"When all seems at its darkest, some will always emerge to bring light." - Luminoth Proverb
Planet HS-413EB, a year later
The task set to Sigmund for his final test before being allowed to venture out into the world and act independentally of his caretakers was simple enough. He had to explore a world that was once a hub for trade between the elder civilizations due to its rich deposits of Merandranite; a crystal highly valued for its ability to amplify psionic abilities; particularly those that affected the boundaries of space, allowing the planet's facilities to easily set up wormholes that touched all corners of the universe. There he was to see what had become of the ancient trading outpost, to see if anything was worth salvaging from the ancient facility for his guardians to use for their planned rebirth of the alimbic empire.
The planet was classified as an ocean world; with small continents and large archipelagos making up the majority of its land surface and rain was just a fact of life across the planet. This did make him question why he wasn't being sent out with some gravity alteration feature to help him with the wet environs; but Aliborak made it rather clear that he didn't think he had proven his worthiness to wield such technology and told him to make do with special thrusters fitted to his suit to allow him to maneuver in the water with more ease. Sigmund had by that point; learned it was best to not further question Aliborak when he had made his mind lest he make the situation worse for himself.
Quickly scanning the planet, he found a suitable landing site relatively close to one of the more major abandoned space ports; the shields of his ship keeping the rain from touching its sleek exterior as he let his thoughts be translated into commands for the ship; bringing it to a hover before the cavern he decided looked like a good entrance point and gently guiding it inside. Coming out from the top of his ship; he vaulted over the nose of his ship and hit the ground, knees buckling slightly while he stood up; the twelve year old's red eyes taking in the features of the world around him behind his visor.
His red visor hid his curious eyes as he walked; cannon aimed forward as he breathed in filtered air from the planet; water being analyzed for harmful contaminants with each drop and upon being deemed safe, was allowed to make contact with the metallic exterior of his suit and slide off. He briefly stopped when he saw a number of blast cap mushrooms and after a quick scan to confirm they were in fact blast caps; he let out a handful of shots from his arm cannon to detonate the mushrooms lest they prove a problem should he need to make any sudden dodging maneuvers around here.
The crack of thunder over his head briefly drew his attention skyward; Sigmund's alert eyes looking for the telltale bolts of lightning arcing through the night sky while the fauna scurried away from the sounds and sights above them. Despite the fact that civilized beings had long surpassed the power of such thunderbolts, there was something brilliantly majestic about the sight of lightning arcing through the sky and something deeply satisfying about the deep rumble of a thunderclap.
Fauna yes, that was something he needed to be sure of. He scanned a large number of life forms that he passed by; seal like creatures on the beaches who let forth shrill cries from their beaked mouths[1]; vague crab analogues the size of wolves that walked along the beach with rigid tentacles and grappled with thick carapaced arms[2]; flying creatures that seemed to resemble half way points between vultures and insects[3]; ambulatory starfish like beings that crawled around the sand with surprising speed[4], vaguely dog like arthropoid beings who scavenged stranded sea-creatures from the beaches[5]; and sea-serpent like beings who projected steam from their gills when they emerged from the water[6]; clearly enormous even from this distance.
Approaching one of the dog like creatures, he extended a hand to try and pet it, only for the animal to sniff at him and then bolt away as if spooked. A sigh of disappointment came from Sigmund; he had hoped to at least get to touch the creature but it seemed that he wouldn't be getting any such luck at the moment. Turning away he quickly spotted his destination; a formidable looking outpost built to mesh well with the surrounding environment. Despite the passage of millions of years, the only reason the outpost was difficult to see was geological processes and the encroachment of nature disguising much of the structure; the building itself seemed almost untouched by time's passage.
Whistling in an impressed manner, Sigmund walked towards the facility; remaining quiet for lack of anyone to share any conversation with. He saw a shortcut on his path; some ledges he could climb onto; and quickly leaped up on them with ease, vaulting some ten meters into the air as if it was a simple hop. The high atmospheric pressure created greater drag on his jump, but it made the landing smoother than it would be in less dense conditions.
Taking a moment to analyze his surroundings, he made sure to draw a mental pathway back to his ship in case he needed to hurry with an escape, and fired off his cannon at the light blue door to let him through. As the door dilated away to let him through, he took a moment to see the architecture to his flanks, rows of statues of various species and gardens that had long gotten overgrown; countless generations of plants having died and been born beneath the warm lights and automatic watering and fertilization systems of the outpost.
His scan informed him that the food offered by the plant was edible, and he was sorely tempted to try and take a bite out of it, but he shook his head and pulled his arm back. No, he had to remain focused. He couldn't distract himself with thoughts of food. He turned back to the door and shot it open, placing a hand on the side of his arm cannon to stabilize it as his eyes alertly looked around and tried to parse what he saw.
