THE MENACE, AND THE PRIORS AND THE MENACE ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR ENTITIES. BY BEING EXPOSED TO NANOCREATURE CONTROL, YOUR FRIEND NOW POSSESSES A CLOSENESS TO THE PRIORS THAT IS OTHERWISE UNACHIEVABLE ¡ª A CLOSENESS THAT WILL ENABLE HER TO ACTIVATE THE PRIOR STATE AND FIGHT MORCII.¡±


    ¡°¡­Let me get this straight.¡± Kev¨¦rin furrowed his brow in frustration. ¡°¡­You caused the Chaos Quake to single out Chaotics who might be able to beat Morcii, and then somehow banked on one of them getting corrupted and then overcoming the corruption so you could eventually join them and stop Morcii?¡±


    ¡°THAT IS ONE WAY TO VIEW IT, YES.¡±


    ¡°¡­Holy shit.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shook his head in disbelief. ¡°This is fuckin¡¯ ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t a sound plan, either,¡± Kev¨¦rin pointed out, ¡°by your own words, the Prior State requires both the Prior and its Ayas to use this ¡®Link Drive¡¯, but the only Ayas we have is the Master Ayas. Morcii has the Arc¨¢n Ayas, so how are we supposed to do anything?¡±


    ¡°THEREIN LIES THE DANGER OF YOUR FINAL ENCOUNTER WITH MORCII,¡± Arc¨¢n acknowledged. ¡°IN ORDER TO DEFEAT HIM, YOU WILL NEED TO BEAT THE AYAS OUT OF HIM. DOING SO WILL REQUIRE YOU BRING THE MASTER AYAS WITH YOU, AS IT IS YOUR ONLY HOPE TO MATCH HIS POWER¡­ BUT IN SO DOING, YOU WILL BE BRINGING ALL OF THE AYAS TO ONE CENTRAL LOCATION. ONE WRONG MOVE AND MORCII WILL EASILY BE ABLE TO SEIZE THE AYAS AND FREE THE MORIKAI ON THE SPOT, AND IF THAT HAPPENS, THEN THE GALAXY IS DOOMED.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just use the Link Drive against both Morcii and the Morikai, then?¡± Kievkenalis suggested.


    ¡°THAT WOULD BE A VIABLE POSSIBILITY IF NOT FOR IKIROM, THE COMMANDER OF THE MORIKAI. HE POSSESSES THE RAREST CHAOTIC ABILITY OF ALL: REALITECHNISM. CONTROL OVER REALITY ITSELF.¡±


    ¡°¡­Well that certainly raises the stakes,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked.


    ¡°¡­Realitechnism is real,¡± Dav¨ªdrius deadpanned. ¡°¡­Wait one fuckin¡¯ minute. If this guy¡¯s a Realitechnic, then why didn¡¯t he just wish away the Menace? How did the Aldredas manage to get the drop on him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M SURE YOU HAVE REALIZED THAT THE NANOCREATURES POSSESS AN IMMUNITY TO DIRECT MANIPULATION,¡± Arc¨¢n responded. ¡°THE MENACE WAS NO DIFFERENT. AND THE DESIGNATION OF ¡®KEY¡¯ GRANTS A SIMILAR IMMUNITY AS WELL. IN SHORT, IKIROM WAS DEFEATED THROUGH FOREORDINATION AND LUCK, LUCK THAT DOES NOT FAVOR THIS AGE NEARLY AS HEAVILY AS THE LAST.¡±


    ¡°Then why the hell are we facing Morcii now?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned, ¡°going after him now isn¡¯t even close to worth it if we run the risk of unleashing an evil reality manipulator on the galaxy!¡±


    ¡°UNFORTUNATELY, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO WAIT. MORCII DOES NOT POSSESS A LIFESPAN. HE WILL NEVER DIE, NOT BY HIS OWN ACCORD. HE IS FREE TO RAVAGE THE GALAXY AND SEARCH FOR THE MASTER AYAS ON HIS OWN TIME; HIDING IT MAY PREVENT THE RELEASE OF THE MORIKAI IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, BUT IF THE GALAXY IS LOST IN THE PROCESS, THEN THE END RESULT IS THE SAME. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER CLOCK THAT IS TICKING AWAY AS WE SPEAK, AND PRESENTS A TIME LIMIT THAT FAST APPROACHES.¡±


    ¡°¡­Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡± Rebehka muttered.


    ¡°YES. YOUR FRIEND WILL NOT SURVIVE LONG UNDER HER OWN WILL. MY SUGGESTION TO UTILIZE THE PRIOR STATE IS AS MUCH A MEASURE TO DEFEAT MORCII AS IT IS TO SAVE YOUR FRIEND. IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT HER MIND FROM FALLING BACK UNDER MORCII¡¯S CONTROL, BUT THE MOMENT THE PRIOR STATE IS ENGAGED, MORCII WILL KNOW. HE WILL SEND HIS FORCES AFTER US, IMMEDIATELY. SO YOU ARE LEFT WITH A CHOICE: ALLOW YOUR FRIEND TO DIE OR REVERT BACK TO NANOCREATURE CONTROL, FOREVER LOSING YOUR CHANCE TO STOP MORCII¡­ OR SAVE HER WITH THE PRIOR STATE AND BE FORCED INTO A FINAL CONFRONTATION WITH THE NANOCREATURES.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius whistled. ¡°One hell of a dilemma.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m not really a fan of deciding this for her¡­¡± Rebehka muttered.


    ¡°On one hand, I agree¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°but on the other¡­ this is the fate of the entire galaxy we¡¯re talking about. Do we have the right to not go through with this?¡±


    ¡°Hold the moral debate for a second,¡± Christean¨¦ interjected as he glared at Arc¨¢n, ¡°I¡­ appreciate the history lesson, but you still haven¡¯t answered my question. In fact, you¡¯ve made even less sense ¡ª if you were planning to get involved from the very beginning, then why the hell didn¡¯t you help us fight off the Nanocreatures? Why didn¡¯t you just tell us what to do from the start?!¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s the same reason Archon¨¦ Culana refuses to explicitly tell anyone the contents of the Oraculm, isn¡¯t it?¡± Kievkenalis questioned.


    Arc¨¢n nodded once. ¡°IT IS. DIRECT INTERVENTION HAS A WAY OF PRODUCING UNDESIRABLE RESULTS. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND; WHILE WE PRIORS ARE CAPABLE OF INTERACTION WITH THE PHYSICAL REALM, WE DO NOT POSSESS OUR OWN BODIES AND CANNOT USE OUR OWN LINK DRIVES WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A CHAOTIC AND OUR AYAS. FURTHERMORE, AS I EXPLAINED EARLIER, THERE ARE NO KEYS IN YOUR TIME. IN ORDER TO DEFEAT MORCII, WE HAD TO ORCHESTRATE A SCENARIO IN WHICH A TRUE CHAOTIC WOULD BECOME CORRUPTED AND THEN OVERCOME THE CORRUPTION, THEREBY ALLOWING THEM TO USE THE PRIOR STATE. IF WE PRIORS WERE TO DIRECTLY INTERVENE IN THE CONFLICT, THEN MORCII WOULD EASILY RECOGNIZE OUR PLAN AND FOIL IT BY SIMPLY KILLING ANY TRUE CHAOTIC HE FINDS. IT IS¡­ MOST UNFORTUNATE THAT SO MANY HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES, BUT THERE WAS NO ALTERNATIVE. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY.¡±


    Christean¨¦ crossed his arms, continuing to stare at Arc¨¢n for several moments until he finally looked away and sighed irately. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t like it,¡± he growled, ¡°¡­but I suppose I can understand.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a question, though,¡± Dav¨ªdrius quickly interjected, ¡°assumin¡¯ we go through with this, I¡¯m assumin¡¯ we¡¯re gonna have to attack the Nanocreature Homeworld or some shit, right? Well, wherever it is that Morcii¡¯s holed up is bound to be crawlin¡¯ with Nanocreatures. How the hell are we supposed to deal with that, huh?¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n was able to seize control of Nanocreatures back on Nimalia,¡± Rebehka pointed out.


    ¡°NO, HE RAISES AN IMPORTANT CONCERN,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, ¡°YOUR FRIEND WAS ONLY ABLE TO DO AS MUCH SINCE MORCII POSSESSED NO AYAS AT THE TIME. HE HAS SINCE GATHERED THE OTHER AYAS AND WILL HOLD FAR MORE SWAY OVER HIS UNITS¡­ HOWEVER, WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT INDIVIDUAL NANOCREATURES WILL NOT ATTACK THAT WHICH IS ALREADY CORRUPTED. YOU SHOULD ONLY FEAR ATTACK FROM MORCII.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Already corrupted¡¯¡­?¡± Kev¨¦rin frowned warily. ¡°What does that mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°TELL ME: AFTER YOUR FRIEND INTERRUPTED MORCII¡¯S CONTROL OVER YOU, DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU TO RID YOURSELVES OF THE NANITES WITHIN YOUR BODIES?¡±


    The six conscious members of Hero Machina glanced at each other, dumbfounded.


    ¡°EVEN THOUGH YOU HAD THE MASTER AYAS WITH YOU AND COULD HAVE EASILY ENTERED THE CHAOS STATE ONE-BY-ONE TO RID YOURSELVES OF THE CORRUPTION, YOU DID NOT. I¡¯M SURE YOU NOW UNDERSTAND WHY.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still corrupted¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius growled.


    ¡°INDEED, AND MORCII LEFT BEHIND MENTAL INHIBITORS TO PREVENT YOU FROM REALIZING YOUR SITUATION ON YOUR OWN AND RIDDING YOURSELVES OF THE CORRUPTION. BUT HOLD; DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE CORRUPTION JUST YET.¡± Arc¨¢n turned toward Kievkenalis and plucked the Master Ayas out of the Chaostechnic¡¯s hands with a hard light hologram before he could engage the Chaos State. ¡°YOUR CORRUPTION IS EFFECTIVELY INERT. YOUR FRIEND SEVERED YOUR CONNECTION TO MORCII ON NIMALIA, AND WHILE YOU REMAIN WITHIN THIS PLATFORM, I CAN EASILY PREVENT MORCII FROM SEIZING CONTROL. AND ONCE YOUR FRIEND ENGAGES THE PRIOR STATE, SHE AND I BOTH WILL EASILY BE ABLE TO SHIELD YOUR MINDS AND BODIES FROM MORCII¡¯S CONTROL. THIS IS ONE SITUATION IN WHICH CORRUPTION WILL HELP YOU AND HINDER MORCII; HIS FORCES WILL NOT RECOGNIZE YOU AS AN ENEMY, ALLOWING YOU TO BYPASS THEM ENTIRELY. THIS IS A PLAN THAT, QUITE FRANKLY, WOULD NOT SUCCEED WERE NONE OF YOU CORRUPTED.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to call this convenient or not¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius mused.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly surprising how it¡¯s all seemed to work out,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented, ¡°¡­and to think, we aren¡¯t even dealing with the main threat, just the leftovers!¡±


    ¡°DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE MORCII OR THE MORIKAI,¡± Arc¨¢n quickly interjected. ¡°THE ORIGINAL THREAT MAY BE GONE, BUT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS DEFEATED BY THOSE YOU FACE TODAY. THE NANOCREATURES ARE A SIGNIFICANT THREAT IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, AS ARE THE MORIKAI.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re the only ones who can stop them¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of responsibility¡­¡± Kievkenalis commented uneasily.


    ¡°If only I¡¯d known the shit we¡¯d get up to when I joined,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked with a smirk, ¡°I knew Hero Machina was the path to action. But this?¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it¡­¡± Rebehka frowned. ¡°¡­But if we were to explain all of this to Siyuak¨¦n¡­ I¡¯m sure she¡¯d understand.¡±


    ¡°Goin¡¯ by her big ol¡¯ ¡®fuck you!¡¯ speech back on Nimalia, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d jump at the chance to kill Morcii herself,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared.


    ¡°I TAKE IT YOU ALL UNDERSTAND THE TASK BEFORE YOU, THEN?¡±


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s funny, really,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded, ¡°this mission seems as though there won¡¯t be nearly as much destruction as there was during the Neticen operation¡­ but the stakes are so much higher.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to kick Morcii¡¯s ass all the same,¡± Christean¨¦ declared. ¡°We actually know what we¡¯re doing now. Morcii¡¯s days are numbered!¡±


    ¡°GOOD.¡± Arc¨¢n nodded, a slight smile breaking the emotionless fa?ade he had held since the creation of the hologram. ¡°THEN IT IS SETTLED. IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS, THEN I CAN ANSWER THEM LATER, BUT FOR NOW YOU SHOULD REST. YOU ALL HAVE HAD A LONG DAY, AND WHEN YOUR FRIEND AWAKENS, THE END¡­ WILL BEGIN!¡±

 79 - Final Relief

    Chapter 79 - Final Relief


    8 Hours Later


    ¡°I SEE YOU HAVE FINALLY AWAKENED, TRANSFER CAPTAIN.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, checking the readouts on his AR display as he explored the halls of the Platform. ¡°There are bio-sensors literally littered all over the station, I¡¯m sure you knew the moment I woke up an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°AH, SO YOU NOTICED THE SENSORS,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, manifesting as a hologram by Kev¨¦rin¡¯s side.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± The Pyrotechnic jumped back, startled. ¡°¡­You can make holograms anywhere?¡±


    ¡°I CAN. HOWEVER, WITHOUT ACCESS TO THE ARC¨¢N AYAS, SOLID HOLOGRAPHICS ARE LIMITED TO THE CORE ROOM AND OTHER SPECIAL ROOMS,¡± the Prior responded, falling into step next to Kev¨¦rin as he continued down the hallway.


    ¡°Damn. I was hoping you could conjure up a meal or something¡­¡±


    ¡°SUSTENANCE CONSTRUCTED OF HARD LIGHT IS IN NO WAY INGESTIBLE, BUT I CAN NONETHELESS PRODUCE A PROPER MEAL FOR YOU PROMPTLY.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin glanced toward the Prior in surprise. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I DO NOT LIE,¡± Arc¨¢n responded. Kev¨¦rin narrowed his eyes in irritation, prompting the Prior to add, ¡°¡­I ONLY OMIT TRUTHS.¡±


    ¡°You sure do,¡± the Transfer Captain retorted.


    ¡°I TAKE IT YOUR JOURNEY TO THE WASTE DISPOSAL SECTION IS AN EFFORT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLATFORM?¡±


    ¡°Waste disposal¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin stopped in his tracks again. ¡°Wait, no¡­ I thought¡­ I thought there was an engineering room down here, or¡­ something.¡±


    ¡°WHY DID YOU NOT ASK?¡± Arc¨¢n questioned as the environment around the two spontaneously changed, the clean hallway being replaced by a large, rectangular room with a circular console in the center.


    ¡°¡­Beaming. Of course,¡± the Pyrotechnic deadpanned as he approached the console. ¡°Alright, what can I see here¡­¡±


    ¡°IF IT IS INFORMATION YOU DESIRE, THEN YOU NEED ONLY TO ASK.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ I didn¡¯t want to bother you.¡±


    ¡°YOU OVERESTIMATE YOURSELF IF YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF CAPABLE OF ¡®BOTHERING¡¯ ME WHILE ON BOARD MY PLATFORM. HOLDING MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS AT ONCE WHILE STILL PERFORMING THE REST OF MY TASKS AT OPTIMAL LEVELS IS A TRIVIAL MATTER.¡±


    ¡°Should¡¯ve known.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed as he took a seat on a nearby stool and turned to face Arc¨¢n¡¯s hologram. ¡°Alright, first of all, how¡¯s Siyuak¨¦n? I take it she still hasn¡¯t come to, since we¡¯re all still here¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU ASSUME CORRECTLY. HOWEVER, I ESTIMATE THAT SHE WILL AWAKEN SOON.¡±


    ¡°Then we have time. First of all, I want to know about your tech level. What this Platform can do, what you can do, and I¡¯d like something a little more specific than ¡®oh I can take out a hundred thousand ships with the wave of my hand¡¯.¡±


    ¡°OF COURSE I CANNOT TAKE OUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND SHIPS WITH THE WAVE OF MY HAND, FOR I DO NOT TRULY POSSESS HANDS.¡±


    Kev¨¦rin gave the Prior an irritated stare.


    ¡°IT IS, NONETHELESS, AS SIMPLE A GESTURE,¡± Arc¨¢n continued, ¡°THIS PLATFORM POSSESSES NO SINGULAR WEAPON THAT IS CAPABLE OF WIPING OUT ENTIRE FLEETS; IT SIMPLY UTILIZES CONVENTIONAL WEAPONRY. THE ADVANTAGE LIES IN MY COMPUTATIONAL POWER, IN THAT I AM CAPABLE OF PREDICTING THE ACTIONS OF MY ADVERSARIES DOWN TO THE NANOSECOND, AND THEIR LOCATIONS DOWN TO THE NANOMETER, SUCH THAT I CAN EXPLOIT CONVENTIONAL WEAPONRY AS OPTIMALLY AS POSSIBLE.¡±


    ¡°¡­What do you define as ¡®conventional weaponry¡¯? Most weapons I know of are imprecise enough that knowing that kind of information is useless.¡±


    ¡°LASER AND MAGNETIC WEAPONRY, SUCH AS YOUR RAILGUNS. WEAPONS THAT MANIPULATE GRAVITY FIELDS ARE ALSO COMMON, AS WELL AS WEAPONS SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU KNOW AS ¡®DRIVE BOMBS.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯d consider Drive Bombs or gravity manipulation to be conventional¡­¡±


    ¡°YOUR SHIPS POSSESS GRAVITY MANIPULATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE FORM OF ¡®ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY,¡¯ DO THEY NOT?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, but weaponizing it is a lot harder. You have to be incredibly precise in when you turn the field on or off, in which direction it¡¯s going, what area of space it¡¯s influencing¡­ why am I telling you? You know what I¡¯m talking about. But is that really it, then? You just have tons of powerful weaponry, and that¡¯s how you win?¡±


    ¡°NOT ENTIRELY. I MENTIONED MY ECM SUITES EARLIER, DID I NOT? SEIZING CONTROL OF THE SYSTEMS OF ADVERSARIAL SHIPS IS A TRIVIAL TASK, UPON WHICH I CAN PUT THEM TO MY OWN USE. THE PLATFORM¡¯S BEAMING SYSTEMS CAN ALSO BE UTILIZED IN AN OFFENSIVE NATURE, DUE TO MY ABILITY TO TRACK OPPOSING SHIPS WITH SUCH HIGH ACCURACY AND PRECISION. BYPASSING SHIELDS BY BEAMING A BOMB TO A SPECIFIC POINT IN SPACE, OR BY REMOVING A SHIP¡¯S SHIELD GENERATOR OR WEAPONS SYSTEM, CAN BE EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE THAN SIMPLY FIRING ON THEM. AND THIS PLATFORM POSSESSES ENOUGH BEAMING SUITES TO TAKE OUT THOUSANDS OF SHIPS PER FRACTION OF A SECOND. THEORETICALLY, I COULD REMOVE THE PROPULSION AND WEAPON SYSTEMS OF FIFTY THOUSAND SHIPS WITHIN A SINGLE SECOND, MAYBE TWO. I COULD EVEN BEAM AWAY INCOMING PROJECTILES.¡±


    ¡°Theoretically?¡±


    ¡°I SAY THIS BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN ENGAGED IN BATTLE. PLATFORMS HAVE ONLY BEEN ENGAGED A HANDFUL OF TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF HISTORY, AND MOST OF THOSE BATTLES OCCURRED AT THE SYN PLATFORM.¡±


    ¡°Wait, actual battles happened? What happened to wiping out entire fleets in seconds?¡±


    ¡°I USE THE TERM GENEROUSLY. A PLATFORM IS POWERFUL ENOUGH ON ITS OWN, ASSUMING ITS PRIOR IS PRESENT, BUT WHEN COUPLED WITH ITS AYAS IT BECOMES TRULY FEARSOME. POSSESSING AN AYAS ENABLES A PLATFORM¡¯S REMOTE INSTANTANEOUS TRANSPORTATION SUITE, ALLOWING IT TO INSTANTANEOUSLY TRANSFER ENTIRE FLEETS TO ANOTHER REGION OF SPACE. MOST SMALL-SCALE ENGAGEMENTS WITH A PLATFORM THAT IS EQUIPPED WITH BOTH AN AYAS AND ITS PRIOR END IN THE ATTACKERS BEING TRANSPORTED TO THE EVENT HORIZON OF A NEARBY BLACK HOLE.¡±


    ¡°¡­What the fuck happened to having ¡®no singular weapon that could wipe out entire fleets?¡¯¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE, I WAS SPEAKING IN TERMS OF MY OWN RACE. BEFORE IT FELL TO THE MENACE, WE FIELDED FLEETS MILLIONS OF SHIPS STRONG. THE FINAL BATTLE AGAINST THE MENACE ¡ª IN THAT CYCLE, AT LEAST ¡ª FEATURED OVER A HUNDRED MILLION SHIPS IN A SINGLE SYSTEM.¡±


    ¡°¡­What¡­?¡±


    ¡°EVEN THE ALDREDAS AND OLD DRAKKARS OFTEN FIELDED FLEETS WITH MULTIPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND SHIPS. YOUR ERA MAY HAVE THE SMALLEST FLEETS I HAVE EVER SEEN.¡±


    ¡°¡­I want to say that numbers aren¡¯t everything,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded warily, ¡°¡­but I get the feeling that any one of your ships could probably take down several of ours with ease.¡±


    ¡°IT IS TRUE THAT YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER THOUSAND YEARS, AT LEAST, BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO REACH THE TECHNOLOGY LEVELS OF THE ANCIENT ALMITAS. HOWEVER, I WOULD NOT SELL YOURSELF SO SHORT; I ESTIMATE A FULL CSA FLEET COULD TAKE OUT AN ALMITAS SCOUT FORCE. PERHAPS EVEN A CRUISER SQUADRON. WITH LUCK ON YOUR SIDE, OF COURSE.¡±


    ¡°¡­Right.¡± The Pyrotechnic rolled his eyes. ¡°¡­Who¡¯re the Almitas? Wait, what do you mean by ¡®Old Drakkars?¡¯¡±


    ¡°THE OLD DRAKKARS ARE THE ORIGINAL FORM OF THE DRAKKARS, THE CIVILIZATION THAT CAME TO POWER IN THE CYCLE BEFORE THE ALDREDAS. THEY SOMEHOW SURVIVED THEIR FINAL BATTLE WITH THE MENACE AND LIVED ON IN THEIR CURRENT FORM TO ANTAGONIZE THE ALDREDAS. THE ALMITAS, HOWEVER, ARE A MUCH OLDER CIVILIZATION. THEY ARE THE ORIGINATORS OF THE PRIORS, THE AYAS, AND THE MENACE. THEY BEGAN THE CYCLE OF CONFLICT AND DESTRUCTION THAT IS PERPETUATED BY THE MENACE, ALBEIT UNINTENTIONALLY.¡±


    ¡°Right, the cycle, I wanted to ask about that too. ¡­Uh, what exactly is this ¡®cycle¡¯¡­?¡±


    ¡°IT IS EXACTLY AS IT SOUNDS. CIVILIZATIONS RISE TO POWER, ENCOUNTER THE MENACE, AND FALL AFTER PREVENTING THE MENACE FROM GAINING CONTROL OF THE UNIVERSE. UNTIL THE MORIKAI, THIS WAS UNAVOIDABLE; EVERY CIVILIZATION THAT EVER CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE MENACE MANAGED TO STOP IT, BUT AT SUCH MASSIVE COSTS THAT THEIR CIVILIZATION FELL APART. EVEN THE MORIKAI DID NOT SURVIVE, AND INSTEAD PERPETUATED THE CYCLE BY CREATING THEIR OWN VERSION OF THE MENACE.¡±


    ¡°Not a single race won¡­?¡±


    ¡°IF THERE EXISTED A CIVILIZATION THAT OBTAINED TRUE VICTORY AGAINST THE MENACE, THEN YOU WOULD NOT FEEL ITS EFFECTS IN THE CURRENT AGE. THE MENACE ITSELF MAY HAVE BEEN DEFEATED IN THE PREVIOUS CYCLE, BUT THAT ITS WILL IS CARRIED ON IN THE MORIKAI AND THE NANOCREATURES IS EVIDENCE THAT NO ONE HAS EVER TRULY DEFEATED IT.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ how many cycles have there been¡­?¡±


    ¡°MORE THAN YOU WISH TO KNOW.¡±


    ¡°¡­Shit.¡± Kev¨¦rin held a weary hand to his forehead as he attempted to grasp the Prior¡¯s claims. ¡°¡­How have we never heard of any of this? How could we not see the remnants of any of these older civilizations?¡±


    ¡°PHYSICAL DECAY. WE PRIORS MAY BE EVERLASTING, AND OUR PLATFORMS SELF-MAINTAINING, BUT BIOLOGICAL BEINGS ARE FINITE. ONCE THE CIVILIZATION DIES, NOTHING REMAINS TO TEND TO THEIR STRUCTURES OR THEIR TECHNOLOGY. SELF-SUSTAINING SYSTEMS MAY BE ABLE TO SURVIVE, BUT THEY, TOO, WILL EVENTUALLY SUCCUMB TO DECAY AS THEY RUN OUT OF MATERIALS OR FUEL, OR SIMPLY BREAK. EVEN THE ALDREDAS HAVE VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED FROM THIS AGE; THE ONLY REMNANTS OF THEM YOU CAN FIND ARE DERELICT SPACE STATIONS, PRESERVED BY THE VACUUM OF SPACE; OR SUBTERRANEAN SELF-SUSTAINING COMPLEXES THAT ARE BARELY FUNCTIONING OFF OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. AND THE CYCLE BEFORE THEM WAS THE AGE OF THE DRAKKARS, WHO YOU ALREADY KNOW. ANY CIVILIZATIONS BEFORE THEM WOULD HAVE TO HAVE BUILT STRUCTURES CAPABLE OF LASTING MILLIONS OF YEARS, WHICH I¡¯M SURE YOU REALIZE IS NO TRIVIAL FEAT.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t buy that. You said the Platforms are self-maintaining, why couldn¡¯t an older race have built something similar? What makes the Platforms so special?¡±


    ¡°I DO NOT MEAN TO USE SELF-MAINTAINING IN THAT EACH PLATFORM, INDIVIDUALLY, CAN LAST ON ITS OWN. THE PLATFORMS HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF OPERATING ON CHAOS ENERGY, WHICH ENABLES THEM TO LAST FAR LONGER THAN ANY OTHER STRUCTURE WITHOUT RUNNING OUT OF ENERGY. FURTHERMORE, WE PRIORS CAN TRACE OUR ORIGINS TO THE RACE THAT CREATED THE VERY CHAOS AYAS ¡ª SO, NATURALLY, OUR TECHNOLOGY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CHAOS ENERGY TO A FAR GREATER DEGREE THAN ANY OTHER. HOWEVER, EACH PLATFORM STILL RELIES ON THE SYN PLATFORM TO PRODUCE ESSENTIAL REPLACEMENT PARTS ¡ª AND THE SYN PLATFORM RELIES ON THE BLACK HOLE IT ORBITS AS A SOURCE FOR SUCH MATTER. THE PLATFORMS ARE SELF-MAINTAINING ONLY BECAUSE THE RESOURCES WE RELY ON ARE, PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, INFINITE.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait¡ª black hole? The Syn Platform orbits a black hole? I mean, I can understand that, but¡ª it can somehow harvest matter from this black hole? What?¡±


