The initial surge is almost always the hardest part of an engagement, even when working from ambush or surprise. Even if you had planned every single step of your advance and initial volley down to the second, there was always something that could go wrong, some way that Murphy, that ever so crafty maker of Mischief and Discord, could interject to make things just that much worse. Soldier on the field plan for it. They anticipate it. And even then, they dread it all the same.

So when the initial charge to the cultists went off as smoothly as possible, I was immediately set on edge. Judging from the "feel" of the others, they were too, even little Rico.

Despite this, we pushed forward still, breaking a hole in the still-forming line of chaotic armor as we advanced using some rather judicious applications of weapons fire, and severely disrupting the cultist's combat flow. A wordless gesture from Rico erected a series of barriers in the cleared space for us to use as cover, not that I thought we'd need it. The armor columns, now that we were closer and in better lighting, looked more like a compact Dreadnought...or maybe oversized Terminator armor? In either case, the damned things were bigger than I had expected them to be.

That just meant that there would be larger targets for us to shoot at. As Harry soon demonstrated.

Now, to my best knowledge, these armor systems were designed to be nearly as tough as a properly forged suit of Terminator armor, and in certain respects more so due to extra available mass for armoring. The result was a system that by all rights could tank anything short of a heavy bolter with little difficulty, and almost as little damage, which made me curious as to why the pattern was discontinued if it was that good. Probably something to do with either cost or overall effectiveness...

Anyway, the point here is that the base stats on the armor were nothing for one to scoff at, and would require at least some form of dedicated anti-tank capability to inflict real damage in meaningful timeframes.

Harry, suspecting the same, jumped straight to the Guardian Laser after settling into his cover, and opened up on the nearest suit of armor to his location.

The result damn near froze the battlefield with the sheer shock factor involved, as the armor was not only cored through but completely cratered. In one shot. I think he was surprised that there was no over-penetration to the shot, the damned thing was hit so badly.

I settled into my own chosen position slightly to the back end of the impromptu formation as this happened, observing the effect. If Harry's base rifle was doing that even in E-mode, then... I would probably need to place my shots more carefully than everyone else, just to avoid structural damage to the caverns and supports.

Note to self: make an adjustable power selector switch, so this shit doesn't come up again.

Mio was wading towards the beleaguered defenders in the crevice proper, using her closer-ranged weaponry to devastating effect in clearing out the flesh-and-blood cultists. For the few armors that had managed to get close enough to present as a threat to the fireteam, well…

Let's just say that Angry Dragongirl is a sight to behold, and her strength was more than up to the task of taking the damned things out, with her oddball melee weapon going through the machines like so much tissue paper. It was almost comical, really.

Harry was using the opportunity caused by the shock factor of our entrance (which had still not faded, a feat that I found quite impressive) in order to do some housekeeping. Even with the slight delay in firing off more laser shots to clean up the armors, the result was still more akin to multiple bolts of quickly-fired death upon his foes. The Armors were dropping like flies.

Too bad more of the damned things were swarming in from the passage that the cultists were using to attack from... For them, anyway.

One of the more interesting modifications I was able to make to my personal rifle was a mode select for the G-Laser. Using it, I could switch between the normal shot, a (potentially) piercing shot type (that was now overkill, considering what Harry was up to), and an experimental shot type that would create large area explosions upon impact with a given surface...in theory. I hadn't actually done live-fire testing on that mode just yet, and was unsure of how effective it would be, or if it would even work as I'd intended.

Switching to the explosive mode, I sent a single shot downrange, (along with a prayer…) dead center of the pack that was advancing on our position.

The shot was true, hitting center mass of one of the lead armors in the cultist mob.

The explosive area effect kicked in as it was supposed to.

And the entire group effectively ceased to exist.

I had to stop my own jaw from dropping at the sheer power displayed here. That was a significant increase from what the simulations showed would be the output.

So far, our weapons were proving to be superior to that of even the most overbuilt Melta gun currently in use. By a significant margin. We were probably going to need a new benchmark for this crap.

Harry shot me a glance. "Having fun over there?"

I took the time to snipe and eradicate another grouping of cultists and their armor. "Never better. Gear is working better than expected, is all. How you holding up?"

Another chuckle. "It's very much like shooting fish in a barrel, my friend."

Mio chimed in from near the holdouts. "I'm done over here, but we're probably going to have a problem once we're done. Finish up and come see me."

