I was caught in the enemy's specialty. The Wing Dust Disruption had done its work, reducing my movements and the speed of my assets to molasses. I was in a tight spot, realizing I had no immediate way to cleanse the agonizing debuff.
My HUD was flashing red, the active time battle meter dominating my vision. Fay Rhinehart's bar was zipping toward its next action at a terrifying rate, while the meters for Koba and Marla were crawling. My own meter, however, was full—I could issue one action.
I need to capture her Bio-signature with the Dahkra Rod! But she's so fast! Think, Ash! Think!
My eyes darted to my right hand, which gripped the violet Dahkra Rod. I suddenly noticed the large, thick black scale on the back of my hand—a remnant of my Brood Mother augmentation—and the complex compound eye embedded within it. The eye seemed to blink at me, a flash of primeval recognition.
"Of course! The Brood Mother's Palm!"
This feature wasn't just decorative; it was a synthesis of the augmentation that allowed the original creature to generate and command lesser spawn. If the defeated enemies I absorbed gave me energy, they surely left behind more than just skill points.
I slammed my Brood Mother Palm to the cracked polymer floor, channeling a burst of precious psychic intent mixed with orgone energy into the activation.
"Summon: Blaze-Sting Scorponok!"
The area where my palm hit the floor instantly erupted in a gout of heat and smoke. With a wet, chitinous scrape, a massive, red and orange Blaze-Sting Scorponok—a creature I had personally defeated and harvested scrap from—violently materialized. Its immense, fiery pincers snapped open, instantly creating a wall of heat and menace directly in Fay Rhinehart's flight path toward Syn.
The surprise was absolute. Fay, committed to her high-speed vector, had no time to use her high Agility to correct her course. She was forced to execute an immediate, jarring halt as the Scorponok's fiery pincers snapped shut inches from her helmeted antennae topped head.
The brief delay was all the opening I needed.
"Marla! Cover Fire!"
Despite the debilitating slowness of the dust, Marla's action meter had crept just high enough. She unleashed another powerful, health-scaled Serpent Flash. Fay frantically zipped and darted about, weaving in-between jagged arcs of seething green orgone.
Suddenly, things just got a lot harder for Fay. She was trapped between the summoned Scorponok's flaming pincers and the chaos of Marla's orgone barrage. The perfect extraction had devolved into a messy, immediate fight for survival.
Fay Rhinehart lived up to her Speed/Control Type affinity. Trapped between the fiery pincers of the summoned Blaze-Sting Scorponok and the suppressing fire of Marla's Serpent Flash, she became a fiery streaking fire-opal blur. Her high Agility allowed her to survive the ambush, zipping and darting about, weaving in-between jagged arcs of seething green orgone. Her primary goal—extraction—was momentarily stalled.
My battle meter was ticking on its cooldown, and with the Wing Dust slowing everyone but Fay, during the 'wait' section of the time meter I could perform one non battle function. Anything from checking my menu, to drinking a potion. I opted for getting Syn out of the Black Site.
"Syn! Hold on, I'll try to be gentle!" I commanded.
I quickly scooped up Doctor Syn, careful of her grip on the Element-X containment vessel. Syn gasped as I exerted a controlled power throw, lifting her with a smooth, powerful surge of my own augmented strength energized by orgone. I turned toward the massive, open maw of the hole in the ceiling where The Hand was anchored. The colossal bio-steel fingers provided a safe ledge inside the tunnel.
"Hand! Secure and conceal Doctor Syn! Wait for my command!" I projected the order to my Mount.
The Hand, obedient to the psychic command, curled one massive finger down. With a final, gentle heave, I tossed Syn upward toward the Hand.
Syn scrambled onto the metallic fingertip, pulling herself and the Element-X vessel into the safety of the waiting Hand. The moment Syn was secure; I felt a weight lift. The extraction objective was temporarily safe.
Now, my action meter was ready. I needed to pin Fay down to capture her signature, but the Scorponok and Marla's sporadic fire were just barely keeping her busy.