    ¡°CHAOS ENERGY IS NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED.¡±


    ¡°Holy fucking shit. If the Platforms are so damned advanced and impenetrable then why don¡¯t you just keep the Ayas on the Platforms? Surely you¡¯d be able to keep them out of the hands of this ¡®Menace¡¯ then!¡±


    ¡°FIRST OF ALL, I SHOULD NOTE THAT PLATFORMS ARE NOT COMPLETELY IMPENETRABLE. PLATFORM DESTRUCTION HAS OCCURRED A HANDFUL OF TIMES DUE TO EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES.¡±


    ¡°I find that hard to believe.¡±


    ¡°IT IS ALSO NOT THE REASON WE PRIORS REFUSE TO KEEP THE AYAS UNDER LOCK AND KEY. YOU SEE, WE PRIORS ARE INCAPABLE OF DESTROYING ONE OF OUR OWN KIND. IN A WAY, WE CAN BE VIEWED AS BEINGS OF CHAOS ENERGY; WE EXIST ONLY BECAUSE CHAOS ENERGY EXISTS, AND WITHOUT IT, WE WILL DIE. BUT, WHILE CHAOS ENERGY CAN BE ¡®NEGATED¡¯ IN A LOCAL AREA, OR MAY FAIL TO BE PRESENT ALTOGETHER ¡ª SUCH AS WITH DEAD SPACE ¡ª AS LONG AS THE AYAS EXIST, SO TOO WILL CHAOS ENERGY ¡ª AND SO TOO WILL THE PRIORS. AND AS THE AYAS THEMSELVES ARE COMPLETELY INDESTRUCTIBLE, THERE EXISTS NO WAY TO REMOVE CHAOS ENERGY FROM THE UNIVERSE. THUS, WE NEED AN OUTSIDE FORCE IN ORDER TO DESTROY THE MENACE ¡ª WE NEED CHAOTICS, BEINGS WHO ARE CAPABLE OF INTERFACING WITH CHAOS ENERGY, BUT WHO ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON IT AND CAN LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES WITHOUT IT. ADDITIONALLY, IN ORDER TO HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE AGAINST THE MENACE IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE NEED THE GALAXY TO BE AS FAMILIAR WITH THE WORKINGS OF CHAOS ENERGY AS POSSIBLE, AND WE NEED THEM TO BE AS FAMILIAR WITH THE CHAOS AYAS THEMSELVES AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WHEN THE MENACE FINALLY RISES AGAIN, IT CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY COUNTERED. IT IS TRUE, KEEPING THE AYAS LOCKED UP ON THE PLATFORMS WOULD PREVENT THE MENACE ¡ª OR ANY OTHER ENTITY ¡ª FROM GATHERING THEM ALL AND ACHIEVING THE EQUIVALENT OF GODHOOD. BUT IT WILL ALSO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE GALAXY TO FIGHT OFF THE MENACE, AND IF THE GALAXY IS DESTROYED OR CONQUERED, THEN THE END RESULT IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME.¡±


    ¡°¡­This is ridiculous¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered, ¡°when the Commander told me to form a squad to investigate the Chaos Quake¡­ I never thought I¡¯d end up dealing with cosmic conflicts and all of this nonsense!¡±


    ¡°THE INFORMATION I HAVE JUST RELATED TO YOU IS DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND, I REALIZE THIS. BUT EVERY WORD OF IT IS TRUE, AND YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER IT.¡±


    The Pyrotechnic sighed wearily. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t wait to get this done with and return to normal life. Maybe I can retire. I¡¯ve already seen more shit than most Chaotics, I¡¯m sure¡­¡±


    ¡°DO NOT DISMISS THE NANOCREATURES JUST YET. MORCII MAY NOT BE THE MENACE ITSELF, BUT HE IS OF SIMILAR DANGER.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I have one more question then: based on everything you¡¯ve said, all of the races that came before us were crazy advanced. So why aren¡¯t the Nanocreatures similarly advanced? What¡¯s to stop Morcii from beating us by just beaming us into the core of a star or something?¡±


    ¡°THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE PLATFORMS IS UNIQUE TO THE PLATFORMS ALONE, AND CAN ONLY EXIST THANKS TO THE AYAS. WE PRIORS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO POSSESS THIS TECHNOLOGY, AND IT CANNOT BE REVERSE-ENGINEERED UNLESS WE ALLOW IT, AS DOING SO WOULD REQUIRE ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM ITSELF. BUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION DIRECTLY, MY PRESENCE, COMBINED WITH YOUR CORRUPTION, WILL ENABLE YOU TO BYPASS THE MAJORITY OF MORCII¡¯S TECHNIQUES. HE WILL BE FORCED TO ENGAGE YOU DIRECTLY.¡±


    ¡°¡­I guess all I can do is trust you on that¡­¡±


    ¡°DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin sighed again as he stood up from the stool. ¡°¡­Not for now,¡± he eventually responded, ¡°it¡¯ll take a while to process everything. It¡¯s, uh¡­ a lot.¡±


    ¡°VERY WELL.¡± Arc¨¢n bowed his head as the scenery transitioned back to the hallway Kev¨¦rin had originally been investigating. ¡°IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE, YOU NEED MERELY TO CALL FOR MY ATTENTION.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± the Pyrotechnic muttered as the Prior¡¯s hologram disappeared in a blue fuzz. ¡°¡­Wait, what happened to my meal¡­?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Finally got your ass outta bed, huh?¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Christean¨¦ grumbled, trudging across the living room-like space to stare into a mirror with half-lidded eyes as Dav¨ªdrius watched in amusement.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t sleep well?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± the Forcetechnic responded, glaring at his tired face in the mirror before looking down and searching the wall. ¡°Uh, how do I do that¡­ that thing that Arc¨¢n said? The insta-cleanup thing.¡±


    ¡°Button on the left.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    ¡°You really didn¡¯t sleep that well, huh?¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Christean¨¦ retorted again as he pressed the button to the left of the mirror. A bright flash of light followed; immediately afterward, Christean¨¦ glanced down to find himself perfectly cleaned up, as if he had taken a shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and cleaned his clothes, all in under a second.


    ¡°Prior tech is pretty useful, ain¡¯t it?¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, kicking a chair out from under the table across from him as Christean¨¦ turned and approached.


    The Forcetechnic grabbed the chair and took a seat, resting his elbows on the tabletop as he rubbed his eyes wearily. ¡°How¡¯re you so awake?¡± he questioned a moment later, ¡°it¡¯s only been¡­ what, eight hours?¡±


    ¡°With tech that allows you to be ready to go at literally the press of a button, I¡¯d say that¡¯s pretty reasonable.¡± Dav¨ªdrius shrugged. ¡°What, eight hours of sleep ain¡¯t good enough for you?¡±


    ¡°Not after I¡¯ve been awake for almost twenty-four hours, four or five of which was spent constantly fighting or on the move.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ I guess I kinda got used to that shit back in Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just that, either,¡± Christean¨¦ added. ¡°We¡¯re about to take on Morcii in his own home, you know. And we run the risk of letting loose a Realitechnic! A Realitechnic that hates our guts! Doesn¡¯t that make you nervous?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s this different from the Neticen op?¡±


    ¡°That was straight-forward. Just take the Ayas and beat the ever-living shit out of Morcii. Now beating stuff up, I can do. In fact, as a Forcetechnic, it¡¯s what I do best. But now we have to do all this meticulous shit and be careful we don¡¯t accidentally release the Morikai in the process. I¡¯ve never been a fan of subtlety¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ meticu¡­ meticulous? What¡¯s that mean?¡±


    Christean¨¦ stared at Dav¨ªdrius with a mixture of incredulity and amazement. ¡°What? ¡®Meticulous?¡¯ It means, like¡­ being really careful and paying attention to all the details.¡± The Forcetechnic smirked. ¡°Heh, this is the first time I¡¯ve seen you have a hard time with a word.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a stupid word,¡± Dav¨ªdrius countered defensively. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a reason to use it, and no one back in Tres¨¦d ever used it, ¡®cause ¡®attention to detail¡¯ ain¡¯t all that important. ¡­Doesn¡¯t help that the education is shitty.¡±


    ¡°Could¡¯ve fooled me. You usually seem like you know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Bullshittin¡¯ is a valuable skill in Tres¨¦d, ¡®specially as a Guardian. Wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve made it through some situations without it.¡±


    ¡°Has it helped you since?¡±


    ¡°¡­Not really. Seems like most non-Tres¨¦dians I¡¯ve run into know their way around bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡° That¡¯s not even close to true. You just have to come up with a different kind of bullshit. I find the sweet-talking variety can work wonders.¡±


    ¡°Bah¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius grunted irately. ¡°¡­¡¯Course. Wish Tres¨¦d was nice enough for that to work. Fuckin¡¯ desert shithole¡­¡±


    Christean¨¦ frowned and leaned back in his chair. ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°You just did.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius flashed a self-amused grin at Christean¨¦, who simply responded with an unamused stare.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with the scarf?¡± the Forcetechnic eventually continued, gesturing toward the tan cloth wrapped around Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s neck that draped down behind his back. ¡°Every single time I see you, you¡¯re wearing it. Even with Chaos Armor. It¡¯s from Tres¨¦d, right? So if you hate Tres¨¦d so much, why keep the scarf?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Hey, just ¡®cause I hate the place doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t like people within the place, alright?¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s from someone you knew?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded wistfully, glancing downward as he tugged at the scarf around his neck. ¡°¡­A friend gave it to me a long time ago. She was one of my only friends, actually¡­¡±


    ¡°¡¯She¡¯?¡± Christean¨¦ echoed cheekily, ¡°ever go further than just ¡®friends¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Never got the chance. I was forced to kill her after a Bleeder Psychotechnic took control of her mind.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°No one sees that one comin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Christean¨¦ rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. ¡°¡­Sorry about asking.¡±


    ¡°Meh. You couldn¡¯t¡¯ve known.¡±


    A moment of uncomfortable silence passed.


    ¡°You know what¡¯s really fucked up, though?¡±


    Christean¨¦ glanced at Dav¨ªdrius warily. ¡°What¡­?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re about to go save the entire damn galaxy,¡± Dav¨ªdrius declared, ¡°¡­and ain¡¯t no one¡¯s gonna know that we¡¯re the ones who did it!¡±


    Christean¨¦ responded by staring at Dav¨ªdrius incredulously.


    ¡°I mean, how¡¯s anyone supposed to know?¡± Dav¨ªdrius continued, ¡°we only know ¡®bout this Ikirom guy and the Morikai ¡®cause Arc¨¢n told us. Random people out in the galaxy won¡¯t know that shit, and probably wouldn¡¯t believe it, either! I wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve believed it if I hadn¡¯t seen first-hand all the shit that¡¯s gone down over the past half year. All the rest of the galaxy cares about are the Nanocreatures, and sure, if we beat Morcii they¡¯ll all disappear or somethin¡¯, but who¡¯s to say we¡¯re the ones who did it?¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­ you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Course I¡¯m right. You just watch, when this is all over and we get back to Nimalia, we¡¯ll all be slapped with court martials or some shit for usin¡¯ the Gate without permission. Ain¡¯t no one gonna ¡®preciate what we¡¯re doin¡¯ here.¡±


    ¡°There has to be some way to prove it¡­ right?¡± Christean¨¦ frowned. ¡°¡­Shit, we don¡¯t even have our Armor, so we can¡¯t submit action data, or recordings¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Man, this sucks. ¡­I mean, it¡¯s not like I won¡¯t help save the galaxy an¡¯ all, but¡­ a little credit would be nice.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a valid concern, actually,¡± Christean¨¦ pointed out, ¡°and I¡¯m not talking about credit, I¡¯m talking about confirmation that we killed Morcii. We¡¯ll know it, but the rest of the galaxy will probably expect him to just pop up again. It¡¯ll be a while before everything settles down¡­¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius sighed irately as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. ¡°¡­Meh.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Christean¨¦ muttered in response, ¡°guess not¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°WELCOME TO THE AYAS CORE.¡±


    ¡°Is every room a ¡®core¡¯ for something?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned as she and Kievkenalis stepped through the entrance to the room housing the Master Ayas.


    ¡°NOT EVERY ROOM,¡± Arc¨¢n refuted, appearing as a hologram beside the two Chaotics. ¡°BUT I WILL ADMIT, MANY OF THE IMPORTANT ROOMS ARE. I BELIEVE IT TO BE A REASONABLE NAMING SCHEME.¡±


    ¡°¡­So this is where you took it,¡± Kievkenalis muttered as he stepped forward to approach the center of the room. A wide, transparent cylinder extended from the ceiling through the floor, blocking the two Chaotics from the Master Ayas as it sat suspended in the air in the middle of the cylinder. ¡°I wondered what you did with the Ayas after you took it from me¡­¡±


    ¡°INDEED. IT IS NOT THE ARC¨¢N AYAS, SO MANY OF THE PLATFORM¡¯S SYSTEMS REMAIN OFFLINE OR OTHERWISE INACCESSIBLE, BUT THE SYN AYAS WILL AT LEAST ALLOW ME TO INSTANTANEOUSLY TRANSPORT YOU TO MORCII¡¯S LOCATION.¡±


    ¡°¡­I still don¡¯t understand everything about the Priors and this Platform and¡­ anything, really.¡± Kaon¨¦ shook her head warily. ¡°It¡¯s all just so¡­ confusing.¡±


    ¡°DO YOU AT LEAST UNDERSTAND WHAT IS REQUIRED OF YOU TO DEFEAT MORCII? IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, THEN ALL ELSE IS TERTIARY.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not even us who have to fight him,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered, ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s the one who has to take him out, right? So there isn¡¯t really anything for us to do¡­¡±


    ¡°THAT IS INCORRECT,¡± Arc¨¢n refuted, ¡°IN FACT, THE TWO OF YOU MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT MISSION PARTICIPANTS, AFTER YOUR FRIEND.¡±


    Kievkenalis finally tore his attention away from the Ayas to give Arc¨¢n a confused stare. ¡°How?¡± he questioned with a frown, ¡°even if I was at my peak¡­ what could I do that anyone else can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°YOU UNDERESTIMATE YOURSELF. GIVEN MORCII¡¯S CURRENT LOCATION, A CHAOS CONDUIT SUCH AS YOURSELF IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED.¡±


    ¡°What? But¡­ I¡¯m not a Chaos Conduit¡­¡±


    ¡°HOW DO YOU KNOW? HAVE YOU ATTEMPTED TO USE THE TRUE CHAOSTECHNIC ABILITY?¡±


    ¡°¡­Is he right?¡± Kaon¨¦ eventually questioned, glancing toward Kievkenalis for confirmation.


    ¡°I¡­ guess,¡± the Chaostechnic responded warily, ¡°¡­Chaos¡­ Time?¡±


    To Kievkenalis¡¯s surprise, the environment around him instantly froze ¡ª furthermore, the use of Chaos Energy caused him no pain. He glanced between Kaon¨¦ and Arc¨¢n¡¯s hologram, both as still as statues, before shaking his head vigorously to clear his mind. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t believe it¡­¡± he muttered, and then followed with ¡°Chaos Time¡­¡±


    ¡°SURELY YOU UNDERSTAND NOW,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, able to move once again.


    ¡°¡­But I don¡¯t.¡± The Chaostechnic furrowed his brow in confusion. ¡°¡­How could I be a Chaos Conduit? Those are supposed to be the rarest kind of Chaotic, second only to Realitechnism. And I mean, yeah, I¡¯ve been gaining access to Chaostechnic types I didn¡¯t have before a year ago, but¡­¡±


    Arc¨¢n shook his head slowly. ¡°YOU MISUNDERSTAND THE TITLE AND ABILITIES OF CHAOS CONDUITS. ¡¯CHAOS CONDUIT¡¯ IS NOT A DEFINITIVE FORM OF CHAOSTECHNISM. IT IS INCORRECT TO SAY THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS A CHAOS CONDUIT IN THE SAME SENSE THAT YOU SAY THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS A PYROTECHNIC, OR A GEOTECHNIC. ¡®CHAOS CONDUIT¡¯ IS WHAT YOU BECOME, THROUGH USE OF YOUR ABILITIES AND EXPOSURE TO THE CHAOS AYAS. YOU, A TRUE CHAOTIC AND A CHAOSTECHNIC, WHO HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO MANY OF THE AYAS, TWO PRIORS, AND THE NANOCREATURES, ALL WITHIN THE SPAN OF MERE MONTHS, ARE ACTUALLY THE CLOSEST A CHAOSTECHNIC HAS EVER COME TO BECOMING A CHAOS CONDUIT SINCE THE AGE OF THE ALDREDAS. AND WHEN YOU FINALLY UNLOCKED YOUR FINAL TYPE DURING YOUR ENGAGEMENT WITH MORCII ON YOUR HOMEWORLD, YOU ACHIEVED THE TITLE OF CHAOS CONDUIT. YOU ARE A CHAOS CONDUIT.¡±


    Kievkenalis stared at Arc¨¢n, dumbfounded, only breaking out of his stupor when Kaon¨¦ placed her hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Kevken¡­?¡± She looked him in the eyes, her own expression one of worry. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± he responded uneasily, ¡°if I¡¯m a Chaos Conduit¡­ ¡­what good would that do? I still have CSD. I¡¯m still going to die soon if I continue to use my abilities ¡ª no, even if I stop now, it¡¯s too late. So what good is the title, then?¡±


    ¡°IT IS TRUE THAT DEVELOPING INTO A CHAOS CONDUIT INCREASES THE RATE OF ONSET OF WHAT YOU KNOW AS ¡®CHAOTIC SELF-DESTRUCTION¡¯, BUT ACHIEVING THE TITLE ITSELF COUNTERACTS ALL SUCH PROGRESS. CHAOS CONDUITS ARE THE MOST RESISTANT TO CHAOS ENERGY¡¯S NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF ANY CHAOTIC, INCLUDING REALITECHNICS. SURELY, YOU NOTICED A DISTINCT LACK OF PAIN WHEN YOU USED CHAOS TIME A MOMENT AGO. YOUR CSD HAS BECOME A NON-ISSUE.¡±


    Kievkenalis glanced down at his gloved hands; a moment later, he removed the glove on his left hand, only to see that the scars and blisters were still present.


    ¡°¡­I SHOULD SAY, YOU ARE NO LONGER IN DANGER OF DYING FROM CSD,¡± Arc¨¢n amended. ¡°THE SCARRING, UNFORTUNATELY, WILL REMAIN.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ he¡¯s not going to die?¡± Kaon¨¦¡¯s expression of worry slowly transformed into a grin as she turned back to Kievkenalis. ¡°Yay! Congratulations!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ thanks?¡­¡± the Chaostechnic responded uneasily, still taken aback by the Prior¡¯s revelation.


    ¡°MIND, I DID NOT ELECT TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF THIS OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF MY HEART. ENSURING THAT YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND YOUR NEW TITLE IS CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR MISSION AGAINST MORCII, AS YOU WILL NO DOUBT REQUIRE ALL OF THE NEW ABILITIES THAT BEING A CHAOS CONDUIT GRANTS YOU.¡±


    ¡°¡¯All?¡¯ There¡¯s more than just Time?¡±


    ¡°I SPEAK IN A GENERAL SENSE. AS A CHAOS CONDUIT, YOU NOW POSSESS SUCH A STRONG RESISTANCE TO CHAOS ENERGY THAT, EFFECTIVELY, YOU CAN NO LONGER GO BERSERK. HOWEVER, WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT YOU MUST WATCH THE REST OF YOUR FELLOW CHAOTICS WHO ARE NOT QUITE SO FORTUNATE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE PLANET YOU ARE ABOUT TO TRAVEL TO.¡±


    ¡°What planet is that¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned uneasily.


    ¡°THE ALDREDAS KNEW IT AS ELECAL. IT WAS THE LOCATION OF THE FINAL BATTLE IN THE AGE OF THE ALDREDAS, WHERE IKIROM DEFEATED THE MENACE ¡ª AND WHERE THE ALDREDAS KEYS SEALED AWAY THE MORIKAI WITH THE POWER OF THE AYAS. MORCII IS NO DOUBT PRESENT THERE, AS IT IS THE ONLY LOCATION IN WHICH THE SEAL CAN BE UNDONE.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ what¡¯s so special about this planet, then?¡±


    ¡°ELECAL WAS NOT CHOSEN BY THE MORIKAI AS THE FINAL BATTLEGROUND FOR NO REASON. IT WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE OF THE SYSTEM¡¯S INCREDIBLY HIGH DENSITY OF CHAOS ENERGY ¡ª SO MUCH SO THAT CHAOS ENERGY HAS, SHALL WE SAY, ¡®CONDENSED¡¯ ONTO PHYSICAL BODIES IN THE SYSTEM, CREATING WHAT IS KNOWN AS CHAOS MATTER.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of Chaos Matter before,¡± Kievkenalis commented, ¡°¡­but it¡¯s supposed to be incredibly rare and extremely unstable. Are you saying there¡¯s an entire system of it?¡±


    Arc¨¢n nodded. ¡°INDEED. WHICH IS WHY YOUR RESISTANCE TO CHAOS ENERGY IS SO IMPORTANT. BY MERELY STEPPING FOOT ONTO ELECAL, ALL CHAOTICS BEGIN TO FEEL THE PRESSURE OF THE CHAOS ENERGY AROUND THEM ¡ª ENOUGH SO TO GO BERSERK, EVEN BY SIMPLY STANDING IN PLACE. YOUR FRIEND, SIYUAK¨¦N, WILL BE PROTECTED DUE TO THE PRIOR STATE, BUT THE REST OF YOUR SQUAD WILL NOT BE QUITE SO FORTUNATE. IT IS UP TO YOU TO ENSURE THAT NONE OF THEM GO BERSERK, AND IF THEY DO, IT IS UP TO YOU TO CONTAIN THEM, BECAUSE THE BERSERK STATE WILL NOT WEAR OFF NATURALLY ON ELECAL AS IT DOES ELSEWHERE. ONLY ACTIVE INTERVENTION CAN STOP IT.¡±


    Kaon¨¦ frowned. ¡°You should¡¯ve told us that sooner!¡±


    ¡°I DID NOT BELIEVE IT TO BE IMMEDIATELY RELEVANT.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think that the fact that the very environment would drive us berserk would be relevant?!¡±


    ¡°IT IS AS MUCH OF A POSITIVE AS IT IS A NEGATIVE,¡± Arc¨¢n countered. ¡°CHAOS MATTER MAY HAVE INCREDIBLY HIGH BERSERK POTENTIAL, BUT IT WILL ALSO BE WHAT ALLOWS YOU TO COUNTER MORCII. AS IT STANDS, HE POSSESSES EIGHT OF THE AYAS. YOU POSSESS ONLY THE SYN AYAS. IN ANY OTHER ENVIRONMENT, HE COULD CRUSH YOU THE MOMENT YOU APPEARED, BUT THANKS TO THE HIGH ENERGY DENSITY OF THE SYSTEM, EACH OF YOU WILL HAVE YOUR POWER BOOSTED TO AT LEAST THE EQUIVALENT OF THE FIRST TIER CHAOS STATE. FURTHERMORE, MORCII AND HIS NANOCREATURES WILL ACTUALLY BE HAMPERED BY THE ENVIRONMENT, AS INCREDIBLY HIGH LEVELS OF CHAOS ENERGY CAN SEVERELY INTERFERE WITH UNSHIELDED OR IMPROPERLY PREPARED MECHANICAL SYSTEMS.¡± He turned to face Kievkenalis. ¡°YOU SIMPLY NEED TO MONITOR YOUR FRIENDS AND PREVENT THEM FROM GOING BERSERK, THROUGH CAREFUL USE OF BOTH CHAOS TIME AND CHAOS SIPHON, IN ORDER TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Simply¡¯¡­ right¡­¡± the Chaostechnic muttered. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind¡­¡±


    ¡°THE AYAS WEAPONS ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF INSTANTLY ENDING A BERSERK STATE, SO YOU WILL NOT BE ALONE. WORKING WITH YOUR FRIEND IN THE CASE ANYONE GOES BERSERK WILL BE PARAMOUNT.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡± Kaon¨¦ interjected, ¡°earlier, you said ¡®the two of us¡¯ would be important, but you¡¯ve only talked about Kevken.¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE, I THOUGHT IT OBVIOUS,¡± Arc¨¢n commented. ¡°CHAOS MATTER IS ESSENTIALLY JUST THAT, MATTER. A NAVITASTECHNIC MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MANIPULATE CHAOS ENERGY, BUT A MATERIATECHNIC SUCH AS YOURSELF CAN STILL MANIPULATE CHAOS MATTER. IT CANNOT BE TRANSMUTED INTO OTHER MATTER, AND OTHER MATTER CANNOT BE TRANSMUTED INTO CHAOS MATTER, DUE TO FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES ¡ª BUT YOU CAN MANIPULATE IT ALL THE SAME. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO BOTH ASSIST IN COUNTERING ANY BERSERKERS AND IN COUNTERING MORCII, AS DIRECT CONTACT WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF CHAOS MATTER CAN STUN HIM.¡±


    ¡°¡­Wow,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded, ¡°uh¡­ what¡¯s so special about Chaos Matter? Why can¡¯t I transmute it?¡±


    ¡°IT IS¡­ COMPLICATED. AS I¡¯M SURE YOU ALREADY KNOW, CHAOS ENERGY DEFIES MOST DEFINITIONS OF ¡®ENERGY¡¯ AS YOU KNOW IT; IT IS SIMPLY CALLED ¡®ENERGY¡¯ BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IT IS MOST ANALOGOUS TO. CHAOS MATTER IS VERY MUCH THE SAME. THE SIMPLEST DEFINITION OF CHAOS MATTER IS NORMAL MATTER THAT HAS BEEN SATURATED WITH CHAOS ENERGY TO THE POINT OF TRANSFORMING IT INTO SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT EVEN HAVE ATOMS OR MOLECULES, AND EVEN SEEMS TO DISAPPEAR AT THE MICROSCOPIC LEVEL; YET, IT REMAINS TANGIBLE AND VISIBLE AT THE MACROSCOPIC LEVEL.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t really make any sense¡­¡±


    ¡°THAT IS THE POINT OF CHAOS ENERGY AND CHAOS MATTER. THEY DO NOT MAKE SENSE, NOT WITH THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AS YOU UNDERSTAND THEM CURRENTLY. HENCE WHY THEY ARE NAMED AFTER CHAOS ¡ª FOR THEIR INTRODUCTION TO A SYSTEM CAUSES ONLY CHAOS.¡±


    ¡°Your use of the term ¡®physics¡¯ here is really starting to bother me¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ replied uneasily.