Well, that was awkward.

More of the cultists streamed into the cavern, and I had the stray thought of wondering just where the absolute fuck these people were coming from to have this kind of force when Rico decided he was done with the bullshit for a day.

Now, I need to make a note of this here. While everyone else was training themselves up in new techniques, Rico was not idle in the slightest. In fact, he had dug into the databases specifically for anything he could use as a caster support-type in a fight, and ran across the very same photon technics that I had skipped over due to lack of time. A second note is that I intentionally built in photon technology into Rico's core before activating him, so unlike the rest of us, he was perfectly suited to using it on a whim.

So when the bolts of lightning started not only falling out of the bare air but behaving specifically in a manner not like lightning, I knew what was going on. The cultists, however, did not. And for all their bravado, all their craziness, all their devotion to their dark gods, there just was no stopping any of the (insanely and unusually freeform) Zonde Techs from frying their asses at convenience. Especially when it was arcing from target to target, almost without end.

Between Myself, Harry, and Rico's addition of homing lightning that would not go away, we managed to clear up the cultist rush within five minutes of otherwise fierce fighting…on the cultist side. For us, it was only removed from being a training exercise because the bullets were real. I nearly found myself gaping in astonishment when it was over and everything had gone according to plan, for what little given value of plan that we had.

All the cultists had been annihilated to the last man. I didn't even bother faking a tear for them. They had made their own beds, siding with Chaos. Let them feast on the consequences.

After another check to make sure that the enemy was actually dead (because the Geneva Convention held no sway here), we returned to the alcove housing our holdouts.

And was met with the sight of Mio being held at gunpoint by a very clearly irate Sister of Battle.

Oh, and apparently there were more survivors of the hellstorm, as some of the attendants of the Van Saar base were present as well, along with Janus, and all of them looking ran ragged.

I just sighed. Murphy had his fun after all.

"Identify yourselves, or die like scum, dogs!"

I see the Sister was very personable.

She was bedecked in the standard power armor of the Sororitas, with a few flourishes denoting her rank as what I believed to be either equivalent to a sergeant or a lieutenant of some kind. Either way, the decals alone told me that she should have been leading a force of similarly minded-people in the field, which begged the question of just where those people were at.

Mio, of course, was irritated as all hell, and obviously so even without the link we shared. There was not a drop of fear of any kind, though.

"I am Techpriest Miolala Granliss, and they are my retinue. I had received word that there was some kind of archaeotech hidden here, and was dispatched to recover it. By what right do you hold me to account, especially after bailing your ass out of the frying pan with those cultists?"

"A likely story, scum. I can see the mutations plainly, heretic. Accept your fate, and perhaps the Emperor will show leniency in his judgement when you face him in death."

I decided to step in. "You mind calming down and actually hearing us out? We are here for the archaeotech, after all. Maybe you and yours can get a debrief in before the bolts start flying for no reason?"

I saw Janus out of the corner of my eye making motions to shut up. I ignored him.

"And for what reason should I listen to impure mutant scum like yourself? You would have been better served spending your life in this battle to prove your worth to the Imperium. I will allow you to die painlessly as long as you tell me what the truth of this place is."

The deadpan look on my face was likely priceless, and I'm sure Rico wanted to get a picture of it. I noticed Harry crawling around near the entrance to the alcove proper, and watched him flinch back in shock as another five Sisters put in an appearance from within, one of which was carrying what looked to be a Volkite Culverin, although I had never seen one that was that compact before.

Mio was beyond pissed now. "Not going to happen, Zealot. Now, I believe I mentioned I was here on official Mechanicus business, so Step. Aside. Or face the consequences."

The sister gazed at Mio for a moment, and I thought that maybe we could solve this mess…

And then the Sister pulled the trigger on her Bolter.

THAT was a mistake.

I'm pretty sure I was the only one who saw it happen. Mio was, one moment, at point-blank to a bolter aimed at her head. The next, she was fully behind her would-be attacker, having outright dodged the bolt coming at her with contemptuous ease, and in the same motion wrenching the Sister's arms fully behind her in a full Nelson hold. The bolter clanged harmlessly to the floor below.

All motion in the cavern stopped, save for my own, as I calmly walked up to the Sister in question, a deceptively calm look on my face. I stopped once I was close enough to do what I needed to, and then proceeded to slap the everloving dogshit out of her.