It seemed that, in another age this served as some form of lobby, though it would be hard to tell that the small room was supposed to be one now. Plant life outgrew its initial constraints over the course of ten million years, and had adapted to live in a little ecosystem based around the light from above and the water released periodically and from a stream that came from a now smashed fountain that periodically spurted out water. He took a look at the fountain, it was supposed to be intact...these things were built to last after all, but if the ecosystem here had adapted to it it had to have been broken a very long time ago. His scan visor went to work and his mind was quickly filled with the new information.
"Analysis of the fountain indicates that it suffered some form of explosive shock one million years ago, likely from an artificial weapon. Analysis of the shocked minerals indicates that the weapon likely was of a tachyonic nature." Huh, that got him to be rather curious. Still, if it occured one million years ago it probably wasn't his problem now. However, seemingly disturbed by his footsteps, a number of creatures descended from their roosts on the ceiling, somewhat mammalian, hairy things the size of dogs with short, brutish heads like an orca and a third pair of limbs that emerged from above their forelimb's shoulders that ended in sharp bony claws. Tails with wicked barbs flicked to and fro as the creatures let out a keening howl and their twin eyes focused on Sigmund. A quick scan of the creatures gave him their name, Koorans[7]
He let out a sigh as they lunged towards him, his warrior's reflexes kicking in with haste and letting him dodge to the left with a quick jump as he struck the first one in the head with a power beam shot. A blast far more energetic than the primitive slugthrowers used in humanity's distant past struck the creature in the head and vaporized most of it, the ovoid and orange sphere of energy scattering flecks of bone and steaming meat. He ducked beneath the attempted charge of one that came behind him, moving with what amounted to precognition as his enhanced senses and his suit warned him of the danger and its angle of attack and directed his body with the movements needed to avoid the creature.
He twisted his body, grabbed it by the tail and swung himself around to throw the creature into one of its comrades with a single motion so swift that one could swear that it happened instananeously; muscles meant to function in gravity far higher than this world's and still function at incredible capacities working in tandem with his power suit to move his body with enough force to swat a freight locomotive in motion off of the rails. The two creatures perished instantly with a sickening crunching noise as he turned his weapon to the last of them and fired off a shot at another two; killing both of them with ease and sending the remainder of the pack scampering away in a panic towards what seemed like a tunnel of some sorts.
Muttering out an apology, Sigmund looked for anything else to scan and seemed almost disappointed when he could find nothing else of importance that he could reach, though he cast a fond glance at some of the art that decorated the diamond shaped room before he shot open and went through yet another door. Another hallway was traversed, with ancient looking columns raised upwards and displaying a number of messages that he identified as assorted welcome messages, through both his familiarity with what he identified as alimbic scripture emerging from the holograms and from the telepathic messages the pillars sent. He went through another door and stopped when he found himself in a large cyllindrical room, a series of circular platforms rising into the air to form a staircase of sorts.
He wasn't sure why it didn't just have a teleporter or a lift, or why some of the platforms were moving up and down or left to right, but his suit informed him that this was some recreational facility; and he guessed it had to be part of some self set challenge. Sucking in a breath of air he started his first jump with a running leap, then kicked himself back into the air with a flip to land on the next one, waiting for another to approach before vaulting off after it. Like a nimble flea, he casually made jumps that devoured dozens and scores of meters of distance at a time. He even jumped at the wall and kicked off it to reach another platform; something he felt quite proud of as he made his ascent some one and a half kilometers upwards. With a final jump his boots hit the ground and he saw a green light and heard a soft ping and raised his arms in celebration and smiled for himself beneath the suit.
He noted a hard lock on the door staring him in the face and shot a single missile at it to let himself through, walking into a hallway that shifted itself, showing him what was outside by using its surface as a screen and instantly giving him the full eye view of everything around him. He then looked outside and noticed that there was no way he went up one point six kilometers meters, the distance he was from the ground hadn't changed anywhere near that much. He stared outside in confusion, and then back into the room he just left and indeed, it was roughly one point six kilometers. His suit informed him of a "significant spacetime alteration" in the previous room once it processed all the data, and he gave an impressed nod, though the sensation that he probably missed a much more efficient way up gnawed at him.