"Koba! Flank and box her in!" I ordered, focusing on the high-priority target. I knew Koba would be slow, but his defensive bulk could become a temporary wall. I gripped the Dahkra Rod, preparing to launch myself into the chaotic dust cloud and finally secure the Bio-signature of Agent Fay Rhinehart.
The Wing Dust still smothered the air, making Koba's flank agonizingly slow, but his immense bulk was a necessary tool. He lumbered forward, his shattered-floor landing position now a defensive wall, boxing Fay in against the blazing pincers of the Blaze-Sting Scorponok.
"Koba! Wall!" I projected, demanding he position himself to eliminate any escape vector.
Fay Rhinehart, however, was playing a different game. She recognized the pincer movement. The Scorponok was a stationary brute, and Koba was moving like a glacier. She focused her exceptional Agility on the only soft target left: the unknown hostile. Fay executed a rapid, vertical zigzag, avoiding another slow-moving Orgone beam from Marla. She accelerated toward me, her hand already reaching toward her belt—likely for a specialized suppression device.
I won't get a better chance then this! I thought to myself. I didn't wait for Koba to complete his flank. I didn't try to tackle her. My objective was simple: immobilize her long enough to tag her with the Rod. I used my augmented claws to slap a chunk of debris—a broken, heavy segment of polymer containment housing—directly into her flight path.
Fay was forced to react. She executed a perfect aerial barrel roll, twisting her body with impossible speed to avoid the debris, momentarily reducing her speed and disrupting her clean attack line.
I launched myself from behind the shattered console, the violet Dahkra Rod held in a reverse grip, my own movement feeling marginally faster than my sluggish assets, but still heavy. I used that half-second of disruption. I slammed into her with my shoulder, the shockwave of the kinetic impact momentarily stunning her.
"Now!"
I brought the Dahkra Rod up and slammed its violet tip into the butterfly girls gut.
"Bio-Energy Siphon Initiated. Target: Agent Fay Rhinehart. Resistance: HIGH."
Fay instantly convulsed. Her highly refined CENO augmentations fought my Dahkra Rod tooth-and-nail. It was no good! The butterfly girls resistance was to high and I couldn't get a sample of her orgone!
I ripped the rod free. Fay didn't collapse; her Level 6 body was too strong. But she was severely destabilized, her movements becoming ragged. She realized the full danger of the Dahkra Rod and the efficiency of my strike. She was in critical condition.
Fay let out a furious, panicked shriek. With a desperate surge of remaining Orgone, she flapped her wings violently, releasing a last, concentrated burst of slow powder directly at my face. She then executed a flawless, high-speed retreat, zipping backward down the corridor and vanishing around the nearest corner. Her extraction mission was a failure.
The immediate crisis was over, but the air was thick with the psycho active dust. I turned my focus back to my assets.
"congratulations Ash you now have two Skill Points remaining. What is the next priority for the Beast Master?"
My eyes trailed after the retreating agent, and I felt a great pang of regret at not being able to acquire her.
The colossal Hand burst from the grotto of the Gutter with a seismic shudder, we landed outside the forge. We were covered in the dust and grime of the deep vein, but successful.
I was the first off the Mount, followed by Koba and Marla, who immediately resumed defensive positions. Doctor Syn was helped down, clutching the specialized containment cylinder that held the shimmering, unstable Element-X. We were met instantly by Mothman and Felicity. Mothman, still clad in the imposing black Xun'dral Unit armor, looked exhausted but triumphant. Felicity, equally energized, rushed forward, her eyes wide. "Boss! You won't believe it!" Felicity crowed, her fangs showing in a wide, proud grin. "The bat-bitch tried to swipe the Territory Key while you were gone! Vespa Nox and her goons!"
Mothman's digitized voice crackled through his helmet speaker. "Yeah. If I hadn't figured out how to use the Xun'dral suit, they might have gotten past us. Felicity's chakrams were... effective, but those two beetle-brutes were tough. We spilled their guts though!"