All at once, weapons were aimed in my direction from the other Sisters in the area, who proceeded to fan out in order to gain better firing angles. Mio watched them calmly, even as the Sister she was currently clenching tried and failed to break free. Seems that even Power Armor has limits, and my dragon exceeded them quite handily.

I deliberately ignored the blush that broke out on Mio's face.

"Are you done yet?"

Such a simple question, and yet I was almost certain of the answer anyway.

And, right on cue, our dear Sister spat at me, which I lazily dodged. "Never, heretic. Burn in the hell that your masters have created for you."

Okay, I knew that the whole xenophobia thing and religious fervor would be an issue, but seriously? We literally just wiped out one of the largest forces of Chaos Cultists in the area, possibly in the entire Hive, and this bitch has the nerve to try and call us out as mutants and Heretics? As, dare I say it, worshipers of Chaos?

Did we not just literally SAVE YOUR SORRY ASSES!?

The cavern was quiet. Again. And judging by the looks I was getting, I had said at least part of that out loud. Good, because the fucktards needed to hear it.

"So, just where the fuck do you think you get off, having the nerve to try and call me out as a, and I quote, HERETIC, and thus unworthy of the Emperor's grace? Who in the fuck died and made you God? Because last time I checked, big E hasn't kicked the bucket yet, and not for a lack of effort by the many enemies of the Imperium.

"And even if I was a "mutant", what the fuck does it matter if I am still loyal to the Imperium? Hell, for that matter, Miss Granliss here has clearly stated that she is a Techpriest on official business, and you did not even bother to ask for credentials or even orders. No. you just held her at gunpoint, because you saw something that you didn't like. Well, TOUGH SHIT. We are here, we have business with that cavern, and as much as I do not want to shed loyal Imperial blood, if I have to go through you all to do it then you and your Sisters are all dead women. So choose, Sister. Let us complete our legitimate task, and even help us if you feel it is so important, or stand in our way and die as ignorant fools for nothing. Because I assure you…"

And with that verbal cue, Rico finished the binding spell that he was slowly building up, and completely immobilized the entire force of Sororitas with not even a gesture.

"...you are not winning a fight against us."

I could see the looks of pure RAGE on the faces of the Sisters as they were effectively dismantled without so much as firing a shot, and it warmed my heart. I knew that getting through to this group was an exercise in futility, but at least I could take some solace in their suffering such a humiliating defeat. That it (currently) prevented a bloodbath from breaking out was just a bonus, and had a secondary objective as well of preventing a certain thing from happening that would be bad for everyone involved.

"Well, Sister? I'm waiting."

The growls of frustration were delicious.

The Sororitas were more or less stacked into a corner and given a quick medical scan by Rico while the rest of us sorted out the mess that was everything else. Harry was working with Janus and the other Van Saar survivors, getting them set to rights after the onslaught, while Mio and I were moving to inspect the cave proper.

Normally I would have left the healing processes to Mio, who was more familiar with the Imperium as a whole than I was, but she was far too enraged to even bother without ripping the Sister (who I now knew was the Sister Superior of that particular detachment) to shreds. While I did not blame her, the anger seemed to be coming from a weird place. As such, I had her tagging along with me to do STC recovery.

"So, do you actually want to talk about it, or am I just going to have to drag you around by the leash for a bit?"

Mio had the decency to at least blush at the comment, but the anger didn't fade in the slightest. "While I would love to get back to that particular game, now is not the time, and I'm honestly not in the mood, not after that", and she spat in the Sister Superior's general direction. "BITCH so blatantly disregarded everything the Imperium is supposed to stand for. We are meant to fight for the freedom of Man from the horrors of the galaxy, not fighting amongst ourselves over who is more righteous and pure. There are enough enemies out there for everyone and then some."

"That only explains about half of it, Mio. Why did you react as if you expected something completely different?"

Mio sighed. "Because I did."

That didn't really throw me for a loop so much as it merely was mildly surprising. I sensed that there was more and allowed her to continue.

"When we met, I told you that I was chosen to assist you as needed, and was teleported across the galaxy to find you." She paused, seeming to gather a bit of willpower for whatever she wanted to say next. "What I did not tell you was that I was also teleported across dimensions, or perhaps you would prefer realities."

Okay then. That had my attention.