He was so busy thinking that only his precognitive abilities let him get out of the way of an incoming dark grey tentacle trying to grab at him, jumping into a backflip to avoid the attack before what seemed like a dozen more shot off after him. He shot at two of them, forcing them to retract while a launched missile dissuaded another four, but four managed to grab on him as he tried to twist his way out of another. He struggled against his captor and charged up his beam, sending energy through his shielding and making something let out a screech of pain as it let go of him. Its camouflage disrupted, a creature that vaguely resembled the offspring of a barnacle and an Octopus made itself apparent as it opened up its tendrils in a threat display with a beak at the center, now flashing red and apparently the size of a cow, his scan visor named the creature a Zeg[8]. He let out a grunt and fired off a series of nonlethal shots this time, trying to avoid killing it and causing the creature to ripple as it felt the stunning energy go through it. Squealing with pain, the creature quickly moved its snail like foot at its "top" to get out of his way, disappearing through what he figured was an open hatch in the ceiling.
Shaking his head, he went to the first room he saw, and took note that it was an emergency teleportation save station, and gave it a nod as he made use of it, letting it re-energize his shielding as he logged his suit's transport systems to the save station's location. Inside the room was...unusually, a lot of murals depicting some sort of war, the images in the murals shifting and moving as he watched them depict a stylized rendition of a number of species he recognized (and some he didn't), fight a great many beings that were foreign to him. He tilted his head a bit, and his scan visor informed him that it was depicting a battle against "the greatest of enemies" and dated the mural back to at least ten million years ago. Letting out a "huh", he diverted his attention from the mural and made his way to another door he saw in the corridors of the room he left. However, he stopped when he heard voices and dove into cover.
He took a moment to peek around and found himself in a largely rectangular room, columns decorated the room at regular intervals, and there seemed to be a large number of places to sit. He took a look again and , and saw some Cyborg going through the room, heavy set and powerfully built in thick looking armor and a vaguely skull like helmet. One of the eyepieces on their helmet was covered by a monocular scope and the other glowed a prominent blue, and their left hand ended in a nasty looking mechanical claw not unlike the talons of an eagle. The other arm was fitted with some rotary weapon, and the largely gunmetal grey and blue mechanical man turned their attentions to the door that just opened. Judging by the height of the armoured collar they had, which stopped at a few inches below the scalp, he figured that the Cyborg didn't have the best peripheral vision, but noted a camera on the back of their head. Plantigrade "two toed" feet much like a power loader's carried them towards the entrance as Sigmund moved aside to let them try and investigate what opened the door.
They poked their heads through the opened door, swiveled left and right and then let out a small dragonfly esque drone fron their claw arm, letting it fly into the room as they returned to picking through the room. Sigmund breathed out a sigh of relief as he avoided a confrontation with the Cyborg, and couldn't tear his thoughts away from how he managed to miss another sapient combing through the planet. He figured that the Cyborg had to have come before he did, and given the lack of reverence they gave what they were picking through, he figured they weren't sent by anyone he trusted. Evaluating his options, Sigmund figured that trying to avoid conflict with the two and a fifth meter tall man-machine was the best course of action, letting his scan visor get a read of the thing.[9]
A bounty hunter? Here? Why? Were what Sigmund was thinking when he took another look at Yranthor before they turned as a door open and spoke up again. "Find anything?" He asked, snapping his claw shut as a figure in similar armour with a single large cannon rather than a rotary weapon came through[10].
"A lot of the better crap here is under lock and key. We'll need better weapons to crack open some of the security. Some of the stuff here is probably outright inaccessible" She said with some irritation evident in her voice.
"Damn shame...still it's not like we're in a rush are we?" Yranthor said as he swiveled his head around.
"True. No one else should know about this. We'll just get something bigger and crack it open later. Not like the dead are using it anyway." She said in response as Sigmund felt anger welling up inside of him. How dare they violate this sacred place with their greed?!
He balled his fist in anger as he waited for them to turn around before he let them walk out, chatting about nothing important in particular as they walked out of the room. Letting out a sigh of relief he waited for the sound of their footsteps to recede before he examined the room. His eyes lit up when they came upon a wall he recognized to have nano-scaled holographic projectors to let the wall function as a screen or projector. Running towards it, he had it start up with his Scan visor's interface function and let out a little laugh of joy to himself as the wall hummed and throbbed to life. Long dormant systems returned to life, but what he saw wasn't what he expected. He saw the holographic projection of a Ylla; light purple and strangely serene. The creature was long and serpentine, with a head that opened up like a petal with five jaws; and tendrils that split into much smaller fine manipulation tentacles that surrounded the thing's neck like a rennaisance era ruff, a great many small centipede like legs going across its lower body. Five eyes, each between the triangular jaws of the creature, turned to focus on him as if the Hologram was still alive.
