Uzi was coming to find that fighting orks was weird.
She didn't exactly have a ton of combat experience; The most she'd really had was… well, since meeting N really. The anime programming had helped, sure, but she could still regularly tell that there was a world of difference between herself and the disassembly drones, made up for quite heavily by her usage of solver abilities.
As she dodged out of the way of a cannon shell fired from an ork tank, which she was convinced had been trying to fire on a dashing V and had only nearly hit her by accident, she couldn't help but be annoyed.
Because whilst the orks were absolutely going wild trying to fight back against the incredibly nimble and deadly trio of murder drones which were picking them apart, or overwhelm Amatoth and her weird alien technology, it kind of felt like they were ignoring Uzi.
Which they shouldn't! She was super dangerous! Mega deadly! She'd blown up like four ork trucks in a line with her railgun, and then used her solver to throw a tank into another tank!
And the orks were still! Ignoring! Her!
Like what the hell?!
She landed in a crouch, her bat-like wings opened behind her as the solver symbol appeared in her hand before she gestured towards N, grabbing the ork about to stab him from behind and turning him to paste. That was a trick she picked up from Doll during the prom… morbid as it was.
"Thanks Uzi!" N chirped at her, grinning in a way that made her core go just a little faster and a soft smile appear on her face. Dork. "Wow, behind you!" He cried out, forced to dodge to the side as massive ork in heavy armor roared and tried to get to him.
Uzi turned around, a hundred orks hooting and hollering as they rushed towards her. Uzi grinned even as nervousness came to her, her wings spreading wide as she beckoned them. "Finally! Here to take down the true threat here?!" She said with a smirk. "Well I'm warning ya, this lil' drone here is going to be a much tougher…" She stopped in disbelief as the orks simply rushed past her, almost avoiding her before attempting to dogpile N, who simply started spinning around with his wings like some horrific blender turning the orks into bloody chunks.
V landed next to her, a grin on her face that made it excessively clear that she knew exactly what was pissing Uzi off so much. "Aw, not used to being ignored? I would have thought you would be." She said, patting the smaller drone on the head.
"BITE ME!" Uzi snarled. "What the hell am I doing wrong?! Why won't they fight me?!"
"More like why won't they even acknowledge you." J said with a grunt, landing next to the two of them. "You sure you didn't replicate Cyn's hologram tech by accident pipsqueak?"
Uzi froze. "What did you just call me?" She asked dangerously slowly, turning to J with a warning sign on her visor and her railgun slowly rising up.
J's visor displayed a simple 'Prior Hazard Detected' message as she raised her hands. "Wow, touchy. But you have to admit it's strange."
"I KNOW!" Uzi said, throwing her hands in the air. "I don't get it! Like, what, is it because I'm smaller than you lot?! She's almost as small as me!" She argued, pointing towards the approaching Amatoth.
N finished off the last ork near him with a quick swing of his claws, jogging over to them. "Aw Uzi, I'm sure it's not that!" He said, giving her an encouraging smile. "Could just be an ork thing."
"It is." Amatoth said as she joined the group, gaining a curious look from Uzi. "Orks have a strange fixation on colours. They believe they grant special properties. Red for example is associated with speed; And due to the orks' belief energy, painting a vehicle red likely will grant it some extra speed, even if it is only some." She pointed to Uzi. "Purple, as it just so happens, is a colour they believe to be associated with stealth. It may be why they are having a hard time detecting your presence, even when it is quite literally in their face." She paused. "Though the extent to which this is manifesting is certainly unusual."
"Seriously? Colour theory?" J said with a sigh. "This just keeps getting better and better."
Uzi's fingers were twitching. "That… that makes no sense!" She screeched, N wincing. "So orks think purple is stealthy, so I'm suddenly invisible to them?! That's stupid! They're stupid!" She said, kicking an ork corpse angrily. "Apologise for being stupid!"
"Uh, Uzi, I think that one's dead." N pointed out.
"I KNOW!" Uzi said, kicking it again for good measure. "Ugh, this is so stupid. And besides, why the hell is purple of all colours the stealthy one?!"
"Oh, my father told me about that!" Amatoth said with a cheery smile. "I believe their reasoning is as such:" Her voice suddenly pitched gravelly and deep. "'Well ya seez, you ain't neva seen no purple ork now have ya?'" Before returning to normal, all drones giving her different degrees of disbelieving looks. "Ork logic is truly a wonder to behold."