"I am from an Imperium that is apparently much different from this one, at least in one major part: The Imperium here is a fragmented, disjointed thing full of warring factions and petty grudges. My Imperium is not much better, but unlike here we do not fight amongst ourselves, only against the tides of darkness encroaching ever closer, until the time when the Emperor may once again join us in battle."

I took a moment to collect my thoughts from this revelation. Mio's world sounded on the surface like something completely at odds with what I knew of the setting that was Warhammer 40,000, and yet it also poked at a memory of something I had read before. Something meant to be better. No less Dark, but a lot less Grim. I needed more information.

"And of your Emperor? What is his status?"

Mio's response was tinged with both pain and hope. "He sits upon the golden throne, recovering ever so slowly from a grievous injury sustained during the rebellions. All attempts to research the technology used have so far failed to give anything that could accelerate the process of healing him. But he is healing, and when he is recovered…"

That narrowed it down a LOT. I think Mio was from one of the so-called "midhammer" worlds, where things were less about the futility of the struggle and more about the nobility of the sacrifice.

Words came to me. "Countless souls perish in His name, never to be remembered...but their deeds live onwards forevermore in the hearts of those who still fight on." It was something of a tagline for that kind of thing, and a thought process that I agreed with when so few were actually truly capable of affecting the galaxy on the necessary scale to effect true change.

"Yes. We all strive ever forwards, towards the day when the true dawn shall break. Until then, we shall fight."

A sentiment I agreed with wholeheartedly. A smile tugged at my face at the thought.

"Yeah, this is not your home dimension. In this place, the Emperor is not a fallen hero, but a rotting Carcass sitting upon the Throne of Terra, fed thousands of psyker souls every day so that he may never truly die. The Imperium as a whole is a fractious, uncoordinated mess, with everyone and their grandma trying to create their own fiefdom within the greater whole and willing to condemn entire worlds for a bit of political power...and don't even get me started on the shit that Chaos gets up to in this environment.

"Here, the Sisters of Battle acting like overcompensating zealots is not only normal, but expected. The same goes for the utterly fantastic racism that you will be subjected to, never mind that you are a Techpriest. They will still find a way to hate, mostly because I think that it's all that many of them have left. Only their hate."

Mio remained silent for a moment, and then spoke, both in voice and mind.

"We will fix this."

My reply was in the same manner.

"Yes we will."

Now the only problem was to figure out how to do so.

Instead of brooding, I lightly booped Mio on her head, between those wonderful horns of hers. "Don't sweat it too much. We'll figure it out, one way or the other."

Mio's smiles were always a balm for me, even back then. Now that I was legitimately falling for her (and more importantly, willing to admit it even within my own mind), they were almost weapons-grade in their soothing ability.

"Oh, right. There is something I wanted to ask you about." Mio made a vague gesture that seemed like a form of exasperation. "One of the final "tweaks" from the forge integration process just finished recently, and gave me a strange object, and instructions to just ask you about what it was." She then reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a small white sphere.

I nearly face faulted at seeing it, especially if it was what I thought it was. "Did you notice anything unusual about that sphere, Mio? Things that did or did not fit right?"

Mio shrugged: "Well, it doesn't feel like a Spherical object, even though I can plainly see that it is one. It's more...spiky? Except for one spot that feels odd. The Data for this is still being set up, so I'm not 100% on what it is. Do you know?"

Ah. that explained it. The user manual hadn't gotten to her yet, but that did bring up a question of sorts that I would need to ask Watts about. Specifically, why now?

Anyway, Mio deserved an explanation. "That, if my guess is correct, is a Valkyrie Core. it's a pretty nifty piece of technology, and will serve you will in the coming days...after you get used to it. Syncing with the things is rough if you don't have a high affinity, and there are many who will never be compatible at all. I have one myself, but due to outside factors it's currently locked down. I can teach you what I know when we get done here."

Again, Mio's love for all things technology shone through her expressions, even as her wonder at the small golf ball of doom washed over our link. I took a moment to indulge in seeing her happy.

Which is probably why we both were not paying attention for what happened next.

We had arrived at the area where the STC was located. It was still here, and from the looks of it, undamaged. I would need to check the databases to make sure that the cultists hadn't gotten to it first, but it was here and available.

What we weren't expecting was the second squad of Sisters hanging around in the area in some rather good hiding spots, waiting for just such a fat and happy target to make an appearance. They opened fire on us almost as soon as we hit their kill box. And it was here that I learned a very valuable lesson.