"I am Zegulra, the first protector of this place. I see that you wear the artifical skin of the Alimbics, yet your soul is different. I ask you your name stranger, and tell you that there is nothing to be found for looters in this place but death." Zegulra said, though what Sigmund heard was a lot of strange grumbling, warbling, and ululations, but he somehow understood what the hologram said even though he had never heard or read the any of the languages of the Ylla before.
"I'm uh...I am Sigmund von Schirmer, Neophyte of the Alimbics. I wa-am human. It's an...h-honor to see you." Sigmund said, internally cursing himself for tripping over his own tongue as he tried to project an air of majesty even as the Hologram snaked around the preteen boy, looking at him from every angle before returning to its original place.
"The old tales of the heroes of a far distant future produce you?" The hologram said, and Sigmund gave a respectful nod in response, trying to stand tall and proud and puff out his chest a bit.
"Then there was merit to the words of the seers." It said, its tone deepening while he got the feeling that the being was lost in thought.
"Are you still...with us, physically?" Sigmund asked, the creature turning its head away from the corpses of the creatures he had killed and looking directly at him.
"I died a very long time ago. I and others are bound to this place as constructs of data and spirit to watch over it and keep its last secrets secure until someone worthy finds them." They responded, coiling their tentacles together into something that if looked at from a certain angle would have resembled a beard.
"Secrets? Isn't this just a trading post?" He asked, confusion evident in his tone.
"To the current generation of civilizations that live in the stars, even our long discarded civilian implements would be enough to cause great disruption in the wrong hands. And this is more than just a space port, Neophyte." Zegulra said, calm and serene, seeming to adopt a more respectful tone of voice than what it was just using a few moments ago.
"Then what is it? Aliborak didn't tell me much." He asked, his eyes shining with wonder beneath his helmet as he waited to hear the wisdom of the long dead ancient, which paused for the briefest moment as it accessed all data records available to it and that which could be scanned from worlds within the range of the outpost before returning an answer.
"I am unsurprised that an Alimbic would keep secrets from you. Towards the end of the age of the enlightened this place was reconsecrated as a temple as the trade routes began to close and the old civilizations turned inwards." They responded, snaking their body slightly closer to Sigmund who took a single step back from the holographic image.
"A temple? To what?" He asked.
"To hope and the future." They responded calmly as the entire room seemed to disappear into a black void before they formed holographic images that seemed so real that Sigmund felt he could reach out and touch them, showing stars and planets in the void and then to a collection of the truly ancient species. The Chozo, Alimbics, Luminoth, Ylla, N'Kren, Diamonts, and more gathered their representatives together to discuss something of importance.
"The end of our era was something we all were aware of...something we had all planned for. Rather than succumb to greed as some had done, we planned to gradually withdraw ourselves from physical reality and allow ourselves to fade into the background. However, we recognized that a time of great calamity would come in the future. Mistakes that we made in the past would haunt those we had left behind, and by then we would be too weak to stop it." They explained as Sigmund bore witness to snippets of the many discussions the oldest species had to withdraw from the universe at large.
"Why? Why not just stick around and face the danger?" Sigmund asked. And in response the black void went red and showed fast fleets of ships with a design aesthetic he would have pegged for somewhat mesoamerican hanging in a menacingly coloured Nebula. Then he saw the destruction of worlds, stars, even galaxies as these ships and a horror show of advanced weaponry tore through the universe, The scene shifted to show Sillicoid warriors clad in armour that seemed to be made of stone, vaguely insectoid in appearance they had an impressive diversity in form. Some walked on four spider legs with a somewhat humanoid body with four arms atop it, some had highly developed wings, four arms, and two legs, some were wingless but had two vestigal limbs emerging from their shoulders. All had a single main compound eye with a star pattern of smaller ones besides it, and all gave him a feeling of menace as he watched them rampage through the stars.
"History showed to us the folly of trying to play act as the masters of the universe." They said as the scene shifted to one of the creatures, with a powerful looking body with strong and thick arms that ended in hands with eight fingers each and a broad body whose shoulders were covered in pauldrons that seemed like the turrets of castles, with large wings of crystal, four arms, powerful legs, a head covered in a vaguely knight esque helmet, a mighty hammer in hand and something he recognized as a crown on its head. Primarily dark grey in colouration, Tyrian purple light glowed from the circuit like connective mesh between the plates of the giant's armour as it stood atop a huge step pyramid, presenting some form of sacrifice to a portal in the sky as the eye pieces of the helmet glowed a fierce purple; the mouth guard opening up to reveal a series of small mandibles while curling antennae at the back of its head slowly twisted forward around its crown of blades. Millions upon millions of its species cheered it from below as the sacrifice died screaming.
"W...who are those...things?" He asked as Zegulra's image made itself clear again.
