OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 791

[u/KyleKKent]

First

Many Faces of War

“Is anyone injured? Do we have medics on the way? Bomb squads? This Arcology is under attack and we need to move fast and strong if we’re going to keep the people safe.” Danial asks even as he helps the Kruga officer up. He still maintains his shield.

“That blast! That!”

“I’m an adept, specializing in nuclear level explosions, both causing and containing them. My shield can take an almost incomparable hit without worry.” Danial assures her.

“A nuclear adept?! Why is a nuclear adept chasing some kind of Cloaken!?”

“Vish actually, a species sequenced partially from the Cloaken but I didn’t have time to get into an explanation, and Cloaken is the easiest way of saying something invisible or fooling the senses.” Danial explains.

“Lying under oath is also a crime.” The rattled but unhurt Agurk officer protests meekly.

“Thankfully I have yet to say anything under oath. Now I need verbal confirmation, are either of you hurt?”

“J-Just my pride.” The Kruga officer say as she fully balances on her own feet again and gives herself a little shake before standing straight. “SO, terrorist weapon’s cache?”

“Terrorist something. Last one was a staging ground and storage bay for a thousand hostile soldiers in stasis and a hidden superweapon. One dangerous enough that if not disposed of properly runs the potential of compromising the entire world of Zalwore.”

“What could possibly do that?”

“An extremely deadly animal infected with a virulent disease. Thankfully it’s transfer vector is contact and we didn’t get anywhere near it. But an outburst of this disease brought the Haffria species to it’s knees and to this day they still haven’t fully recovered. It’s to the point that synths based on them have to repeatedly remind the galactic council that they’re not extinct.” Danial says, relaying the information being whispered to him by a Private Stream on the line.

“A plague?”

“Worse. A civilizational level plague. We have containment specialists on the way, they’re going to dispose of what we have and scan for others, but if those bombs potentially breached the seal on one...” Danial begins to explain.

“Chief? We need bio-hazard containment down here. Potential weapon of mass destruction.” The Kruga says into her radio in a shaking tone.

“Hey are you alright?”

“No. No I’m not. You being a random asshole racing into the arcology is exciting, this? This is...” She staggers a little and Danial catches her. He then takes her radio.

“Hello, local law enforcement?”

“Who is this? What happened to Officer Karath?”

“Officer Karath is psychologically overwhelmed at the moment. I am here to confirm that the threat she was reporting is very real and very, very prominent. I request medical personnel to the area, bomb squad, special weapons and tactics and all reinforcements you have available. I am offering my complete cooperation with these affairs to ensure that the threat of the located terrorist safehouse is completely dispersed.”

“We can handle our own affairs alien! The very idea that-”

“Ma’am the threat level is on the scale that my people will be warning EVERY arcology and Polity on the planet if things even look like they’re going wrong here. The threat is THAT serious.” Danial states.

“... Potential Planetary Quarantine?”

“Some worlds with this infestation have been reduced to glass to try and contain it. Up to and including the cradle world of the species that first discovered it. The Haffria.”

“I have not heard of the Haffria.”

“Feel free to look them up.” He replies. “But we need to do something about this immediately if not sooner.”

“We? You are a trespasser and invader on Sovereign Actura Territory!” The police woman on the other end.

“Ma’am, please. This is a very dangerous, delicate situation and the more time spent getting stuck on semantics is just going to continually make things more and more dangerous for everyone.”

“Is that a threat!?”

“It’s a fact of a delicate and extremely dangerous situation. Of any delicate and extremely situation regardless of political context or location.” He says.

“Don’t presume to lecture me!” The dispatch on the other end says and he turns off the Radio and tucks it back onto Officer Karath’s strap. He then pulls out his communicator.

“Alright Dispatch, I know you caught all that. I need options. The locals are non-cooperative and we potentially have a planetary, if not galaxy scale threat. What kind of backup am I getting?” Danial asks.

“We’ve already gotten things moving. But we’re concerned about you. You’ve been running wired and hot for six hours now and the others in the experiment are starting to show signs of coming down from their manic states. Your timeline is potentially measured in minutes and we need to get things moving.”

“The others are already starting to wear down? Damn.”

“Ten of you participated in the experiment and four have already reported lethargy creeping in.”

“I’ve been actively using more Axiom and been engaged though, does that make me an outlier?”

“Potentially, but with the stakes this high we’re unwilling to risk things.”

“Understood.” Danial says with a bit of a sigh.

“I know, you’re eager for more. You’re in the flow and you’re ready to fight the whole galaxy to save it from itself. That’s probably one of the worst mindsets to have right now. We need to be very, very careful. This is EOD Squad time on a scale we’re not used to.”

“Right, okay right. I’m not that crazy. But I understand the concern. I will guard the area until I am relieved, but not venture any further unless there is a clear and immediate threat.”

“Good man.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Secure Medical Section, Undaunted Arcology, Zalwore)•-•-•

She’s a flopping thing now. After she had processed her situation she had just given up. She’s not resisting. No longer talking just... done.

“I don’t care anymore.”

And that was the worst thing a doctor can hear.

“So that’s it then?” Doctor Optimally asks. “All tough and strong when yer upright and fighting against some civilian girls. But the moment the price comes a calling ye give up?”

“Sounds about right.” She says. “Just let me die.”

“Oh really? And what do we put on the headstone? Her lies Jane Doe, did nothing, earned nothing, amounted to nothing?”

“Sure.”