Bolter shells hurt.

I myself was hit by at least five of the things before I managed to get up a barrier to cover myself. Mio got hit maybe twice more from what I could see. Both of us had our Auras shattered almost outright from the barrage before we got to cover, and the shooting did not stop even then.

I had to physically force Mio to not fire back. I was sorely tempted to as well. But I stayed my hand and made sure that Mio did the same while reinforcing our shields and covering exposed areas, because if my suspicion was correct, then that was the absolute WORST thing that the Sisters could have done.

The sudden feeling of supernatural menace in the air did not bode well for my hopes that I was wrong.

Slowly, the Sisters stopped firing. At first, I suspected it was an ammunition issue, but…

"Come out, and identify yourselves. We will not act against you further unless provoked."

"Like we're supposed to believe that from the people who shot first and are only not asking questions because you can't kill us?" Mio's words rang out over the area. I, on the other hand, was curious as to why we hadn't had the group outside rushing in yet. This alcove was reasonably large, but not THAT big.

"We received orders that I now believe were in error. We will not act against you unless you act against us. All I need is for you to identify yourselves."

I looked at Mio. "you think we should try it?"

"No. Hell no. They are only trying to get past the shielding. The instant we pop up, we die."

"Mio, we can move faster than the bolts now that we know they are there. If nothing else, we can get out of the kill box." I was trying to be semi-reasonable, but the increasing sense of outright Malice was distracting me. Something was coming. Something big.

"Besides, I can feel it too. I do not want to be fighting on two fronts when whatever that thing is decides to wake up."

Slowly, the Sisters began to feel it too, one by one, each of them turning about and seeking the source of the malice with their bolters. I winced as two of the Sisters swept the entire group with the business ends of the weapons several times in their near panic. This was not good. At all.

"Ladies," I called out. "I believe we are about to have some company. I suggest you prepare yourselves for a fight."

Apparently the Sister in charge agreed. "You heard the man, get to cover! Prepare for attack, and MAKE SURE THE STC REMAINS UNDAMAGED!"

Someone had their priorities straight. Hell, I actually agreed with her. I made a cursory check on Thoth just to see if any of the restrictions had been lifted...and nope, they were all still there, same as always...but a warning had popped up.

[UNKNOWN ENTITY ATTEMPTING TO BREACH LOCAL SPACE. STANDBY FOR DEFENSE RESPONSE]

Wait, what? What Unknown entity was this? I was expecting Bird People shenanigans, not this shit!

The entity made itself known soon after, complete with the sound of thunder and the roar of displace air. Unnoticed to all but myself was the sound of cracking stone.

I...did not know what to call the damned thing. It was clearly not anything that the Imperium had come up with, and yet it did not look precisely like any form of Daemon that I had ever seen. It was just weird.

We all watched as looked around for a bit, clearly noticing the groups of combatants watching it carefully.

And then it turned towards the STC, and made a shockingly quick beeline to the priceless object.

The response was immediate and unforgiving. The Sisters opened up almost immediately on the Daemon(?) peppering it with ceaseless bolter fire. Mio worked to get a shot of her own, but the angles were bad with our barrier setup. Besides, the damned thing was almost as fast as we were, dodging around the bolts like it could see them coming from a mile off, always moving ever closer to that precious relic...at least, until a pillar of Ice rose directly in its path, blocking its access.

No way in hell I was letting it get anywhere near that STC...and I could cast from this position all fucking day without dropping that shield.

The room shook slightly as something outside my field of view happened, and I was forced to put it out of mind as the daemon switched tactics and moved to disable my battlefield control, still dodging the Sisters attempts at putting it down. My guess is that it probably thought that I was a run-of-the-mill psyker that it could slap aside with ease, and then get back to its real job.

Too bad for it that I was not anywhere near that weak or that stupid. And unlike it, I had backup that was not afraid to go after it. Mio and I were more than ready to deal with the threat.

The Daemon charged us, intent on breaking through no matter the cost.

This is probably why it got sideswiped by the goddamned Bird statue as it ran by, the Torizo making a point of doing a Kool-Aid man impression as it came through the Ice wall faster tan even I could track to basically fold that daemon over its knee. Hell, it even LOOKED painful.

The Torizo then proceeded to blatantly and utterly FLEX on that poor daemon. I outright refused to even call it a fight, it was so bad. That daemon quite literally had its ass handed to it before the Torizo opened up with Chozo bullshit and erased it from existence.