"The Xik'krivik, the enemy. They were once considered enlightened in a long distant age, but they were aggressive, authoritarian, domineering as a result of their caste system producing the belief that some were innately fit to rule others. They enthusiastically believed that it was the right of the old civilizations to rule eternally, and to ensure that younger civilizations were raised along their models. Eventually, others had enough and defeated them in a series of smaller wars to dissuade them from trying to present themselves as Emperors instead of Guides to younger civilizations, and their hatred stewed to a boiling point until they started to contact beings from beyond reality that they identified with their gods, and transformed themselves into a hateful theocracy. Xyc'kraval, their last and most terrible "Lord High Dominator", came to rule them through his connection to these beings and in his madness waged war against the universe in an attempt to rebuild it in his image and take vengeance for what he believed was his people's humiliation." Zegulran explained as they showed the process of expansionism, containment, conflict, defeat, rebuilding; further conflicts that ended in a final defeat, then bitterness racing through them and their deals with higher powers followed by a great war.
"For a time, some even called themselves allies of the Xik'krivik, such as the Rikeula Empire and the Krekula Kingdoms, but eventually the madness of Xyc'kraval was too much to ignore and they aided us in bringing about the defeat of the Xik'krivik after millions of years of war that devastated the universe. We took pity on the Xik'krivik, and did not wish to eradicate them, but when they tried to rebuild and attack again after but a few decades of peace, we had their entire civilization exiled into a prison reality from which there is no escape with a powerful superweapon that we later disassembled to ensure none would be tempted to use it. After such horror, we believed that it would be best to do what we could to remove ourselves from the affairs of younger civilizations and avoid the temptation of Imperialism." They explained as they showed snippets of a great and terrible war that went through the universe like a fire through a sheet of paper, finally culminating in the assaults on the core of the Dominion, their attempts at another gambit for vengeance, and then their final exile before images of mourning were shown as the cost of war was made apparent, the scene shifting to one of desolation as a few warriors looked at a world devastated by conflict; left half dead from but a minor skirmish as the world's star seemed like it was wounded, almost pulled apart really.
"Other elder civilizations repeated this cycle. With one of the last being one that you may know yourself, given its importance in human history." Zegulra said.
"The Hekraqulira" Sigmund breathed out. The Vhozon, Humanity, the Krikens, the Urtraghians, and many of the other species who had become important in the current age were rocked by their invasion countless millenia ago; exposing them to a kind of war that no one ever wanted to relive. The Chozo helped lead the charge to drive the bulbous eyed monsters back and formed the galactic federation afterwards some two thousand cosmic years ago to help ensure peace in the stars. Though he barely identified with humanity, he considered it important to learn how humanity was introduced to the wider universe.
"Indeed. After that time, the other conflicts between the Elders were never quite as grand. The Alimbics died long ago, the Chozo were fading as more and more left this reality behind, the Luminoth scattered with some deciding to settle on the distant world of Aether, the Diamonts would disappear, the N'Kren would go to their mausoleum worlds and sleep, we withdrew to far distant corners of the universe and catastrophe seemed to have a way to always find us, whittling our numbers. But you have been spared the scourge of cosmic war. That is enough for us to conclude our choice was right." Zegulra said, their transluscent hologram flashing a number of strange colours before returning to the normal light purple.
"...But what's this...thing you're worried about?" Sigmund asked, Zegulra shaking its head and wriggling its tendrils in sinewave patterns.
"It is not one thing so much as many. A poison, a corruption, the ultimate warriors, the parasite, the machninists, the Mad and many other things. Many things that we failed to destroy in our time, many things born out of our mistakes, many things born of the mistakes of the young, many things that have yet to come." They said in response, slowly rearing up to greater height and letting the room's image projectors turn off save for those allowing its image to be projected.
"Okay then give me what I need to stop it." Sigmund said as if this was just the most obvious course of action.
"You are not yet ready, Neophyte. You are still a child with deep wounds and have yet to do what is needed to show that you are prepared." Zegulra said flatly, a bit of anger flaring to the surface of Sigmund's thoughts.
"If I'm supposed to be some chosen one shouldn't I already be ready?" Sigmund said, venom dripping in his voice as he clenched his fist. Anger he never quite learned to properly control besides giving it a target or suppressing it started to well to the surface and resentment he kept contained started to leak from its holdings as he started to scowl beneath his helmet.
"You are not a chosen one. You are not alone in this endeavor. Fate is not set in stone, it is a guideline, but it can be subverted. Before we can entrust you with this, you will need to show that you have matured enough to handle it." They said as Sigmund sighed and started to turn away dejectedly, believing he had come here for nothing.
