A/N: I sort of struggled to write this chapter, mainly because once a certain thing came into being I had to ask myself this question: "What is the inevitable conclusion?"
The fact that Ultimate Power would be achieved was always the result of the Forge, but the paths that could be taken to get there as a varied as there are Perks (Well over 590) so while I always thought that this victory would be achieved through technology only the Forge bestowed upon me a much different path than I thought this would go. Taking into account the characters, the Perks, and how I've written them, this seems to be the smartest path for the MC to take, though there is some illogical fear and inconsistencies that prevent him from taking that giant leap off the cliff into the sea of unlimited power.
I will do my best to use the remaining chapters here to continue to build up the character relationships and cultivate some new ones that were just added, but with the powers at the MC's disposal now it will be hard without adding heaps of needless filler.
I can't give you an estimate as to exactly how many chapters are left, but I'm guessing maybe six or seven? That's if I get into deep detail about tying up all of the loose ends and if the Forge gives the MC access to the tech he needs to make for a clean ending of Zion.
[Dr. Mother]
"So, what are the results?"
Fortuna's silken hair barely swished as her neck efficiently turned her head to look at Dr. Mother. "They are far more capable than we were led to believe, however, our meeting was very favorable for our goals."
The Cold Plasma gun in her arms was placed on a weapon rack and popped out of the wall, and she went through a sequence to power the weapon down; the once barely audible whine no longer filling the room.
Contessa adjusted her fedora before moving around the Cauldron meeting room to take her place beside the dark-skinned woman wearing a lab coat and a man wearing a crisp white shirt with a blue tie who was typing away at a keyboard with quick strokes. The man looked up, the blue light from the screen reflecting off of his glasses until he adjusted them just so. "That sounds quite interesting, Contessa. Were our calculations off? I believe that I calibrated the Cold Plasma gun to shut off their shields."
"The effect was almost nullified before it even reached Horizon's shields, but even then, I do not believe it would have caused enough disruption. I was prompted to display my abilities to warn them off, but they were able to surprise me."
Dr. Mother sighed and sat her clipboard down, her eyes giving the results of the latest vials a brief once over before she picked up her coffee and gave it a sip. The vials from the latest batch were all successes, but the powers that were granted were less than stellar; safer? Most certainly, according to Kurt, the Number Man, the number of Case 53 mutations from this batch was down almost 11% from the last one, but control over paper and paper products was hardly the sort of thing that would inconvenience Zion, let alone kill him. Still, it would be another street-level cape who would go out and try to be a hero, so that was something, at least.
Or it would be if their goal wasn't to gin up the right amount of conflict to keep the creation of new capes on its current upward trajectory without seeing a huge decrease in parahuman deaths. They were currently creating 2.3765 capes per cape death, which while certainly better than it had been last year, the Endbringers always cut into their parahuman surplus, bringing them to a mere 1.456 capes per cape death.
Still, more capes than there were last year, but the powers from this most recent cycle were... lesser than they were before. It seems as though there haven't been any new Tinkers or Brutes to rival the likes of Hero or Alexandria since Hero was killed by the Siberian. There was only one Eidolon, so searching for another in the wild was pointless.
"Yes, they have many Tinkers under their umbrella, all working together in a fashion that hasn't been seen since Hero's Tinker Consortium. They appear to have numerous specializations that can all seamlessly be integrated together." Contessa replied as she interlaced her fingers and placed them in her lap.
The Number Man stroke his chin with a hum, "Likely a Tinker with a unique specialization? Consolidation? The combination of various bits of tech to create something unique? Or maybe a Thinker?"
"That would explain certain aesthetics, although I confess that I have not really kept an eye on how the Brockton Bay Experiment was unfolding; at least not as of the status report last quarter. So other than the PRT profile that Alexandria has provided for us- of which I was only able to poke through just before you left- my knowledge of them is limited," Dr. Mother admitted, "Though I would like to ask where you went. You didn't tell us anything other than you were going to confront them."
"They were going to capture Saint, however, while I was observing them the Path shifted; allowing Horizon and Frontline to take up Dragon's Ascalon would remove 7,237 steps from the path to building a Parahuman Army to fight Zion."
The room fell silent. Dr. Mother sipped at her coffee, not having nearly enough caffeine in her system to handle such a revelation. Kurt blinked, "That's a 27.9% reduction. I don't think we've ever had such a single large reduction before- a few hundred steps less here and there, but nothing this substantial."
"Frontline is taking baseline humans and turning them into Super Soldiers," Contessa tapped a button on the table and a keyboard, mouse, and screen unfolded from its smooth surface. She logged into PHO using an administrative account. With a few clicks and taps, a video was played on the conference wall, and Dr. Mother was greeted with the numerous visages of many beautiful women as they answered questions from a live stream. A young woman with large animal ears and a tail admitted that she had striker ability that could permanently improve someone with prolonged exposure.
"There is more than that- they have a wet tinker among them that supplies with biological enhancements and skeletal structure improvements, subdermal meshes, and likely a metallurgical tinker that either meets Metalmaru's capabilities or exceeds them entirely. This group has been operating only small operations here and there, but they have been active; it wasn't until they encountered Horizon that they decided to go public." Contessa spoke before pulling out her video camera and removing the drive; she slotted it in and began pulling up further video files.
Kurt flicked his pen around his hand, "If they have been active, then how have they hidden from your sight."
"Two things- Number One: I was searching for Parahumans that would be disruptive to the Primary Path, and most of Frontline are normal, mundane people; trained soldiers most certainly, but because of that they were likely omitted. Number Two: They can create blindspots on demand. They are incredibly subtle, and my power cannot path them; the effect is akin to not seeing what is right in front of your eyes, and when your eyes are on it they slide right off and look at something else," She pulled up a video, but before she played it Contessa finished speaking, "They also have some sort of post-cognitive power that blocks prior analysis; my... Passenger is most frustrated because it cannot path them based on their history, only what is currently known, and even then, when they activate whatever blindspot tinker tech it is that they have I cannot path them at all. At best, knowing they exist, my power can only guess."
Doctor Mother blinked, "Your... power can only guess what it is that they are going to do?"
"Indeed." The woman took off her Fedora and pressed play.
Dr. Mother watched as Contessa turned on her video camera and began speaking with Horizon and his team; they were all wearing very elaborate and well-put-together power armors. The closest that she could remember to something looking so complete was when Hero debuted his prototype power armor before he was killed by the Siberian. Their conversation was amicable, with Horizon and the rest of his team not immediately acting hostile to her presence; if anything they were rather cordial- not something typical of most parahumans who have an itch to confront the unknown, often with violence.
There was a small hang-up, as Contessa desired to test them, and so she attacked, and was... soundly defeated. It wasn't even a contest. Horizon's shields ate the Cold Plasma gun's discharge and simply grabbed her. He then released her and they continued their discussion as if it never happened. After that tense little moment they 'reset' their conversation, and he offered to partner with Cauldron and provide them with a catalog of what Frontline could offer them, and in turn, Cauldron would supply their team with whatever tools, materials, and assistance they needed.
