Before you guys asks, no, I didn't go off to defeat the Corruptor after I woke up. I didn't feel that I was ready yet and besides, I had other things to do. The main one was simple: examine the genetic heroes.
Look, crogenitor tech might be absurdly broken, but their biotech is awesome. I mean, one of them made a being who could literally rip the souls out of people to interrogate them, another one could create alternate timelines, and a third one could warp reality so that he could attack in every single way he possibly could across any timeline (stop bragging, Maldri).
And, I'll admit, part of me felt unworthy to have these heroes at my disposal. I mean, why should I? I was just one commander who'd barely started my journey. The greatest victory I had to my name was defeating the Grox, and that wasn't much of an achievement in my eyes (especially considering how easily I did so). Look, I'll shamelessly brag about some of my other achievements, but that one didn't really feel that big to me, okay?
Still, this was honor that was thrust upon me, and whether or not I deserved it, I knew that I had to help the Crogenitors, even if one of them was of questionable morals (looking at you, Ingto). No one deserved to become a part of the Darkspore, no matter how evil they were/are (though that's at least partially because I'm pretty sure the Darkspore would become even more evil if they assimilated an irredeemably evil being). And I had a feeling that the Crogenitors would prefer I used their genetic heroes to defeat the Corruptor and his minions, even if it was only as support for my robotic armies. And, to be fair, they did look really cool.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should probably tell you about our first meeting first.
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H.E.L.I.X. (and, from here on out, I'll refer to her as HELIX, okay?) was very quick to reanimate the heroes. The few she had left in stasis were roused from their slumber, while the rest were cloned from stored genetic tissue.
"Will they still be the same people as they were before they, you know, died?" I asked HELIX, still confused on this hole resurrection idea.
"You realize that you are talking to an A.I. from a civilization that was capable of shattering the barriers between life and death?" was her response.
I found that all I could do was nod awkwardly in the negative, because I had forgotten that.
"Well, when we resurrect the heroes, we simply use necrogenesis-based machines to pull their souls back into the world of the living and place them within their new bodies."
"Oh... wait, won't they be lonely? I mean, they are the last of their kind."
"We took the liberty of capturing members of their species during the Darkspore conflict and placing them into stasis, excluding Krel's, which you should already know. When you defeat the Corruptor, we will thaw them out and allow them to begin their civilization anew. And before you ask, we will make efforts to prevent the Nocturni from repating the actions of their forefathers."
"The foresight of the Crogenitors is, well, unexpected," was my only response. Though, to be honest, that was only because I felt really bad when I realized that Krel really was the last of his kind, as HELIX confirmed that the Crogenitors did not have enough h=of his species' genome to reconstitute his kind via cloning. Even if I tried with the Progenitor tech I had, it was still impossible.
The fact that I couldn't help him, at all, even with the mighty technology I had, made my heart break. But I buried y sorrow to ask one last question.
"How will they react to my prescence?"
"What do you mean, Commander Flameal15k?"
"Aren't the genetic heroes expecting a Crogenitor?"
"The Crogenitors could change form at will. I presume you know what Zelem's form looked like, correct?"
"Yes?"
"Well, Ptyron's form had wings, while Ingto's was based described as a living carcass. And besides, you are a Crogenitor now, or did you forget?"
I was about to ask her for clarification when I realized that she wa s correct: the five Crogenitors that had put their last hopes on me had hybridized my body withtheir genetics. For all intents and purposes, I was a Progenitor. And now, I had to live up to the mantle given to me.
"All Genetic Heroes are now active. I would suggest that you say something to them before you commence any engagements with the Darkspore."
Deciding to heed HELIX's advice, I walked up to the edge of the viewing terrace in the Genetic Hero Creation Room. Before me, the25 Genetic Heroes stood at the ready, all of them focusing in my presence. I'd drawn quite a crowd, which made me rather uncomfortable (I don't like being the center of attention unless I really want my point heard, okay).
But, somehow, I managed to speak.
"Thank you all for your devotion to this cause. You are... beings of untold power. Gifted by the mightiest beings in creation, given power over life and death that none have ever know."
The fact that I got that far was amazing in and of itself, as I thought I'd end up messing something up and end up making a fool of myself before the gathered crowd.
But after that point, I felt more at ease over what I said next. The data HELIX provided for me also made it easier to decide what that would be.
"You have all faced much hardship on this path: all of you have had the lives you knew ripped away by the Darkspore. I can never give that back to you, but I can offer you vengeance. I offer you the chance to show the Corrupter all of the pain and suffering you've experienced, to force him to pay for what he has done. And after this, if you so desire, you may leave and start a new life, however you choose. But now that is a far off goal, and the path to it is fraught with peril. TO even have a hope for tomorrow, we must face the darkness before. We must take the fight to the enemy. We must go forth and fight the Darkspore. We must undo all that they have done, unmake their greatest achievements, and beat them back to Scaldron. There, we will face the Corruptor himself. I will not lie, it will be a difficult fight, and you may not survive it. But if we stand united, we will prevail!"
After that last word, I felt really pumped and powerful. But all of that confidence began to fade away as my audience stared at me, without any sign of emotion on their faces. Then, to my surprise, I began to hear clapping. Focusing my heightened senses, I found that it was the insectoid Bio Tempest known as Sage who had started clapping. He was soon joined by Zrin, the Snfist and Meditron, the repair bot. Then, to my astonishment, the remaining heroes began to clap and cheer for me. I couldn't tell if it was out of respect or pity, but I appreciated it all the same.
After taking a moment to enjoy the adulation, I headed to the ship's navigation and began setting a course toward the Darkspore. I also took the opportunity to hook up with my fleet and begin building more bots. Finally, I locked in a set of coordinates and made the jump to another system.
When we arrived, the computer aboard the Crogenitor ship identified it as Zelem's Nexus, formerly Nakto.
I smiled at this knowledge, then ordered my robots and the genetic heroes to make planet fall.
After all, this was where the resistance won its first battle in the game, so why shouldn't I start my resistance here?"
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Read and Review. This is Flameal15k, signing off.