"I did not say you would be returning empty handed however." They said, making him turn around as he saw something rise from the ground, looking at a purple statuette opening its jaws to hold an orb with the letter I on it, and he reached out for it, touching it and looking on in amazement. The statuette disintegrated into blue-tinted white particles that circled around him before swirling around his arm cannon, glowing more and more intensely bright before merging with the cannon in a flash of blue light as his arm cannon shifted; expanding upwards to accomodate the new upgrade that he just had to test fire, firing off an icy augmentation of his usual power beam and smiling widely when he saw ice crystals form on the wall.
"Oh wow...thanks!" He said enthusiastically.
"You will likely be needing it soon." Zegulra said, making Sigmund look at them quizzically.
"Wait, why?" He asked.
"They are now aware of your presence here. I hid these systems from their scanners, but they cannot have missed the sounds of our conversation. Prepare yourself Sigmund, for your first trial." They said as their hologram disappeared just as the door dilated open in a hurry from mag-weapon fire and the two cyborgs came stomping in, guns reared at the boy as he raised his arm cannon at them in response.
"You've got something of ours! Hand it over and we don't break you over our knee." Maera said as she pointed her Mag-Cannon at Sigmund.
"Nothing here belongs to you." Sigmund said, tersely though one could detect the venom in his voice even through the modulators he used to disguise himself as his visor went fully one way, hiding his eyes from the two before they could get any real look at it.
"Finder's keepers." Yranthor said with a chuckle as his mag-cannon's barrels spun up and spat out a rain of extremely high speed and tiny projectiles at a decent fraction of the speed of light; flame seeming to tear through the air as the projectiles ignited the air behind them. Sigmund was quick to move however, and rolled to the side to get out of the way, Maera targeting him with her mag cannon and punched a hole through the air that Sigmund managed to evade with a backflip, his arm pointing towards them and giving them a taste of his newly acquired ice beam that struck Yranthor repeatedly; freezing the air around his shields and locking him in ice. But with his shields still up, he had the leverage he needed to shatter the quickly melting frozen oxygen and charged up a grenade launch.
Sigmund did what most people would have regarded as a sign of insanity, jumping up and over some of the tables and towards Yranthor as Maera tried to track the youth with a laser cutter, only to watch her partner get tackled at high speeds. Sigmund wasn't heavy enough to throw Yranthor off his feet, but he was able to quickly swing himself upwards and onto Yranthor's shoulders, shooting down at his head as he shouted obscenities trying to get at the boy on his shoulders.
"You pint sized fuck! I'll have your eyeballs for that!" He roared as Sigmund jumped up, landed on Yranthor's head and then kicked off with enough force to knock Yranthor into the ground face first, shaking the room a bit as Maera growled. Now with a clear shot, she let loose with a Mag-cannon that Sigmund sidestepped before she shot her power claw hand forward with a series of thrusters on the arm to grab at Sigmund's chest and try to crush his torso. Sigmund grunted with pain as he felt the power fields of the claw interact with his suit's shielding and the pressure the fingers of the claw was exerting. Enough to crush coal into diamonds several times over, but Sigmund shoved a knee up to strike the arm in the elbow, jerking Maera enough to make her let go as he struck her in the chest with a charged ice beam shot.
He felt something on his boot and yelped as Yranthor pulled him to the ground and then swung him overhead to smash him face first into the ground, snarling with fury as he repeated the motion and then revved up the mag-cannon to pound into Sigmund's armoursuit. Sigmund didn't give him too much time to eat into his shielding however, charging up a missile and letting it fly, striking Yranthor in the chest with enough force to send him across the room as he himself was clipped by a mag-cannon round before he could fully dodge as Maera shattered her icy barriers.
"Stop squirming and this will be over quickly!" She said as Sigmund let out a pant as he took stock of what damage he had taken. Half an energy tank. He wasn't about to let this turn into a slugfest though, and when he sensed danger he leaped overhead and let one of Yranthor's grenades smack right into Maera, making her let out a pained grunt as Sigmund struck her again with a missile to send her toppling over before he turned to Yranthor and circled around the slower cyborg, continually firing away with his ice beam. Sigmund said nothing, entirely wordless as he iced the giant over before turning to Maera as she tried to catch him between mag-cannon shots; each of the roars of the sound barrier's protests being muffled automatically by his helmet while he made sure to dodge around her aim.