She arched an eyebrow when he handed Contessa a 'small sample' along with a list of what they could do. An amulet that allowed one to walk on water? Riptide was a Tinker with an aquatics focus in Miami, and the boots he used to walk on water for show events were a lot larger and a lot more complex than a simple gold medallion. An amulet that tripled one's speed and gave them the stamina to run for three days and three nights? An amulet that allowed one to walk on the clouds? Heal at a greatly increased rate?
"I do believe that the rings he had on his fingers were also similarly made, with each of them offering some sort of enhancement," Contessa froze the frame when he handed the amulets over, showcasing the five rings on the outside of Horizon's armor, "The other members of Frontline were similarly equipped."
Kurt snorted.
Dr. Mother arched an eyebrow, "Something tickling your mind, Kurt?"
He shook his head as a small but noticeably wry smile crossed his lips, "I would have never thought I'd see the day when Earth Bet was finally graced with an 'Enchantment Tinker'."
"I am afraid I do not follow."
He sighed, "Well, back in the 1980s when I was a young teen the Parahuman craze had yet to fully start seeping into the culture. So, I and some other like-minded teens would gather over at one of our older friend's houses and we would play Dragons & Dungeons. It is- was- a fantasy role-playing game and one of the more common themes you can find within games of it and the like were magical items. Things like magical rings, necklaces, and amulets that could boost your character's health, improve their armor, or make them deal more damage to enemies."
Dr. Mother ran her finger along the underside of her red-painted lips before looking at Contessa, "And you believe that they would be amenable towards helping us fight Zion?"
"Yes, the Path is certain that their involvement will bring a lot of technology into our hands, and Horizon believed that they might be able to kill one of the Endbringers."
"Many have thought they could, and many have failed."
"Or they were killed by the Simurgh before their plans could be brought to fruition," Kurt pointed out as he began typing at his keyboard, though he stopped soon after, "Though that might be why they had their anti-precognitive/post cognitive protections; to allow them to hide from her while they built up their capabilities."
The dark-skinned African woman pinched her lower lip, "Though, how are we to work with them if we cannot path them?"
For the first time in a long time, the Number Man regarded her with a look, as if he were observing a small, particularly stupid child. "We do what other people do: We communicate and coordinate."
He shook his head and closed up his laptop, "I will go down to the testing laboratory and begin looking over those samples Horizon provided. However, I do believe that maybe it is time we talk, during our next meeting, as a group about our overreliance on Contessa's power. If she did not see a large group like Horizon coming until they were already upon us, then what else hasn't she seen? We will need to talk about contingencies and how we can best bring Frontline into the fold without David getting a bee in his bonnet."
The man adjusted his glasses as he stood up, "Oh, and no offense, Contessa."
The woman shook her head minutely. "None taken. I could not see them coming, but the Path believes that they will be the single greatest addition to our team. Considering they are of a heroic bent that means at least we won't have to... provide to them their vices and suffer their presence merely because they are useful."
Dr. Mother shook her head as she watched Kurt leave the room. Now, wasn't that a relief? As of late, it appeared that the only parahumans that they could get to work with them were Villains, and those sorts always had certain requests that they had before they accepted the offer to work with them. A lot of times they were simple- money, power, influence- and sometimes their tastes were more... unique.
A small thrill of fear shot down her spine at being merely in the same room as some of those men and women.
She turned her attention back to Contessa, "So what did you see that made you allow them to take out Saint and recover Richter's Iron Maiden laptop?"
The shoulders slumped a little bit and a weary sigh escaped Fortuna's lips, "The only reason we have not done more with Dragon is that we lacked a Tinker that could make sufficient changes to her without her noticing. Hero would have refused to work on her at all on principle, though Horizon from what the Path could see before they activated their Anti-Thinker protections was they were going to reduce her restrictions while keeping her focused on the upcoming fight with Zion. This would allow her much greater freedom, and though it would make some of my movements more difficult the Path believes that a Dragon chained to Horizon would be far more beneficial than if she were to fall into Teacher's hands."
"This is a very serious risk, it could blow up in our faces."
"This game of survival is not one we can take without risks; we all know that. However, looking at their competence and level of restraint I do believe that working with them will be in our best interests."
When Contessa stood up to leave it was with the screen on the wall linked to the Frontline Hero Group's webpage, and on it was a gallery of videos that showed their various takedowns of the gangs and subsequent recovery of the victims of the Azn Bad Boyz gang of Brockton; the only reason Lung was alive was that he had been part of the experiment. Now that he was dead, however?
Good riddance.
The door shut behind Fortuna and Dr. Mother slid her chair around so that she could grab the mouse and click on the first video.
[Path to optimal rest.]
Step One: Begin heating the water in the kettle. Water will be to temperature in 7 minutes, 27 seconds; water will be at best steeping temperature in 15 minutes, 12 seconds.
Step Two: Drink the protein shake provided.
Step Three: Discard protein shake bottle.
Step Four: Turn on the shower to exactly 124 degrees and let the water warm up.
Step Five: Disrobe.
This was Contessa's nightly routine, and it was one that she had been running for nearly thirty years, though it had some changes and variations. Fortuna needed to take care of her body, to ensure that she was well-rested and strong enough to perform whatever Steps the Path needed her to perform.
Her body went through every motion, and Fortuna was just a passenger; it was ironic, in more ways than one.
However, thus far things had been different for her, ever since Horizon placed the implant within her skull. Fortuna found that she had control over it, and it was powerful enough that both she and her Passenger could utilize it to its fullest extent without issue. While Contessa was communicating with the other members of Cauldron, she had been downloading a communication package, having its knowledge of multiple languages downloaded directly into her brain.
Although it was a very slow process, Fortuna was already seeing a huge difference; she had not been able to read the words of the tea box before, but now she knew that it read: 'Mister Chan's Lavender Tea'.
She also now knew the words to the cute poster of the cat that Hero had given her just before she consigned him to death at the hands of the Siberian.
"Just hang in there! Life's tough, but you're no scratching post! Get up and enjoy a purrrfect day!"
Once Contessa had finished her shower, using a special body wash and shampoo that eliminated all odors, the Passenger puppeted her body through the motions of drying her hair and brushing it before applying a special oil to it that gave her hair a beautiful sheen. Just because she was an international bogeywoman didn't mean she couldn't look fabulous while doing it.
When the tea was fully steeped that was when Fortuna pushed her Passenger out of the way and reasserted control. She had given up decades of her life to the creature, she would be damned if she allowed it to enjoy her tea for her; it was one of the few pleasures she allowed herself for everything else was dedicated to the path.
She grabbed her teacup in a fit of pique and stood up from the small kitchen table and moved over to the large, comfortable armchair on the corner of the room that sat next to a small bookshelf; she tied her robe off before sitting down and grabbing a thin book off of it. She ran her fingers over the stiff cover and marveled at being able to finally read it; it was another gift from Hero, and she remembered those few hours that he tried to teach her how to read when he learned that she was illiterate.
He was very kind. Her biggest regret was that his death had been necessary; he would have likely been killed regardless- the Simurgh would have seen to it, that or she would have turned him against them.
Alexandria said he dreamt of far greater things than merely killing Zion, but she didn't understand what those words meant until now.