    ¡°IT IS INEVITABLE. AS YOU ARE NOW, YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF TRULY UNDERSTANDING CHAOS ENERGY. YOUR CIVILIZATION SIMPLY IS NOT ADVANCED ENOUGH.¡±


    The Materiatechnic sighed wearily. ¡°This all hurts to think about¡­ but I can still manipulate Chaos Matter, right?¡±


    ¡°CORRECT.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s all I need to know for now, then¡­¡±


    ¡°INDEED.¡± Arc¨¢n bowed toward the two Chaotics. ¡°I HAVE NOW EXPLAINED EVERYTHING I WISHED TO EXPLAIN TO YOU. I WILL TAKE MY LEAVE; IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS, SIMPLY ASK, AND I WILL HEAR THEM.¡± The hologram then disappeared, leaving behind only the air in its place.


    The two Chaotics remained silent, staring at Arc¨¢n¡¯s previous location as they each processed everything the Prior had just told them.


    Kaon¨¦ sighed. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t wait for life to go back to normal after this¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kievkenalis agreed wistfully, ¡°me neither¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°How is she?¡±


    ¡°RECOVERING,¡± Arc¨¢n responded curtly, beaming Rebehka to the center of the Core Room as soon as she entered. The Prior manifested in hologram form, standing behind Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s unconscious body as the Cryotechnic approached. ¡°SHE SHOULD AWAKEN SOON. ARE YOU PREPARED TO MOVE OUT WHEN SHE DOES?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been ready to kill Morcii since he took Siyuak¨¦n three and a half months ago,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me. But¡­¡±


    Arc¨¢n nodded in understanding. ¡°YOU FEAR FOR YOUR FRIEND¡¯S FUTURE.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ guess that¡¯s one way of saying it,¡± she responded, her eyes focused on Siyuak¨¦n. She slowly followed the visible signs of corruption down to her left arm, its gray, metallic sheen covered by a torn red sleeve. Rebehka reached down tentatively to touch Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s left wrist, flinching away as the feeling of cold metal reached her fingertips. ¡°¡­She¡¯s been dealing with this for¡­ over half a year, now. I can¡¯t even begin to imagine what it was like, living with this for months, and then being forced to follow Morcii? That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Arc¨¢n bowed his head. ¡°CORRUPTION IS INDEED A TERRIBLE CONDITION. THE ALDREDAS QUICKLY ARRIVED AT THE CONCLUSION THAT DEATH WAS PREFERABLE, AND EVEN THE DRAKKARS DO NOT HESITATE TO SHOOT THEIR CORRUPTED COMPATRIOTS ON SIGHT. BUT FOR YOUR FRIEND TO SURVIVE AS LONG AS SHE HAS, UNDER HER OWN WILL¡­ EVEN CONSIDERING THAT SHE IS A TRUE CHAOTIC, IT IS TRULY REMARKABLE.¡±


    ¡°Did I actually do the right thing, though? Taking her alive, instead of killing her¡­ she¡¯s here now, but¡­ was her suffering worth it?¡±


    ¡°THANKS TO YOUR ACTIONS, WE NOW HAVE A WAY TO DEFEAT MORCII. THAT CHANCE ALONE IS INVALUABLE.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Rebehka shook her head as she took a seat on the ground next to the bench on which Siyuak¨¦n lay. ¡°I meant, was it the right thing for her? She may be back with us, but she has to live with the past six, seven months forever in her memory. And how can she even get her normal life back? She¡¯s in control now, but she¡¯s still corrupted, and regardless of whether or not it was her fault, the entire CSA knows that she helped Morcii take down Tau¡¯cen Kii and Neticen. And the only authority figure I know who could possibly vouch for her, is dead¡­ what kind of a life is left for her? I thought I was saving her, but now that I think about it¡­ I¡¯m not so sure¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­THAT QUESTION IS¡­ DIFFICULT TO ANSWER, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.¡±


    Rebehka looked up at Arc¨¢n warily. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    The Prior turned away, focusing his attention on the hologram of the Milky Way Galaxy below instead of on the Cryotechnic. ¡°¡­YOUR FRIEND¡¯S CONDITION IS¡­ TROUBLESOME. IT WILL ALLOW HER TO DEFEAT MORCII WITH MY AID, BUT BEYOND THAT¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Is she going to live?¡±


    ¡°¡­DOUBTFUL. SHE LIVES FOR NOW, BUT THE ALTERATIONS TO HER BODY ARE TOO GREAT. HER HEART AND LEFT LUNG HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY NANITE CONSTRUCTS, HER ENTIRE LEFT ARM HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH NANITES, HER NERVOUS SYSTEM HAS BEEN ALMOST COMPLETELY REPLACED WITH NANITES, AND THE REST OF HER VITAL ORGANS ¡ª EVEN HER VERY SKELETON ITSELF ¡ª HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY CORRUPTED. ON THE OUTSIDE, HER CORRUPTION APPEARS TO BE LIMITED TO HER ARM AND PART OF HER FACE, BUT WITHIN¡­ SHE MAY WELL BE MORE MACHINE THAN WOMAN.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°INDEED, SHE LIVES NOW UNDER HER OWN WILL¡­¡± Arc¨¢n looked back to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°BUT EITHER THE NANITES WILL BREAK DOWN IN A WEEK OR TWO DUE TO LOSS OF CONTACT WITH MORCII-CONTROLLED NANOCREATURES, OR HER SELF-CONTROL WILL WEAKEN ENOUGH FOR MORCII TO SEIZE CONTROL ONCE AGAIN. USING THE CHAOS STATE TO REMOVE HER CORRUPTION IS NO LONGER AN OPTION, AS THE CORRUPTION HAS SPREAD TOO FAR. SHE MAY NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO ACTIVATE THE CHAOS STATE, IN HER CURRENT CONDITION¡­ EVEN THE PRIOR STATE CAN ONLY MAINTAIN HER LIFE FOR SO LONG, AS AFTER A WEEK OR MORE OF USE MY OWN CONSCIOUSNESS WILL SLOWLY YET INEVITABLY ERODE AT HER MIND UNTIL NOTHING OF HER REMAINS. AND IF WE DEFEAT MORCII AND REMOVE THE AYAS FROM NANOCREATURE CONTROL, THEN ALL NANOCREATURES WILL CEASE TO FUNCTION ¡ª INCLUDING THE VERY NANITES THAT ARE KEEPING HER ALIVE. IN SHORT¡­ YOUR FRIEND DOES NOT HAVE LONG TO LIVE.¡±


    Rebehka responded with silence as she cupped Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hand with her own in an absentminded effort to comfort herself.


    ¡°¡­Should¡¯ve known it wouldn¡¯t be that easy¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?!¡± Rebehka¡¯s attention snapped to the Electrotechnic¡¯s face as her eyes fluttered open, her mouth drawn up in a resigned smirk. ¡°You¡¯re awake¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Wish I could¡¯ve slept longer,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, slowly pulling her arms back to push herself up into a sitting position. ¡°Haven¡¯t had a good sleep in a long time¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡­ ¡­how much did you hear?¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± she responded grimly, glancing up at Arc¨¢n and then back to Rebehka. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not so bad, though. I kind of expected this¡­¡±


    ¡°But, to come all this way, just to die now, is¡­¡± Rebehka looked away. ¡°Is¡­¡±


    ¡°Completely worth it,¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared, drawing her friend¡¯s attention back to herself. ¡°You said it yourself; there isn¡¯t much left for me. This¡­¡± She looked down at her left arm in disgust. ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t something I can get rid of with a little plastic surgery, not when the corruption runs so deeply. And there¡¯s no way the CSA will allow me to just walk around, not after¡­ not after what Morcii forced me to do. So what if I don¡¯t have long to live? As long as we take down Morcii, as long as all my suffering can mean something, I¡¯ll be happy. Well¡­ content, I guess. Kind of hard to be happy with any of this.¡±


    ¡°How can you even be content? After everything that¡¯s happened to you, and even now ¡ª you haven¡¯t had any time at all to enjoy yourself since you regained control of your body. We immediately went to drive off Morcii, and then you fell unconscious, and now that you¡¯re awake we¡¯re about to head off to fight Morcii again ¡ª and after it all, you¡¯ll die! You don¡¯t have any problems with that?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be lying if I said that I didn¡¯t,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, and then continued quietly, ¡°¡­it¡¯s true that¡­ it would¡¯ve been easier if you just killed me back when I first lost control. The things I was forced to do after¡­ ¡­Tau¡¯cen Kii wasn¡¯t the first time Morcii used me, you know. It was just the first high-profile target. Before that, countless low-tier worlds that you¡¯d never hear about when the main worlds are under attack¡­ I helped ruin them all. Entire outposts, settlements even ¡ª wiped out, or corrupted. Many of the ships Morcii used in the attack on Tau¡¯cen Kii were ships that I helped to take over, crews and all. And there was nothing I could do to stop myself¡­ I was forced to watch, every time. Morcii didn¡¯t even have the decency to take over my mind, he just used my body and fucking laughed as there was nothing I could do to stop him! It was terrible, worse than terrible. I¡¯d never wish that on anyone, not even the Drakkars¡­ so if I have a chance to stop Morcii once and for all, so that no one else has to suffer through what I did, of course I¡¯d be happy to take it, no matter the cost! The galaxy is a big place, with many people, and to trade my life for all of it¡­ it¡¯s a small price.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ but what about me? You can¡¯t just leave me behind, that¡¯s¡­ I wanted to save you, so we could keep living! Not so you could just go die again¡­!¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n smiled forlornly. ¡°¡­But, you know¡­ I heard someone say something once, I think it was something like¡­ ¡®people die twice: once when they die, and once more when their name has been spoken for the final time¡¯.¡±


    Rebehka looked her friend in the eyes, startled. ¡°What are you saying¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n turned to place her hands on Rebehka¡¯s shoulders. ¡°¡­I won¡¯t be able to keep the promise I made yesterday. And I¡¯m not going to ask you to waste your life and never make any friends ever again because you were too close to me. In fact, I¡¯d probably hate you if you did that. But, if I may at least ask for something¡­ even if you do go on to make new friends, new relationships ¡ª and I certainly hope that you do ¡ª don¡¯t forget me. If you really want me to, er, ¡®not die¡¯¡­ then at least do that.¡±


    Rebehka sighed. ¡°¡­You really won¡¯t change your mind, will you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Siyuak¨¦n smirked bitterly. ¡°Morcii needs to be stopped, at any cost. I¡¯m sure you know that, too.¡±


    Rebehka responded with silence, attempting to blink back the tears that were welling in her eyes until she suddenly leaned forward and embraced Siyuak¨¦n tightly. ¡°¡­I know. And I promise¡­ I won¡¯t forget you. Ever.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks.¡± Siyuak¨¦n returned the hug. ¡°¡­I¡¯m glad I had you as a friend.¡±


    ¡°Hey now,¡± Rebehka interjected, ¡°it¡¯s a little early for the past tense, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Heh¡­ right. We still need to kick Morcii¡¯s ass.¡±


    ¡°AND ON THAT NOTE¡­¡± Arc¨¢n finally spoke up, prompting the two women to release each other and turn toward him, ¡°¡­I¡¯M AFRAID THAT EVEN WITH ALL OF THE TECHNOLOGY ON THIS PLATFORM, I CANNOT HALT THE FLOW OF TIME. MORCII REMAINS TO BE DEFEATED, AND WE MUST DO SO SOON. ARE YOU PREPARED?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded resolutely. ¡°Just tell me what I need to do.¡±


    Arc¨¢n nodded back. ¡°GOOD. I WILL CALL THE REST OF YOUR TEAM BACK TO THE CORE; IN THE MEANTIME, I WILL EXPLAIN THE MISSION BEFORE YOU. PREPARE YOURSELF, FOR IT WILL NOT BE AN EASY ONE¡­¡±


    <hr>


    1 Hour Later


    ¡°So, we¡¯re all here?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± Christean¨¦ replied, glancing around at the six other members of Hero Machina as they all stood on the platform at the center of the Core Room.


    Kev¨¦rin turned toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°And Arc¨¢n told you everything you need to know?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yep. Use the Prior State to beat the light blue Ayas out of Morcii, then use the Link Drive on him. Sounds simple enough.¡±


    ¡°Too simple, almost¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius muttered.


    ¡°INDEED, THE FULL BREADTH OF THE MISSION WILL BE¡­ SOMEWHAT MORE COMPLICATED THAN SIMPLY DEFEATING MORCII IN BATTLE,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, his hologram appearing in the center of the Platform, just above his core. ¡°THERE WILL BE MORE DANGER THAN SIMPLY FACING MORCII, AS I HAVE EXPLAINED TO MANY OF YOU ALREADY. YOU EVEN RUN THE RISK OF RELEASING THE MORIKAI THEMSELVES, AND IN THE ABSOLUTE WORST CASE SCENARIO, MAY FIND YOURSELVES IN BATTLE WITH IKIROM¡­ BUT SUCH IS NECESSARY TO PUT A STOP TO MORCII AND THE NANOCREATURES. ARE YOU ALL PREPARED FOR SUCH RISKS?¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± Kev¨¦rin replied, answering for all of Hero Machina.


    ¡°GOOD.¡± Arc¨¢n nodded again, allowing his hologram to disappear in a blue fuzz. ¡°SIYUAK¨¦N, THE ACTIVATION KEYWORDS.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± she responded, ¡°uh¡­ right. Prior State: Arc¨¢n!¡±


    An intense flash of light blinded the entirety of Hero Machina as Arc¨¢n¡¯s core disintegrated into millions of tiny particles, each of which phased through the platform and converged on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body. Her maroon waist-cloak rapidly split into strips, transforming into shades of decorative blues as silver greaves appeared over her boots and a small breastplate manifested over her chest. The exposed skin on her torso quickly disappeared behind pale blue clothing as the corruption in her face faded away, the nanites being forced through her body and out the back of her head to form a long ponytail, surpassed in length only by the pale blue cape that appeared on her shoulders. A silver headband formed over her head, a small blue flair developing in the center as Siyuak¨¦n brought her hands together and summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore ¡ª and with it, an extravagant blue and golden gauntlet on her right arm, to contrast the metallic corruption on her left. She swung the weapon through the air once, learning everything she needed to about its balance in that one swing before allowing the weapon to disappear into thin air as she turned back to face her friends.


    ¡°¡­I never thought I¡¯d actually see a transformation sequence in real life,¡± Rebehka deadpanned.


    ¡°SUCH IS ONE OF THE DEFINING TRAITS OF THE PRIOR STATE; UPON ACTIVATION, THE USER TAKES ON THE DRESS AND TERTIARY PHYSICAL TRAITS OF THE PRIOR¡¯S OLD FORM.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced at the headband on Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s head; in the middle of the blue flair was a pale blue dot that seemed to blink with each syllable uttered by the Prior. ¡°So you can still talk to us, Arc¨¢n?¡±


    ¡°INDEED,¡± the Prior responded, ¡°I CAN COMMUNICATE WITH SIYUAK¨¦N INTERNALLY, AS WELL.¡±


    ¡°It already sounds like you¡¯re in my head¡­¡± she muttered, her voice carrying a barely perceptible echo.


    ¡°REGARDLESS, IT IS TIME. DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL STATEMENTS TO MAKE BEFORE I TRANSPORT YOU ALL TO ELECAL? TRANSFER CAPTAIN?¡±


    ¡°¡­There really isn¡¯t much to say,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented as he turned to look each of the other Chaotics in the eyes. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t pretend to know what we¡¯re getting ourselves into. All this cosmic backstory stuff with the Menace and the Morikai and the Priors¡­ that doesn¡¯t matter. Not right now. Because right now, we¡¯re about to face Morcii, and we¡¯re about to stop him from releasing the Morikai back into the galaxy, and to stop him from running amok on his own as well! Our situation may not be optimal ¡ª Morcii¡¯s survived destruction before, and even if we pull this off, well, there¡¯s a chance we won¡¯t get the credit. Which sucks, but that¡¯s not why we¡¯re here, is it? We¡¯re not some ragtag team of adventurers looking for thrills and fame and fortune. We¡¯re a team of professional Chaotics, gathered together for one purpose: to investigate the Chaos Quake. Well, we¡¯ve learned what caused the Quake, and surprise, it happened because of none other than the Nanocreatures themselves! We¡¯ve worked together to get here, fighting our way through thick and thin, and while we may have been separated once ¡ª here we are, all seven of us, back together! No matter how hard Morcii tried, no matter how hard anyone tried, nothing could stop us in the end! And now, thanks to his own arrogance, we have a chance to take Morcii down, once and for all! So let¡¯s do this!¡± Kev¨¦rin pumped his fist, grinning as he pointed at the hologram of the Milky Way Galaxy below. ¡°Arc¨¢n, Hero Machina¡­


    ¡°Move out!!¡±

 80 - Final Hour

    Chapter 80 - Final Hour


    ¡°WELCOME¡­ TO ELECAL.¡±


    The seven Chaotics of Hero Machina looked about their new environment with unease. The lay of the land appeared similar to the Nimaliaka Central valley, in which a recessed plain was bordered to the north and west by mountains and cliffs. To the east sat a sea of deep blue, though from their distance, none of the Chaotics could tell if the blue was actually water¡ª


    ¡ªbecause everything glowed with a blue tint.


    The distant mountains, nearby rock deposits, the plain below the cliff on which Hero Machina stood ¡ª everything appeared to be colored with some tint or shade of blue, with no exception. The other colors of the spectrum were virtually non-existent as the environmental glow even lit up the moonless night sky as if under an eerie blue twilight.


    ¡°So this¡­¡± Kievkenalis crouched down to touch the ground tenderly, his grip on the Master Ayas tightening as a shiver ran through his body. ¡°¡­So this is Chaos Matter¡­?¡±


    ¡°INDEED,¡± Arc¨¢n responded as Siyuak¨¦n turned to survey the land below. ¡°DEPENDING ON THE CONCENTRATION OF CHAOS ENERGY, CHAOS MATTER CAN TAKE ON A RANGE OF COLORS FROM BLUE, TO PURPLE, TO RED. YOU WILL ONLY SEE SUCH COLORS AT LOWER DEPTHS HOWEVER, AS THE SURFACE OF ELECAL ONLY CONTAINS RELATIVELY LOW-CONCENTRATION CHAOS MATTER.¡±


    ¡°Low concentration?¡± Kaon¨¦ shuddered. ¡°I already feel like I might go berserk if I stop focusing¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit, is that what this pressure is?¡± Dav¨ªdrius grasped his chest painfully. ¡°¡­Gah. And we have to find an¡¯ fight Morcii in this?¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE. I COULD NOT ACHIEVE A ONE-HUNDRED-PERCENT CONFIDENCE LOCK ON MORCII¡¯S POSITION, AND WAS FORCED TO SETTLE WITH TRANSPORTING YOU TO WITHIN SOME NUMBER OF KILOMETERS OF HIS LOCATION.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hardly anything to complain about!¡± Kev¨¦rin exclaimed, ¡°you just instantly beamed us across hundreds of thousands of light years! You should be thankful that you got us this close! Hell, I would¡¯ve been pleased if you even got us in the same solar system!¡±


    ¡°Regardless, we need to find Morcii now,¡± Kievkenalis interjected as he placed the Master Ayas into a satchel strapped tightly to his chest. ¡°Arc¨¢n, do you have any idea where to look?¡±


    ¡°YOU¡¯VE NO NEED TO LOOK.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The entirety of Hero Machina jumped back as a figure suddenly appeared in the air over the edge of the cliff, having arrived at high speeds from the ground below.


    ¡°¡­MORCII,¡± Arc¨¢n responded stiffly. ¡°¡­WE MEET AGAIN.¡±


    ¡°IT HAS BEEN QUITE A WHILE, HASN¡¯T IT, ARC¨¢N?¡± The Nanocreature leader smirked as he eyed Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°I KNEW YOU WOULD COME AFTER ME. I TRULY APPRECIATE IT; YOU¡¯VE SAVED ME THE TIME IT WOULD TAKE TO GO AFTER THE MASTER AYAS MYSELF!¡±


    ¡°WHERE ARE THE OTHER AYAS?¡±


    ¡°OH? YOU¡¯RE THE ONE WHO TRACKED ME HERE TO ELECAL. SURELY YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY I¡¯M HERE, AND EXACTLY WHERE THE REST OF THE AYAS ARE?¡± A glint appeared in Morcii¡¯s eye as he raised his hands into the air. ¡°UNFORTUNATELY, I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO REACH THEM.¡±


    ¡°And we can¡¯t allow you to escape!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted, summoning the Arc¨¢n Claymore and leaping toward the Nanocreature leader as she brought the weapon down overhead. But before she could reach him, the cliff behind her exploded, launching the Chaotics of Hero Machina forward as chunks of Chaos Matter flew through the air. One such piece slammed into Siyuak¨¦n, knocking her off course and sending her tumbling to the ground below.


    Arc¨¢n barked from within Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s mind. THE GROUND QUICKLY APPROACHES!


    I know, I know! Siyuak¨¦n gritted her teeth, mentally responding as she fired a grappling hook out of her still-corrupted left arm, catching it on the nearby cliff face. She used the line to easily right herself midair before hitting the ground below with a roll, just in time to spin around and cleave an incoming boulder in half, thereby preventing it from crushing her.


    Shit¡­ She scowled as she turned her attention to the skies. Where¡¯d Morcii go¡ª?


    Her thought was cut off by the sound of a nearby growl, followed quickly by a furious roar from the other direction. She grasped the Arc¨¢n Claymore tightly as she glanced from side to side, unsure of how to proceed as two more angry howls filled the air. ¡­They all went berserk?


    THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT MORCII¡¯S INTENTION BEHIND CAUSING THE CLIFF TO EXPLODE WAS TO INDUCE THE BERSERK STATE BY AGITATING¡ª


    Yeah yeah, I know, I know! You said Kevken can help in this case, right? And that your sword can negate a berserker as well? So let¡¯s get going!


    The Electrotechnic promptly leaped forward, exposing herself just in time to take a fireball to the face. She tumbled to the ground unceremoniously before jumping back to her feet and evading a deep blue claw; the color registered in her mind as belonging to a cloak of Chaos Energy just as she issued forth an incredible electrical shock, flinging the berserk Kev¨¦rin away. She immediately flipped backwards to evade Dav¨ªdrius as he smashed his way onto the scene; landing on a large boulder, Siyuak¨¦n brandished the Arc¨¢n Claymore and prepared to launch herself at the berserkers ¡ª only to freeze in place as she laid eyes on a massive blue vortex barely a hundred meters away.


    ¡°Chaos Deflection!¡±


    Kievkenalis jumped in front of Siyuak¨¦n, surrounding the both of them with a shield of Chaos Energy just as a massive chunk of Chaos Matter smashed into their location. The shield dissipated a moment later, prompting the Chaostechnic to mutter ¡°Chaos Assist,¡± followed by ¡°Chaos Armor.¡±


    ¡°What is that¡­?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned as she warily eyed the vortex of Chaos Matter.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s Kaon¨¦.¡± Kievkenalis frowned. ¡°Berserk Materiatechnics can get nasty, fast. I¡¯ll take care of her; you get the others!¡±


    ¡°If you say so!¡± the Electrotechnic exclaimed, jumping down to the ground as Kievkenalis launched himself forward with Chaos Boost. She immediately forced a massive current into the ground around her, stunning Kev¨¦rin and Rebehka both and preventing the berserkers from attacking each other. Siyuak¨¦n quickly lunged forward with Arc¨¢n in hand, prepared to hit Rebehka, but caught sight of a burst of flame in the corner of her eye just in time to stop her advance and brace herself against the attack. Kev¨¦rin instantly appeared through the rolling flames, lashing out at Siyuak¨¦n with his claws ¡ª only for the both of them to be stopped where they stood as berserk Rebehka froze the entire area. The Cryotechnic then bounded forward, prepared to smash into Kev¨¦rin¡¯s frozen form ¡ª but Siyuak¨¦n broke free of the ice first, before reaching over and grabbing the frozen Kev¨¦rin by his wrist and hurling him at Rebehka. She immediately followed with a lightning strike, stunning the two Chaotics again as she dashed after them.


    ¡°Chaos Teleport!¡±


    Kievkenalis teleported back up to the remains of the destroyed cliff and took a moment to observe the battlefield before him ¡ª the battlefield that filled primarily with an ever-growing maelstrom of Chaos Matter, at the center of which stood the berserk Materiatechnic. ¡°¡­Well, here goes,¡± the Chaostechnic muttered to himself, ¡°Chaos¡­ Time!¡±


    The environment around him instantly came to a stop, the former blur of Chaos Matter resolving into the individual pieces of glowing blue stones. Kievkenalis observed the scene for a moment, nodding in self-approval before muttering ¡°Chaos Teleport¡± again, bringing himself to Kaon¨¦¡¯s side. He immediately followed with ¡°Chaos Siphon,¡± holding his hands toward Kaon¨¦ as the Chaos Energy from her thick berserker veil began flowing into him. After several seconds, he turned away, disgorging the absorbed Chaos Energy through the use of Chaos Beam before turning back to Kaon¨¦ and re-initiating Chaos Siphon. ¡°¡­This seems too easy¡­¡± He frowned with unease. ¡°¡­Chaos Beam! Chaos Siphon¡­ ¡­can Time really make things this easy?¡­¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The Chaostechnic continued to string together Chaos Beam and Siphon in an attempt to negate Kaon¨¦¡¯s Berserk State, but after nearly six chains of the two Chaos abilities with no change in the density of Kaon¨¦¡¯s Chaos Energy veil, he finally realized what he might be missing.


    ¡°Chaos Energy Detect¡ªuaagh!!¡± Kievkenalis immediately recoiled, clamping his hands over his eyes in an attempt to cut off the sensory overload as the incredible amounts of Chaos Energy in the area colored his vision a solid blue, masking everything around him. Only several seconds later did his vision begin to return to normal, but he had learned everything he needed in that first moment.


    ¡°There¡¯s too much energy in the environment for Siphon to be effective¡­¡± He scowled. ¡°¡­I guess all I can do is help Siyuak¨¦n, then. Some help Time was¡­¡± He glanced toward Kaon¨¦, still frozen in time, and then uttered, ¡°Chaos Targeted Nullify. That should at least stop the matter storm for a while¡­ mm. Chaos Teleport.¡± He teleported to the cliff edge again, temporarily removing himself from the battlefield before finally calling out ¡°Chaos Time!¡±


    Across the battlefield, Siyuak¨¦n lunged toward Kev¨¦rin, unaware that time had been paused for several minutes. Allowing the Arc¨¢n Claymore to clamber to the ground, she deftly wove between the flames and frozen spikes flying through the air as she quickly approached Rebehka. The moment she closed within five meters she threw herself to the side just as the berserk Cryotechnic froze the entire area in front of her, including Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius, who had just appeared on the scene. Siyuak¨¦n seized the opening to lunge forward, covering three of the four meters in between her and Rebehka ¡ª and summoned Arc¨¢n to swing overhead, using the blade to cover the last meter and slash through the veil of Chaos Energy surrounding the berserker ¡ª yet mysteriously leaving Rebehka¡¯s body unharmed. The Cryotechnic immediately collapsed, unconscious, as the Chaos Energy surrounding her disappeared into Arc¨¢n¡¯s blade.


