The canister shattered on impact, but due to my armor, I didn't end up with anything worse then a little pain from the collision. Without hesitation, I transferred into Valkyr and readied up my Venka Claws - best to deal with this thing as soon as possible.

"Interesting - you choose the frame of war most associated with rage and aggression to oppose me. How...destructive."

"You struck first."

"True. Still, I doubt you will be able to-"

I used a ripline to pull the machine toward me, then impaled it upon my other hand. Whilst ti tried to strike back, I rammed the second set of blades into its gut, lifted it up, then brought it down onto my knee. A satisfying crunch followed.

Then the machine flailed one of its arms at me, forcing me to retreat.

"Argh, such an inconvenience. This drones are not costly, but I do hate to replace them."

"Well, then you should make them tougher."

"Perhaps."

Then, suddenly, the machine's beak-like face opened up, with the inside starting to glow. I barely managed to move my claws into a position to block before a massive beam of energy slammed into me. Whilst my claws helped to mitigate the damage, the heat of the beam was so intense that my frame was starting to cook. Without hesitation, I activated Hysteria and charged. The machine could only shout in surprise as I tore into it, cutting into its mechanical components with wild abandon. A moment later, I threw it aside. The machine tried to get back up, only for Viv to grab it with a...tentacle and start pulling. A moment later, and the creature was severed in two, its torso landing in front of me. Grinning like a mad-man, I extended my claws and started pummeling it.

Yes, yes, YES! SUFFER YOU MISERABLE MACHINE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!

Viv promptly slapped me with one of her tentacles, causing me to fall over. A moment later, and Hysteria faded, allowing me to look at my handiwork...which was now liquefying. Crap, it had a self-destruct function. Worse still, I soon discovered that the machine was beyond my ability to reconstruct with Shadows of the Dead, leaving me with no way to determine why it was attacking me.

"No luck recreating it?"

"No, Viv...Also, you have tentacles?"

"Um, yes. Why are you surprised?"

"...Sorry, I just remember them being octopus ones, and not...well, jellyfish ones."

"Tecnically, they're man o'war tentacles, but that's not important at the moment."

"Do they have stingers and venom?"

"Yes."

"...You can control whether or not they sting, right?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I wont sting you to death if I use a tentacle to give you a high five."

"Well, that's a relief. Now to figure out what they wanted this Erchius fuel for."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, Kathikon, what's showing up on the scanner?"

"A lot of nothing, surprisingly. It looks like the sample you were doused with was the only erchius fuel that robot had brought with it."

"Surprised it only brought such a small amount - I'm certain it would've brought more."

"Well, it looks like they aren't trying to summon any eldritch monsters with the fuel. Additionally, I have detected no anomalies coming from you, so it appears that dousing you in the fuel is not something that turns people into monsters. At least, not at the moment."

"Roger, keep me posted there. Hey, you got any idea what our friends are up to?"

"Geralt is busy hunting a griffon, Aloy is doing some errands for a few natives of Meridian, whilst Theseus and Zoe are taking Zora out to go and track down a longleg. That being said, Aloy is well on her way to figuring out Project Zero Dawn's true nature. In the meantime, Coeus is working on trying to move the Old Ones he has in stasis back into the world, and is also trying to get his tribe to start spreading the knowledge they got from copying APOLLO to the others."

"...Coeus copied over APOLLO?! When?!"

"Before Faro deleted all other copies and murdered the Alphas. Also, I think he copied over GAIA. However, attempting to reupload her at the moment is a questionable idea, mostly because I believe removing the enemies of the artifacts to be a priority - we have no knowledge of their plans, but if they are assisting eclipse, then we are bound to have trouble with them."

"True. Any other new arrivals showing up through the portals that have been randomly opening?"

"Nope. Actually, it seems that the portals have begun to subside, for reasons currently beyond me."

"..Really?"

"Yes. I am not sure why, but I will try to find out."

"Thnak you. Any updates on the home front?"

"Not much. There are still teethng problems with having some rather xenophobic beings living in proximity with alien races, but the barriers are collapsing. The Imperium, in particular, seems to be getting along well with Wakhaf's forces, and the remaining flesh and blood Nehekharans are helping their mummified kin adjust very well, though Wraith wishes they would warn him if they intend to raise additional warriors."

How the Progenitors had managed to sneak in a group of Tomb Kings into the Repository was beyond me, but I'd learned to roll with the punches by this point. "I see. Now, how are Alad's tests with the nullifiers, leshen parts, Beheomth horns, and Progenitor magics going?"

"Okay, I think. So far, the nullifier devices are only achieving minor disruptions with the magic, but they have been improving."

That was a relief. Many of the universes I was likely to venture to had magic in them, and developing a means to repel it was a necessity until I could learn the sorcery for myself. With the power of magic and technology at my fingertips, I wouldn't be invicible, but I would certainly be taking a few steps in the right direction.

"Keep me posted."

"Right. Oh, and heads up, but I have located the Eclipse Outpost where the Caravan you saw earlier was headed."

...Welp, time to ruin the Eclipse's day.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!