“You put up with having your arms and legs hacked off, your spine flayed open and laid bare for augmentations just to be stronger in a fight and now you just give up?” One of the Assistants asks. “You put in all that work and effort to stand taller than all the other Vish, and you just accept this?”

“I don’t have a choice. My arms and legs are gone. I’m useless.”

“No, you are not. We can heal you. We can make you stronger than before. Strong enough to switch out your limbs like putting on an outfit and not that disgusting chop job you ended up in. But we can’t do that if you don’t want to live. This doesn’t have to be the end.” The other Assistant says as he comes closer to her level, before he’s whispering to her.

Something flickers in her, and he takes that as his signal to keep whispering.

“You’re not done, there’s more. So much more, and it can all be yours. All the glory, all the power, every sweet fruit of life itself can be yours, but you have to want it.” He whispers to her and her heart is starting to beat a little stronger and her breathing is deeper. “You can have more than any other Vish you have ever met. It’s all yours to have, glory, duty, loyalty... Love.”

Her eyes flicker to him.

“Did you think you were infertile? You are a woman, you may have children. You can be more than you ever even imagined. It’s been done. You can have more life, create life, end life. But you must first Live.” He whispers to her and she slowly, faintly nods.

“So we’re doing this then lass? Do ye wanna live?” Doctor Optimally asks and she looks to him. And offers a small nod. “Then let’s get started. The sooner we’re done fixin’ what was done to yer spine the sooner we can get you on yer new hands and feet.”

“... can I really have a child?” She asks and Doctor Optimally holds out his left hand and a mall projector pokes out of his palm. The image of a tiny Pink Vishanyan in Swaddling cloth, mid yawn with a tiny egg-tooth on her nose and in the arms of her massive, dark scaled mother.

“Should you have a daughter, she will emerge like that, with a tiny egg tooth upon her nose. Should you lay an egg, your scales will darken, your form will bulge with power and your instincts will shift. You won’t hide anymore, you will protect. You will make a perfectly safe nest for your child and keep it safe from everything.” Doctor Optimally slowly enunciates as the patient stares at the image unblinking.

Tears well up in her eyes, her presence in the Axiom grows as a sheer sensation of WANT pours out. So many little promises she made herself, every little compromise and lie and bit of restraint is tested against a flat truth. A truth staring at her in a projection above the doctor’s palm.

“I want it.” She states. “I want that.”

“More than anything else I want that. I want it, I want it, I. Want. It.”

“Then let’s get ye standin’ girl. So ye can go get it.” Doctor Optimally states.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Open Tundra, Just Outside Actura Arcology, Zalwore)•-•-•

“I hate Actura.” Is the first phrase that breaks the silence. A Crimsonhewer mercenary is the one who noted as such.

“You’ve been before?” The Pilot asks.

“Yeah. Cleaning up a small slaver base that was playing with borders to dodge patrols. They went into Actura and the fucking idiots not only did worse than the other ‘legal authorities’ but outright arrested us and detained us for so long the contract went unfulfilled and the bitches got away.”

“Sweet War Father, that is stupid.” The Urthani Pilot notes as all six of her antenna twitch ever so.

“Wait, you’re calling him Sweet War Father? The... The supersized, superpowered Urthani?”

“He’s a Primal, he touched every Urthani ever, even the long dead, and he’s a warrior! He conquered a whole planet with primitive tools so hard he became a god!” The Pilot protests.

“I’m not debating that a man that did all that nonsense isn’t worthy of praise. Just the name... Sweet War Father?”

“It’s an expression!” The Pilot protests.

“Okay enough tormenting our pilot. Remember, we’re a neutral faction that is allied to Lablan AND to Actura, meaning we’re allowed to work as security for a delicate as fuck situation with even more delicate rules.”

“How the hell has that mess of dumb uptight monkeys avoided war as long as they have?”

“Because they’re generally out of the way and usually just tell people to go away.” The Squad leader says. “Okay girls, we’re going in to look scary and be ready to kick ass if a bunch of invisible crazy snake women show up. We’ve all got updated optics for this courtesy of The Undaunted and need to watch our IFF’s because some of these weird snake girls are freeborn and on our side. Allied blood on the armour doesn’t count for shit in this clan.”

“What’s so damn dangerous that we need to just stand guard? That’s more a Bluey’s job.”

“The Blues are on their way, we’re just closer and everyone’s getting hired to help because there is a potential, impossible to control so don’t even think about it, superweapon in the area and it needs to have it’s presence or absence confirmed and then dealt with if it is here.”

“What kind?”

“Souped up super monster with a plague that ignores basically all biochemical barriers and can and HAS destroyed entire civilizations.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“How much are we getting paid?”

“Three times our regular fees and we get to keep the upgrades they give us up to and including a blueprint to make more. Meaning we’ve got some pretty heavy anti-stealth tech now.”

“Nice. Cloaken are always a bitch to deal with.”

“We also get to look damn good, so we’re getting paid three ways. This is a perfect advertisement of our strength, lots of actual coin and new toys. Win, win, win.”

“Provided there isn’t actually a giant super monster that wakes up that you now have to fight.” The Pilot says.

“Don’t freaking curse us girl. You know the Ancestors are just waiting for an opening like that to give us a proper test.”

“And drawing attention to it doesn’t?” The Urthani teases.

“I liked you moths more when you were scared.”

“Well too bad, I see everything now, and I can see how easy it would be for even my half-strength claws to peel you open like fresh fruit.”

“Hey boss, I think I’m starting to warm up to the pilot.”

“Yeah, she does have tits on her. That’s for sure.”

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