    SUBSPATIALLY STORE HER TO KEEP HER SAFE UNTIL ALL OF THE BERSERKERS HAVE BEEN NEGATED!


    Got it! Siyuak¨¦n acknowledged, stabbing the Claymore into Rebehka and watching her disappear into a blue mist. She then turned back toward Kev¨¦rin ¡ª only to take a massive blow to the stomach as Christean¨¦ barreled onto the scene. Tumbling along the ground for several meters, she was barely able to recover and jump to her feet in time to throw herself to the side and evade Christean¨¦¡¯s next punch. The berserker¡¯s fist continued through the air and slammed into the ground, instantly creating a ten-meter crater and launching Siyuak¨¦n into the air. She quickly countered with a series of lightning strikes and then fired her grappling hook at the cliff side, yanking herself away in time to evade a volley of fireballs. The flames hit Christean¨¦ instead, drawing the berserker¡¯s attention to their source as he charged toward Kev¨¦rin, bowling through stone debris as if it were no stronger than sand.


    ¡°Chaos Control!¡±


    Christean¨¦ and Kev¨¦rin both froze in place, trembling as they struggled against Kievkenalis¡¯s control. Siyuak¨¦n immediately lunged toward the two berserkers, but only managed to negate Christean¨¦¡¯s Berserk State before Dav¨ªdrius slammed into Kev¨¦rin, knocking the both of them into the Electrotechnic.


    THEY¡¯VE COME TO YOU. NEGATE THEM!


    I know already! Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she emitted a powerful electrical blast, knocking both Kev¨¦rin and Dav¨ªdrius backwards. She quickly followed by summoning Arc¨¢n and bringing it down over Kev¨¦rin¡¯s head, but Dav¨ªdrius slammed her wrists to the ground with an overhead kick. The Claymore spun out of her hands and through the air, lodging itself into a boulder some distance away ¡ª but Siyuak¨¦n instantly summoned it back, slicing upwards through the berserk Velocitechnic just before he could dash off again. She quickly Subspatially stored the negated berserker and then threw Arc¨¢n at Christean¨¦ to store him as well ¡ª and then summoned the Claymore back mere moments before Kev¨¦rin launched another volley of fireballs, enabling her to block the incoming barrage and then lunge forward to close the distance between herself and the berserk Pyrotechnic. However the air around her suddenly spiked in temperature, forcing her to draw back as a tornado of flames appeared around Kev¨¦rin. The berserker let loose a guttural roar as the tornado began to rapidly increase in diameter, consuming the terrain all around him in searing flames¡ª


    ¡°Chaos Targeted Nullify!¡±


    The flames instantly disappeared and the air quickly cooled, but before Siyuak¨¦n could close the distance between herself and Kev¨¦rin, Kievkenalis appeared beside the berserker with a massive scythe in hand and sliced through him, tearing off his veil of Chaos Energy. A second swipe had the Pyrotechnic stored safely in Subspace.


    ¡°¡­What the? Where¡¯d you get the Scythe?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned as she approached the Chaostechnic.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Syn Weapon,¡± he replied, and then patted the satchel strapped to his chest. ¡°I just remembered that I have the Master Ayas on me, so I can use it¡ª¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n interrupted Kievkenalis by shoving him to the side and thrusting the Arc¨¢n Claymore forward just in time to deflect a massive incoming chunk of Chaos Matter. She immediately covered the entire battlefield in front of her with lightning strike upon lightning strike, attempting to locate Kaon¨¦ as the berserk Materiatechnic continued to launch boulders and Chaos Matter at the two Chaotics.


    ¡°Chaos Armor!¡± Kievkenalis quickly called out mere moments before being flung backwards by another chunk of Chaos Matter. He scrambled back to his feet and stared into the distance as he attempted to locate Kaon¨¦ as well. ¡°¡­Chaos Time,¡± he eventually muttered, freezing the environment around him, at which point he teleported back up to the cliff. He quickly searched the frozen terrain below and, upon finding the berserk Materiatechnic, teleported to her. ¡°Chaos Time,¡± he muttered again, and then brought the Syn Scythe down over Kaon¨¦¡¯s head before she had a chance to react, completely removing her Chaos Energy veil and negating her Berserk State.


    ¡°¡ªOh.¡± Siyuak¨¦n stumbled to a stop just in front of Kaon¨¦¡¯s unconscious form and glanced at Kievkenalis. ¡°How did you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I can stop time.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, Chaos Time¡­ right.¡± She exhaled warily and then swung Arc¨¢n through the air, releasing the four other Chaotics of Hero Machina from Subspace onto the ground beside her. She dismissed the Claymore as she eyed the five unconscious Chaotics. ¡°¡­Well, that was one hell of an arrival.¡±


    ¡°I WARNED YOU OF THE DANGERS OF CHAOS MATTER BEFORE COMING HERE,¡± Arc¨¢n declared.


    ¡°You never said it could make us instantly go berserk,¡± Kievkenalis countered.


    ¡°I ALSO BELIEVED YOU PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE SITUATION QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY. IS THAT NOT WHAT YOU DID?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n and Kievkenalis exchanged annoyed glances.


    Eventually, the Electrotechnic shrugged. ¡°Well, you have to admit, your ability to stop time made the whole thing kind of trivial.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± Kievkenalis frowned, glancing toward the other Chaotics of Hero Machina as they began coming to. ¡°But this feels too easy¡­ is this all there is to beating Morcii?¡±


    ¡°UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS NOT. CHAOS TIME WILL FREEZE ANY NORMAL NANOCREATURE UNIT, BUT MORCII HIMSELF WILL BE IMMUNE TO ITS EFFECTS.¡±


    ¡°I knew it was too convenient.¡±


    ¡°How can he be immune to stopping time?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned incredulously.


    ¡°Who¡¯s immune to what now¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered as she climbed to her feet.


    ¡°¡­Dammit,¡± Dav¨ªdrius grumbled, ¡°I went berserk again¡­¡±


    ¡°THERE IS LITTLE TIME TO EXPLAIN SUCH NUANCES. MORCII WAS SIMPLY STALLING FOR TIME BY DRIVING YOU ALL BERSERK; THIS MUCH IS EVIDENT BY THE FACT THAT HE DID NOT REMAIN TO OBSERVE THE OUTCOME. WE MUST GIVE CHASE POSTHASTE; I CAN GUIDE YOU TO THE LOCATION OF THE MORIKAI SEAL.¡±


    Christean¨¦ snorted. ¡°What, so Morcii can drive us all berserk again?¡±


    ¡°Christean¨¦¡¯s right,¡± Kev¨¦rin declared. ¡°How can we stop this from happening again? Especially if we have to cross entire fields of Chaos Matter to even reach Morcii¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU NOW KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT, AND SHOULD THUS BE ABLE TO OFFER MORE RESISTANCE AGAINST THE BERSERK STATE. ADDITIONALLY, THE INDIVIDUAL HOLDING THE MASTER AYAS WILL HAVE HIGHER BERSERK RESISTANCE THAN NORMAL.¡±


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s it, then,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked, ¡°that¡¯s how we can catch up with Morcii without havin¡¯ to worry about goin¡¯ berserk!¡±


    ¡°PLEASE EXPLAIN.¡±


    ¡°And quickly,¡± Kev¨¦rin urged.


    ¡°I can run faster than any of y¡¯all, so give me the Ayas and I¡¯ll Subspatially store the lot of you. Then you don¡¯t have to worry about goin¡¯ berserk ¡®til we reach Morcii! It¡¯s the fastest way to reach him, too!¡±


    ¡°A FAIR PLAN, BUT THERE ARE TWO ISSUES: THE MASTER AYAS ONLY OFFERS RESISTANCE AGAINST THE BERSERK STATE, NOT IMMUNITY. ADDITIONALLY, SIYUAK¨¦N CANNOT BE SUBSPATIALLY STORED, AS SHE IS IN THE PRIOR STATE.¡±


    ¡°¡­Eh, she¡¯s not wearin¡¯ armor.¡± The Velocitechnic glanced toward the Electrotechnic as he inspected her robing. ¡°I can carry her.¡±


    ¡°And as far as going berserk, you can switch out with someone else if you feel that you¡¯re about to go berserk,¡± Siyuak¨¦n suggested. ¡°I¡¯ll still only ever have to worry about one of you at a time, and two people can move faster than seven.¡±


    ¡°Especially if one of those people is me,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied with a smirk.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Kev¨¦rin clapped his hands in satisfaction. ¡°Perfect, we have a plan¡ª¡±


    A sudden flash of pale blue light momentarily obscured the vision of all seven Chaotics before fading away.


    ¡°What the¡ª?!¡± Christean¨¦ winced as he held his hands to his ears. ¡°My ears are ringing...!¡±


    ¡°The hell was that?!¡± Kev¨¦rin snapped his attention toward Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s headband.


    ¡°¡­MORCII MUST BE BEGINNING THE PROCESS OF UNDOING THE MORIKAI SEAL. THAT LIGHT WAS AN INDICATION THAT HE HAS LOCKED ONE OF THE AYAS INTO PLACE.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ve gotta get goin¡¯, now!¡± Dav¨ªdrius turned toward Kievkenalis, catching the Master Ayas after the Chaostechnic tossed it his way. He immediately summoned the Syn Scythe and slashed the other five Chaotics, storing each of them in Subspace. ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± He gestured toward Siyuak¨¦n, dismissing the Scythe as she jumped on his back. He took a moment to shift his balance before questioning, ¡°okay, where to?¡±


    ¡°HEAD EAST AND LOOK FOR A CAVE ENTRANCE. MORE OBSTACLES WILL PRESENT THEMSELVES ONCE YOU ENTER THE CAVERNS, BUT THE PATH SHOULD BE CLEAR.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± Dav¨ªdrius crouched down and then took off at Mach speeds. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

 81 - Final Rush

    Chapter 81 - Final Rush


    ¡°Overdrive: Speed Break!!¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius blasted forward, easily breaking Mach 10 as he dashed and leaped across the terrain underfoot. Siyuak¨¦n tightened her grip on him and clamped her eyes shut in unease as the Velocitechnic covered over two kilometers of ground per second, seeking out the cavern entrance that Arc¨¢n had mentioned. Within half a minute he laid eyes on a hole in a hillside ¡ª and standing guard were no less than three behemoth Nanocreatures, each a hundred meters longs and similar in appearance to the base-wrecker that had appeared on Neticen. But the Velocitechnic remained undeterred ¡ª closing to within a kilometer of the beasts, he leaped into the air and twisted around to thrust his foot forward, using his incredible speed to tear through one of the Nanocreature beasts and obliterate it with sheer kinetic energy. He hit the ground running, not even bothering to attack the remaining two behemoths as he slowed to a more manageable Mach five and entered the caverns.


    The only light to be found within the caves was the dim ever-present glow of Chaos Matter, but it still provided enough light for Dav¨ªdrius to see and react to incoming obstacles. Darting around corners and dashing through corridors, he covered more ground in mere seconds than any of the other members of Hero Machina could have covered in half an hour, all while retaining a tight grasp on Siyuak¨¦n. Then, just as he rounded another corner ¡ª he and Siyuak¨¦n both were blinded by an intense flash of dark green light.


    ¡°Gah!¡± Dav¨ªdrius clamped his eyes shut reflexively, slamming his feet into the ground to slow himself to a stop ¡ª only to feel the ground suddenly disappear from under him. He immediately snapped his eyes open and found that he had careened off an edge¡­ and that there was nothing but darkness below. ¡°What the¡­ what in the¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Hang on!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted, directing her attention up at the ceiling as she reached toward it with her left arm and fired her grappling hook. A second later it caught against the stone walls, transferring the Chaotics¡¯ downward momentum into a forward swing. The Electrotechnic released the hook at the apex of the swing and fired it forward again, allowing her to sail through the air while Dav¨ªdrius clung to her torso.


    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± The Velocitechnic scowled as he glanced down uneasily. ¡°Where¡¯d the fuckin¡¯ ground go?!¡±


    ¡°What, you scared?¡±


    ¡°Look, I ain¡¯t scared of heights, but not bein¡¯ able to see the ground is just fuckin¡¯ ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°Oh, relax¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n fired her grappling hook again, but stopped mid-sentence when another flash of light ¡ª this time pinkish red ¡ª filled her vision. The distraction lasted for only a second, but it still delayed the Electrotechnic¡¯s realization that her hook failed to catch on anything. She then snapped her attention upwards ¡ª only to see that the ceiling had disappeared as well.


    ¡°The fuck¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°QUICK, THE MATERIATECHNIC!¡±


    ¡°Uh, uh, right!¡± Dav¨ªdrius responded quickly, summoning the Syn Scythe as he and Siyuak¨¦n began to fall. He slashed through the air, releasing Kaon¨¦ from Subspace.


    ¡°What¡ª? Where¡­?¡± she questioned, looking about uneasily.


    ¡°Your turn!¡± Dav¨ªdrius interrupted, tossing her the Master Ayas as the three Chaotics began to enter free fall. Kaon¨¦ reached out to catch it, missed, and then crafted a platform midair to catch both the Ayas and the three Chaotics. She tossed the Ayas to herself with a small springboard before summoning the Syn Scythe and Subspatially storing Dav¨ªdrius.


    ¡°FORWARD, TO THE DISTANT LIGHT!¡±


    ¡°To the what?¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n.


    ¡°Over there.¡± The Electrotechnic pointed into the distance toward a tiny light in the darkness. ¡°¡­I think that¡¯s where we need to go. It¡¯s in the same direction we were heading, anyways.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ nodded as she began moving the platform through the air. Siyuak¨¦n fired her grappling hook down at the platform to secure herself and began slowly inspecting the abyss below, wary of any further threats.


    Shiiiiin¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C


    ¡°That ringing again¡ª!¡± Kaon¨¦ winced as a bright flash of white light briefly filled her vision.


    ¡°THAT IS THE FOURTH AYAS TO BE LOCKED,¡± Arc¨¢n declared. ¡°EVEN IF MORCII DOES NOT POSSESS THE MASTER AYAS, EIGHT LOCKED AYAS CAN STILL BE A THREAT. WE MUST HURRY¡ª¡±


    The moment before Arc¨¢n could finish his sentence, the platform exploded upwards, flinging the two Chaotics aside as a massive dragon not unlike the beast found on Sunova smashed its way through the air. Siyuak¨¦n immediately latched on to the metallic beast with her grappling hook as Kaon¨¦ created another platform to catch herself, struggling to shield herself against the many sharp projectiles the dragon was launching from its tail and back. The Materiatechnic attempted to catch each flechette, but stumbled as she began to feel an increasing pressure from the Chaos Energy around her, resulting in several of the metallic darts scoring near hits. Spotting this in the corner of her eye, Siyuak¨¦n quickly reeled in her grappling tether and then released the hook the moment she reached it, using her momentum to catapult herself through the air and toward Kaon¨¦. The dragon responded with a roar as it turned back toward the Chaotics, but the Electrotechnic simply shocked it with an incredibly powerful lightning strike before turning her attention back to Kaon¨¦ ¡ª and slashing her with the Arc¨¢n Claymore mere moments after she went berserk.


    ¡°Damn it!¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled as they both began to fall into the abyss, with Kaon¨¦ unconscious despite her exceedingly short berserk episode. Desperate to reach the distant light in the wall ¡ª which she took to be an opening to another cave ¡ª the Electrotechnic haphazardly latched onto Kaon¨¦¡¯s clothes with her grappling hook, yanked the Materiatechnic toward herself, and grabbed the Master Ayas. She summoned the Syn Scythe, Subspatially stored Kaon¨¦, and then released Rebehka ¡ª who quickly assessed the situation and promptly created a platform of ice.


    ¡°Take this, and go that way!¡± Siyuak¨¦n tossed the Master Ayas to the Cryotechnic and pointed toward the light in the distant wall. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this dragon!¡±


    ¡°What dragon¡ª?¡± Rebehka began to ask, but froze as the beast¡¯s roar reached her, followed by dozens of flechettes that Siyuak¨¦n managed to deflect with an intense electric field.


    ¡°That dragon!¡± the Electrotechnic retorted, ¡°Now go!¡±


    ¡°Going! Brace yourself!¡± Rebehka shouted back as she crouched down and then jerked the ice platform up and at an angle to launch both herself and Siyuak¨¦n through the air. She then created a massive shield of ice to block the dragon¡¯s next several projectiles and distracted it just long enough for the two Chaotics to come tumbling to a stop at the lip of the cave in the cavern wall. The two quickly climbed back to their feet, with Rebehka stumbling down the tunnel as Siyuak¨¦n triggered a cave-in at the entrance with a blast of lightning. She winced as a flash of blackness suddenly filled her vision, prompting her to turn back to Rebehka as she questioned irately, ¡°hey Arc¨¢n, I thought you said the Nanocreatures wouldn¡¯t attack us!¡±


    ¡°NOT IF LEFT ON THEIR OWN, BUT IF MORCII IMPARTS ANY LEVEL OF DIRECT CONTROL, THEN HE CAN FORCE THEM TO RECOGNIZE YOU AS FOES.¡±


    ¡°That would¡¯ve been nice to know sooner¡ª!¡± Rebehka began, but was interrupted as the cave behind them exploded forward, launching the two Chaotics into a large cavern at the other end of the tunnel where they fell several meters and then tumbled to a stop. They glanced up at the cave as the dragon¡¯s snout peeked through, as though the beast were struggling to slip through the opening and give chase.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­!¡±


    ¡°Huh? ¡­Oh.¡± The Electrotechnic glanced toward Rebehka and then where she was looking ¡ª at a veritable army of Nanocreature units in front of them. ¡°¡­Ha. We can totally take this!¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ but I¡¯m¡­ about to go berserk.¡± The Cryotechnic closed an eye as every muscle in her body tensed in an effort to maintain control. ¡°¡­Sorry!¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded coolly as Rebehka summoned Syn and slashed through the air, releasing Kev¨¦rin from Subspace. The Pyrotechnic immediately turned toward Rebehka as she handed him the Ayas; he promptly used the Scythe to return her to Subspace before glancing over at the Nanocreature army.


    ¡°¡­You guys had trouble with this?¡± he responded incredulously.


    ¡°Oh shut up,¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted as she began walking forward, casually blasting the Nanocreature units left and right with electricity.


    ¡°Overdrive: Unrelenting Flame,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered and then joined in the assault as he bathed entire swathes of the cavern in flames and fused Nanocreatures to the floor. As the two continued forward, he glanced up at the cavern ceiling and walls. ¡°¡­They¡¯re¡­ reddish-purple? Not blue?¡±


    ¡°WE ARE PROGRESSING INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE PLANET¡¯S CRUST. THE DENSITY OF CHAOS ENERGY AND CHAOS MATTER IS INCREASING.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin winced as a flash of dark red light filled his vision. ¡°I can really tell¡­¡±


    ¡°Kev¨¦rin¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered warningly as she glanced back at the Pyrotechnic, ¡°if you¡¯re about to go berserk¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha, I can last longer than this,¡± he declared as the two finally reached the other end of the cavern. ¡°It¡¯ll take more than just a bunch of Nanocreatures to make me go berserk¡ª!¡±


    An explosion of stone and Chaos Matter from the other side of the cavern drew the Chaotics¡¯ attention just in time to see the metallic dragon tear down the entire cavern wall and lunge forward. Siyuak¨¦n immediately drew in the destroyed Nanocreature units littered around the cavern with electric fields, fusing them together and then launching them at incredible speeds in an attempt to slow the beast¡¯s approach. Head, feet, shoulders, even its chest ¡ª she pierced them all, but still it charged forward, closing to within fifty meters. Kev¨¦rin then jumped forward and sent a wave of fire across the cavern floor, incinerating the destroyed Nanocreature units and burning the dragon¡¯s feet to a crisp ¡ª only for it to take to the air as a pair of arms exploded out from its neck and grabbed the two Chaotics. Each of them quickly broke free with incredible blasts of elemental power, sending them tumbling to the ground as the dragon lifted higher into the air.


    ¡°Ungh¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin groaned, unable to climb back to his feet as he was forced to focus on preventing himself from going berserk. Siyuak¨¦n wordlessly stepped forward to cover him, blasting the dragon with lightning and redirecting its attacks with electric fields as the Pyrotechnic finally calmed down, summoned the Syn Scythe, and released Christean¨¦ from Subspace. The Forcetechnic took only a moment to observe the situation before grabbing the Master Ayas from Kev¨¦rin and subsequently storing him; he then dismissed the Scythe and slammed his fists into the ground, shattering the stone for meters around and freeing several chunks of Chaos Matter that he rapidly began lobbing at the corrupted beast. It deftly dodged the pieces of debris as it launched volley after volley of flechettes at the Chaotics, with Siyuak¨¦n easily deflecting them all. After several moments of this standoff, the dragon withdrew its arms into its body and let loose a massive roar before turning back to the Chaotics and opening its mouth wide. Sensing a build-up in energy, Siyuak¨¦n immediately drew in the masses of discarded flechettes, fusing them together into one large sheet of metal and inserting the sheet directly between the dragon and herself just as it fired a laser from its mouth. The shield immediately blew into dozens of pieces that rained down on the two Chaotics, who instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces; Christean¨¦ quickly withdrew his arms just in time to see the beast diving toward him. He immediately drew back his fist and then threw it upwards, obliterating the beast¡¯s jaw and upper neck. Stunned, the metallic creature crashed to the ground to the side of the Forcetechnic; he immediately seized the opportunity to grab the beast¡¯s tail, yanking on it once to confirm his grip before whirling the dragon around his body and then launching it at the nearby wall. At the very moment of impact a flash of pale green obscured the Chaotics¡¯ vision ¡ª and once it faded away, the dragon was nowhere to be seen or heard, while a dark red cave had opened up in the cavern wall.


    ¡°¡­Where¡¯d it go?¡± Siyuak¨¦n questioned warily as she and Christean¨¦ cautiously approached the new cave.


    ¡°SPACETIME SHIFTING. EACH TIME AN AYAS IS LOCKED INTO PLACE, THE SURROUNDING SPACETIME IS SHIFTED CLOSER TO THE STATE IT WAS IN WHEN THE SEAL WAS ACTIVATED. THIS IS LIKELY WHAT PRODUCED THE SEEMINGLY BOTTOMLESS AND CEILING-LESS PIT YOU ENCOUNTERED EARLIER.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±


    ¡°Things stopped making sense a long time ago¡­¡± Christean¨¦ scowled as he took a shallow breath and clutched at his chest painfully. ¡°¡­Fuck. There¡¯s so much Chaos Energy¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Get Kevken,¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered as she warily glanced between the Forcetechnic and the red cave. ¡°I have a feeling that caution is more important than speed at this point¡­¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ I agree with you there.¡± Christean¨¦ smirked as he summoned the Syn Scythe and released Kievkenalis. He then tossed the Master Ayas to the Chaostechnic. ¡°Take it from here. Be careful.¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure¡­?¡± Kievkenalis responded uneasily, but nonetheless used the Scythe to Subspatially store the Forcetechnic. He then turned toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°We need to get going,¡± she responded as she approached the cave again and gestured for Kievkenalis to follow. ¡°I think we¡¯ve almost reached Morcii¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The Chaostechnic glanced toward the cave and shuddered. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ so much Chaos¡ª?!¡± He froze as the mere utterance of the word sent a small wake through the air, knocking Siyuak¨¦n off her feet and cracking the nearby walls.


    ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± she muttered, quickly jumping back to her feet and turning toward Kievkenalis.


    ¡°I, I didn¡¯t mean¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I DID NOT LIE WHEN I SAID THAT CHAOS ENERGY WOULD BE INCREDIBLY DENSE. HOWEVER, I DID NOT THINK THAT IT WOULD BE QUITE SO DENSE THAT SUCH MINOR MANIPULATIONS WOULD HAVE PHYSICAL EFFECTS¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s so much Energy, I feel like I¡¯m underwater¡­¡± Kievkenalis muttered, ¡°¡­how is it possible to have this much Energy in one place?¡±


    ¡°THAT IS A QUESTION BEST SAVED FOR LATER. YOU WERE CORRECT; YOU ARE ALMOST UPON MORCII. BUT THAT IS NO REASON TO DAWDLE.¡±


    ¡°¡­He¡¯s right.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded as she spun around on her heel and launched into a sprint. ¡°Come on! We don¡¯t have any time to waste!¡±


    ¡°Uh, right!¡± Kievkenalis responded hastily as he quickly followed. The two Chaotics proceeded through the dark tunnel, Siyuak¨¦n using electricity and the Arc¨¢n Claymore to light the way as they took turn after turn, descending even further into the caves. Kievkenalis eyed the deep red stone around him as they dashed by; instead of the wonder he had felt upon seeing the vast fields of blue Chaos Matter on the surface of Elecal, the red matter he faced now instilled only a sense of foreboding.


    ¡°I see¡­ light¡­¡±


    The Chaostechnic glanced past Siyuak¨¦n, toward the end of the tunnel. The two Chaotics rapidly approached, slowing to a fast walk as they exited the cave into a massive cavern. Every last inch of the walls, ground, and ceiling glowed a deep red color, providing enough light to see without aid. A large, flat area in front of the Chaotics led into a peculiarly well-preserved set of stone stairs that wound back and forth and then further back into the cavern, ending at a massive platform over fifty meters in the air. The platform extended almost to either side of the cavern and all the way to the back; it was too high for either Chaotic to see what was on it, except for the presence of several tall pillars that reached almost as high as the cavern ceiling itself.


    ¡°WE HAVE ARRIVED,¡± Arc¨¢n declared. ¡°THE MORIKAI SEAL LIES ON THAT VERY PLATFORM.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s where Morcii is¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered grimly as she gripped the Claymore tightly, wincing as one more flash of light ¡ª this one dark blue ¡ª temporarily obscured her vision.


    ¡°THAT WAS THE EIGHTH. MORCII HAS NOW LOCKED ALL OF THE AYAS INTO PLACE¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course he has,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded warily. She then glanced back at Kievkenalis. ¡°¡­Release everyone else.¡±


    The Chaostechnic nodded as he summoned the Syn Scythe and swung it through the air, spawning five clouds of blue mist that quickly resolved into the remaining members of Hero Machina. ¡°Chaos Negation,¡± he immediately declared; the effect lasted for no longer than a fraction of a second due to the incredible density of Chaos Energy, but it was just enough to clear the Chaos Energy reserves of the other Chaotics and thus give them more time before going Berserk.


    ¡°¡­I take it this is our stop,¡± Christean¨¦ commented tensely after taking in the environment around him.