The whole time the STC sat untouched and pristine.

I carefully reshaped my barrier so that I had a better view of the Torizo now that it was busy scraping leftover daemon off its foot. To all appearances, it looked like a normal version that you would see in the games...and then I noticed the golden color of its "skin".

Whelp, guess this op is a wash. I'm almost certain I don't have the firepower to deal with a Golden Torizo, especially not one that made wiping out a daemon look easy…

"Alright. Mio, time for us to go. We're not beating that thing anytime soon, and neither are the Sisters. Maybe we can come back later or something, after we build up a bit...why are you looking at me like that?"

Mio had a look on her face that could only be described as "Are you CRAZY?" I wanted to ignore it. I really did...but I value her insight too much to do that to her. Besides, her response to my question was to point at the Torizo.

Which had stopped and was looking directly at us.

I had played enough Metroid to know where this was going. And I knew for an absolute fact that this was going to suck like nothing else.

The Torizo let out a scream that shook the very air itself. And whether we liked it or not, battle was joined.

"Do NOT let it hit you no matter what! You saw what it did to that daemon, I do not want that happening to you!"

My warning to Mio proved to be timely, as the Torizo used its initial attack to basically bypass my poor barriers like they weren't even there and take a quick swipe at my Dragon. Mio, having seen the attack coming (and heeded my warning) dodged out of the way as quickly as possible while opening up the distance between them.

I took the opportunity to get a potshot off at the damned thing...only to watch in horror as it snatched my mass effect-boosted slug out of the air like it was a mere dandelion in the wind, and contemptuously toss it aside. A repeat attempt with more bullets had the same thing happening.

The Sisters of Battle were only slightly confused by the unfolding events, but still put in their best work as things heated up, spraying bolter fire downrange at the Torizo in an attempt to do something looking like damage to it.

The boats were dodged with the same ease that one would dodge a particularly slow ball. Hell, it all but mocked the poor sisters while doing it just with motions alone. This, of course, stirred them up into an even greater zeal and fury...with an equally dismal success rate. If anything, it was makingmy life harder, as I was running out of safe spaces to dodge into with the fucking bolts everywhere.

The Torizo came after me next, and it took everything I had to dodge out f the way of its casual swipe at my person, even while it was still dodging the goddamned bolts being shot at it. Mio's attempt to use her shotgun on it failed, and it nearly took me out in the process when the damned bird statue somehow redirected the shot at me. A hasty shield took care of the impact, and nearly got me killed as the Torizo put on the speed to take advantage of the opening.

The fucker wasn't even trying. We were getting our asses kicked, and it was barely trying.

Well, fuck you too. Let's see how you like it when the thunder comes to you.

I took a brief moment to center myself while the Torizo was focused on Mio. I had gotten a bit of practice in with this system, but most of the time I'd had to this point was spent getting more proficient with the things that I could teach to others, and even our breakneck training session mostly focused on O. Arts, primarily due to the now proven lifesaving effects of many of the booster techs in keeping me out of the line of fire. Even so, I hadn't neglected my magical studies, and this spell should do the trick. Besides, it's not like the system is hard to use or anything…

I focused my intent into the spell I wanted to form, shaped it as needed, and applied my final, personal step to the process to keep from having to chant an aria for the damned thing. And with a simple gesture, I chucked a very respectable bolt of lightning at the Torizo.

Who dodged itbefore I had even fired.

Seriously? How the fuck were we supposed to beat this thing?

The sisters were useless. And I mean completely useless. The bolts were proving to do very little in the way of damage, and that was the few times the fucker actually let them hit it. Mio, on the other hand, was getting increasingly frustrated and desperate in equal amounts as all of her attacks failed to connect even as the Torizo sped up more to keep the pressure on. My one attempt at a G-Laser shot was dodged out of with the same ease as the rest of the guns.

Fuck. I was getting a message I did not want to hear right now.

Torizo were normally guardians of things, meant to act as a final test for those who would claim the power of the Chozo as their own. More often than not, they proved to be the one of the many tests of the bounty hunter Samus Aran.

I was let to assume that this was a test as well, but of what? The Torizo could do things that I cannot do? How do I fix it? How to I get past it, especially without any real support?

Fuck it. I would just wing it with Mio and pray that I was right.