Uzi's eyes were wide and hollow before suddenly turning into a loading loop.
"Oh-oh. I think you broke the grape." V said, tapping Uzi's visor with a claw. "Damn, if I knew ignoring her was this effective at pissing her off I would have done it ages ago."
N sighed. "Please don't." He had a feeling he knew why Uzi had such a problem with being ignored… and he could definitely empathise. "Uzi?" He said, waving a hand in front of her.
Her visor snapped back to normal and she lunged, biting N's hand before immediately letting go as he yelped. "Oh! Shit, sorry N, I thought you were V!"
V cackled at the two as N chuckled. "It's fine, it's fine. You all good buddy?"
Uzi sighed. "No. These things are giving me a headache. I mean… come on what kind of logic is that?!" She said, exasperation in her tone.
Amatoth gave her a commiserating look. "When it comes to the orks, I find the best solution is to merely resign oneself to their strange sense of logic. By accepting this, it makes the process… well not painless, but perhaps less strenuous on one's cogitation."
Uzi nodded. "I guess that's decent advice. Thanks." Amatoth's eyes widened at that, suddenly standing a little straighter with a smug look on her face.
"Yes well, it is about time someone recognises the wisdom I carry with me." She said, damn near preening.
J clapped her hands, grabbing the attention back to her. "Alright, alright. Enough buddying, we've got a job to do."
"All work and no play makes J a dull drone." V sing-songed even as she leaned against a nearby chunk of broken wall.
"Shut it." J said, turning to the pile of dead orks and destroyed vehicles around them. "So far we've killed thousands of the aliens, but we've barely even made a dent in their population. And every time we've come across them they've been better equipped, more organised, and somehow more prepared for us." She snarled. "They're communicating somehow. And Cyn still won't answer my calls."
N frowned. "That's concerning." He said softly. Uzi glanced at him, his frowning face, his concerned look… and reached a hand towards him, sneakily grabbing his own in hers. He blinked, surprised before looking at her with wide eyes. She ignored him even as blush lines appeared on her visor.
N squeezed her hand gratefully, blush lines on his own visor.
V grunted, giving the two an annoyed look before turning her attention back to J. "So we can't count on little miss psycho to get rid of the orks for us. Wonderful. I don't see why we can't just keep massacring them." Her smile grew sadistic, teeth showing. "It's been wonderfully cathartic so far."
"Verily, you have the right of it miss V!" Amatoth agreed eagerly, even as she glanced at N and Uzi with a frown. "However, I do have to express some agreement with miss J's concerns. The orks are an adaptive lot at the least, and there may come a time where we find ourselves outmatched." There was an intense light in her eyes. "Even if the call of battle is near irresistible, we should not lose ourselves to it."
N hummed thoughtfully, before a grin appeared on his face. "Oh! What about Esariuan? He said he would help us right?" His expression grew concerned. "Besides, I think checking to make sure the colony is alright is a good idea."
Uzi nodded at that. "Yeah, as annoying as they all are… they don't deserve to be killed by the orks." She let out a loud groan. "If my dad's being annoying, I'm hiding behind you N."
He chuckled awkwardly. "Sure thing buddy."
"Stop using N's inability to tell you no against him." V said with a roll of the eyes, poking at Uzi.
"Bite me." Uzi said smugly. "He just recognizes brilliance when he sees it."
"Uzi is pretty brilliant." N agreed easily, Uzi's blush lines multiplying massively as her eyes hollowed out. "I mean, have you seen that railgun she made? It's super cool!" He yelped as Uzi kicked him. "Eh?!"
"Shut it! Stop being all gross!" She scowled, her voice a mixture of embarrassed and pleased.
"Oh my god, I am going to literally vomit." J said bluntly. "Fine, let's go to the colony."
"Excuse me." Amatoth said, her expression confused. "You mentioned an individual named Esariuan. The name sounds…" She hesitated. "It sounds eldar."
N smiled, turning to her with a happy expression. "Oh yeah! Esariuan is the one who warned us of the orks!"
Amatoth's expression grew dangerously neutral. "...So they are an eldar."