    ¡°INDEED IT IS.¡±


    The Chaotics of Hero Machina reflexively backed into battle stances as the ground far in front of them exploded from impact. The dust cloud rapidly faded, revealing the form of the Nanocreature leader as he glared haughtily at his opponents.


    ¡°I DO APPRECIATE YOU MAKING IT THIS FAR,¡± he continued, the corners of his mouth raising into a dangerous grin. ¡°BUT YOU ARE TOO LATE. THE MORIKAI WILL BE RELEASED¡­ WHETHER YOU LIVE TO SEE IT, OR NOT.¡±

 82 - Final Threat

    Chapter 82 - Final Threat


    ¡°THE MORIKAI WILL BE RELEASED¡­ WHETHER YOU LIVE TO SEE IT, OR NOT¡ª¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n interrupted Morcii with a powerful lightning strike, knocking the Nanocreature leader back several meters. The rest of Hero Machina quickly spread out, with Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ moving to close the distance between themselves and Morcii, only for the Nanocreature leader to jump back to his feet and lunge forward fast enough to blast past the two Chaotics. Kaon¨¦ instantly stopped his approach by spontaneously lifting a pillar of matter from below, slamming Morcii¡¯s chest and launching him skyward.


    ¡°Everyone, get back!¡± Kievkenalis exclaimed, jumping back as he raised his right hand toward the Nanocreature leader. ¡°Cha¡­os¡­!¡± Each uttered syllable issued forth a shockwave powerful enough to shatter the ground beneath his feet, each subsequent shockwave more devastating than the last as the Chaostechnic continued, ¡°Mach¡­ Five¡­ Cannon!¡±


    The force of firing the projectile slammed Kievkenalis into the ground as it instantly tore into Morcii, completely obliterating his body as his constituent metallic parts spread out and fluttered to the ground.


    ¡°¡­That did it?¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned, frozen in shock.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°he¡¯s still around here somewhere¡ª!¡±


    The very moment the Pyrotechnic completed his thought, the ground underneath Kievkenalis exploded upward as Morcii appeared, snatched the Master Ayas from the Chaostechnic before he could react, and took to the air.


    ¡°The Ayas¡ª!?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! After him!!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted as he gave chase to the Nanocreature leader who had fled to the cavern¡¯s higher platform. He, Rebehka, and Kaon¨¦ all flew through the air while the other four Chaotics rushed up the steps, each of them pausing at the platform¡¯s edge to take in the sight before them: a massive arena, nearly a half kilometer wide and a whole kilometer long, with thirteen wide, blood-red pillars forming an oval around the platform¡¯s center. At the top of the right-most four pillars were the four Light Ayas, at the top of the left-most four pillars were the four Dark Ayas, and at the top of the tallest pillar, the one located farthest back from the steps, was¡­


    ¡°Morcii!!¡± Dav¨ªdrius roared as he crouched down and then leaped high into the air, prepared to slam his feet into the Nanocreature leader ¡ª only to be blinded by a bright flash of silver light, causing him to miss completely and slam into the far wall instead.


    ¡°HA¡­ AH HA HA HA. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!¡± Morcii released a maniacal guffaw as he stood atop the tallest pillar, the Master Ayas hovering in place behind him. The pillar was too tall for any of the Chaotics to make out Morcii¡¯s expression, but they could feel his haughty glare nonetheless.


    ¡°Sh¡­shit¡­!¡± Kev¨¦rin scowled, his entire body tense as he realized the situation. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s all the Ayas¡­!¡±


    ¡°INDEED!¡± Morcii replied, a malicious grin spreading across his face as he slowly lowered to the ground across the platform from Hero Machina. ¡°FINALLY¡­ AFTER A HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS¡­ THE MORIKAI WILL REIGN ONCE AGAIN. MY GOAL HAS BEEN ACHIEVED ¡ª ALL THANKS TO YOU!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted back, charging forward and releasing several lightning bolts toward the Nanocreature leader as she brought the Arc¨¢n Claymore overhead and prepared to slash him. At the same moment, Dav¨ªdrius dashed up from behind and prepared to deal a fearsome kick to the Nanocreature, forcing him to take at least one of the two blows¡­ except Morcii simply disappeared, the nanomachines constructing his body dissipating into the air.


    ¡°YOU ARE TOO LATE,¡± Morcii retorted, his body reforming in the very center of the oval formed by the red columns. Before any of Hero Machina could react, he raised his arms into the air, shouting, ¡°CHAOS: RELEASE!¡±


    Each of the nine pillars hosting the Ayas immediately turned pure white, emitting columns of light that reached up to the cavern ceiling. A thirteen-point circle appeared on the ground around Morcii, lighting up a brilliant blue as the Nanocreature leader jumped back, allowing a series of energy blasts to strike the center circle as hurricane-force winds picked up in the cavern, causing the Chaotics of Hero Machina to reflexively shield their faces. Then, as the energy strikes continued to grow in brightness and ferocity, a form began to manifest in the circle¡¯s center, starting with a right leg¡ª


    ¡ªthen two strikes later, a left forearm¡ª


    ¡ªfive strikes later, a torso¡ª


    ¡ªthree strikes later, two hands and feet¡ª


    ¡ªsix strikes later, the remainder of the legs and arms¡ª


    ¡ªtwo strikes later, a set of extravagant armor swathed in black, silver, and gold robing¡ª


    ¡ªand four strikes later¡­ a head.


    A brown head with dozens of backward-facing hair-like spikes, similar to that of the Drakkars ¡ª yet with a sharp nose, pursed lips, and black eyes. The figure possessed the skin tone, stature, and apparent physical frailty of the Drakkars, yet it also possessed the bodily and facial structure of an Aldredanoid, with a two and a half meter height and a pair of five-fingered, two-thumbed hands that resembled neither.


    ¡°¡­IKIROM¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Ikirom¡­?¡± Rebehka echoed quietly in response to Arc¨¢n¡¯s utterance, ¡°¡­then¡­ the Morikai have really¡­!¡±


    ¡°No¡­ something¡¯s wrong¡­¡± Kev¨¦rin narrowed his eyes as he watched Morcii approach the new figure and kneel. ¡°There¡¯s only one of them¡­ Morcii sounded like he wanted to free the whole race, so why only one¡ª?!¡± The Pyrotechnic clamped his mouth shut and froze in place as the recently formed figure began to move, slowly shifting his gaze to fall on the five Chaotics of Hero Machina who remained by the platform edge. Silence befell the entire cavern for several moments, with no one moving so much as a millimeter until Morcii finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°MASTER IKIROM, SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE MORIKAI¡­ WELCOME BACK TO THE PHYSICAL REALM.¡±


    Ikirom narrowed his eyes into a frightful glare, his gaze remaining on the Nimalians as he addressed Morcii, ¡°a hundred thousand years it has been, Morcii. And this¡­ this is all you can manage?¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE, MASTER. THE ALDREDAS¡¯ MEDDLING HAS EVEN EXTENDED INTO THE CURRENT AGE; THIS IS ALL I COULD ACCOMPLISH FOR NOW.¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± the Morikai snorted, his arms crossed behind his back. He eventually turned away from the Chaotics to look up at the Ayas upon the cavern pillars; Dav¨ªdrius and Siyuak¨¦n seized the opportunity to attack, lunging forward from their position behind Morcii and Ikirom. The Nanocreature leader quickly jumped to his feet and whipped around, prepared to counter their attacks, only for the two Chaotics to be suddenly yanked into the air by an invisible force and thrown forward, hitting the ground hard and tumbling to a stop just in front of the rest of Hero Machina.


    ¡°¡­Surely you jest,¡± Ikirom retorted, having moved nary a muscle. He swept his eyes across the Chaotics once more before addressing Morcii again, ¡°I count merely two Chaotics who could have possibly given you trouble, one of which is hampered by her aversion to violence, and the other has only recently reached his full potential. Yet you¡¯ve allowed them to reach this far? To last this long?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°He¡­ he knew our types without even seeing us in action¡­?¡± Kaon¨¦ faltered.


    ¡°He knew we were comin¡¯ without even lookin¡¯!¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled as he climbed to his feet and kept a safe distance from the Morikai Commander. ¡°And then he flung us across the platform without even movin¡¯!¡±


    ¡°THAT IS BUT A FRACTION OF IKIROM¡¯S POWER¡­¡± Arc¨¢n responded tensely, ¡°THAT¡­ IS A REALITECHNIC¡¯S POWER.¡±


    ¡°¡­I APOLOGIZE,¡± Morcii commented, ignoring the stunned Chaotics as he replied to Ikirom, ¡°I MAY HAVE¡­ GOTTEN CARRIED AWAY WITH MY ACTIONS. THE URGE TO PLAY WITH THIS INFERIOR AGE IS DIFFICULT TO QUELL.¡±


    ¡°Is this ¡®urge¡¯ of yours to blame for this pitiful excuse for a release? You should know well what it takes to undo an Ayas Seal. Yet you create an incomplete replica of the initial moments, allowing only I to come out and leaving the rest of my brethren within that cursed space?¡±


    ¡°I APOLOGIZE.¡±


    ¡°That is not all, either. Your incredible lack of ability leaves me chained to this region of space, and my powers limited. What you have here is not enough to undo a full Ayas Seal, Morcii!¡±


    ¡°I BELIEVED THAT RESTRAINT TO BE A NON-ISSUE GIVEN YOUR CHAOTIC TYPE, MASTER.¡±


    ¡°You incompetent fool! Have you spent so much time in this age that you forget the basic laws governing the Chaos Ayas and all else derived? You are beginning to draw my ire; know well that my wrath has no bounds, and even servants such as yourself can be reduced to nothing with a thought!¡±


    ¡°¡­They¡¯re arguing,¡± Christean¨¦ deadpanned.


    ¡°This would be funny,¡± Kev¨¦rin commented uneasily, ¡°but for Morcii to be acting so subservient¡­ just how powerful is this guy¡­?¡±


    ¡°Why are we still here?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned, ¡°he¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ Realitechnic, right? We can¡¯t fight that!¡±


    ¡°It sounds like he¡¯s handicapped, though,¡± Rebehka commented. ¡°¡­But it still might be best if we left¡ª?!¡±


    The Cryotechnic gasped as the entire cavern immediately turned pitch-black, removing all definition from the surrounding platform. A second later, the environment was replaced with an endless gray plane, stretching for as far as the eye could see in every direction toward twilit horizons while the sky itself appeared to be a dark static-like fuzz ¡ª and neither the pillars housing the Ayas nor the Ayas themselves were anywhere to be found.


    ¡°Do not be mistaken,¡± Ikirom addressed Hero Machina, ¡°my powers may be limited, but you still cannot hope to stand against me. Nor shall I let you; it was your ancestors who locked me away in that timeless prison, after all. Thanks to their short-sightedness, I have spent countless millennia observing the galaxy, unable to interact with it in any way, left only to watch as that which I saved was claimed by the descendants of those who betrayed me! I may not be able to exact vengeance on the true perpetrators¡­ but you shall receive punishment in their stead, children of the Aldredas!¡±


    A severe gust of wind exploded outward from the Morikai Commander as seven pitch-black holes appeared in space behind each of the Chaotics. The seven glanced behind themselves in surprise just before a steady stream of hurricane-force winds began rushing outward from Ikirom, pushing Hero Machina toward the tears in space.


    ¡°Chaos Time!¡± Kievkenalis quickly shouted, forcing the environment around him ¡ª Ikirom included ¡ª to come to a sudden stop. He then relaxed, taking a deep breath as the strong winds were no longer a factor.


    ¡°GOOD EFFORT.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª?!¡± the Chaostechnic exclaimed, crossing his arms in front of himself as Morcii appeared and dealt him a fierce kick, sending the Chaotic flying into the black hole behind him ¡ª where he immediately disappeared and the tear in space closed.


    ¡°BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE USED ¡®RESET.¡¯¡± Morcii sneered as the flow of time returned to normal. Ikirom offered the Nanocreature a brief nod before stretching his arms forward. Catching the motion in the corner of his eye, Dav¨ªdrius broke into a head-long sprint, attempting to counter the high wind speeds and attack the Morikai. Before he could reach him, however, Ikirom snapped his fists shut, imparting a sudden and massive force to each of the Chaotics and flinging them all back toward the holes.


    ¡°What!?¡± Kaon¨¦ exclaimed, barely holding herself in place with her Materiatechnism as she watched Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ tumble backwards and get swallowed by the voids in space. ¡°Wha, where¡¯d they go?!¡±


    ¡°Shit! Hold on!¡± Siyuak¨¦n grasped the Arc¨¢n Claymore with both hands and drove it into the ground, using it as an anchor as she turned around and reached toward Kev¨¦rin as he struggled to fight against the wind currents with his own flame jets. Kaon¨¦ reached out to help the Pyrotechnic as well, but as soon as she took her attention away from Morcii, the Nanocreature leader appeared by her side and dealt a fierce blow to her chest, flinging her into the void. Kev¨¦rin was quick to follow, but Rebehka managed to deflect Morcii¡¯s attack and keep herself anchored to the ground with massive ice sheets. Eying the white anchors, Ikirom simply twisted his mouth up into a half smirk ¡ª and all of the ice spontaneously disappeared.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡ª!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got you!¡± The Electrotechnic released Arc¨¢n, jumping backwards to grab Rebehka¡¯s hand before summoning the Claymore again and stabbing it into the ground ¡ª only for Morcii to interfere and knock the blade away. Failing to properly anchor herself, Siyuak¨¦n stumbled and tumbled over backwards, inadvertently letting go of Rebehka in the process.


    ¡°NO¡ª!¡± Her eyes shot wide open as she snapped her attention backwards just in time to watch the Cryotechnic disappear. She froze for a second before whipping out Arc¨¢n again and slamming it into the ground, followed by shoving such an incredible current through the weapon that the dark ground for meters around glowed a bright white. Even Morcii and Ikirom found themselves shoved backward from the force of the blast.


    ¡°¡­Interesting,¡± the Morikai Commander muttered as the final void closed without receiving its target. ¡°The Prior State offers more resistance than I expected¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡­ bastard¡­!¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± Ikirom responded calmly, eying Siyuak¨¦n as she tore the Claymore out of the ground and held it in front of her in a battle-ready stance.


    ¡°You¡­!¡± She trembled with rage. ¡°What did you do to them?!¡±


    ¡°What did I do to them¡­? For now, nothing. I have simply subjected them to the same bodiless limbo that I experienced for countless millennia.¡± Ikirom crossed his arms behind his back again. ¡°They are certain to be disoriented, but perhaps they will realize their own station in time to witness your defeat at my hands.¡± He then summoned the Syn Scythe, twirling it in the air once before grasping it firmly and slamming the pole-end into the ground. ¡°I do not believe I have fought another user of the Prior State before¡­¡±


    ¡°His voice¡­ that weapon¡­!¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered warily, glaring at Ikirom as she tightly grasped the Arc¨¢n Claymore. ¡°Arc¨¢n, is he¡­?¡±


    ¡°I SEE¡­ THE ALDREDAS KEYS DID SEAL AWAY THE MORIKAI SHORTLY AFTER THEY DEFEATED THE MENACE, AFTER ALL,¡± Arc¨¢n responded. ¡°HE MUST SOMEHOW STILL BE IN THE SYN PRIOR STATE¡­ BUT IF THAT IS THE CASE¡­ SYN! PRIOR PRAEFECTUS SYN! ANSWER ME! WHY DO YOU STILL SUPPORT THIS THREAT?¡±


    ¡°You will receive no answer,¡± Ikirom countered as he stretched an arm toward Morcii. The Nanocreature leader immediately dissolved into a silvery cloud that rushed toward the Morikai Commander and coalesced around his body, forming a second pair of arms and a long tail. ¡°Syn remains loyal to me. And if you knew your place, Prior¡­¡± The sky was spontaneously replaced by a giant red orb of plasma, illuminating the entire area with the light of a red giant star while leaving temperature and radiation levels somehow survivable. ¡°¡­Then you, too, would join me!¡±


    ¡°YOU SPEAK NONSENSE. ANY OTHER PRIOR WOULD AGREE! SIYUAK¨¦N, MY PRESENCE AND THE PRIOR STATE AFFORD YOU A LEVEL OF RESISTANCE TO HIS MANIPULATIONS, BUT EVEN SO¡ª¡±


    ¡°I got it, be careful.¡± She nodded resolutely, and then raised her voice to address Ikirom. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what you did way back when to deserve this, but if you¡¯re Morcii¡¯s commander, and the first thing you do when you show up is attack me and my friends with deadly force, then you leave me no choice but to kill you!¡±


    ¡°You may think that a threat, but in truth it is merely an empty promise,¡± Ikirom responded calmly. ¡°But if you truly wish to fight me, very well. Allow me to demonstrate for you the power of the Morikai¡­¡± He leveled his Scythe toward Siyuak¨¦n as the environment spontaneously changed to that of a tundra. ¡°Allow me to demonstrate the power¡­ of Realitechnism!¡±

 83 - Final Chaos

    Chapter 83 - Final Chaos


    Siyuak¨¦n lunged forward, rapidly closing the distance between her and Ikirom as she forced a massive electrical charge down Arc¨¢n¡¯s blade. Once she came within five meters of the Morikai, she brought down a powerful lightning strike over his head ¡ª only for the strike to redirect to his side as an invisible force flung her backwards. Flipping through the air, she managed to land on her feet and then attempted to land several more electric strikes on Ikirom. Only half of the strikes actually manifested and none of them made contact with the Morikai, who simply observed with a blank expression before a snowstorm whipped up and obscured him from Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s vision.


    INCOMING, TWELVE O¡¯CLOCK.


    The Electrotechnic barely registered Arc¨¢n¡¯s mental warning and threw herself to the side just in time for an invisible force to slam into her foot and send her spinning out of control. The pain disappeared after a second as she summoned the Claymore and stabbed it into the ground, bringing her momentum to zero and allowing her to re-orient herself. Damn, I need to be faster¡ª


    MORE INCOMING. THREE AND FOUR O¡¯CLOCK!


    Siyuak¨¦n reacted the moment she heard the first number, lunging forward and releasing a powerful electric blast to clear the snow in the area. Immediately following the blast she was flung upwards by a force from below, sending her tumbling blindly through the blizzard. In an attempt to regain her bearings she fired her grappling hook wildly; on the second shot, the line went taught and she immediately began reeling in the cord before slamming into the ground painfully.


    HE IS NOT TAKING YOU SERIOUSLY, Arc¨¢n commented within Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s mind, BUT I CAN TURN THIS INTO AN ADVANTAGE. THE LONGER WE FIGHT HIM, THE MORE I CAN HELP YOU DIRECTLY COUNTER HIS MANIPULATIONS.


    How am I supposed to counter invisible force¡ª?


    TEN O¡¯CLOCK!


    Siyuak¨¦n slammed her foot into the ground and thrust herself backwards as the snow around her swept sideways violently. She quickly released another electrical blast in an attempt to electrify her surroundings and locate Ikirom through his bodily electric currents ¡ª but he never gave her the chance to concentrate hard enough to find him.


    How can you tell when he¡¯s going to attack? the Electrotechnic questioned as she began running a broad circle around where she thought Ikirom might be.


    THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION IS THAT I AM A PRIOR. BUT I AM WORKING ON GRANTING YOU A SIMILAR ABILITY, SO HOLD ON FOR JUST A LITTLE LONGER.


    I¡¯m trying¡ª?! Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s eyes went wide as Ikirom suddenly appeared through the snow curtain in front of her, swinging the Syn Scythe in front of him. She barely managed to raise her Claymore to block the Scythe¡¯s blade, but the pure force from the blow flung her several tens of meters to the side.


    ¡°You¡¯ve yet to lay a hand on me,¡± Ikirom commented as the surrounding environment spontaneously changed to that of a forest. ¡°Need I really handicap myself so heavily to make this a fair fight?¡±


    I don¡¯t know what part of this is ¡®fair¡¯! Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she fired her grappling hook into the branches of a nearby tree and began to swing from branch to branch. At least I¡¯m familiar with forests¡ª! Her thought was cut off as a small splotch of purple appeared in the corner of her eye; a second later she realized it was rapidly approaching and moved to get out of the way ¡ª only to find that the tree her hook was attached to had disappeared, leaving her momentarily unable to maneuver.


    ¡°Ungh¡ª!¡± She took the blow head-on, the splotch revealing itself to be another force from Ikirom. I take it this is what you meant, Arc¨¢n?


    IT IS. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FORESEE IKIROM¡¯S MANIPULATIONS BY A SPLIT-SECOND, BUT IT IS UP TO YOU TO REACT IN TIME¡ª


    As if to drive the Prior¡¯s point home, a tear in space appeared in the air directly above Siyuak¨¦n through which Ikirom emerged not even a full second later. He grabbed the Electrotechnic¡¯s arm with his tail, swung her through the air, and then slammed her into the ground; he then prepared to lift her again, but she quickly sliced through his tail with the Claymore, prompting the Morikai Commander to back away, summon the Syn Scythe, and close the distance again. Siyuak¨¦n jumped to her feet and began blocking Ikirom¡¯s swings, yet despite the fact that the Morikai was wielding such an awkward weapon as a Scythe, his blows were fast and powerful enough to drive Siyuak¨¦n back and force her to go on the defensive.


    In an attempt to fight back, the Electrotechnic began forcing a massive current down the blade of the Arc¨¢n Claymore. Each time the Claymore connected with the Scythe, sparks exploded from the contact points as the two weapons were blown apart, only for Siyuak¨¦n and Ikirom to bring them back together as each combatant continued in their attempts to cut down the other. After several more such blows, Ikirom finally tired of the apparent futility and instead backed away as he prepared a different attack. But Siyuak¨¦n immediately lunged forward, crossing the two meters in between herself and Ikirom in the blink of an eye and taking a powerful swing that missed the Morikai but connected with the Syn Scythe, discharging a massive amount of energy and flinging the weapon out of Ikirom¡¯s hands. He immediately altered the environment to that of a barren mountainside and smacked Siyuak¨¦n with his tail, sending her flying backwards as she responded with several lightning strikes, all of which were diverted away from Ikirom and toward the Scythe tumbling down the mountainside¡ª


    ¡ªand caused the blade to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces.


    ¡°What?!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed in surprise. Wait, Arc¨¢n, I thought the Ayas weapons were supposed to be indestructible!


    THEY ARE. WHICH MUST MEAN THAT THAT SCYTHE WAS NOT ACTUALLY THE SYN WEAPON ¡ª IT WAS MERELY A REPLICA. THERE¡¯S ONLY ONE REASON IKIROM WOULD USE A REPLICA INSTEAD OF THE ORIGINAL¡ª


    Now¡¯s not the time for speculation¡ª what in the¡ª?! The Electrotechnic froze in place as Ikirom disappeared from the battlefield and the entire mountain flipped upside-down in an instant, placing the cloudy skies below her and the stone ground above her. She began falling down ¡ª or up ¡ª and took several seconds to register the situation before snapping her left hand upwards and firing her grappling hook at the stone ceiling.


    ¡°Arc¨¢n¡­!¡± she muttered warily as she glanced down at the sky, ¡°what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    IKIROM IS BEGINNING TO TAKE THE BATTLE SERIOUSLY¡­? NO, THAT ISN¡¯T IT. HE IS STILL TOYING WITH YOU, BUT HE IS DOING MORE THAN SIMPLE INVISIBLE FORCE.


    This is toying with me?! Siyuak¨¦n scowled, followed by a sharp gasp as the gravity field suddenly shifted and slammed her back into the mountainside. She quickly jumped to her feet, only to stumble and fall to the ground again as she held a hand to her forehead tenderly. ¡°What¡­¡± she muttered again, as she glanced up ¡ª or down ¡ª at the sky. ¡°¡­I¡¯m on the ground, but¡­ I still feel upside-down, like the sky is still below me? What the hell?¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you realize now the power of Realitechnism?¡±


    The Electrotechnic leaped to her feet again, this time overcoming the environmental disorientation through mental assistance from Arc¨¢n. ¡°Where are you?¡± she shouted into the winds as she glanced around in search of the Morikai Commander.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± Ikirom echoed, and then chuckled. ¡°You cannot find me. In this realm, created by me ¡ª you will only find me if I allow it. No sense of yours could possibly locate me¡­ for I am simply not present.¡±


    HE¡¯S BLUFFING. A REALITECHNIC¡¯S BIGGEST WEAKNESS IS THAT THEY STILL REQUIRE THEIR BODY TO LIVE; HE MAY BE ABLE TO HIDE FROM YOU, BUT HE MUST STILL BE AROUND.


    Then how do I find him¡­? She scowled again. ¡°¡­What do you want, Ikirom? Why do you want to kill us?¡±


    WHAT ARE YOU¡ª?


    It¡¯s a distraction, shush!


    ¡°I have answered your question once, and I shan¡¯t waste time answering it again. You will die here ¡ª after I¡¯ve had my fun, of course.¡±


    ¡°Had your fun¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n snorted as she closed her eyes and focused on the local electric fields. She had been unable to locate Ikirom with electric currents during the earlier snowstorm, but she had been distracted with dodging the Morikai¡¯s attacks as well ¡ª now that he seemed distracted, she was free to concentrate, allowing her to trace the electric fields for many meters around her¡­ and locate a single anomaly, a small area of higher electric potential than the air around it. Ha! He¡¯s been avoiding my attacks by setting his potential equal to my own, but he didn¡¯t think about masking the fields at all!


    PERFECT! THIS IS OUR CHANCE!


    Way ahead of you! Siyuak¨¦n responded, the entire exchange between her and Arc¨¢n ¡ª as well as her locating Ikirom ¡ª occurring over the span of a mere couple seconds. She immediately forced a massive current through her body, spiking her own electric potential ¡ª and then a split-second later she forced a powerful lightning strike toward the Morikai Commander. Yet Ikirom reacted even faster; the very moment the leading spark of the lightning strike jumped from Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hand, the ground itself between the two combatants seemed to stretch and stretch ¡ª or rather, Siyuak¨¦n and Ikirom both seemed to shrink in place ¡ª or the ground around them seemed to grow ¡ª while the lightning strike passed over the terrain as though more distance had suddenly spawned. By the time Ikirom would have been struck, he had equalized his electric potential to Siyuak¨¦n again, allowing him to easily redirect the strike.


    ¡°I applaud your effort, but it is still not enough,¡± he projected his voice across the many kilometers between him and Siyuak¨¦n that had before been only fifty meters. Siyuak¨¦n immediately lunged toward him and began sprinting, but she only seemed to get farther and farther away from Ikirom ¡ª never closer. And the moment she stopped herself, the ground in front of her suddenly sprang upwards, a massive cliff quickly rising in front of her, as well as behind her and to her sides. She quickly fired her grappling hook into the cliff face, but the moment the hook caught in the rock, the bottom section of the cliff sunk back to the ground, returning the hook to ground level within a second as the tops of the cliffs continued to rise even further.