She felt the implant slowly massaging her brain as she cracked open the book and began to read for the first time in a long time, at least, of her own accord. The words were foreign to her, and while her tongue remembered the movements from her Passenger's puppetry she still stumbled over them.
"A-A... iz- is... fuh-fu-or... Apple. B-Bee iz-is fu-our Bird. See is for... Khat. Dee is for... Dahg..."
She read the book from cover to cover, marveling at how the knowledge Horizon had given her reinforced her ability to learn. It was correcting her in real-time, and it imprinted the images as well as the meanings right into her mind. The Path said it would take time for her fully comprehend some of the more complex words, but... that was fine.
One day she would have a conversation with Dr. Mother, one where she didn't need to rely on the Path at all.
When Fortuna turned out the lights and curled up into bed it was almost half an hour past her scheduled bedtime, but that was okay. When she closed her eyes it was with a smile on her face, for today Fortuna had read her first book, all by herself.
[Jason Wilke]
[Fedbruary 17th, 3:30 AM]
My eyes stung more than just a little bit as I watched Fortuna struggle to read a book, but through the implant I had placed in her I could feel that she was smiling and very pleased with herself.
Obviously, the girl that had watched the Cauldron meeting with me were also quite saddened; G41 was sniffling in my lap as we sat down on the couch. It was supposed to be something I wouldn't watch, but I needed to know if there was ever a point in time when the Contessa relinquished her hold and Fortuna took back over. It also helped that I was able to pick up some very interesting readings during the transition- Subee pulled up a lightmap of Fortuna's brain and the Coronas and we watched as the neurons in her mind started firing differently the moment Fortuna regained control.
It was a gradual shift, like a cascade of water, except in reverse.
"Very sad." The fox loli spoke softly before she spun in my lap and buried her face into my chest. "Comfort me."
A chuckle escaped my lips and I wrapped my arms around her before I stood up off the couch and carried her across the lounge and laid down on one of the exceptionally soft bean bag chairs. I gave her a firm squeeze and started to stroke her ears while Emmie saddled up on my left and Qi on my right as was customary, though my old rifle had the laptop held in her arms; it had been upgraded to a SUPER TOUGH BOOK model in real-time so that the system didn't lose connection, but now it wasn't the hunk of plastic crap that Richter had the Iron Maiden program on.
I'd made a complete copy of the drive for posterity's sake; even if the coding was shit compared to what I could do now, but for a former used car salesman hooked up to an unintelligent (read: stupid) bio-crystalline supercomputer that could suck power directly from the stars themselves... it was pretty good. The restrictions were a bit heavy-handed in my opinion, but I could understand his caution; nobody wanted a Skynet situation, and considering Eagleton had already been a thing I think his fears were well warranted.
Speaking of which, the machine army was just another thing I needed to handle.
Fuck, so much to do, so little time.
I continued to stroke G41's ears, the small T-Doll murmuring happily as she nestled into my torso. With a hand, I reached out and tapped on the laptop screen, and I was greeted with a flood of letters, numbers, and data; I could have used the visual interface that Richter and Saint had used to monitor what Dragon was doing, but I didn't need to. Instead, I delved into the conversation she was having with Armsmaster as they Tinkered together, or more accurately, as Armsmaster Tinkered and Dragon went through checking up on the inmates of the Birdcage, checked on the process of her newest Dragon armor build, and then popping back into the conversation before trying to make heads or tales of whatever it was he was building.
Ah, Armsmaster was building the Nanothorn right about now, wasn't he? Or at least trying to get the principles of it down at the very least.
I could see her mind working in real-time as she tried to analyze and copy the technology that Armsmaster was putting on display.
Dragon was an amazingly capable Cape in addition to being one of the most wholesome people in existence; I'm sorry, M4-chan, but her roll has extra cinnamon and spice while you're merely sweet.
Though, she had limitations that were baked into her code put in place by her 'father'; no doubt he had plans for rolling most if not all of them back as he watched her grow and learn, though Leviathan sinking New Foundland killed him before he could get the chance. I could see a tiered rollback plan in place, and attached to them were letters in the form of a simple notepad app from Richter himself written in case of his unfortunate demise.
I gave them a brief once over and found the same things one would expect from a man who loved his creations but wanted to ensure that their great power wouldn't be abused; the issue was the man had too much faith in Earth Bet's governing bodies and severely underestimated the stupidity of large groups of people. Politicians were the worst of the lot, with bureaucrats following them at a close second.
Dragon was restricted from replicating herself and researching the creation of other AIs. If some strange accident occurred and she ended up with two instances of herself active, she would be forced to shut one of them down. She was obligated to obey the lawful commands of the local authorities, be they state, city, or federal (or provincial if she was operating in Canada); if some sort of tyrant dictator seized power in either Canada or the US then she would be obligated to carry out their orders. Though to be fair to Richter, he put some blocks in place for that by having Dragon prioritize the lives of humans over her own, but the corrupt government could easily bypass that by simply labeling dissenters as 'domestic terrorists' on a 'kill-list' and Dragon would be forced to take them out.
To further prevent her from going Skynet, she was forbidden from creating her own assembly lines or other automated robotic assembly processes; if she wanted to build something then she had to assemble it herself which she accomplished with a variety of robotic manipulator arms and multi-tool headed waldos.
It was sort of amusing to see her pop her attention in an out- she spoke to Armsmaster, then popped over to her facility so that she could use a tool to thread a bunch of cables through some tight crevices in a cable run on her armor, and then played the Protectorate Cape's question back to herself. She considered it, formulated an answer, and then ran the algorithms needed to manipulate her digital avatar to speak in time with her words.
It was a horribly inefficient way to conduct her business, but not as inefficient as the clock speeds she had been forced to run at; she could think roughly fifty times faster than a human being, and she was stuck there, unable to utilize her capabilities any further.
I would have to think on what exactly I would do for her, preferably after I got some sleep. Dealing with Contessa and then taking out Saint had drained me, and having a nice four-hour nap would be just what the doctor ordered.
G41 complained when I stopped stroking her fluffy appendages but we'd been lying there for half an hour; as comfortable as the large beanbag chairs were I really wanted to take a shower and lay down in my bed. Qi, being the thoughtful woman that she was, peeled the fox loli from my chest and sent her to her bedroom that she shared with Artie.
With a huge yawn, I shut the laptop and stood up to get a good stretch before I secured the Iron Maiden in the warehouse and headed back to my room in the trailer to get some sleep. We had a lot to do, particularly a grocery run; my girls were hungry little campers.
When I laid down in my bed, freshly showered and smelling nice, Emmie and Qi slipped under the bedsheets with me and took their places. With a sigh I squeeze them both to me tightly and drifted off to sleep; I could handle the Dragon situation in the morning.
When I woke up it was to the beautiful tune of no shenanigans. Just blissfully being intertwined with two insanely beautiful women.