{Mio, we have to get in close.}

{yeah, I figured as much/ the fucker is dodging everything I throw at it, not matter what. You got a plan? Because I'm fresh out.}

{yeah. The plan is simple: Melee ranged weaponry. It literally is a test, and one that we've failed simply by agitating the door guard. This was going to happen no matter what anyway.}

At least, that was my reasoning. If I was wrong, well, death is one of those things, is it not?

And so I grabbed my rifle, activated the Bayonet/Spear emitter I'd built in, and charged.

This time the Torizo did NOT immediately dodge, and the sudden understanding that broke out across the room was nearly a solid object. Mio drew down her polearm, I had my bayonet, and the Sisters were pulling out what looked like combat knives.

I doubted anyone but Mio's chances of success.

As I moved in, the Torizo took another lazy swipe at me, which I chose to parry instead of just dodge, to see if I could gauge something.

The resulting lack of an attempt to counterattack after I had successfully parried the blow (which was surprisingly light for what I'd seen it doing) proved to me that this was one of those bosses. We would need to keep engaging in melee in order to stand a chance.

Fortunately for us, Mio liked close combat. Her strength granted to her by her newfound lineage was only icing on the cake, really. Her polearm lashed out seemingly at random, only to find purchase within the Torizo at odd times and even odd angles. How she kept her hands on it, I do not know.

The Sisters were no slouches in this department either, using their combat knives and power-armored strength to close in and attempt to hack the Torizo to death. Unfortunately, the Creature proved that you needed to be able to hit things in order to deal damage, as it still was dodging blows, but now it was adding in some unusually creative and humiliating countermoves to the mix, too. At least one of the sisters got hit with the whipped cream pie setup. It would not end there, of that I am certain.

As for me? I made sure to stick as hard to that Torizo as I could, and went to getting as many hits in with my impromptu spear as possible, making a point to keep dodging blows and even going out of my way to defend the sisters if I could from the more obnoxious attacks headed their way.

This continued on for who knows how long, with no real solution in sight, and I was pissed and scared in equal measures. Also confused, as I'm pretty sure we're making enough noise in here to draw attention to the fucking fight happening. So where the hell was everyone else at?

Whatever. It did';t matter. Right now, we needed to take this thing down, even if that meant we had to do it the slow way. Too bad for us that even our best weapons weren't doing much to it.

I tried again with some ice-type magic battlefield shaping, only to have the Torizo break apart the ice wall and start using the chunks as projectiles. Mio tried a full dozen experimental originium arts with equal success. The sisters couldn't even touch it. This shit was getting ridiculous.

In frustration, I threw out a completely random and untyped blast of magic with a seeker package on it. It was meant solely as a distraction to give me more room to close in.

Instead, the ball of energy hit and did more damage than anything we'd tried to that point.

As much as I was kicking myself for not trying it earlier, at least we had a weakness.

"Mio, give me some room to open up a bit. I'm gonna end this!"

As I found out that day, Torizo have excellent hearing. I also found out that walls are very unyielding when in cave systems, as the Torizo all but teleported to my side and effectively bitchslapped me into said wall. Mio's followup magic bursts were not answered with anywhere near as much fury,

"Ugh...message received. No gloating until after the fight is over...ow."

And damn, but that hurt.

I lost track of the battle as I took a moment to heal myself. I thought I heard Mio screaming in frustration, but I wasn't sure with the way my head was pounding at the moment. Hell, I was almost to the point where I would be afraid to use a few medical arts, but thankfully the art I was using to heal myself was designed for almost that precise situation.

And now that I could see straight again, it was obvious that Mio was getting her ass kicked trying to buy time for me. I intended to use it.

I gathered as much mana as I could within a short timeframe and started setting up a bombardment. Yes, I ran the risk of a cave collapse if this went wrong, but it was not going to go wrong. Not with the way I was building it. If anything, the danger to the environment would be next to nothing with this.

Gathering the power took very little time, and shaping to my will with the appropriate math even less so. I made a very deliberate noise in order to draw Mio's attention and alert her to dodge, then fired immediately afterwards. No hesitation whatsoever. This proved critical when the Torizo picked up on the signal too, and moved to vacate the target zone of the big ball of doom…

Which then split itself apart into multiple little balls of doom, all of which had homing properties.

The damage was severe. I thought I saw an arm nearly get blown off, and a leg was sort of crippled too. The Torizo slowly sank to its knee, and small explosions started going off in and on its frame. The light in its eyes faded to nothing. Internally, I let out a small cheer. We'd won.