    ¡°¡­You have to be kidding me.¡± She stared up at the distant cliff tops. ¡°How the hell am I supposed to fight him¡­?!¡± She tensed reflexively as her sense of ¡°down¡± began to shift ¡ª as the direction of gravity began to rotate, causing her to begin sliding toward one of the cliff faces. She immediately fired her grappling hook again, catching it in what used to be the ground just as the gravity shift forced her to hang in the air over an incredibly deep hole that once led to the sky above her.


    ¡­THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM.


    No shit¡ª! Siyuak¨¦n began, only to cut her thought off with surprise as the ceiling above her spontaneously disappeared, causing her to begin falling toward the bottom of the seemingly bottomless pit. She quickly moved to fire her grappling hook again but spotted a rock moving toward her in the corner of her eye; she immediately twisted around midair, Arc¨¢n Claymore in hand, and sliced through the incoming boulder ¡ª only to reveal a multitude of boulders falling, or rising rather, toward her. She sighed irately and began blasting the stones to pieces with lightning strike after lightning strike, occasionally using Arc¨¢n to slash debris that got too close. By the time she had fought through the entire upside-down rock slide, the pit walls seemed to have disappeared into darkness, leaving Siyuak¨¦n to reach terminal velocity amongst nothing but blackness. Yet the moment her inner-ear equalized, giving her the impression of weightlessness, the darkness transformed into a star field. A split second later, a blue giant star appeared above her, hanging over her like a massive ceiling, while a red giant appeared under her as though an endless floor ¡ª yet she touched neither, instead hanging within the empty space between them, while suffering none of the negative effects one would expect from floating so close to a star.


    ¡°Do you now understand my power?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n snapped her attention to Ikirom, who stood several meters away from her as though on an invisible platform. She immediately attempted to strike him with lightning, only for no bolt to appear; when that failed, she quickly followed by firing her grappling hook at him, only for the Morikai to casually deflect it with the back of his hand.


    ¡°¡­Damn it,¡± she muttered irately, glancing around as she hung in space before returning her glare to Ikirom. ¡°I can¡¯t move like this¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Ikirom retorted. ¡°You could only move before because I allowed it; I have rescinded such permissions, as you have proven to be a rather boring opponent.¡±


    ¡°Boring?!¡±


    ¡°I will grant that you were able to disarm me, but the moment I began even the most insignificant of reality shifts, you became helpless.¡±


    ¡°This is insignificant¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡± Ikirom demanded; Siyuak¨¦n quickly moved to retort, only to find that her voice had given out.


    I can¡¯t talk?! Arc¨¢n, what¡¯s going on?!


    HE ISN¡¯T MANIPULATING YOU DIRECTLY, BUT HE CAN STILL DAMPEN THE SOUND COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH TO SILENCE.


    He can do that?!


    I DID SAY BEFORE THAT HE WAS MERELY TOYING WITH YOU¡­


    ¡°¡­I see the current age is just as stubborn and ignorant as the Aldredas. I¡¯m almost disappointed¡­ but I cannot say I expected any better.¡± The Morikai Commander shook his head warily as Siyuak¨¦n watched in irate silence. ¡°I understand Morcii¡¯s claims now ¡ª your inferior civilizations are difficult to take seriously in any capacity. Even my limited powers now are due to Aldredas meddling long ago; your kind can claim no credit in regards to that. You are nothing more than an annoyance, one who¡¯s conquering will give me little enjoyment due to how pitiful you are! Perhaps I should allow the Nanocreatures to run rampant for longer ¡ª though dial back their power, perhaps, as a way of ¡®hardening¡¯ the galaxy for a more enjoyable hunt¡­¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡­He¡¯s monologuing. Siyuak¨¦n stared blankly at the Morikai commander. Why does everyone monologue? Exdominor, Surdeus, Morcii, now him? It¡¯s getting a little old.


    HERE YOU SIT, BEFORE THE MOST POWERFUL CHAOTIC TO HAVE EVER LIVED ¡ª LIMITED THOUGH HE MAY BE ¡ª AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS A JOKE?


    What the hell can I do, Arc¨¢n? Wave my arms and wish for an act of god to snuff him out of existence? I¡¯ve already tried my best and clearly that wasn¡¯t enough!


    NO, THAT IS MERELY WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO THINK. I HAVE DETERMINED THAT HIS POWERS ARE AN ILLUSION ¡ª OR AT LEAST, HE IS ATTEMPTING TO HIDE HIS LIMITS WITH ONE. HE IS NOT AS POWERFUL AS HE SEEMS.


    Yeah? Well even if he¡¯s only half as powerful as he seems, that¡¯s still really fucking powerful!


    YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ¡ª TELL ME, SIYUAK¨¦N. YOU ARE FLOATING IN SPACE, YET YOU STILL LIVE, BREATH, AND HEAR IKIROM SPEAK. ABOVE AND BELOW YOU ARE STARS, BOTH A MERE COUPLE MILLION KILOMETERS AWAY ¡ª YET YOU STILL LIVE, AND FEEL NONE OF THEIR RADIATION. DOES THAT NOT STRIKE YOU AS ODD?


    ¡­I assumed that was just how powerful Ikirom¡¯s Realitechnism was¡­


    THAT CANNOT BE. HE SAID SO HIMSELF; AN INCOMPLETE SEAL RELEASE HAS LIMITED HIS ABILITIES. WITH HIS FULL POWER, IT IS INDEED POSSIBLE THAT HE COULD CREATE SUCH A REGION OF SPACE ¨C BUT AS HE IS NOW, HE CAN ONLY CREATE ILLUSIONS. HIS MANIPULATIONS OF REALITY ARE LIMITED TO ¡®SUGGESTIONS,¡¯ IF YOU WILL; HE IS MERELY FOOLING YOUR SENSES, FORCING YOU TO MISINTERPRET YOUR ENVIRONMENT AND CONFORM TO HIS ¡®ALTERATIONS.¡¯


    Well that¡¯s basically the same thing then, isn¡¯t it? Siyuak¨¦n questioned, still cautiously watching Ikirom as her mental conversation with Arc¨¢n passed over a hundred times faster than a spoken conversation would allow. Who cares if he¡¯s actually altering the environment if I can¡¯t tell anyways? I¡¯m not a Sensortechnic, or a Psychotechnic. I can¡¯t stop him from tricking my senses!


    AH, BUT YOU HAVE IT WRONG ¡ª SENSOR- AND PSYCHOTECHNICS WOULD ACTUALLY BE EXTRA SUSCEPTIBLE TO IKIROM¡¯S ILLUSIONS DUE TO THEIR RELIANCE ON THE NORMAL SENSES. BUT AS AN ELECTROTECHNIC, YOU ARE NOT QUITE SO LIMITED.


    You¡¯re talking about my ability to sense electric fields? We already tried that. It didn¡¯t work!


    BECAUSE YOU WERE STILL ALLOWING YOUR PERCEPTION OF THE BATTLEFIELD TO BE INFLUENCED BY YOUR OTHER SENSES. IKIROM MAY NOT HAVE IN-DEPTH EXPERIENCE WITH ELECTRIC FIELDS, BUT HE IS AT LEAST AWARE OF THEM. THE ONLY WAY FOR YOU TO FIND HIS TRUE LOCATION ¡ª AND TO TRULY STAND AGAINST HIM ¡ª IS TO IGNORE YOUR OTHER SENSES ENTIRELY. RELY ONLY ON YOUR CHAOTIC TYPE ¡ª RELY ONLY ON ELECTRICITY!


    That¡¯s easy to say, but you can¡¯t just ignore senses like that! It doesn¡¯t work that way!


    WHICH IS WHY THE PRIOR STATE IS A BOON. I WILL INTERCEPT THE SENSORY SIGNALS TO YOUR BRAIN, ALLOWING YOU TO FOCUS SOLELY ON YOUR ELECTROTECHNISM.


    Whoa, wait, wait! You¡¯re just going to cut off all sensory input? People have gone insane from less¡ª!?


    AND I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THAT, BUT WE HAVE NO MORE TIME TO WASTE. THIS WILL TRULY BE OUR LAST CHANCE ¡ª PREPARE YOURSELF! THREE. TWO. ONE...


    Immediately afterward, Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s entire world went black ¡ª and silent ¡ª and completely void of touch. Neither did she feel the warmth of the light from the stars, nor could she sense the location of her limbs, nor could she even feel the beating of her own heart. It was a void emptier than any mind could possibly fathom, and if she hadn¡¯t known any better, she would have thought herself removed from existence itself.


    Arc¨¢n, what¡ª? What happened¡ª? I can¡¯t feel anything¡ª or see¡ª there¡¯s nothing¡ª Arc¨¢n, what, what¡ª what did you¡ª?!


    CALM YOURSELF. YOU ARE STILL ALIVE. NOW FOCUS ¡ª THE ORIGINAL CAVERN WAS SWATHED WITH CHAOS MATTER, WHICH IS AN EXCELLENT CONDUCTOR AND CAN EVEN PRODUCE CHARGES ON ITS OWN. THERE SHOULD BE NO LACK OF ELECTRICITY, SO IF I¡¯M RIGHT¡ª


    ¡®If¡¯ you¡¯re right?!


    WE ARE OUT OF TIME. FIND IKIROM, NOW!


    Argh! Fine! Siyuak¨¦n quickly disbarred other thoughts from her mind as she attempted to focus on the environment around her. For several moments, she felt nothing ¡ª she had never relied on her ability to sense electric fields so heavily before, and certainly not directly. It was always a secondary sense that she used to augment her battle awareness, never a primary sense that she utilized to actively seek out targets, so without any of her other senses to provide context¡ª


    Wait¡­ I think I feel something¡­


    WHAT DO YOU SEE?


    The Electrotechnic responded with silence as she focused even harder on the signals she began to feel. Initially, she could only sense a sort of ¡®flow¡¯ through the air, but after a couple seconds of sensing, she began to realize the origins of the fields ¡ª and a couple seconds after that, she became able to make out slight perturbations in the fields that could only be explained as objects standing in their way. As soon as she became familiar with what she was sensing, she began making out a wide floor and a high ceiling, both acting as incredible energy sources. Towards the middle of the floor were twelve ¡ª no, thirteen ¡ª tall blocks, as if they were acting as energy sinks. And in the middle of those disturbances¡­


    I¡¯ve found him!


    PERFECT. IKIROM SHOULD STILL BE UNAWARE OF YOUR ACTIONS, BUT WE WILL ONLY HAVE ONE SHOT. IF WE FAIL TO TAKE HIM DOWN WITH THIS, THEN HE WILL REALIZE HIS MISTAKES AND FIX THEM, AND THEN WE TRULY WILL BE TRAPPED.


    I can¡¯t attack him without raising the current in my body. He¡¯s been able to sense incoming attacks before¡­ but if I do it fast enough¡­!


    HE WILL NOT BE EXPECTING YOU TO ATTACK HIS TRUE BODY, EITHER. NOW HURRY! I BELIEVE HIS SPEECH IS COMING TO A CLOSE.


    Right! Now give me back my body! I can¡¯t do this properly without it!


    As soon as she completed her demand, Arc¨¢n ceased intercepting her senses, resulting in a momentary sensory overload as Siyuak¨¦n reeled back from all the sensations. She shivered from shock and then shook her head before quickly raising the current through her body.


    ¡°¡­and so our encounter must come to a close,¡± Ikirom commented, his attention returning fully to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°¡­You are attempting to attack me again? Even though it has never worked before?¡±


    The Electrotechnic opened her mouth to speak, thought better, and simply settled into an amused smirk.


    Ikirom narrowed his eyes, his suspicion growing due to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s response. ¡°You believe yourself to have the upper hand,¡± he muttered as a weapon spontaneously appeared in each of his four hands, each one possessing the appearance of one of the Ayas Weapons. ¡°¡­But I have had enough. Your life¡­¡± He launched each of the weapons toward Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Ends here!¡±


    Floating in space as she was, the Electrotechnic was unable to dodge ¡ª but she had no need to. Before any of the weapons came within a meter of her body, she released an incredibly powerful strike of lightning. Ikirom confidently ignored the attack, expecting it to deflect around him as every strike prior ¡ª and indeed, the strike missed him.


    For it instead leaped to the left, toward the location of his real body.


    ¡°What?!¡± The Morikai¡¯s eyes shot wide open, only for the entire environment to spontaneously disappear and return to that of the cavern on Elecal. Ikirom¡¯s fake body simply vanished as his real one collapsed to the ground; Siyuak¨¦n took a moment to regain her bearings before cautiously approaching the downed Morikai, offering the colossal pillars around her a brief glance as she passed. She stopped a couple meters away and blasted Ikirom with several more lightning strikes, just to be certain ¡ª and when he failed to respond, she let loose a lofty sigh of relief.


    And then the entire cavern disappeared in an instant, replaced with a pitch black void with no defining features whatsoever.


    ¡°Ah ha ha ha! As if such a paltry attack could possibly defeat me!¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡± Siyuak¨¦n snapped her head around to face the source of the voice, only to be forced to face forward as chains exploded from the darkness, wrapping around and restraining her limbs and entire body within the blink of an eye. She violently struggled against the chains, attempting to free herself or even destroy the chains with massive currents ¡ª when none of that worked, she summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore and attempted to Subspatially store the chains, but the restraints around her wrists merely tightened and prevented her from turning the blade enough to do anything.


    ¡°I must admit, I did not expect you to be quite so clever,¡± Ikirom remarked with a smirk as he appeared in the air right in front of Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°Had I the durability of any normal individual, or perhaps even of the First or Second Tier Chaos State, you would indeed have killed me. But you should know: the first thing any competent Realitechnic does is permanently increase their durability to incredible levels! Nothing short of the Ayas Weapons or a high-tier Chaos State can hope to have a chance at killing me, even in my current, limited state!¡±


    ¡°But!¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled back at him. ¡°¡­Everything was just¡­ illusions, right? So¡­! How¡­?!¡±


    ¡°You may think them illusions¡­ but that is where you went wrong. I am a Realitechnic. I do not cause illusions ¡ª my illusions cause reality! That you assumed otherwise shows how little you understand!¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°This was an interesting final interaction,¡± Ikirom mused as another replica of the Syn Scythe appeared in his hands, ¡°but it is now truly the end. Prepare to return to your friends, descendant of the Aldredas, and watch with helpless eyes as I bring ruin to all of your brethren!¡± He raised the Scythe into the air and then swung it sideways, sweeping through the air toward Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s torso¡ª


    ¡°CHAOS RESET!¡±


    The black void immediately disappeared, replaced again by the cavern of Chaos Matter. Siyuak¨¦n stumbled, no longer bound by chains, as Ikirom stared at her blankly from his location several meters away. The Electrotechnic eyed him warily before tracing his gaze to behind her ¡ª to where the rest of Hero Machina stood, just as confused as Siyuak¨¦n as Kievkenalis stood in front of them with his hand stretched toward Ikirom.


    OF COURSE, CHAOS RESET! Arc¨¢n exclaimed within Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s mind, THE ABILITY THAT NEGATES ALL CHAOS ENERGY-BASED ALTERATIONS TO THE ENVIRONMENT¡­ IT¡¯S THE PERFECT COUNTER TO REALITECHNICS!


    Why the hell didn¡¯t you say this sooner?!


    THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE. GET THE MASTER AYAS AND RE-INITIATE THE AYAS SEAL! IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IKIROM!


    Right! Siyuak¨¦n turned her attention upwards, searching the pillars for the one that hosted the Master Ayas. Upon spotting the silver gemstone she fired her grappling hook, attaching it to the side of the pillar and flinging herself skyward.


    ¡°Halt!¡± Ikirom shouted, whirling around toward the Electrotechnic as the pillars disappeared from sight, replaced by massive columns of flowing lava¡ª


    ¡°Chaos Reset!¡±


    The pillars instantly returned to normal as Ikirom whipped back around to glower at Kievkenalis.


    ¡°Chaostechnics are hard-counters to Chaotics like you,¡± he quipped. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a reason to use Reset until now, but wow, it¡¯s really useful!¡±


    ¡°You¡­!¡± The Morikai Commander growled as he summoned a multitude of weapons and aimed them at the Chaotics of Hero Machina. ¡°You cannot possibly¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Hey, Ikirom!¡±


    The Realitechnic whirled around again and snapped his attention upwards, meeting eyes with Siyuak¨¦n as she grabbed the Master Ayas.


    ¡°Too slow!¡± She grinned, and then shouted, ¡°Chaos: Seal!¡±


    ¡°¡ªHuaaaaaghh!!¡± Without warning, Ikirom was blasted backward into the center of the oval formed by the thirteen pillars, his tail and second pair of arms ¡ª as well as any other bodily additions he had gained from Morcii ¡ª disintegrating into their metallic components and exploding from his body as the weapons he had summoned simply disappeared from existence. An invisible force held him suspended in the air as a light blue circle appeared on the ground beneath him, with each of the Ayas beginning to glow. He strained his neck to glare back at Siyuak¨¦n, who casually stood atop the tallest pillar with her hand on the Ayas.


    ¡°You¡­!¡± he snarled as strikes of blue energy began streaking between himself and the Ayas, ¡°so I¡¯ve underestimated this age, it would seem! Defeated before the Keys even appear¡­!¡± His body began to disappear limb-by-limb, in a similar manner to how he had first appeared. ¡°You will regret this, descendants of the Aldredas! Your attention is misguided ¡ª you misunderstand the threat before you!¡± His arms and legs completely disappeared as his torso began to dissolve, the wave of particles slowly working upwards toward his neck. ¡°As long as I am sealed away ¡ª as long as the Morikai are trapped in this seal¡­ the Menace¡­ will never¡ª!¡±


    Ikirom¡¯s mouth then disappeared, leaving the rest of his face to glare at the Nimalian Chaotics for a second before disappearing as well, leaving nothing behind. A subsequent flash of light filled the Chaotics¡¯ vision, after which the Master Ayas disappeared and the rest of the Ayas fell out of the air and clattered to a stop atop their respective pillars.


    ¡°¡­The hell just happened?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned.


    ¡°Chaos Reset¡­¡± Kievkenalis called cautiously, and then sighed of relief when nothing happened. ¡°That¡¯s it¡­ he¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­ we did it!¡± Siyuak¨¦n exclaimed as she jumped down to the ground and ran over to the rest of Hero Machina. ¡°We¡ª we stopped Morcii¡¯s plan! We stopped the Morikai!¡±


    ¡°¡¯We?¡¯¡± Christean¨¦ smirked as he watched Rebehka rush to the Electrotechnic and embrace her tightly. ¡°Much as I¡¯d love to take credit for beating a Realitechnic, this was all you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it took me a while to figure out what was going on and even think about using Reset,¡± Kievkenalis commented. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t managed to last as long as you did¡­¡±


    ¡°Guys, wait¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ muttered warily, looking up at the Ayas atop the pillars as Rebehka and Siyuak¨¦n released each other. The rest of Hero Machina turned toward the Materiatechnic in concern.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Something¡­ isn¡¯t right.¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned, and then pointed upwards. ¡°Wait, there¡ª!¡±


    The seven Chaotics turned their attention upward just in time to see eight silvery clouds descend from the ceiling of the cavern toward the Ayas.


    ¡°Shit¡ª Morcii¡¯s still¡ª!¡± Dav¨ªdrius exclaimed.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let him have the Ayas!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted as he blasted himself into the air toward the nearest gemstone. ¡°Everybody, grab one!!¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied as he leaped high into the air, easily clearing one of the farther pillars and snatching the Ayas Hastryth just before the cloud of Nanocreature nanites could seize it. Before he even hit the ground, Kev¨¦rin and Kaon¨¦ both had reached the Tanivas and Mystryth Ayas respectively, grabbing the Ayas and leaping away from the pillar tops as Christean¨¦ moved to claim Matl¨¦s. Rebehka easily scooped Tsern out of the air and tossed it down to herself while Kievkenalis demolished the top of a pillar with Chaos Strike and caught the Ayas Aldrace as it fell out of the sky.


    QUICK, THE ARC¨¢N AYAS!


    ¡°I¡¯m trying¡ª!¡± Siyuak¨¦n scowled as she flew through the air along her grappling hook, her hand stretched toward the Light Blue Ayas. She quickly released the hook just as she passed it, launching herself even higher¡­ only for the silvery cloud nearby to suddenly form an arm and attack her. She successfully blocked the blow but was still knocked ground-ward, unable to stop the Nanocreatures from seizing the Ayas.


    {¡±SO IT HAS COME TO THIS¡­¡±}


    ¡°There he is,¡± Kev¨¦rin muttered apprehensively as Morcii¡¯s body began to take shape at the far side of the platform. The two Ayas that the Chaotics had failed to claim ¡ª the Sendous and Arc¨¢n Ayas ¡ª both rapidly converged on the Nanocreature¡¯s location and disappeared as his body transformed into the same monstrous form that he had used during the fight against Christean¨¦ on Neticen.


    ¡°USE THE CHAOS STATE!¡± Arc¨¢n ordered, prompting the six Ayas-wielding Chaotics to quickly call out the activation phrase. ¡°AS WE¡¯VE DISCUSSED, TRULY DEFEATING MORCII REQUIRES USE OF THE LINK DRIVE, WHICH REQUIRES AN AYAS PRIOR STATE, AND YET¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yet Morcii has the Arc¨¢n Ayas,¡± Siyuak¨¦n finished, summoning the Arc¨¢n Claymore and leveling it toward the Nanocreature leader as he turned toward Hero Machina. ¡°So we just need to beat it out of him. Sounds good to me!¡±


    {¡±BUT IT WILL NOT COME TO PASS,¡±} Morcii countered with a snarl. {¡±YOU MAY HAVE DEFEATED IKIROM AND RE-SEALED HIM, CAUSING THE MASTER AYAS TO DISAPPEAR¡­ BUT THIS IS A MERE SETBACK. I CAN FIND THE AYAS AGAIN LATER, I CAN PROPERLY RELEASE IKIROM LATER¡­ BUT IT WAS A MISTAKE TO ALLOW YOU TO LIVE FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE!¡±}


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to say that you ¡®allowed¡¯ us to live,¡± Rebehka quipped as she stepped forward to stand next to Siyuak¨¦n. ¡°But at this point it¡¯s just an excuse.¡±


    ¡°We may not have won every battle against you, but today we will!¡± Siyuak¨¦n declared, ¡°this is our final battle, Morcii, and you will lose!¡±


    {¡±HA! YOU BELIEVE THAT THE MERE FIRST TIER CHAOS STATE MEANS ANYTHING AGAINST MY FUSE FORM?¡±} Morcii roared as he summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore and both Sendous Chakrams, grasping each of the weapons with one of his tails. {¡±EVEN WITH ONLY TWO AYAS, I AM FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY HOPE TO MANAGE. YOU HAVE ONLY ONE THING CORRECT, ALDREDANOIDS: THIS IS INDEED OUR FINAL BATTLE¡ª¡±} He launched himself forward. {¡±¡ªFOR NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE A SINGLE DAY LONGER!¡±}

 84 - Final End of Known: Harbinger

    Chapter 84 - Final End of Known: Harbinger


    ¡°Chaos Assist! Chaos Slam!¡±


    Kievkenalis opened the battle with a boost to Hero Machina followed by an immediate attack on Morcii. He impacted the Nanocreature leader within a second, knocking him toward the back of the cavern where Dav¨ªdrius appeared and launched him upwards with a bicycle kick. Christean¨¦ quickly grabbed a nearby pillar, completely uprooting it and swinging it toward Morcii as if he were swatting a fly out of the air, but the Nanocreature threw the two Sendous Chakrams and obliterated the pillar before disappearing into the debris cloud. Kaon¨¦ instantly coalesced the cloud into a small, compact stone, trapping Morcii inside ¡ª only for him to easily break out and rocket downward, crashing into Siyuak¨¦n with incredible force.


    {¡±YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!¡±} he roared as he summoned back the Chakrams and began attacking the Electrotechnic with all three Ayas Weapons in his possession, dealing a flurry of blows that she was barely able to keep up with. {¡±YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN DEFEAT ME? ME¡ª¡±} He clashed blades with Siyuak¨¦n and then smashed his foot into her stomach, sending her flying tens of meters back. {¡±¡ªA GOD?¡±}


    ¡°The only thing you¡¯re a god of is delusions!¡± Siyuak¨¦n retorted as she blasted him with a lightning strike, stunning him just long enough for Rebehka to summon a massive ice spire around him. Christean¨¦ immediately bounded forward, both arms covered by the Matl¨¦s Gauntlets as he smashed his fists into the spire and instantly destroyed it, allowing Kaon¨¦ to fling Morcii back into the air by rapidly raising the ground beneath his feet. Kev¨¦rin quickly intercepted the Nanocreature leader with a cloud of flame, but Morcii simply ignored the attack as he detached his lower pair of arms and transformed them both into laser cannons that opened fire on the Pyrotechnic as the Nanocreature himself zoomed in, bringing down the Arc¨¢n Claymore overhead. Kev¨¦rin barely managed to block with the Tanivas Staff, deflecting the blade strike but failing to dodge as Morcii lunged forward and dealt him a fierce head-butt followed by a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into the far wall over a kilometer away.


    ¡°Chaos Mach Eight Cannon!¡±


    The hypersonic projectile tore through Morcii¡¯s body, ripping his legs and tails away from his torso as Kaon¨¦ flung chunks of Chaos Matter at the Nanocreature. He quickly recovered and easily evaded the projectiles as he reunited with his lost limbs ¡ª and then merged his legs together into a massive downward-facing laser cannon. He immediately opened fire, sweeping across the platform below and leaving a multi-meter wide path of smoldering Chaos Matter in its path. A lightning strike from below drew his attention just in time for Dav¨ªdrius to appear over him and dunk him with a fierce kick, creating a crater as the Nanocreature leader impacted the ground nigh-instantly. Christean¨¦ and Rebehka both quickly approached the crater, but when the debris cleared, Morcii was gone ¡ª only to appear out of the ground underneath Rebehka, smashing his fist into her chin and then grabbing her arm and throwing her at Christean¨¦. The Cryotechnic immediately responded by freezing Morcii¡¯s feet to the ground and trapping his tails in a block of ice, which Kev¨¦rin quickly superheated and caused a massive steam explosion. ¡°Chaos Slam!¡± Kievkenalis shouted, rocketing forward and impacting Morcii with a shockwave, launching him out of the cloud of steam as he followed with ¡°Chaos Targeted Nullify!¡±


    {¡±NULLIFY MEANS NOTHING TO ME,¡±} Morcii snarled, detaching his arms and splitting them several times over before transforming all of the pieces into dozens of tiny laser cannons with which he opened fire on Hero Machina. {¡±IF I WERE A CHAOTIC IT WOULD WORK, BUT I AM BEYOND THAT¡ª¡±}


    He immediately held up two of his tails, catching Dav¨ªdrius¡¯s incoming foot and hurling the Velocitechnic overhead. The Nanocreature then transformed his other two tails into long blades as he blasted forward, piercing the ground on which Dav¨ªdrius had landed barely a second earlier. He quickly followed by summoning and throwing both Sendous Chakrams at the Velocitechnic before knocking away Christean¨¦ with the Arc¨¢n Claymore and turning his laser cannons on Siyuak¨¦n. The Electrotechnic quickly slammed her own Claymore into the ground around her, shattering the ground and dislodging several pieces of Chaos Matter that she manipulated with electric fields to rest in front of her just in time to block the initial laser blast. She then massively increased the power behind her electric fields, crystallizing the very ground beneath her feet and deflecting Morcii¡¯s lasers ¡ª but failing to deflect the Nanocreature leader himself as he rocketed forwards, piercing the fields with ease and throwing his foot forward in a powerful kick. Siyuak¨¦n managed to block the blow with her Claymore but the pure force still launched her backwards. Morcii crouched down, prepared to give chase, but tripped due to the bounds of ice that had appeared over his feet. Kaon¨¦ instantly launched him skyward as Kev¨¦rin and Kievkenalis followed up with a multitude of flame and Chaos attacks, ceasing only when Rebehka crafted a massive ice-club midair and smacked Morcii toward Christean¨¦¡¯s waiting fists.