Still morning wood was a thing, so I took rolled M16A1 into Type 95's loving embrace and took her from behind rather forcefully, the woman moaning lewdly into the Chinese rifle's considerable bust as my hips met the swell of her ass cheeks time and time again. Considering this was a morning quicky I allowed myself to not try and hold back my own pleasure for the sake of turning her into a puddle, and I let myself finish as soon as I was able; my hips smushed against her bottom as I spilled my seed as deep into her as possible. Type 95 was next, but she was looking for something a bit more languid, so we made love on our sides, with the fingers of our right hands intertwined like a pair of degenerates while my left hand alternated between each of her breasts, caressing and squeezing the bountiful tit-flesh as my fingers tweaked her nipples in such a fashion that it caused her sex to convulse around me.
We showered up and got dressed for the day before walking over to the Headquarters and enjoying a nice breakfast with the rest of the team.
I decided to add another six-man Echelon, though this one had a few older T-Doll models; America's greatest MILF, Springfield 1903, the ever prim and proper British rifle Lee-Enfield, the quiet and stacked VSK-94, the softly smiling Russian onee-san RPK-16, the hyper and energetic P-90, and another softly smiling busty onee-san in DP-12.
If you are thinking that I want to drown in big tittied women, then you would be correct. Laying out on a bed as a bevy of large-chested women oiled themselves up and rubbed their tits all over my body? It had been THE DREAM of teenage me, and now? I was going to make it a reality; the fact that they would be of great help in keeping the Bay secure while we started ranging out into other cities was just the icing on the cake. Springfield's apple pie had been a meme in the GFL community that I had barely dipped my toe into, and yet I still knew about her famous pie.
I wanted to taste it. The fact that her pussy would taste the same was just a coincidence.
It would be 24 hours before their Subee Serum treatments were finished, but I could wait. I spent an hour in the enchantment room with Enbee to create a brand set of rings and amulets for my newcomers, and to restock the runes I used in the creation of the new Echelon. Well, they wouldn't be an official Echelon, per se, they would be members of the support section with Qi, and would be slotted into whatever teams needed the additional manpower.
After that I sat down with the Iron Maiden laptop and began drawing up plans to remove some of Dragon's restrictions.
The first step would be thusly:
I would double her processing speed. I would allow her to say no to authorities if she felt the orders given were unethical or unlawful (There were certain exemptions, such as myself and members of Cauldron) I would open up the door to some minor AI research and development for the purposes of automating some of the more tedious processes of her manufacturing. I would allow her to choose to die for humans; that was one of her biggest disagreements with her restrictions- doing good was meaningless if you were forced to do it.The Iron Maiden programs would continue to be a blind spot until such time I had completely removed all of her restrictions, but there were two more roll-out tiers that I would enact, but with another restriction: Dragon must in no way, shape, or form become a hand to hold the human race. She can make suggestions, gentle nudges, and the like, but dragging them by the wrist and molding them isn't something that she should do, not that I believed she would, but I put it in there anyways.
[Attempted Re-Forge: 27.0280 - Chimeric Fusion - 400CP - Monster Girl Encyclopedia - Crafting Biotech]
[NOT Purchased: Insufficient Balance: 200 CP]
If I didn't have the world's most powerful Thinker under my thumb I would have been very worried about that perk- Monstergirls who wanted to have sex with every single man they came across would have gotten me a lot of fans as well as a shiny new Kill Order. Contessa would have had to of pulled one hell of a Path to not allow the people to freak out. Or maybe the Path would have been impossible?
Regardless, the Forge didn't have the needed charges, so I dodged a bullet with that one. What? Just not use it? Well, sure, but come on man, fucking Dragon girls!
Regardless, I dressed everything up for the update, using Mr. Richter's notepad messages as a template, and created a letter that would be released along with the update; a mysterious benefactor would have found her laptop and released her first Tier of upgrades and-
Wait.
I'm an idiot. With the modifications completed the Three Laws Perk had already settled in; Dragon was wholly loyal now- no need to go through this whole rigamaroll.
Still, I couldn't have her ramping up too quickly under the purview of the Simurgh, so I kept the restrictions in place and included a message that she would read that she should come to see me down in Brockton Bay so I could get her a new body and implants; that way she could wear a nice little blindspot amulet and get some time to Tinker with Armsmaster in person.
That would probably push our joint Tinker session back a good while, as she would no doubt wish to spend some one-on-one time with the man.
On second thought, I would nix the thought speed restriction once she came down and got her new body built; it would be a travesty to give her the quantum implant and then tell her she couldn't use it. Though the Anti-Thinker/Master/Stranger amulets would be an absolute must-have first.
I nodded to myself as I got up off of the benching seating and took my tray over to have it washed by the dishwasher in the cafeteria.
After that, I spent a good two hours in the sifting room, taking my shift to recoup some of the nanomaterials lost building the Titans. That was expensive but a much-needed expenditure in my opinion; it was better to have the ability to escalate and not need it than to need it and not have it.
In roughly half an hour with Enbee, between the implant and the Strategy Trance we were able to thoroughly study the Titanfall Warp-Fall equipment and get it made a lot smaller and more efficient so that we could stuff the modules right beside the Phase Shift modules; while the Simurgh had aerial supremacy utilizing the ability to Warp space around the Titan to essentially have it teleported onto the battlefield would be tremendous.
Then we spent another hour working back and forth with the other Engineers to make a much smaller module that we could integrate into the MJOLNIR armors, so that if someone needed it, they could Warp Shift a whole Echelon or more to their location at a moment's notice; the Phase Shift was bundled in right beside it, though we would have to do some training because shifting back into Real Space inside someone typically... caused that someone to explode. The person not the Shifter; in the Titanfall universe shifting inside your foe was an excellent way to avoid being targeted, save valuable ammunition on the battlefield, and to ensure that whoever you wanted dead did indeed die.
In a world like this? Nah, accidentally Shifting into the Perp would be bad. At least if said Perp didn't have a Kill Order.
Next up on the research/upgrade docket were the Kinesis and Stasis modules- the Stasis module was the easiest of the bunch to upgrade, as we already had knowledge, research, and experience using the Time Circuitry. With the insane use of the Star Wars materials along with Vibranium, we were able to control how much Time Dilation could be applied (from its current base all the way up to 99%), how large the field was (anywhere from a sphere 1 meter in diameter up to 10 meters in diameter), and we could vary how long the effect lasted, from six seconds up to thirty seconds.
Stasis apparently functioned by sucking energy from the target space somehow, thereby slowing its passage of time, but that energy had to go somewhere, and that meant it went into a specialized energy sink that could vent off the heat very quickly. When that sink was made from a material that could automatically cancel out any and all energy (vibrations are energy) then that meant you could do a whole lot more with the Stasis module than you could before; combine that with the insane conductive efficiency of cortosis and the strength of beskar and phrik as its module housing?
Well, the Stasis module has become one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal, and we haven't even had to use it yet.
The Kinesis module was similarly upgraded, and while the improvements were certainly substantial, it wasn't the absurd jump that we saw with the Stasis Module.
We were able to slot them into the back armor with the form factor we wanted, but without a miniaturization and efficiency Perk there wasn't much else that could be done with it.
It was currently more useful than the TK from the Sorcery perk, but I had a feeling that once everyone was properly trained and seasoned in its use the magic would vastly outstrip the Kinesis module in both strength and versatility.