She activated thrusters on her back and her feet, launching herself at him at high speeds, cutting his movement off by quickly firing mag rounds to his left and his right before she shoulder checked him straight into the wall. He felt a jolt of pain as he hit the wall with a massive thud, Maera trying to shove him through the wall while crushing him with her power claw. But with a missile to her head, she was forced to let go as the roar of the explosion boomed through the room, red flames and smoke obscuring her vision before Sigmund dropped to the ground, dashed at her, twisted his body and threw his left fist forward with a shout. His fist came at her with the force to crumple up the front of an old tank and toss the vehicle backwards for a good distance, hitting her with the clap of a shockwave and throwing her back and into the wall while Sigmund retargeted Yranthor and let out a quick three shot spread of missiles. The first shattered Yranthor's icy covering, the next two send him falling over.
They were larger than he was, but they couldn't match his technological advantage. He was probably actually physically stronger than they were given the superiority of his posthuman augmentations and his power suit, but they were more experienced fighters and they had a numerical advantage over him. Mobility however, was a field where he was king, as he aptly demonstrated by vaulting over both Maera's laser cutter and Yranthor's gatling-mag barrage, bouncing off the ceiling and back onto the ground and then bouncing off the wall while peppering them with ice beam shots to wear down their shielding.
"God damn it where did that midget get that suit?" Maera said as he shot off a missile at her to force her to have to intercept it with her mag-cannon rather than use it against him, turning and shooting a grenade from Yranthor out of the air before it got more than halfway towards him.
"Damned if I know, it's blocking my scanners." Yranthor said with a grunt before Sigmund's arm cannon clicked and switched to his subweapon of choice; the Shock Coil. He targeted Maera first, circling around her as she grunted from the burst of neutrinos impacting her. She quailed as the Neutrinos sapped her shields with ever increasing speed, and once he saw that she was on her knees; he switched over to the volt driver, jumping above an attempted grab by her at his pelvis and moving to try and kick her in the chest to end this, only to be winged by a grenade that launched him across the room. Smacking into a table, Sigmund groaned as he picked himself up, shaking his head as he pummeled Yranthor repeatedly with Volt Driver blasts, until he saw Yranthor's shields failing him.
With the two of them having lost their shielding, he targeted their arms with missile fire in quick succession; two missiles for each set of limbs was enough to blast off their limbs and literally disarm them as they dropped to their knees and stumbled over. Exhaling, his arm cannon clicked and contracted as it exited missile mode and he finally spoke at last. "Leave." He said, making it clear what would happen if they didn't by gesturing at them with his arm cannon, the two cyborgs looking at their discarded arms; then at Sigmund, and then making a break for it.
His suit quickly analyzed the technology they left behind, and through its analyses made the modifications needed to assimilate the systems. Moving forward, he touched the upgrades they left behind and let the technology break apart into digital light that flowed into his own armor. From them, he assimilated the energy grenade launcher, the mag-repeater, the AT mag, and the laser cutter for his arm cannon's weaponry. His suit also adapted the power claw; giving him a retractable bayonet to use from his arm cannon and wrist extendable claws for melee combat; and adapting the grip of the power claw into the power grip function. The thrusters were also assimilated, improving his own ability to jump and move. This was perhaps the greatest ability of the armoursuits of the ancients; to absorb, assimilate, and adapt other technologies into their modular systems. Even the biological abilities of living beings could be assimilated under the right circumstances.
He gave a nod to where the Holographic avatar of the Ylla had emerged from, and made his way back to his ship. He definitely had...questions he wanted to ask of Aliborak now.
Sigmund's Logbook
Planets: Zendusi Galaxy: Araskatsa Arm: Eleya Star Cluster: Human Habitable: Unclaimed: HS-413EB: A planet with a high oxygen content of 32% and an atmospheric pressure three times that of Earth's, were it not for the frequent rain storms on the planet it would be likely that its frequent forest fires would have claimed its many trees. The richness it atmospheric oxygen allows for large life forms to roam the warm planet while the dilution of Merandranite into the water has reversed the usual effects of temperature on Water's ability to dissolve oxygen, making the warm seas extremely rich in dissolved oxygen and allowing for enormous life forms.
[1] Life Forms: Nonsapient: Air breathing: Aquatic: Vertebrate: HS-413EB: Skreeler: Seal like organisms, Skreelers are largely harmless to most land dwelling forms of life and primarily feast on smaller aquatic life forms. Scans indicate however, that the animal likely has severe halistosis.
[2] Life Forms: Nonsapient: Amphibious: Semi-Aquatic: Invertebrate: HS-413EB: Mekemeka: Mekamekas are opportunistic predators and will eat anything that they feel safe in attacking; largely anything smaller then they are; and will not hesitate to eat deceased organisms. Mekamekas can also create a bioluminescent flash to confuse would be predators.
[3] Life Forms: Semisapient: Air breathing: Airborne: Semi-Vertebrate: HS-413EB: Zokizok: An airborne scavenger the Zokizok is largely harmless to larger organisms and primarily scavenges off of dead life forms.