    ¡°Gotcha now!¡± the Forcetechnic shouted with a grin as he thrust his fist forward, completely pulverizing Morcii¡¯s chest ¡ª only for it to immediately reform around his wrist.


    {¡±NOT QUITE,¡±} the Nanocreature responded with a malicious smirk as he whirled around, releasing Christean¨¦ from his chest and sending him flying toward the ceiling. Dav¨ªdrius moved to intercept the Nanocreature leader but Morcii launched into the air before he could, slamming into Christean¨¦ midair and driving the both of them upwards into the ceiling ¡ª and through it.


    ¡°He¡¯s getting away!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted as the entire cavern began to rumble violently, the ceiling around Morcii¡¯s impact point beginning to collapse. ¡°After him!!¡±


    Kaon¨¦ paused to create a platform for Kievkenalis, Dav¨ªdrius, and herself as Kev¨¦rin blasted upward, filling the hole Morcii had created with flames just before entering. His vision went black as the tunnel blocked out all light, but within seconds the air above him opened up, revealing the twilit sky and blue surroundings of Elecal¡¯s surface. ¡°¡­We were this close to the surface?¡± he muttered to himself just as Christean¨¦ tumbled past. The Pyrotechnic immediately returned his attention to the battle just in time to summon the Tanivas Staff and smash it into Morcii¡¯s face the moment the Nanocreature leader passed him, sending him stumbling forward. Christean¨¦ was instantly upon the downed Nanocreature, lifting his hands into the air and then smashing them into Morcii¡¯s back and creating a hundred-meter crater ¡ª which was immediately inverted as Kaon¨¦ blasted her way through.


    As soon as her platform was clear, Dav¨ªdrius and Kievkenalis leaped off, with Dav¨ªdrius instantly locking onto Morcii¡¯s location and dashing over to him, only to be knocked away as the Nanocreature intercepted him with the Arc¨¢n Claymore. Morcii immediately took to the air, narrowly evading another blow from Christean¨¦ as he ignored a blast of fire and deflected several incoming Chaos Cannon shots with the back of his hand, each of which went on to smash into and demolish distant mountains and plains. The Nanocreature then detached all of his limbs from his body, separating them into dozens of flechettes and laser cannons that spread out across the sky and began attacking the grounded Chaotics. Within a second of opening fire, a massive ice sheet appeared in the sky, trapping each of the pieces until Morcii broke them out half a second later ¡ª but he then failed to react in time as Dav¨ªdrius leaped up through the shattered ice, summoned the Hastryth Chain Weapon, impaled Morcii, and dragged him down to the ground. The Nanocreature dislodged himself from the weapon before actual impact, summoning enough flechettes and laser cannons back to himself to reform two arms and grab Hastryth¡¯s chain, thereby jerking Dav¨ªdrius to a stop. He then lunged forward to deck the Velocitechnic across the face, sending him flying nearly a whole kilometer away before spinning around and instantly forming a shield in front of him from the rest of his cannons and flechettes to block a lightning blast followed by a punch from Christean¨¦. The Nanocreature then resisted a call of ¡°Chaos Control,¡± but the effort tripped him up just long enough for Kaon¨¦ to launch him into the air again before creating a block of stone midair and spiking him back to the ground at Kev¨¦rin¡¯s feet. Without missing a beat, the Pyrotechnic blasted Morcii with fire and then stabbed him with the Tanivas Staff, rapidly heating the Staff and the air around it until initiating an incredible blast of heat that incinerated everything for several meters around. But the Nanocreature leader emerged unscathed ¡ª he immediately grabbed the Staff and ripped it out of Kev¨¦rin¡¯s hands and then slammed his fists into the Pyrotechnic¡¯s chest, sending him flying away just in time for Morcii to whip around and block Rebehka as she attempted to slice him open with a blade of ice. Kev¨¦rin quickly summoned the Staff back to himself, momentarily robbing Morcii of a weapon until he summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore and blocked Rebehka¡¯s next blow ¡ª only for the Cryotechnic¡¯s blade to freeze to Arc¨¢n on impact.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    {¡±YOU¡ª!¡±} Morcii scowled, barely able to react as Rebehka tore Arc¨¢n from his grasp and then, with a single motion, summoned the Tsern Spear and impaled him, instantly freezing his entire body to the polearm. A split-second later, Dav¨ªdrius appeared and smashed his foot into the frozen Nanocreature, completely shattering him and creating a cloud of ice and silvery debris that Siyuak¨¦n rapidly charged, triggering a myriad of interior lightning strikes. Kaon¨¦ then encased all of the debris in a large stone, but before anyone else could attack, Morcii exploded from the stone and rocketed up to nearly a hundred meters high in the sky. He paused for a moment to glare at the Chaotics and dodge a blast of flame before whipping around and flying off, raising higher into the sky.


    ¡°He¡¯s escaping!!¡± Kev¨¦rin shouted, attempting to give chase as Kaon¨¦ summoned the Mystryth Bow and began firing arrows at the Nanocreature leader, only for all of them to miss.


    ¡°He¡¯s too fast!¡± she exclaimed, ¡°what¡ª what do we do?!¡±


    ¡°¡­No¡­ he¡¯s not too fast,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered, eying the dot that continually grew smaller with distance before bracing herself and rapidly raising the electric current through her body, quickly surpassing the voltage levels of any of her previous attacks.


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n?¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius glanced toward the Electrotechnic warily as the hair on the back of his neck began to rise. ¡°What are you doing?¡­¡±


    ¡°Everyone, back away,¡± she replied through clenched teeth as the energy in the air around her began to cause chaotic winds and sparks began leaping from her body. ¡°¡­This¡­ is going to hurt. But I¡¯ll bring that bastard back. He can¡¯t escape me!¡±


    ¡­I SEE. YOUR CORRUPTION IS THE KEY; IF YOU CAN ONLY¡ª


    I know, Arc¨¢n, I know! Now help me out here¡ª!


    ¡°Cha¡­ os¡­ Charge!¡±


    The electric charge in the surrounding environment suddenly jumped to unprecedented levels, triggering arcs of lightning from Siyuak¨¦n to random spots on the ground several meters away as Kievkenalis offered her a quick wave and then teleported away.


    Ha¡­ thanks. She smirked, lightning beginning to jump from the air itself to the ground as Siyuak¨¦n generated enough energy to cause the stone for meters around to crystallize and liquefy. She summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore ¡ª which immediately began to glow and spark ¡ª and slowly pointed it at the sky as she closed her eyes. Morcii had long disappeared from eyesight, but she had no need to lay eyes on him. Even attempting to sense his influence on electric fields wasn¡¯t necessary, for Siyuak¨¦n possessed one trait that allowed her to always know Morcii¡¯s location: she was corrupted. And as powerful as Morcii was, there existed no way for him to permanently and completely cut himself off from Nanocreature nanites.


    There! Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s brow furrowed as she located Morcii, several hundred kilometers high and rapidly ascending. Immediately, she directed the Arc¨¢n Claymore toward him ¡ª and fired an incredible blast of energy, a lightning strike streaking through the sky at thousands of kilometers per second, even piercing the vacuum of space to hit Morcii with an inescapable shock that lit up the entire region as bright as day before fading away to nothing.


    And¡ª now!


    In the moment that Morcii was struck, Siyuak¨¦n seized control of his body and yanked him back, sending him careening through space and atmosphere. He quickly regained control but was unable to slow himself ¡ª and was unable to react as the Electrotechnic held up Arc¨¢n and cleanly impaled him on the blade. Immediately, Christean¨¦ bounded onto the scene, having been launched forward by a kick from Dav¨ªdrius as he reached forward and grabbed Morcii¡¯s head, tearing the Nanocreature off of Arc¨¢n and slamming him into the ground. He then grabbed two of Morcii¡¯s tails and yanked him into the air, twirling him once overhead before releasing him into the distance at hypersonic speeds ¡ª which Dav¨ªdrius easily matched and exceeded, intercepting Morcii and spiking him back to the ground with a fierce kick. The moment the Nanocreature leader hit the ground, a massive spike appeared, impaling him again as Kaon¨¦ raised several more spikes around him ¡ª followed by Rebehka suddenly flash-freezing the entire area, creating a fifty-meter ice spire that completely swallowed up Morcii ¡ª and then exploded in a cloud of steam as Kev¨¦rin rapidly superheated the object, destroying everything encased inside due to the sudden pressure and temperature change. Then, without waiting for the steam to clear, Kievkenalis teleported to the center of the cloud and shouted, ¡°CHAOS BLAST!¡±


    In an instant, everything within fifty meters was completely obliterated, creating a smooth crater that Kievkenalis and the remains of Morcii dropped into. The Chaostechnic immediately summoned the Aldrace Glaive and pierced the Nanocreature through his stomach, pinning him to the ground. Morcii attempted to get up, reaching up with his three remaining arms and tugging at the polearm ¡ª only for the Tanivas Staff and Tsern Spear to suddenly smash his shoulders, shearing his arms off of his body. Each arm slowly rose into the air¡­ and then fell back to the ground as the rest of Hero Machina converged on the scene.


    {¡±¡­YOU¡­¡±} Morcii groaned, his third arm and his tails dissolving as his body reverted to his normal form, the Sendous and Arc¨¢n Ayas appearing in the air over his chest before dropping to the ground and tumbling to the side. ¡°¡­YOU¡­ DEFEATED¡­ ME¡­!?¡±


    ¡°We told you it would happen, didn¡¯t we?¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered as she stooped down to pick up the Arc¨¢n Ayas. ¡°You lost.¡±


    ¡°NOT¡­ POSSIBLE. I¡­ AM¡­¡±


    ¡°A god?¡± Dav¨ªdrius snorted. ¡°If you¡¯re a god, then what¡¯s that make us?¡±


    ¡°Ha! I¡¯d gladly take the title of ¡®god-killer,¡¯¡± Christean¨¦ remarked with a smirk.


    ¡°YOU¡­ GLOAT TOO EARLY¡­¡± Morcii responded, slowly picking himself up ¡ª only to be shocked and slammed back to the ground with a club of ice.


    ¡°You stay there.¡± Siyuak¨¦n glared at the Nanocreature leader as Kaon¨¦ covered most of his body with steel sheets, effectively trapping him in place.


    ¡°THE AYAS PRIOR STATE?¡± Arc¨¢n prompted.


    ¡°I know,¡± the Electrotechnic muttered, and then took a deep breath. ¡°¡­Prior State: Ayas Arc¨¢n!¡±


    The Arc¨¢n Ayas turned into a small cloud of light blue particles before translating through the air to Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hip, where it reformed and locked itself into her form, leaving it completely inseparable from her body.


    ¡°¡­YOU CAN¡¯T DO IT,¡± Morcii snorted as she summoned the Arc¨¢n Claymore again. ¡°YOU¡­ USING A LINK DRIVE AGAINST ME¡­ HA. YOU¡¯LL DIE¡­ YOU CAN¡¯T LIVE¡­ WITHOUT¡­ ME.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to live with you,¡± Siyuak¨¦n countered as she grasped the weapon with both hands and leveled it toward Morcii. ¡°I don¡¯t care what happens to me. As long as I can end you, forever¡­!¡±


    ¡°HA¡­ AH HA HA, HA HA HA HA HA!¡± The Nanocreature launched into deranged laughter as the Electrotechnic raised Arc¨¢n over her head. ¡°END ME? FOREVER? HA! YOU THINK¡­ THIS IS THE END¡­? THIS¡­ IS ONLY¡­ THE BEGINNING. AH HA HA¡­!¡±


    ¡°Your threats are meaningless! This is the end, Morcii. You won¡¯t be missed!¡± Siyuak¨¦n shouted back as Morcii continued to laugh to himself. ¡°Link Drive: Menace Hunter!!¡±


    A bright flash of white light momentarily blinded everyone present as the Arc¨¢n Claymore began glowing a brilliant golden color, the golden aura extending nearly two meters past the end of the blade and forming a sharp surface of hard light as Siyuak¨¦n brought the weapon down on Morcii, carving a massive hole through the ground and Nanocreature alike. The moment the blade touched Morcii, his eyes went blank ¡ª and then his body exploded into a silvery cloud that rapidly lost its sheen, turning into nothing more than dust as the golden light disappeared from Arc¨¢n. Silence followed before Kaon¨¦ gathered the dust together and coalesced it into a small block that Rebehka quickly encased in ice. When nothing followed, the seven Chaotics of Hero Machina let out a collective sigh of relief.


    Morcii¡­ was truly dead!

 85 - A Prologues End

    Chapter 85 - A Prologue''s End


    ¨C Mondia, Ranth 20, 8034 ¨C


    ¡°Overdrive: Invisible Hand¡ª¡±


    ¡°Chaos Slam!¡±


    Commander Krydonin leaped backward, narrowly evading Commander Reginko as she rocketed forward and slammed into a group of Nanocreatures and scattered them like sand. Krydonin sighed irately before knocking away an approaching Nanocreature beast, allowing Reginko to whirl around and blast it with ¡°Chaos Strike!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so careless!¡± Krydonin reprimanded her fellow Commander, ¡°I hate to say this, but you¡¯re too valuable to lose to the Nanocreatures, especially here¡ª!¡±


    ¡°You just can¡¯t handle the dust I¡¯m kicking into your face,¡± Reginko retorted, and then jumped back to fire several Chaos Cannon projectiles at distant Nanocreature attackers. ¡°Oriciid¡¯kas is too crowded for both Sector 1 and 2 ¡ª so I¡¯ll show you that 2 is superior!¡±


    ¡°Of course you will,¡± Krydonin deadpanned before telekinetically grabbing a metallic wyvern out of the air and slamming it into the ground ¡ª and then yanking Reginko back just in time to save her from being crushed as a gigantic Nanocreature behemoth fell out of the air.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your help¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Save it for the debriefing,¡± Krydonin snapped, her eyes trained on the behemoth as it slowly recovered from its fall and began inspecting the urban environment around it. ¡°¡­This is a problem. Reginko, take your team and try to get its attention. Pull it away from the city if you can¡ª¡±


    ¡°Or we can just kill it now!¡± The Chaostechnic smirked, completely disregarding Krydonin as she jumped forward and shouted, ¡°Chaos Slam!¡± She immediately rocketed through the air and into the giant creature¡¯s maw ¡ª where, on impact, the entire beast exploded into a massive cloud of shiny silver dust.


    ¡°¡­What¡­?¡± Krydonin quickly pulled herself back, keeping a careful eye on her armor¡¯s shielding as the silvery cloud slowly lost its sheen and fell to the ground.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Reginko whooped, ¡°see, Krydonin? Maybe if you¡¯d stop being such a pussy you¡¯d get a kill every now and then!¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± the Sector 1 Commander countered as a myriad of messages and alerts began appearing across her AR display, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t think this was you, Reginko.¡±


    ¡°Huh? ¡­Ha, right, of course you¡¯d say that.¡±


    ¡°I mean it,¡± Krydonin responded, her lips pursed in confusion. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just that beast. All of the Nanocreatures in local space just¡­ dissolved. Fell apart. Almost like two months ago, but¡­ all at once.¡±


    ¡°What? That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Reginko snorted. ¡°¡­The hell are we doing here, then?¡±


    ¡°We do our job. Check on the city and the civilians,¡± Krydonin ordered, ¡°get your ass in gear. I don¡¯t know about you, but I don¡¯t want to get caught off guard if this turns out to be a ruse¡­¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Ma¡¯am! The Nanocreatures have broken through the far front! They¡¯re closing into middle orbit over Tau¡¯cen Kii!¡±


    ¡°Launch the On¡¯esstin! We don¡¯t have time for it to complete its repairs, we need its firepower, now! What¡¯s the word on the reserve fleets?¡±


    ¡°The Fifth and Sixth fleets are returning from the neighboring systems, but the Second and Fourth fleets are stuck in the Lis¡¯talra system until the Transpace can be re-locked!¡±


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± System Admiral Ukinon scowled as she stared at the holographic displays in the command center of the military station orbiting Tau¡¯cen Kii. ¡°¡­Pull the Ninth fleet back from the far front, but leave the Third and Seventh fleets in position. Intercept as many Nanocreature ships on the far front as possible; the First and Ninth fleets can deal with whatever makes it to orbit.¡±


    The Admiral sighed warily as the officers in the command center scrambled to relay her orders. It had been almost two months since the Nanocreatures all disappeared ¡ª and then less than a day ago, with no warning at all, massive Nanocreature fleets appeared on the doorsteps of both Oriciid¡¯kas and Tau¡¯cen Kii. The initial strike dealt significant damage, but the CSA had since scrambled to defend the two systems¡­ only to begin losing them even faster than during the Nanocreatures¡¯ first campaign.


    Ukinon looked over the status reports as they flew across the displays, taking in the information and processing it in silence. After several minutes she leaned forward and opened her mouth to give another order ¡ª only to pause as an alert message appeared directly in front of her face. She drew back and gestured to push the alert away as she quickly scanned it.


    ¡°¡­Is this confirmed?¡± she questioned, turning her attention to the rest of the command center.


    ¡°¡­Yes ma¡¯am,¡± an officer replied a moment later. ¡°Every fleet is reporting the same. The Nanocreatures have just¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­Dissolved,¡± the Admiral finished, ¡°just like two months ago¡­ no, they dissolved all at once this time? ¡­Scan for energy usage, or any other signs of activity. We can¡¯t let our guard down just yet.¡± She drew back again, watching the command center before turning her gaze to the holographic displays of the space outside the station. I wonder¡­ does this have anything to do with those Nimalians¡­?


    <hr>


    ((CHAOS KILO BLAST!!))


    A gigantic sphere of red energy nearly fifty kilometers in radius exploded outward from Surdeus, carving a huge crater in the ground and exposing a portion of the planet¡¯s mantle. He quickly called out ((Chaos Teleport)) to teleport to the crater¡¯s edge, ignoring the spewing lava as he glared upwards at the large numbers of Nanocreature ships.


    ((¡­How dare they encroach on my territory,)) he muttered, ((¡­not once, but twice! Have you no sense, Morcii?! Chaos Explosion¡ª Chaos Void!)) Dozens of Nanocreature ships disappeared as two fifty-meter blasts of Chaos Energy obliterated everything within remote areas of space, leaving Surdeus to charge forward toward the metallic beasts on the ground. ((You believe me to be this easy a target?! I would destroy this very planet before I allowed you to seize my territory! Be gone, you filthy, irritating excuses for an army!! Chaos Deflection!!))


    A spinning orb of energy burst outward from his body, knocking away all of the Nanocreatures within five meters as the Drakkar Faction leader leaped into the air, shouting, ((CHA¡­OS¡­!!)) But before he could unleash his next attack, all of the Nanocreatures in the vicinity suddenly ceased all movement. Surdeus quickly finished with ((Detect)) as he caught himself on the ground below, cautiously surveying the environment around him as every Nanocreature simply collapsed into mounds of dust.


    ((¡­Again¡­?)) he muttered, and then turned around to stare at the horizon. ((¡­No. This is¡­ hmph.)) He snorted, crossing his arms irately as he began looking around the damaged yet conspicuously silent battlefield. ((So someone managed to defeat Morcii before I had the chance¡­))


    <hr>


    ¡°Commencing bombing run in five minutes!¡±


    ¡°Roger that,¡± Captain Krick acknowledged, leaning forward in his captain¡¯s chair as he quickly scanned the various status readouts aboard the bridge of the Genesis. ¡°Watch yourselves, Commander. The Nanocreatures have let up since they first attacked, but we can¡¯t afford to underestimate them!¡±


    ¡°Never fear, Chief Captain. The First Frigate Squad are used to dealing with superior forces.¡±


    ¡°You got that damn right,¡± Krick muttered as the comm line closed. He returned his attention to the wide bridge windows, through which a number of Nanocreature ships could be seen in the distance. Below the battlefield was the planet of Eana, the Earthians¡¯ first and only true Fortress World ¡ª and the site where four of the Ayas were formerly stored. The Nanocreatures had appeared out of nowhere and seized the four gemstones before anyone could react, destroying two of the Frigates stationed there as well as one of the planet¡¯s outposts in the process. The Genesis was quickly dispatched to protect the planet and had been engaged with the Nanocreatures since, serving as the Earthians¡¯ only true line of defense against such a vastly superior foe.


    ¡°Status report,¡± Krick ordered, ignoring a rumble as the ship¡¯s shields took a hit.


    ¡°Shields are holding at seventy-three percent,¡± Captain Bourne replied from her seat at a console further down the bridge, ¡°we are wearing down the enemy ships, but at the current rate, it will take over a week to destroy them all.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully Commander Reimers can change that,¡± Krick muttered, eying a countdown as the numbers dipped bellow one minute. ¡°Time to see how those reverse-engineered railguns do¡­ begin target acquisition! Lock onto the largest and weakest ships and relay targeting data to the Frigates!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    ¡°Bombing run in thirty seconds¡­ prepare for a light show!¡± Krick smirked. ¡°¡­Ten seconds! ¡­Five! Four! Three! Two! One!¡±


    Five Earthian Frigates rocketed out of Subspace five hundred kilometers in front of the Genesis, each one equipped with a massive railgun reverse-engineered from the Battlecruiser¡¯s own weaponry. A split-second later, five sabots were flying through space at relativistic speeds, smashing into five different Nanocreature ships and utterly obliterating them as the Frigates zoomed past and entered Subspace again.


    ¡°Ha ha! Five down!¡± Krick whooped, ¡°let¡¯s keep this up¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Uh, sir¡­ that¡¯s not all,¡± Bourne interjected as she glanced back at the Captain in confusion. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not just the five targets that were destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The Captain snapped his attention back to the bridge displays ¡ª sure enough, all of the Nanocreature ship signatures had disappeared from the sensors, replaced by shiny metallic clouds that the Earthians could barely see through the bridge windows. A new display soon appeared, showing a magnified camera feed of the Nanocreature remains.


    ¡°It¡¯s two months ago, all over again¡­¡± Bourne muttered warily.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯ll take it,¡± Krick replied, ¡°maybe someone found a way to get rid of them for good this time. Now, we don¡¯t have time to waste! Begin check-ins with all of the planetary outposts! And get the Frigate squad back here!¡­¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    <hr>


    ¡°The target has taken the bait!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let off, draw it as far from the surface as possible!¡± Commander Rant¨¦in ordered, his eyes snapping from AR display to AR display as he attempted to manage every facet of Nimalia¡¯s defense. ¡°That Deathnought is the single greatest threat to this planet! Disregard the rest of the Nanocreature fleets until we can draw away that ship!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done, I¡¯m afraid,¡± General Acknos of Tekdec¨¦ commented, approaching Rant¨¦in and standing beside him as he glanced between the status readouts in the command bunker. ¡°Morale is low. Not only did the Nanocreatures deal a swift blow to Nimaliaka Central, but they also took out Nik¨¦yin.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we¡¯re in command now, I know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s beside the point. She was the commander, and for her to fall so quickly is a devastating blow, even more so when facing an enemy against which organization is most paramount.¡±


    ¡°And what would you have us do?¡± Rant¨¦in eyed the Tekdec¨¦nian General warily. ¡°Our fleets are stretched thin and Nimaliaka is almost overrun with those metallic bastards. There isn¡¯t exactly any time for morale-boosting exercises!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware¡­¡± Acknos sighed regretfully. ¡°¡­Even if the Nanocreatures were to simply disappear now¡­ the damage to Nimalia and the NSD is significant. I can only hope that the participating nations don¡¯t fall to squabbling.¡±


    Rant¨¦in grunted in irritation. ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for your politicking. We have an enemy Deathnought to take care of¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sirs!¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Both men turned their attention toward an officer as he dashed up to them.


    ¡°The Nanocreature ships, they¡­ they¡¯ve all disintegrated!¡±


    ¡°They what?¡± Acknos snapped his attention back to the status displays. ¡°¡­Well, I¡¯ll be¡­ again, huh? What caused it this time¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hero Machina¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± The General glanced toward Rant¨¦in. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°The Chaotic Squad that Nik¨¦yin put together half a year ago. They were the ones largely responsible for retrieving the Ayas and defeating the Nanocreatures the first time around. I had heard that they left Nimalia several hours ago, but¡­¡± Rant¨¦in frowned, and then chuckled to himself. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t rest now. Acknos, you should return to Tekdec¨¦ immediately and help with reconstruction from there.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± The Tekdec¨¦nian nodded as he turned toward the exit. ¡°Be wary, though. Who knows if this is just a ruse.¡±


    ¡°Ha. I¡¯m sure Culana would say otherwise,¡± Rant¨¦in muttered to himself, ¡°¡­and I¡¯m inclined to agree. Hero Machina, huh¡­ you¡¯ve done it again!¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Holy shit¡­ we killed Morcii.¡±


    ¡°Fuck yeah we did!¡± Dav¨ªdrius whooped as he pumped both his fists in glee, ¡°we kicked his ass real good!¡±


    ¡°¡¯We?¡¯¡± Siyuak¨¦n smirked in amusement, turning toward the rest of Hero Machina as the Arc¨¢n Ayas dislodged itself from her hip and fell to the ground. She stooped down to pick it up, only to wince as pain shot up her left arm and through her chest.


    ¡°Are you okay¡­?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned, having caught the slight motion in the corner of his eye.


    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s with the Ayas?¡± Kev¨¦rin added, oblivious to Christean¨¦¡¯s observation as he instead focused on the Arc¨¢n Ayas in Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s hand.


    ¡°THE AYAS PRIOR STATE WILL AUTOMATICALLY DE-POWER INTO THE NORMAL PRIOR STATE AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL USE OF A LINK DRIVE,¡± Arc¨¢n responded as Siyuak¨¦n winced again, this time in a much more visible fashion. ¡°¡­BUT THAT IS A TANGENTIAL ISSUE, I¡¯M AFRAID.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡± Kaon¨¦ questioned uneasily, ¡°what are you talking about¡­?¡±


    ¡°YOUR FRIEND¡ª¡±


    ¡°I can tell them, Arc¨¢n,¡± Siyuak¨¦n interjected as she grasped her left arm in pain. ¡°¡­But you won¡¯t be with me much longer, will you?¡±


    ¡°¡­THAT IS CORRECT.¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n, what are you¡ª?¡± Kev¨¦rin began, but the Electrotechnic cut him off.