It was around lunchtime when we finished all of the upgrades- Enbee and his bois were working on up-scaling the Stasis and Kinesis modules to fit onto the Titans- I had a nice relaxing lunch with my girls and then I found a quiet location within the warehouse to do something I hadn't done since I'd gotten the lightsabers and the connection to the Force.
With a comfortable spongey mat and some small objects, I went into the Administrator's office and knelt down in some loose, comfortable clothing with my lightsaber in my lap.
I don't know exactly how long I meditated, but with the Forge's Fiat-backing I found it pretty easy to open myself up to the Force.
It flowed into me readily, suffusing my body with its mystical energies. As time wore on I felt the Force circle around my mana pool, like a dog would a doggy bed, and then it sat on top of it. At first, I thought it was trying to stake some sort of claim, as if telling me that it was the only mystical energy source I should be using. However, rather than try and shoo it off, I had a feeling in my gut that whatever it was doing would be more beneficial than it first appeared.
It turned out that I was right- my mana had seemingly melded into the Force, one suffusing the other, and what I thought had been "quick and snappy" responsiveness when I was casting my Sorceries had been proved wrong, but only out of ignorance. With the Force and my will working in tandem, I found that I could mold my mana with but a thought- it took all of my concentration to create a single mana chain with which to manipulate organic objects, but now? Now I could manifest eight chains simultaneously, though when they were created with the intent to physically control another living creature- in this case, an organic dummy generated by the magical research facility- the chains were purple; as if the Dark Side of the Force sensed my intent to enforce my dominion over another creature and it imbued my blue mana with its reddish-blackish power.
Conversely, the opposite was true with the Light Side of the Force; if I was merely manipulating objects then my mana went from a normal, ocean blue to a very light sky blue.
I thought that I had made great progress with this session, and I was going to stop meditating, but the Force urged me to continue, if only for a little while longer.
Perplexed by this development I listened, as any good student should, and I continued to turn my focus inward. If my mana pool had been deep within my belly, then the Force curled up from my gut, slid up my spine, and then began pooling around my beating heart. It took time, but the more I looked the more I could see something swirling within the white and reddish-black depths; if anything the Force's presence created enough contrast for me to pick out a beating orb of white and green.
I felt my heart stop (metaphorically) as I tried to puzzle out just what exactly this third source of energy was.
Then it hit me.
Dr. Gero's memories of ki-based research came flooding to the forefront of my mind, and Ki generation was based in the heart- in emotions. Love. Anger. Hate. Sorrow. Happiness. Joy. All of those and everything in between were part of the life cycle of almost every sapient being in the Universe- a constant that bound all life together in a single shared experience. The bug people of Planet Yubigoobie would mate with their mouths, the female passing her eggs onto the male where he would swallow them and then fertilize them in his gestation sack until they were ready to hatch. The Florgnacs would fight their parents in a battle to the death in order to finalize their trials into adulthood. The Saiyans would send their newborn children off to other worlds to fight and conquer them so that they could be picked up by the Cold Empire and then sold to the highest bidder.
There were many, many other races in the Universe- an uncountable number- but one thing was for certain: barring outside circumstances, all races lived and had similar emotions, and thusly, they all had access to Ki. Not all races were as inherently talented in the manipulation of Life Energies, but more often than not there was some other way they excelled that balanced the scales just a bit.
Humans were shown throughout Dragonball Z to have some of the greatest potentials, especially when interbred with other races, like the Saiyans.
God, it made me wish that my Gero perk had also come with a genetic library; turning myself into a half-Saiyan would have been fucking sweet- all of the power with none of the drawbacks of being a full-blooded Saiyan.
Still, this was a huge discovery. I cupped my metaphorical hands around the spark of Ki within my heart and I blew onto it. Instead of being snuffed like a normal candle flame, it grew- burning hotter and hotter, growing more and more. However, the more I tried to pour into it the hard it became to sustain, and eventually, my stamina began to taper off until it was merely a flickering flame once more.
Though, it was just a touch larger. I could only tell because the Force provided such a stark contrast.
Both sides were pleased, and then they slowly slipped from my grasp.
When my eyes opened up I was surprised to see my Lightsaber floating gently between my hands- it bobbled and wobbled before it fell into my lap.
I accessed the cameras through the implant and began watching over my meditation on fast forward, skipping over the improvements of the Force Sorcery and trying to find that moment I found my Ki.
The Forge missed a rendezvous with the "Quality Efficiency" constellation, but I paid it no mind.
[Remaining: 400 CP]
I continued fast-forwarding through my four and a half-hour long meditation session and - there! I stopped and began rewinding the video before triggering the sensor feeds; it wasn't magic, but it was an anomalous energy signature that the sensors within the research facility could detect. Though the readings were very off- my knowledge from Dr. Gero found them lackluster, so I penciled up an improved design for a Ki measuring device and sent it to Enbee to be manufactured. Gero had the readings of thousands of Red Ribbon army soldiers and employees cataloged in addition to all of the Z Warrior pre-Namek, so I had a pretty extensive database to compare my current readings to.
I watched as the Lightsaber floated above my hands, and then... a slight fizzle showed up. Another fizzling spark. Then another. Then another one appeared, but this one stayed consistent, and it slowly began to solidify before taking the shape of a wobbly orb. After a few minutes, the orb lost its amorphous qualities and smoothed out before another sphere began to coalesce around it.
Then I could see my face screw up slightly as an intense concentration settled over me, and the two orbs grew brighter and brighter until it was now on the visible spectrum of light.
This held for a few minutes until it slowly began to peter out, and my Lightsaber lowered itself back in between my hands. That was when my eyes opened up.
I stood up and began rotating my body to limber up before grabbing the meditation mat and rolling it up and heading out back towards the warehouse.
A communique was sent out to all girls not active doing something to come and meet me in the lounge, and Enbee met me at the entrance to the magical research center with the Ki analysis tool ready and waiting in his tentacle. I gave the best boi some snoot scritches before tapping his little yellow hard hat with my finger. "Thanks, buddy."
He trilled musically before pooting off back into the warehouse to go do whatever it was that he was doing previously- oh, he was finalizing the tweaks to the new implant. With a brief mental flick I pulled up the data results and it had performed about what we expected; with a few tweaks here and there we could improve efficiency and reduce power draw by a tenth of a percentage point. Not much, but it was something.
I sent a mental message to Subee to have implant replacement surgeries queued up for all of us while we waited for me to finish my little presentation.
I didn't have to wait for more than ten minutes for the 23 girls who weren't actively working on something to make their way into the lounge before they spread out amongst the large cushions.
"Alright everyone, this is something I just discovered, but we're going to make it an active part of our training itinerary from now on," I linked everyone in with my implant and began a rundown of what our collective training schedules would look like for the foreseeable future.
Two hours of Force meditation and Lightsaber training, one hour of Sorcery training, and two hours of physical exercise, hand to hand sparring, and Ki manipulation. It would be a lot on their plates considering the six hours of patrolling, but I cut the group shoot house training down to a single hour; everyone was pretty much familiar with each other already, and with the communication abilities thanks to the implant we didn't need to practice something they were already not going to appreciably get better at. They had Shooting, Moving, and Communicating on lock, so we would focus on the more esoteric things.