[4] Life Forms: Nonsapient: Gill breathing: Aquatic: Invertebrate: HS-413EB: Kleemen: Slow moving creatures, Kleemen primarily hunt using bio-electricity and crushing prey to death with their tentacles.
[5] Life Forms: Semisapient: Air Breathing: Land Dwelling: Vertebrate: HS-413EB: Jolonin: Filling a niche akin to jackals and coyotes on Earth, Jolonins are opportunistic and highly adaptable omnivorous creatures who are well suited to surviving in just about any condition.
[6] Life Forms: Sapient: Air breathing: Aquatic: Vertebrate: Pre-Civilization: HS-413EB: Xuldrake: Xuldrakes are highly social and sapient creatures, held back primarily by their lack of manipulation appendages much like Dolphins on Earth. Capable of breathing out a gust of magnetized steam to attack their prey, they have a sophisticated system of communication and social system.
[7] Life Forms: Semisapient: Air breathing: Land Dwelling: Vertebrate: HS-413EB: Koorans: A pack hunting megafaunal predator native to HS-413 EB, Koorans are quick to breed and highly aggressive. Skilled and capable climbers, they spend much of the day sleeping while attached to some form of solid surface to evade larger predators, and when they awaken they attack with deadly fore-limb claws, scything talons, and a barb with a poison that while harmless to humans, serves as a nerve toxin to their preferred prey animals. Their bite forces are also strong enough to crush the bones of scavenged animals or allow them to hold onto wildly thrashing prey.
[8] Life Forms: Proto-Sapient: Amphibious: Semi-Aquatic: Invertebrate: Multiplanetary: Zeg: An amphibious ambush predator, Zegs prefer armoured prey to eat and are specialized in hunting carapaced or shelled prey items as well as cracking open hardened nut analogue plant matter. Omnivorous and social, Zegs found alone are typically in the process of moving to find another group of Zegs to live near. Zeg tentacles secrete an acid that is harmless to skin, keratin, bone, eye tissue, and flesh but dangerous to metal, fabric, polymesh, and chitin. Zegs are notorious for their adaptability as invasive species and habits of stowing away on ships, as well as their habit of attacking explorers or passerbys only to stop when they realize that what was under the shell was not their preferred food item. Zegs grow throughout their lives and grow additional tentacles with increased size and are not known to undergo senescence.
[9] Bounty Hunters: Cybernetic: Elfin: Non-Aligned: Male: Yranthor: A consummate mercenary and salvager, Yranthor typically works alongside his fellow Cyborg Maera; the Elfin woman having been operating alongside him since they started their careers. When not busy with contracts, chasing after posted bounties, or freelance work, they resort to salvage operations of sometimes dubious legality to add to their incomes and find more technology to augment themselves with. Over ninety percent of Yranthor is mechanical, and the Cyborg simply swaps out bodies when he feels like socializing with a synth body based on his natural one; handsome, devilish, and with the ability to drink most people he meets under the table. Yranthor is competitive and notably possessive and has been criticized for poor impulse control by many. However, they have potent weaponry and cybernetic parts and the skills to use them. This body of Yranthor has heavy armour plating and double layered shielding, and utilizes a rotary mag-cannon with the ability to launch grenades or missiles and a power claw to engage in combat. Yranthor is however, somewhat slow and reliant on thrusters for high speed maneuverability. A large number of utility and combat drones are also known to be heavily utilized by Yranthor.
[10] Bounty Hunters: Cybernetic: Elfin: Non-Aligned: Female: Maera: Yranthor's long time partner in crime, Maera was actually the one who started their two man operation. Legally the spouse of Yranthor, the two are well known for finding other hobbies and other people to spend their time with when they aren't on the job, though some affection is noted between the two. Cybernetic to a similar degree as Yranthor, Maera handles much of the business side of their operations while he deals with the legal issues. Like Yranthor, when off duty she simply swaps herself into a synth body based on her previous one for whenever it would be better than her combat bodies. She is notably greedy and manipulative, but has been known to show softer sides on occasion, and is regarded as largely unempathetic to people she doesn't consider friends. This particular body of Maera is equipped with a Mag-cannon meant to penetrate armoured targets with a cutting laser mounted beneath, a power claw, and a number of drones to utilize. Like Yranthor, Maera is slow and dependent on thrusters to enhance her mobility.
AN: Wow this was super delayed wasn't it? Hopefully now I should be able to maintain a regular update pace though, as I've planned out the saga more fully. I'm changing up how the log book works now that it's sigmund's logbook instead of the logbooks of Imperial intelligence.