That was when the explosions stopped.

The Torizo's eyes lit right back up again...and a pair of wings extended from its back.

"Oh FUCK no. We are NOT having any of that!"

Mio hit the fucker with everything she had. Magic, technology, it did not matter. If she had it, it was getting used. The Torizo rocked under the assault, and I saw what looked like an arm get blown off in the onslaught. Not to be left behind, I added in my own firepower, peppering the opposite side from Mio to make sure it stayed down.

And this time, it did, exploding with a (relatively) small blast that was nonetheless felt in the pressure wave as it washed over us.

I carefully moved to inspect the wreckage, wanting to make sure that the thing was dead, when I spotted something. A glowing ball object, resting quite calmly in the pile like nothing was wrong. A second object had rolled off to the side, apparently dislodged by the blast somehow.

I carefully approached, and picked up the ball with my telekinesis...and everything changed.

All at once, a bunch of things started happening. The Sisters cried out at something or another, Mio seemed to have a panic attack as I felt something interface with her system in a very intimate manner...and Thoth finally came back online, and with a message too.

[Congratulations on defeating the Challenge Chamber! We hope that it was to your satisfaction. A copy of this has been added to your dimensional space so that you can try again if you feel like it. It is very good for practicing combat techniques, so please make use of it.

As compensation for our little prank, we have bestowed another gift upon you and your mate. Please enjoy, and know that we wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

PS: there are other challenges hidden in areas that we knew you would be visiting. Seek them out for interesting prizes!

-The Chozo]

The fuck? This was a prank? A goddamned PRANK?! Why the fuck-

[Systems integration complete. Restarting …]

Eh?

A swirl of light surrounded me, and I unexpectedly found myself in my fully expressed Valkyrie Frame, except…

This was NOT my frame. At least, not the way I had left it.

For one, everything from the lowliest system up to the most critical had been redone with a master's hand, absolutely flawless function built-in with no sacrifice to form whatsoever. Everything from movement systems to power generation was over a hundred times more efficient and powerful than I had ever dreamed of happening, and it seemed to be synergizing with Thoth himself to push that even further as the blatantly new systems synced with my biology. I had weapons now, built into the gauntlets of my armor, at the cost of the hands and gauntlets themselves being only slightly thinker as a result, which I could handle just fine.

The most obvious feature, though, was the change in the heads-up display, which had modified itself to have a single very conspicuous counter at the top now.

|ENERGY 99|

I could barely believe it. I was wearing it and could barely believe it.

[Sorry for the confusion, sir. But the upgrades are complete, and everything is good to go.

And yes, this is what you think it is. They said it was part of the compensation. That item you picked up is integrating now.}

And another shock to the system as the item finished its process of integrating, far faster than even Thoth had ever been in doing so, and a very familiar time started to play as a message popped up on my HUD.

|MORPH BALL|

Take the form of a ball and access narrow passageways.

My laughter was joyous and plentiful, as I enjoyed the realization of a dream of decades.

I had a Chozo Power suit.

I had intended to stop before the Torizo battle, but felt that I needed to get this out of the way now, while I still had the big for it. Now, Blaster Master Zero 3 awaits me.

Chapter Perk:

-Arcanatarium (Twokinds) (400CP)

A trained mage can throw out spells on the fly, but the really impressive magic is prepared far in advance. For that, you'll need a place to work. This workshop is fully outfitted to support a practiced mage in all their pursuits. There's a permanent magic circle to focus your energies, a table of alchemical equipment for the brewing of potions, a wellstocked library full of tomes and scrolls of arcane knowledge, and any other dedicated workspace you'll need for working magic. This workshop also comes stocked with plenty of ingredients and materials for your alchemicy and artifact crafting, including rarer materials like precious metals and gems. You'll still need to provide any extremely rare or unique items, but this personalized workspace will have anything else you need for your own arcane pursuits. This property can take any form you wish, from a traditional tower to a basement laboratory. Post-jump, this workshop can be imported and attached to any property you own

Chozo Challenge Chamber (200): (Custom perk, thanks to Cheetored20 for creation)

This room adjusts size and shape for your testing needs, whatever they may be. It can even provide test dummies for target practice...including live fire variants. Just make sure you don't go in there without anything to test, or it might just try to test you.