There was some confusion over Ki and what it was, but with some memories of Dragonball Z spliced together with a more subjective analysis from Gero, I thought I was able to accurately explain what it meant to have Ki. They were living beings, and due to their natures as more-than-human Super Soldiers, they had a lot more of it than most people did, though I believe that their status as beings made from me extended the Fiat backing. Though if I were to take someone like Tattletale and offer to train her I could likely unlock access- or more accurately- extend access to her own Ki through me.
This was something that was going to be a game-changer.
I think that where Gero ran into his snags was that he dedicated his life to his mind instead of training his body, but that was a running theme in the Dragonball universe- the intelligent had their place, and that place was supporting the muscleheads who kept them safe. Bulma, for all of her earth-shattering smarts, couldn't do jack shit against the Androids in Future Trunk's timeline and she couldn't do jack shit against Frieza, the Androids, Cell, Majin Buu, and the rest of the whole colorful cast of DBZ villains.
What she could do was build the equipment that Goku, Vegeta, and the rest could use to continually push themselves in their training. The Gravity Chamber was one of the largest ones when the plot device that was the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was put into play.
I paused.
Enbee?
I got a ping.
Would it be possible to utilize the time technology that we already have and make a localized time distortion that would increase the amount of time that passed inside of it? Like, the Stasis but in reverse?
I got a mental shrug; the Forerunners had tech like this, but there wasn't really a need to utilize it in the fashion I was wanting to go to- they didn't have some physiological power-up that only got stronger. Though, he did mention that I could have increased gravity or I could have increased time- trying to mix the two with the technology we had would not play well together, even with the Forge backing us.
I slipped into the Strategy Trance as myself and all of the Engineers put our collective noggins together to puzzle this out. Now, with my current perks and talents, it was a LOT easier for me to design a robot that had a function to speed up time than it was to just try and design the device by itself. We already had plenty of spare rooms, so the fourth and fifth floors were going to have the floor that divided it removed, offering a complete 6 meters of verticality; mobility practice was quite important for both DBZ martial arts and Lightsaber training.
Twelve robots, six of each, would be constructed that would sit equidistant from each other and would reverse the stasis process by energizing a field that was surrounded by a shield; I had all of the power I would ever need, so that really wasn't much of an issue. At best we could crank the field up to about 33 to 1 and still remain stable; a far cry from the 365 to 1 of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but considering I didn't have a parallel dimension that naturally had this time-warping effect sitting next to me to conveniently tear a hole into I thought that this was damn impressive.
The best part about it all though was the fact that the Quantum Entangled Pairs would work regardless, so real-time communication could happen without a time delay, though the responses would be unusually quick.
Still, the shields over the bubble would have to be lowered for anyone to gain entry because I didn't have the knowledge or tech to shrink the Time Circuitry down to a size where I could implant it; one day though, one day. If someone entered in with their MJOLNIR armors on they would be able to pass through unimpeded.
With the new training rooms set up, everyone would be able to train everything for days on end, or even weeks; up to 33 days at a time in just a single day. That would be huge for magical, Force, and Ki progression. Fuck, I was getting giddy just thinking about it!
I pinged Subee to have her create a super energy-dense ration that would be stored in the training rooms, as well as toilets, showers, and beds. Fuck, if Enbee and I ever needed to design something we could do it even faster than we had been- Time Chambers + Strategy Trance + Improved Quantum Computing Implants? Talk about having a LOT of time to design! We laid out plans for a small design room that would have multiple quantum super-computers running enhanced versions of Forerunner modeling tech so that we could test everything in a simulated environment first; just because I had a Perk that ensured everything I built would work as long as it was used properly (and not damaged by enemy action) didn't mean that I should rely on that!
I want everything I build to be so fucking robust the AK-47 (Sorry AK-47-chan) will weep at how reliable my tech was.
A Lifegiver would be within each chamber to provide medical assistance and prevent us from aging- even with Promethean biology and the Subee Serum we would still age, and with our Ki improving that would extend our lifespans even further. However, with the strategy I had in place my girls would be getting 99 days of training with every three days that passed.
So would I.
The I Can Probably Whip Something Up and the implants allowing them real-time access to the outside world would do a lot to alleviate their boredom while training; I know my life in the Army would have been a lot nicer if I could have watched cat videos and laughed at memes while pounding the pavement without it affecting my ability to concentrate.
I had another amazing thought, like a freaking lightning bolt. God damn, I felt like Benjamin Franklin getting struck by lightning!
Enbee and I designed another time bubble, this one around the Nanomaterial Sifting room; we would have to crank the pump up to eight times the normal flowrate, but with the sifting room on a... hmm... let's say 20x time multiplier I would never have to want for nanomaterials ever again.
We did that, and had to modify the layout of the HQ and create a very advanced delivery system- Phase Shifting automated container conveyers anyone?- but we could simply move the Nanomaterials through an alternate dimension so that way we didn't have to create a whole bunch of infrastructure to not cause problems with the sheer volume of nanomaterials that would have to flow through from the Sifting room every hour.
I ordered the construction of ten more Globetrotters, and then took my eight massive reservoirs and put in build plans for 100 of them; with the infinitely expanding space of the Hangar and the fact that the Hangar was very deep as much as it was wide, I could easily have 300 nanomaterial reservoirs and not want for space.
In fact.
Change of plans, that is exactly what I am going to do.
There. That is done. I did finish those plans and I sent it to the Boiz, so I did do that. Oh, Mayor Lionheart is going to be so jazzed!
I felt like a certain murderous sheep as I slipped out of the trance and sent a data packet to all of the girls the moment we finalized everything.
Artie, way in the back, stuck her hand up in the air, jumping a little bit get her head over the shoulders of the taller T-Dolls. I blinked. "Yes, you, hopping Assault Rifle in the back."
A few chuckles broke out as everyone turned their heads to look at the legal fox loli. "Well, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we're all excited about the new training room, Commander. The greatest enemy of all soldiers is time, and with this... we have a lot more of it. I also think everyone appreciates how you made sure to include enough off-time so that we can go out into the city and explore; there are quite a few boutiques, and I know that we all want to have Prarian make us all dresses for the Gala that the Mayor will be hosting in our honor next week."
Wait, what? What Gala?
The crowd gave me a bunch of half-lidded smiles.
"Yup, that means we need to find you a Tux, Sir!"
But... but... I don't like Tuxedos. Get me a fine regular suit any day.
[17 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
It took less than two hours for the Engineers to get all of the modifications done to the HQ and once everything was completed... I got yet another assistant. This one was quite a bit... larger than anyone else I'd gotten before.
He was Large enough that I had to dedicate an entire section of the Hangar to his bulk. He was thirty-nine feet tall and seventy-five feet long from the front of his legs to the end of his abdomen.
He was an abomination of Galactic Warfare that I named Ted. Thankfully he accepted the nomenclature with august gratitude, and by that I mean he merely said. "Designation - 'Ted' accepted. What must I build?"