    ¡°You need to know how to get off this planet, right?¡± she commented, her breath turning ragged. ¡°Arc¨¢n, there¡¯s a Gate here, right? Where is it?¡±


    ¡°THIRTY KILOMETERS TO THE NORTHEAST. IT RESTS IN A LARGE, RECESSED AREA, BUT IS STILL EXPOSED TO THE SKY. THE VELOCITECHNIC SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND IT EASILY.¡±


    ¡°There.¡± Siyuak¨¦n nodded toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°Now¡­ you know how to leave.¡±


    ¡°Why are you using ¡®you¡¯ instead of ¡®we¡¯?¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ responded warily.


    ¡°¡­This is it, isn¡¯t it?¡± Rebehka replied forlornly.


    ¡°Ha, yep.¡± The Electrotechnic smirked painfully. ¡°Arc¨¢n, can you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I AM SORRY, BUT I¡¯M AFRAID I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STAY WITH YOU MUCH LONGER,¡± Arc¨¢n commented, his voice growing faint. ¡°I MUST RETURN TO MY PLATFORM¡­ I CONGRATULATE YOU, ALDREDANOIDS, SIYUAK¨¦N. DEFEATING MORCII IS NO SMALL FEAT. BUT FOR NOW¡­ FAREWELL.¡±


    A brief flash of light blinded the Chaotics of Hero Machina as the blue robing, armor plating, and long ponytail disappeared from Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body, replaced by the maroon waist-cloak and navy blue breastplate that she wore while corrupted. She then collapsed as Rebehka jumped forward to catch her friend and keep her from falling to the ground.


    ¡°¡­Alright, the fuck¡¯s goin¡¯ on here?¡± Dav¨ªdrius questioned impatiently, ¡°why¡¯re you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s dying.¡±


    The rest of Hero Machina froze as they all turned toward Rebehka.


    ¡°¡­Bullshit.¡± Christean¨¦ scowled. ¡°Just because Morcii said it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s true¡ª¡±


    ¡°No¡­ she¡¯s right,¡± Siyuak¨¦n interrupted before breaking into a coughing fit as Rebehka carefully lowered her to the ground. She leaned against a nearby chunk of Chaos Matter and looked up at the other Chaotics, flashing them a brief but pained smile. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not so bad. *cough* I mean¡­ we killed Morcii¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ why?¡± Kievkenalis responded in confusion. ¡°If Morcii¡¯s gone¡­ you shouldn¡¯t be corrupted anymore, right?¡±


    ¡°Ah, haha¡ª ow¡ª! ¡­See¡­¡± The Electrotechnic fell into another coughing fit before continuing, ¡°¡­that¡¯s the problem, you see? Morcii¡­ is the controller of every Nanocreature. Without him, or¡­ any of the Ayas¡­ every nanite stops working. ¡­No exceptions.¡±


    ¡°Wait, if that¡¯s the problem¡ª I can fix that!¡± Kaon¨¦ quickly kneeled next to Siyuak¨¦n, desperation wrought across her features. ¡°I can¡ª I can do this, I¡¯ve already removed corruption from myself before, I can, I can do this¡­!¡±


    But the Electrotechnic simply shook her head in response. ¡°I¡¯m too far gone,¡± she countered, ¡°¡­the corruption¡­ went too far. Even¡­ my brain¡­¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n smiled again. ¡°¡­I appreciate the thought. I really do.¡±


    ¡°¡­So that¡¯s it, huh?¡± Dav¨ªdrius furrowed his brow in frustration. ¡°You expect us to just watch you die¡ª?¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n glanced up as the Velocitechnic paused mid-sentence. She followed his gaze down to her left arm ¡ª down to her hand that was slowly losing its metallic sheen and turning a dirty gray.


    ¡°Consider it the price of saving the galaxy,¡± she responded. ¡°Not¡­ not everyone can have a happy ending¡­ you know?¡±


    Christean¨¦ turned toward Rebehka. ¡°And you¡¯re fine with this? Just¡­ letting her die?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m taking this easily,¡± the Cryotechnic countered, ¡°¡­but I¡¯ve had time to think about this. We¡­¡± She glanced toward Siyuak¨¦n, who nodded back. ¡°¡­I knew about this since before we left Arc¨¢n¡¯s Platform.¡±


    ¡°And you thought not telling us was a good idea?¡±


    ¡°And distract us all during the most important battle of our entire lives?¡±


    Christean¨¦ opened his mouth to respond, but paused and eventually drew back. ¡°I guess you have a point¡­¡± he responded uneasily.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m happy, though¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n muttered, her voice hoarse as her waist-cloak began fading to gray along with her arm. ¡°¡­To have¡­ met you all, worked with¡­ you all¡­ ¡­to know that¡­ I have you guys as friends¡­¡± She turned toward Kev¨¦rin. ¡°You make¡­ a good CO, you know¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ thanks,¡± he replied stiffly, ¡°and you¡­ you¡¯re a good fighter. Probably better than I could ever be.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I wonder,¡± she snorted, and then coughed painfully as her eyes swept toward Kaon¨¦. ¡°¡­We didn¡¯t really¡­ get off on the right foot, but¡­ I was the same with Rebehka, once, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡­¡± The Materiatechnic turned away as she stifled a sniffle. ¡°¡­I¡¯m glad we could meet, and get to know each other.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n smiled briefly in response before glancing toward Kievkenalis. ¡°Ah¡­ ¡­sorry¡­ about your friends¡­¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡ª it¡¯s fine.¡± The Chaostechnic shook his head vigorously. ¡°That wasn¡¯t your fault, that was all Morcii. I¡¯m just glad that we could avenge them¡­ I don¡¯t blame you at all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad¡­ you think that,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded, and then launched into another coughing fit, uncontrollably coughing up blood as her left fingertips began to crumble. Rebehka moved to steady her, but the Electrotechnic waved her off with her good arm as she recovered from the fit and looked up at Christean¨¦.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, we never really got a chance to catch up, did we?¡± The Forcetechnic smirked forlornly. ¡°Since we first met, I mean.¡±


    Siyuak¨¦n responded in kind. ¡°¡­Ha, I guess not. ¡­But that was a¡­ fun week, way back¡­ then.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Way back?¡¯ That was only a year and a half ago.¡±


    The Electrotechnic shot him an unamused glance before wincing again, the sudden jerk causing even more of her arm to crumble. ¡°¡­You know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Ha,¡± Christean¨¦ chuckled. ¡°I know, I know. I had a fun time, too. Both then, and now!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet you did¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n replied and then turned toward Dav¨ªdrius.


    He pursed his lips in irritation. ¡°My turn, huh? Wait so long ¡®cause you couldn¡¯t think of anythin¡¯ good to say?¡±


    ¡°Just as irritating and¡­ impatient as ever.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯d have it¡­ no other way,¡± Siyuak¨¦n finished. ¡°¡­You don¡¯t show it¡­ but I know you care. And I¡¯m glad.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ fuck.¡± Dav¨ªdrius looked away uneasily. ¡°Uh¡­ sure. Thanks, I guess.¡±


    ¡°¡­And that leaves¡­¡± The Electrotechnic warily glanced over at Rebehka, who was kneeling by her side. ¡°¡­The best¡­ for last¡­¡±


    ¡°Siyuak¨¦n¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t think¡­ I need to say any¡­ more,¡± Siyuak¨¦n responded in between ragged breaths as her arm dissolved past her elbow, while the rest of her body had turned a faded gray. ¡°¡­Said everything¡­ before¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Rebehka moved to embrace her friend tightly. ¡°I promised earlier, but I¡¯ll say it again. I¡¯ll never forget you¡­ no matter what happens.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Siyuak¨¦n closed her eyes, a warm smile spreading across her face as she brought her right arm up to pat Rebehka¡¯s back. ¡°Thanks¡­ to all¡­ of¡­ you¡­ ¡­¡±


    Her arm went limp, falling to the ground with a soft thud.


    Silence filled the air. A moment later, Rebehka took a deep breath and released her friend, backing away and revealing that her entire left arm had disappeared. The Cryotechnic looked her over before climbing back to her feet as Kev¨¦rin slowly approached.


    ¡°Kaon¨¦¡­¡± He glanced toward the Materiatechnic. ¡°Can you¡­?¡±


    She simply nodded in response before entombing Siyuak¨¦n¡¯s body in stone and lifting it into the air.


    ¡°¡­We lost a friend, today,¡± Kev¨¦rin began as he turned toward the other Chaotics of Hero Machina, ¡°¡­I would say ¡®again,¡¯ but there¡¯s no making light of this. This time¡­ this time, it¡¯s real. There¡¯s no coming back. But there¡¯s at least one thing we can do for her¡­¡± He nodded toward Rebehka. ¡°Right?¡±


    ¡°¡­Never forget¡­¡± the Cryotechnic responded quietly, ¡°that¡¯s what she said¡­ as long as we remember her¡­¡±


    ¡°Like hell we¡¯ll forget her,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted, ¡°she saved our asses from that Ikirom guy and then went on to kill Morcii. She¡¯ll be in the damned history books, I¡¯ll see to that!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Christean¨¦ declared with a nod as he flashed Rebehka a grin. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡ª we won¡¯t be forgetting Siyuak¨¦n anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Kev¨¦rin smiled in response before stooping to pick up the Arc¨¢n Ayas. ¡°¡­We need to get back to Nimalia, but for now, we can be happy. Yes, Siyuak¨¦n died¡­ but she died surrounded by her friends, and what¡¯s more, she died to save the entire galaxy! We all owe her our lives, so let¡¯s not put them to waste. Got it?¡± He smirked forlornly as the rest of Hero Machina responded with firm nods. ¡°Alright, then¡­¡± He turned toward the northeast. ¡°¡­It¡¯s time to get out of here. Hero Machina¡­


    ¡°Move out!¡±

 END - Epilogue: The Beginning of a Saga

    Chapter 86 - Epilogue: The Beginning of a Saga


    20 Years Later


    ¨C Skydia, Beauth 6, 8054 ¨C


    ¡°Aaaahhh¡­ so tired¡­¡±


    Kev¨¦rin worked at the buttons on his jacket as he entered his hotel suite, glancing up when the lights automatically flipped on. He removed his jacket and tossed it onto a coat rack near the door before kicking off his shoes and stepping into the main living area. Looking over at the dark window, he moved to adjust his glasses ¡ª realized he wasn¡¯t wearing any ¡ª and smirked to himself as he opened up his AR environment anyways. I keep forgetting that I have the implants¡­ and I got them years ago. I guess old habits die hard. He then swiped one of the holographic panels, toggling the window opacity and revealing the late afternoon coastline.


    This suite is better than my office¡­ He sighed after staring out at the Tekdec¨¦nian west coast for several moments, taking in the calm ocean waves breaking against the cliffs before he turned his attention to a handful of alerts in the corner of his AR display. Institute mail¡­ junk mail¡­ more junk mail? What happened to my spam filters?¡­ Wait, Kines picked a fight with Nimal again? Damn it. You¡¯d think the ¡®Elite Six¡¯ would be better behaved¡­ oh well. I¡¯ll have to talk to Kaon¨¦ about that¡­ Hmm¡­ Oh, Maven! Let¡¯s see¡­ ¡®Hurry up and call me you twat, you haven¡¯t been home in three weeks! Love you.¡¯ Yep, sounds like her. I¡¯ll have to give her a call tomorrow¡­ ¡­Hmm, I guess that¡¯s it. He passed an impatient glance toward the room¡¯s entryway. Where are they? I could¡¯ve sworn they were right behind me the whole time¡ª!


    A ringing bell interrupted his thoughts. ¡°Coming!¡± he shouted as he turned away from the window and approached the doorway where he casually slammed a button in the wall, causing the door to slide open.


    ¡°Oi, there you went! Think you can try an¡¯ outrun me?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± Kev¨¦rin remarked with a smirk, stepping aside to allow Dav¨ªdrius ¡ª followed by Christean¨¦ and Rebehka ¡ª to enter his suite. ¡°It¡¯s about time you got here! Where¡¯s Kaon¨¦ and Kevken?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re on the way,¡± Rebehka replied, setting her satchel down on a nearby counter as Dav¨ªdrius and Christean¨¦ wandered past the entryway and into the living room. ¡°Sidont¨¦ Demerin wanted to talk to them about something.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t he wait until tomorrow? The Summit lasts for a whole week, we aren¡¯t going anywhere,¡± Kev¨¦rin responded in annoyance as he stepped into the living area behind the Introtechnics and then turned toward his kitchen. ¡°Take a seat wherever,¡± he called out, ¡°I¡¯ll get the drinks.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Drinks! Yes, please!¡± Christean¨¦ sighed of relief as he approached the window that overlooked the coast. ¡°Ahhh¡­ there¡¯s nothing like a good drink and a chat with old friends after a long day.¡±


    ¡°You sound like an old man,¡± Dav¨ªdrius retorted as he approached the window next to Christean¨¦.


    ¡°I feel like an old man. Forty isn¡¯t twenty, I¡¯ll tell you that much.¡±


    ¡°Forty isn¡¯t old. Trust me, it¡¯s really not,¡± Rebehka countered as she took a seat on the couch. ¡°We aren¡¯t even middle-aged. With any luck, we¡¯ll live three or four times longer than we already have.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Fuck, I didn¡¯t come here to get into a pissin¡¯ contest about age.¡±


    ¡°And I certainly didn¡¯t invite you all here for as much,¡± Kev¨¦rin added as he re-entered the room with four mugs, each filled to the brim with a translucent maple-gold liquid. Christean¨¦ eagerly accepted one and took a massive swig as Rebehka took another. ¡°Dav¨ªdrius?¡± The Pyrotechnic held the third out toward the Velocitechnic.


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius stared at the mug and pulled a face. ¡°No thanks.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, really?¡± Christean¨¦ snorted, ignoring Kev¨¦rin as he placed the fourth mug on the table in front of the couch and then took a seat in a chair to the side. ¡°You should give it a go every once in a while.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone enjoys drinkin¡¯,¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot back, and then grinned. ¡°¡¯Sides, it¡¯s more amusin¡¯ to watch you get drunk.¡±


    ¡°How often do you see him drunk?¡± Rebehka responded incredulously.


    ¡°Too often,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied with a smirk. ¡°You¡¯d almost think he was WCU¡¯s second Dean with how much time he spends down in Tres¨¦d.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one asking for all the help,¡± Christean¨¦ countered, ¡°you should recruit yourself a half-decent Forcetechnic if you¡¯re gonna complain about my help.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Dav¨ªdrius, I thought you had one?¡± Kev¨¦rin questioned.


    ¡°Who, Kar¨ªsah? Sure, she¡¯s helpful, but I ain¡¯t gonna ask one of my students to help me out all the damn time. It looks bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised to hear you concerned about appearances,¡± Rebehka teased, ¡°are you sure that isn¡¯t your pride talking?¡±


    ¡°¡­Bah. I only got this far by forcin¡¯ myself to care just a little bit about appearances.¡± Dav¨ªdrius sighed wearily. ¡°I only got WCU recognized by all the major compounds a few years ago, so I¡¯d appreciate some¡­ well¡­ appreciation.¡± He shook his head and glanced toward Rebehka and Kev¨¦rin. ¡°What about y¡¯all? I haven¡¯t really had the chance to talk with either of y¡¯all since the last Summit two years ago.¡±


    ¡°Just as busy as always,¡± Rebehka replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t have nearly as much trouble as you when I started the Academy, but that just means I have different problems. It seems like every Rel¨¦diakian researcher wants a place on the faculty ¡ª though, in hindsight, I suppose there haven¡¯t been many private-sector opportunities for Chaos Energy researchers before now. But on top of that, working out how we fit into the old conscription paradigm is¡­ difficult, at best. ¡­The student body is small, but well-behaved, at least.¡±


    ¡°Lucky you,¡± Kev¨¦rin snorted, taking a quick sip as he leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°Oh no. Did Kines do something again?¡±


    ¡°Seems he picked a fight with Nimal.¡± Kev¨¦rin sighed. ¡°This wouldn¡¯t be quite so much of a problem if Nimal wasn¡¯t the daughter of Nimaliaka¡¯s Archon¨¦, and the younger sister of a Black Suns General. I swear, these kids¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s this about the Archon¨¦?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Kev¨¦rin glanced back at the entryway and grinned again as Kaon¨¦ and Kievkenalis entered. ¡°You¡¯re finally here!¡±


    ¡°You guys decide to take the scenic route?¡± Christean¨¦ snorted.


    ¡°No, Demerin just wanted to talk about a couple Chaostechnic training techniques,¡± Kievkenalis replied wearily. ¡°Not sure why he was asking about that, though¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyways¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ turned back toward Kev¨¦rin as Kievkenalis took a seat on the couch next to Rebehka. ¡°What were you saying about the Archon¨¦?¡±


    Kev¨¦rin took another drink before replying, ¡°Kines picked a fight with Nimal again.¡±


    ¡°¡­You mean Derynii? Derynii Nimal?¡± Kaon¨¦ frowned, and then facepalmed. ¡°Oh no, not again¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad Sm¨¦than didn¡¯t get involved,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked. ¡°Last time he and Cart¨¦rius got into a fight, I spent the whole week cleaning up after their diplomatic mess.¡±


    ¡°Man, what¡¯s with y¡¯all? I¡¯ve never had any problems with my students, not like this,¡± Dav¨ªdrius commented.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s ¡®cause you¡¯re a strict bastard and rule over them with an iron fist.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­! ¡­Well okay, that¡¯s kinda true, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Why do we always end up talking about the students when we get together?¡± Rebehka cut in, ¡°can a conversation about our jobs ever not do that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe if Kines and Nimal weren¡¯t part of the ¡®Elite Six,¡¯¡± Kev¨¦rin retorted.


    ¡°I always hated that title,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded with a an annoyed frown, ¡°even when it first came into use almost ten years ago. It always just goes to the students¡¯ heads.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think a little competition is good,¡± Rebehka refuted.


    ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®little¡¯ when I come to know the Archon¨¦ on a personal level due to how often his daughter acts up,¡± Kaon¨¦ countered.


    ¡°And here¡¯s a great place to talk about somethin¡¯ else,¡± Dav¨ªdrius interjected as he turned his attention toward Kaon¨¦. ¡°How¡¯re your kids? ¡­Fuck! I actually just asked someone ¡®how¡¯re the kids!¡¯ Fuck! We really are old!¡±


    Kievkenalis frowned. ¡°Forty isn¡¯t old¡­¡±


    ¡°Besides, my oldest is eleven.¡± Kaon¨¦ smirked. ¡°Have you really only just realized that?¡±


    ¡°Gah, that just makes it worse¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Wait, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Kev¨¦rin cut in, ¡°don¡¯t you have a daughter?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Velocitechnic gave him a clueless stare before recognition dawned on his face, followed by incredulity. ¡°You mean Relia? She ain¡¯t my kid. I¡¯m friends with her mom, sure, but she ain¡¯t mine.¡±


    ¡°And being friends with someone who has a kid old enough to attend your school doesn¡¯t make you feel old?¡± Rebehka responded, amused.


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°¡­Shut it.¡±


    ¡°If you feel old, how do you think I feel?¡± Kaon¨¦ sighed. ¡°I¡¯m the only one of us with kids. How did that even happen?¡±


    ¡°Whaddya mean, innit obvious? You got knocked up.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius promptly found himself suspended upside-down in the air as Kaon¨¦ gave him an irritated glare.


    ¡°Oi oi oi, what¡¯re you¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Nice to know that you¡¯ve matured, Dav¨ªdrius,¡± Rebehka deadpanned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that none of my children were accidents or born out of wedlock,¡± Kaon¨¦ declared. ¡°To suggest otherwise¡­!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡ª wait¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius frowned. ¡°¡­What do you mean, ¡®not accidents?¡¯ You can plan that stuff?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ paused uneasily. ¡°¡­You didn¡¯t know that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised,¡± Christean¨¦ snorted as the Materiatechnic allowed Dav¨ªdrius to fall to the ground haphazardly. ¡°Have you seen this guy with women? It¡¯s no surprise he doesn¡¯t know shit about sex or having kids.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re good with women?¡± Rebehka retorted.


    ¡°Like you¡¯re one to make fun of me for being single.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, he¡¯s got you there.¡± Kev¨¦rin smirked as the Cryotechnic drew away dejectedly.


    ¡°But still¡­¡± Kaon¨¦ turned toward Dav¨ªdrius, a concerned expression on her face. ¡°You¡¯re forty, and you don¡¯t know about family planning?¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that what that¡¯s about?¡± The Velocitechnic stood up and dusted himself off. ¡°I thought that was just¡­ I dunno¡­ travelin¡¯ or some shit.¡±


    ¡°The shining light of Tres¨¦d, everyone,¡± Christean¨¦ joked.


    ¡°Oi, I¡¯ve done more for Tres¨¦d than you and that joke of a College have ever done for East Nimaliaka,¡± Dav¨ªdrius shot back.


    ¡°Hey, fuck you! I¡¯ll have you know that the Kolst¨¦n College of Chaotics is doing very well for itself! Enrollment is at an all-time high!¡±


    ¡°And student behavior at an all-time low, am I right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not all about the students, we have researchers and shit too!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet they¡¯d be real impressed to hear that their Dean called them ¡®researchers and shit.¡¯¡±


    Christean¨¦ rolled his eyes. ¡°Ah, fuck you.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you too, buddy,¡± Dav¨ªdrius replied with a smirk.


    ¡°Christean¨¦¡¯s right, though,¡± Kievkenalis commented, ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I feel like I¡¯m managing a research group, not a school¡­¡±


    Kaon¨¦ shrugged. ¡°I feel the same way, but I guess that¡¯s just universities for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, ¡°of course DSC and YCUR have a higher ratio of researchers to students ¡ª their Deans are a Materiatechnic and a Chaostechnic, respectively. I don¡¯t know if you guys realize it, but your Chaotic types are like wet dreams to Chaotic and Chaos Energy researchers.¡± He glanced toward Kievkenalis. ¡°Especially since you¡¯re a Chaos Conduit.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that why I¡¯m always being asked to participate in experiments?¡± The Chaostechnic asked with a confused frown.


    ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t it your job to understand what¡¯s going on?¡± Rebehka questioned incredulously.


    ¡°Eh, not really.¡± Kievkenalis shrugged casually. ¡°I don¡¯t stick my nose into every experiment or research group. As long as everyone follows the rules and doesn¡¯t do anything dangerous, everything¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why you have so many researchers,¡± Christean¨¦ remarked, ¡°most people could only dream of that kind of hands-off administration.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still a problem,¡± Rebehka asserted, ¡°is it really okay for you to be so lax? I¡¯ve had Archon¨¦ Ledkia and the NSD breathing down my neck for less¡­¡±


    Kievkenalis shrugged again. ¡°I guess no one bothers me because I¡¯m a Chaostechnic.¡±


    ¡°More like because you¡¯re a full-fledged Chaos Conduit,¡± Kev¨¦rin countered, and then sighed. ¡°For some reason, I never expected founding and leading the Institute would be so difficult.¡±


    Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯d think we¡¯d¡¯ve been able to get more shit done after we saved the whole fuckin¡¯ galaxy.¡±


    ¡°The thing is, we did get a lot done,¡± Rebehka responded wearily. ¡°The very fact that we were able to drop out of the military when we did, and that we were even allowed to upset the normal Chaotic education scheme by founding private schools ¡ª that¡¯s all thanks to the gratitude we earned after the Nanocreature War. But even then, I doubt any of the nations would¡¯ve conceded the education point if you hadn¡¯t done it first in Tres¨¦d and shown how effective it was.¡±


    ¡°Fuck yeah, stickin¡¯ to the man.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t ask for too much, is that what you¡¯re sayin¡¯?¡± Christean¨¦ questioned.


    Kev¨¦rin chuckled spitefully. ¡°If we were going to ask for anything more, we should have done it a long time ago, back when people were still willing to bow at our feet. But it¡¯s too late now. Hell, even back then there were a lot of people who refused to believe that we¡¯d done anything. It took five years for us to convince the galaxy that we¡¯d killed Morcii and get them to finally back down from high alert, and five years after that everyone had already forgotten, despite the fact that the planets attacked by the Nanocreatures are still recovering.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can fault anyone for that,¡± Kaon¨¦ responded uneasily, ¡°the Nanocreature War was pretty brutal. Even I wish I could forget, sometimes¡­¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t,¡± Rebehka declared. ¡°Even if the whole galaxy forgets, we¡¯ll still remember. At least, I will. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.¡±


    ¡°You named your school the ¡®Wanl¨¦on-Tchir¨¦on Academy of Chaotics,¡¯¡± Christean¨¦ replied with a smirk, ¡°trust me, no one¡¯ll be forgetting Siyuak¨¦n any time soon.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± the Cryotechnic responded, and then glanced away uneasily. ¡°¡­People may have reason to remember her soon, though¡­¡±


    ¡°That sounds ominous.¡± Kev¨¦rin leaned forward in interest. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Rebehka stared at her half-empty mug, swilling the drink around for a moment or two before looking back up at the other Chaotics with a grim look on her face.


    ¡°Oh fuck, you¡¯re serious¡­¡± Dav¨ªdrius scowled. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°¡­What I¡¯m about to say can¡¯t leave this room,¡± she eventually replied. ¡°I¡¯ve arranged for a private meeting with the world leaders and the NSD commander, but this can¡¯t be said at the Summit. It¡¯s too early to go public.¡±


    ¡°We get it, we get it,¡± Christean¨¦ urged, ¡°¡­what¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡±


    ¡°Remember¡­ remember how the Nanocreature War was prefaced by the appearance of the metallic infection?¡±


    ¡°Given that¡¯s how we lost Siyuak¨¦n? Kinda hard to forget,¡± Dav¨ªdrius remarked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rebehka glanced down again, taking a deep breath before finishing, ¡°the infection¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s back.¡±


    .


    THE END

 [Meta Update] A New Saga Begins...

    Hello, all! Just a quick update for anyone who isn''t already aware: my new work, Chosen Chaos, is up on Royal Road -- 27 chapters currently, and ongoing! This new story takes place 20 years after the end of Rise; I''ve added the description below.


    If you liked Rise, I''d recommend checking out Chosen Chaos! ( https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26542/chosen-chaos</a> )


    <hr>


    30 years have passed since first contact. Earth has now been accepted into the galactic community, is expanding its territory to other planets, and has begun to adopt the myriad advanced technologies found throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. But as the least advanced race in the galaxy, the Earthians are struggling to carve a niche for themselves, made all the more difficult by the fact that they are the only race in the entire galaxy incapable of developing supernatural powers.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Until recently.


    Few know how or why, but small groups of Earthians have begun to display superhuman abilities ¡ª and the militaries of the galaxy have begun to display interest in them. Combined with the rise of an evil thought to have been vanquished two decades ago, these superpowered Earthians are forced to choose between the value of their own lives¡­ and the value of the entire galaxy.