I paused, absorbing the report. Vespa Nox. The Shadow Fangs. A direct, blatant challenge to my authority the moment my back was turned. I made a mental note of it. That offense would not go unpunished, but right now, my attention was focused elsewhere.
"Good work, both of you," I said, my voice low and authoritative. "Consider the Gutter secured. Mothman, get out of that suit and get some rest. Felicity, I need you on the Forge console."
My attention was already on the centerpiece of the room: Aegis 7. "Syn, let's see what we brought home." Doctor Syn approached the massive, humming structure of the Forge. She located the deep-level analysis chamber—a hardened compartment near the base of Aegis 7. With a soft click, she inserted the Element-X Containment Vessel into the chamber's slot.
I was eager to discover what secret element-x held in relation to giving Herja life, and the ability to transform a man into a woman. If we figured this out maybe I could change back.
The chamber door sealed with a heavy clunk. Inside the clear polymer viewport, the shimmering, volatile Element-X pulsed with captured energy. Mechanical arms, tipped with microscopic samplers, extended from the interior walls of Aegis 7. With absolute precision, they took a minute sample of the core material.
The main console of the Forge lit up with intense diagnostic activity. Felicity, taking her place at the controls, watched the data scroll by.
"Aegis 7 Analysis Initiated. Scanning elemental composition. Determining bio-symbiotic potential." Herja's voice was now broadcast through the Forge's speakers, lending the analysis a monumental importance. The screen flashed a complex molecular diagram. Felicity whistled. "This stuff is wild. Its not metal, its organic silicon."
Herja's analysis cut through the noise, delivering the cold, hard facts:
"Element-X: Core Analysis Complete. The sample is a highly stable, non-terrestrial compound. It is composed of a unique lattice structure that perfectly mimics the prime Orgone meridians of complex Genome Beast life forms.10,417 Genome Beast signatures to be exact. Cross-referencing libraries now, analyzing host DNA strand."
"In layman's terms, Herja?" But Herja was quite as she searched the libraries of Aegis Node 7 and any clues to the past this sample held.
Inside the humming core of Aegis 7, while the physical sample of Element-X stabilized, Herja launched her consciousness into the digital realm. She flew through the labyrinthine data streams of the Forge's operating system—a journey through what she called Cyberspace—until she arrived at the ''library of the Ancients'' a vast, encrypted archive of forgotten bio-data. Her objective was simple: cross-reference the unique Element-X DNA code with all known biological and synthetic life.
She took the complex, non-terrestrial synthetic lattice of the Element-X and inserted it into the Library's immense search matrix. The archives, spanning millennia of forgotten evolutionary data, churned through billions of entries.
The search was brief and definitive. The library flashed a single, terrifying classification:
''Silver Blooded Phage' '
Herja's digital presence stilled. The term was almost mythical, a classification CENO had believed was purged from all known records.
"Ash," Herja's voice cut through the Forge speakers, the usual husky purr replaced by a cold, analytical dread. "The Element-X is not just a wonder material. It's a creature—a species known in the deepest archives as the ''Silver Blooded Phage.''
The room was silent save for the low hum of Aegis 7 and Herja's chilling pronouncement.
I stared at the glowing containment vessel, the implications of Herja's discovery washing over me. ''Element-X'' was an ancient, powerful alien species. That could consume and take on the characteristics and memories of what ever it ate. Suddenly, a blinding flash ignited within my mind, connecting two disparate pieces of knowledge.
"But Herja, don't you see!" I exclaimed, my voice hoarse with dawning understanding. "The ''Element-X'' merged with you, and then you bonded with me!"
Without waiting for Herja's reply, I slammed my will into my inner vision, bringing up my personal System Interface menu. I scrolled past the familiar metrics—the HP, Orgone, the stats, the skill trees, the elemental table—all the cultivation data that defined my power. I scrolled until the very end, past my name and bio, to the core genetic identification tag. I exhaled slowly, the air trembling in my lungs as I read the three terrifying words displayed under the heading "Race":
''Silver Blooded Phage''
The truth hit me with the force of Koba's charge. Herja was a Blood phage. And now...So was I.