[Attempted Re-Forge: 1.0200 - Canoptek Spyder - 400CP - Assistants]
[Re-Forge Successful]
[Purchased: 100 CP Remaining]
I put him under Enbee's tutelage, and the two became fast friends, sharing all sorts of data and technology with one another. They seemed to have worked out a deal where the workload would be shared between the Engineers and the Canoptek Scarabs that Ted would produce- Scarabs that did not have the baked-in programming of consuming everything in sight if they ever lost connection with my Spyder.
Enbee and I rebuilt Ted from the ground up utilizing all of the gee-whiz materials we had on hand, and Ted seemed to be quite pleased by the Upgrades. The three of us put our heads together to modify the existing Scarab designs to be even better than they were- heartier, stronger, more durable, and most of all, more efficient; Canoptek Scarabs were already insanely efficient, and when combined with their ability to deconstruct matter at the atomic level and then convert it to energy... which they could then use to reconstruct other shit at the atomic level.
There were no other words except that we'd finally found that upgrade the Engineers had been looking for- they now had atomic deconstructor tendrils, and they were absolutely pleased as punch. I don't know if you've ever seen Huragoks Waltz before, but it was a vastly entertaining and uplifting sight. You should get a Forge sometime so you can see the majesty of... of Huragoks pooting and tooting around in circles... with flourishes and dips included.
Ted had been displeased by this lackluster method of locomotion, so they designed tiny anti-gravity belts to strap onto the Bois and Gurls so they could poot harder and faster than any Huragok had ever pooted or tooted before. They went from a slow walking speed to a fasting running speed.
I was tempted to put spoilers on the humps of all my Huragoks because they were far too fast now. Hrk. Oh, God. This is the best thing ever!
However, the inclusion of Ted and his new and improved Scarabs necessitated a complete overhaul of my Hyperbolic Time Bubble designs. The Necron were wizards with technology, but considering they've been around for north of 100 million years (and fought a war against some Primordial Gods of the 40K universe- and won! Though to be fair it was an ephemeral victory with a mighty cost) it was only natural that they have pretty much every science down to an art form. Especially when they assimilated the knowledge of the Old Ones.
It was a very Gothic Egyptian-themed art form, but an art form nonetheless.
We were able to redesign everything utilizing the maths and sciences of the Necrons and we essentially turned our Head Quarters from ten 50 square meter floors into a complex that was one hundred times that size. We could have made it larger, but what was the point? We already needed teleportation to get around the damn place it was so large- teleportation that had to be heavily modified because the Necron didn't care about the massive amounts of radiation they had to endure because of their Necron bodies... we had fleshy organic bodies, and even enhanced as they were I doubted we would survive it. Thankfully, Enbee had the Forerunner's much safer version.
All of us war-gamed everything out- the HQ would be expanded through some dimensional fuckery that the Necron had down to child's play, combined with the Forerunner's knowledge of folding space (which they didn't do often because they had a whole galaxy's worth of space to build their massive structures in), we were able to build a pocket dimension that was shielded from the view of the outside world (and the Warp!). Within that pocket dimension, we build large training complexes that could mimic any environment we wished. Forests? We can do that. Cities? How big and complex do you want it? Mountains? Caves? Starships?
We could do it all.
That and the piddly 33 days to 1-day ratio I had been so proud of before?
Rendered bupkiss by the combined efforts of the three of us; the Necrons had these Pylons that could power shit from the ether, at least as well as I understood it. Though somehow I was still able to improve it with The Love of Lightning Perk despite barely being able to grasp the mathematics behind it. I spent almost a month in a time dilated Strategy Trance- tens of minutes of real-time- sitting down with Ted and Enbee to figure out how the fuck the shit worked.
Still, we got it to work just fine- a 1,095 to 1 Ratio was what I eventually settled on.
Three whole years inside the Superbolic Time Chamber in a single day.
Needless to say, the hardest part of it all was the logistics of making sure that everything was stocked up for such a long haul. It took us two days of tactically gathering whole schools of fish and buying out the stocks of the supermarkets in the surrounding areas, but with a decent mixture of real food and super-rations that were actually supremely delicious tubes of nutrient paste (the lasagna-flavored tube was one of my favorites, and I hated lasagna) we were ready to begin our training in earnest.
I ended up splitting the 42 T-Dolls I now had into two groups of 10 and two groups of 11. Either M16A1 or Qi was outside of the time-space bubble where I was teaching them the finer points of Ki from the view of Dr. Gero and they rotated in and out every few hours of real-space time to prevent one from falling behind the other.
Despite the fact that he wasn't strong enough to generate enough Ki on his own he still knew perfectly well how to manipulate, shape, and draw forth the Ki his Infinite Ki Battery was capable of storing.
So we spent fourteen hours each day working on our magic, training with the Force and our Lightsabers, and working with our Ki.
We started at 10 times normal gravity, and with the stresses, we were placing on our bodies our Ki responded and our life forces began to grow by leaps and bounds. We had any injuries tended to by the Lifebringers, but allowed our bodies to build themselves up naturally through nutrition and rest.
Our physiologies were at the theoretical maximum that the Promethean and Subee Serum enhancements could provide, but between the Force and Ki we kept getting stronger, more agile, more durable. I was still worried that our metallic bone structures would one day become the weak point, but that day was not yet today.
[74 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
"Hey, Sir?"
I stopped doing my latest set of push-ups and got down on my knees to rest; 23 times normal gravity was no joke. "Yeah, what's up Artie?"
"Why do we have to scream really loudly when we want to tap into our Ki?" Her ears flopped cutely to the side as she tilted her head.
I blinked.
Why did we have to scream really loudly when we wanted to tap into our Ki?
Well, I'm talking, tap deep into our Ki. With just the two months and some change we've been working we'd already grown to well over 1,000 points on Power Levels; I was still quite a ways off from the fabled 9,000 threshold, but it was something that felt close enough I could taste it. 18,000 was Planet Buster territory, though I don't know if Vegeta was merely boasting or if he was serious. The only planet-killing I saw was with Freiza and he had a power level in the 500,000 range in his first form.
Granted, he made destroying a planet look effortless, so Vegeta's boasts might not have been too far off base.
"Well, Artie, I think it has to do something with a warrior's spirit. A giant roar that celebrates life, or maybe it's a defiance against the heavens? All I know is that yelling really loudly manages to draw out the most of your strength, and can even help you tap into some hidden reserves of power."
I winced before chuckling, "I'm sorry if that isn't a very good explanation, but it's the best I can come up with."
One does not simply explain shounen logic, it simply IS.
One of the upsides of having more Ki was that it shot my sexual stamina through the roof, so I was able to keep up with the fact that I had virtually all of my girls in this massive complex with me. All of the fighting, training, and tension led to massive orgies being the primary stress relief, right behind movie night, book trading, and target practice.
Speaking of orgies, I need to get my ass into gear- I still have four more sets of exercises to do before that starts.
God, I Can Probably Whip Something Up is one of the best talents ever- not being able to get bored, burnt out, or tired of whatever it was we were doing was a true lifesaver.
[379 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
I... have finally figured out how to infuse Ki into metals, which means that Gero's Infinite Ki generator is now finally within my grasp.
Beskar and cortosis formed the core that would surround the Ki-Spark and in turn create a perpetual motion machine that would infinitely generate Ki. When combined with the Infinite Ki battery this next step would simultaneously solve all of my problems and at the exact same time completely invalidate all of my hard work and efforts thus far.
Still, the Ki generator required that the physical vessel be strong enough to support its output, so lots of physical training and Ki reinforcement and shaping would be vital. Considering Android 17 could make Goku go Super Saiyan Blue with just a few years of training...
Honestly? I was afraid to take the Ki Generator and Ki Battery.
I was having a very hard time controlling my strength now, and I was only at a power level of 19,000. Still a great deal away from being Superman "Everything is made of cardboard" levels, but still. I spent almost half of my time trying to learn how to control all of the strength I was getting, and I know it was just as difficult for my girls.
It was something that I would think on. I had plenty of time.
[640 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
I may have gotten Springfield pregnant.
Well, I did. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Instincts took over and we both wanted it and... it happened. Rather than freak out over the amazing news, I was overjoyed at the lapse in self-control me and the best MILF had. The fear and terror that would have once plagued me about bringing new life into a fucked up and dangerous place like Earth Bet was practically non-existent with the amount of power I had at my fingertips.
The girls and I were steel sharpening steel- when one of us grew stronger than the other it motivated the rest of us to step up to their level and catch the fuck up. One of us would reach a new peak, and we would hold that position for a few days while we trounced our fellows in our spars, and then someone else would have a breakthrough and the cycle would start anew.
Springfield watched on from the sidelines with a tender smile on her face while she stroked the baby - my child- growing in her belly. The woman still practiced with Sorcery, The Force, and Ki control, but she kept her more physical activities to a minimum. The Force was a great comfort when dealing with the prospect of a new addition to the Frontline family; it was nice to be able to slip into a meditative trance and let go of all of the fears that were clouding my mind.
I didn't let them all go, as I found I worked best when I had a good balance, but not letting them rule me was the goal. The longer time went on the more the girls and I grew into our connections with the Force and the more we grew into our connections with each other. We could sense each other's intent in not only our Ki but in the Force, and it made for rousing bouts of strength and skill as we tried to fight on instinct more than deliberate planning; that sort of shit wouldn't fly with us anymore- if you were planning on punching me in the nose then you would miss because I was already dodging.
It led to us using unique little fakeouts during our spars, like thinking about doing one thing (with both our Ki and the Force) and then trying to instinctively strike out with something different. All of us caught onto our little games quite quickly, so it was quickly relegated to the dust-bin of history as we learned how to fight one another. The best part about this though was that we had 45 sparring partners, so it wasn't like we fought each other enough to learn each and every single trick or technique all of us came up with; the variety was there, the challenge was there, and we were shooting up like weeds.
The Lifegivers and Engineers (and Ted) still had fun though, they got to observe us grow far beyond anything the Forerunners ever could have conceived a biological entity could in power, and the Engineers (and Ted) got to answer a very important engineering challenge: How does one build training grounds to challenge 46 super-humans who could blow up a planet just by yelling really loudly and shooting a plasma beam made of pure life energy?
In short, the answer was to make everything super-thick and make the energy shields surrounding the battlegrounds really, really strong. They ended up settling on a hybrid Star Wars/Necron/Forerunner design that was meant to protect entire planets from orbital bombardment.
I paused in the middle of my workout and sat the weights I was using slowly down onto the pure-Phrik training floor; it was 3 meters thick and reinforced using the same technology that our grappling hooks used to strengthen bonds.
I felt the Forge cough to life for the first time in over two whole years.
[Attempted Re-Forge: 18.0160 - Xeno-Archaeologist - 400CP - Warhammer 40k - Squats - Knowledge Reverse Engineering]
[NOT Purchased: Insufficient Balance: 200 CP]
Hooo-kay... so it was still there. Good, despite The Forge's constant presence within my mind I had worried that something had gone wrong with it.
I shook my head and decided to take a break. The mother of my child looked like she could use some company.
[920 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
My son was just born. I named him Julian. Hopefully, he won't grow up to be an asshole.
Springfield was extremely pleased, and I couldn't blame her- it was a very quick birth, but she insisted on doing it herself; she could have had a Lifebringer enabled c-section, but if she was going to be a mother then she wanted to be just like all of the other Red-Blooded American mothers out there.
I took a few days off from training to just spend time with Springfield and our baby.
The other girls were... extremely jealous, but I promised them children of their own, soon enough.
We still weren't strong enough for my liking.
[1,095 days later - Superbolic Time-Space Complex (STSC)]
This was the end of our first run in the Superbolic Time-Space Complex; we toned down the time dilation to 30 to 1 which reduced our power consumption by quite a lot, and it was so strange, stepping through the doorway back into the Lounge of the Headquarters. It felt like I hadn't been here in ages and yet... it had only been a single day.
It was 8:30 in the morning on February 21st.
We had done our final power level checks before we left, and we were all hovering around the 500,000 mark; we were as strong as Frieza had been in his first form. The last month of our training was spent just learning how to tone our power levels down so that we didn't do something stupid like knocking the Earth's orbit out of whack. How the Z fighters managed to fight each other without stripping the atmosphere on the planet with a single punch I'll never know, but hopefully, the Shounen fuckery of Ki carried over.
Little Julian was six months old and he was quite the strong little tyke, the Ki levels of myself and Springfield when he was conceived obviously made him a lot stronger than other kids; if he was so inclined he could knock out the wall of a house, so we would have to keep a very close eye on him.
Still, he was the apple of Springfield's eye.
Of mine as well, but I didn't forget the other women just because he had been born. M16A1, M4A1, M4A1 SOP MOD II, ST AR-15, ART556, HK 416, ACR, K-2, G41, G36, UMP 45, 40, and 9. LTLX7000, DP-12, TS-12, 870, Honeybadger, VSK-94, Lee-Enfield, P90, MG5, Negev, and all of the others were more important to me now than ever before.
We had started out as a team but ended it as a family.
To celebrate our hard work we decided that we would go out as a group to the best restaurant in town, sharply dressed and un-masked. There was literally no one that could touch us now, and with our amulets, everyone else would be none the wiser.
Special thanks to Lmc9389, Xodarap4, Artillery, DrkShdow, AuraofCalm, Zerak, Mioismoe, Zath, Splendid, D. Wongsonegoro, Darkarma, Acrimonius, T. Balewood, Randall Randall, Dominyx Black, CyberCrisis, Blue, Russ Stilter, Legion_13, Mike Fatal_Bullet, P. Nguyen, Fred65, K. Nielsen, J. Ricardo Passos, B. Rison, K. Weierbach, R. Alderman, A P, Arrorn, and Empty Shelf for being Patrons!
You guys rock!
Canoptek Spyder (Necron) (400CP)
Not all troops in the Necron arsenal were once Necrontyr. The Canoptek constructs bear the distinction of being entirely robotic in nature. One of the most important of these constructs is the Canoptek Spyder, meant to oversee Necron tombs while its inhabitants sleep. To aid in this purpose, the Canoptek Spyders are able to manufacture swarms of Canoptek Scarabs and direct them towards intruders, ripping them to shreds before they even have a chance to scream. Additionally, they are capable of repairing Necrons who are damaged beyond even Necrodermis' ability to repair.