J's eyes locked onto Amatoth, her expression growing wary. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Amatoth nodded. "Yes. My people and the eldar are… ancient enemies, to put it lightly. Do you remember that war I told you of? They were one of our foes, and the enmity has not diminished in the slightest since." She tilted her head. "Their kind is a deceitful lot, one that hides in the shadows and strikes when you least expect it. Treachery and manipulation is their trade, and they excel at it. If they are here aiding you, I assure you it is because they have a secret agenda which will make you suffer."
"Well duh." J said to the necron's surprise. "We're all well aware the eldar are manipulating us. But the thing is, that doesn't really matter now does it? The orks are here, and that's unavoidable. And they have offered help with solving the problem of us being stuck in this realm." She pointed to N. "Only he's naive enough to think they might have good intentions about this."
N chuckled awkwardly. "Well I wouldn't say I think they do… more that I hope they do." He turned to Amatoth with an amused expression. "Besides. If we all have a common goal, it's better to work together towards it right?" He turned to Uzi. "It's like you said. We move forward together, or not at all."
Uzi blushed brightly, slapping his arm. "Don't quote me you dork." She said, sounding pleased.
Amatoth observed the drones with a careful expression. "Regardless, our people are the kind to attack each other on sight. It is perhaps best for me to remain behind to avoid causing trouble…"
N suddenly appeared next to her, making her nearly yelp as he patted her on the shoulder. "Nonsense! You're one of us now. We fought together after all!" He grinned at her. "And this is our planet. If Esariuan starts anything, we'll get him to stop, as long as you don't start a fight either." He leaned towards her, eyes pleading. "Please?"
Amatoth stammered, eyes wide as she looked to the ground. "I…I…I… Well, if thou insists on such proceedings…"
"Oh god. Not again." V said with a groan. "Let's just go. Try to keep up alien girl." With that she walked up to N, grabbing him by the arm. "Let's go before you make her any worse." Her wings opened wide and she sent herself and N into the air, the latter yelping in surprise as they took off.
Henry panted as he ran, ignoring the screams behind him.
The orks had breached through one of the entrances to the hive city, pouring into its streets by the thousands as the mass of unwashed green monsters that they were. The defenders had tried to hold the line but without their greatest advantage and forced in close quarters with the far stronger orks, they were quickly overwhelmed.
He was ashamed to admit that he'd broken before the line did, running away even as his comrades stood their ground only to be slaughtered to the last.
The lasgun in his hands felt heavy, and yet he could not bring himself to let it go, his hands clenched tight. Behind him he could hear the heavy footsteps of the approaching orks, a few of them having chased after him even as the rest began to disperse into the section of the hive they'd entered.
He turned around for a second, firing blindly with the gun, watching as with a great amount of luck one of the orks fell to the ground dead. But three more followed after him, and he did not have the time to change the laspack.
His lungs were burning with the cold, chemically charged air of the hive. His legs were screaming in pain from the strain of sprinting for so long. But if he stopped…
If he stopped.
They'd do to him what they'd done to the others. Tearing them limb from limb whilst still alive, biting and ripping apart…
He kept running.
A rough, poorly made bullet pierced through his leg, making him fall to the ground as the orks cheered.
"And dat's 'ow you stop a runnin' git." One of the orks said with a malicious grin, the barrel of their shoota still smoking as they leaned over the whimpering human. "Look at'em. Coward." It snarled, kicking him hard in the ribs. "You ain't even stood with ya bois. What a pansy."
Henry sobbed at the intense pain radiating from his chest.
He never wanted to be a soldier. He knew he would be terrible at it. But by the Emperor he'd tried. He'd stood on those walls for days firing at the green horde until his fingers grew numb, until his brain could hardly process what was happening around him.
He'd always wanted to be an artist. But there was little room for it when one worked in the manufactorums.
He barely managed to open his eyes, looking up to the leering face of the monster about to kill him and…
Yellow lights?
Something dropped on the ork from above and with a quick slice removed its head from its shoulders.
The hooting from the orks grew silent as they observed the newly arrived creature. It was tall, taller than a normal man, made of both metal and flesh as it stared back at the orks with two glowing yellow bionic eyes. Its mouth had been replaced with a breathing apparatus, its arms turned to mechanical pincers that had been modified into massive blade-like appendages. Its legs were similarly modified into more machinery, the tipped ends crushing the corpse of the ork to the ground.
A servitor. He knew that servitor. He'd worked with many like it in the factories and recognized the standardized modifications the mechanicus would make to render them more efficient… but there was something different. The blades were abnormal for one, and so were the legs. And the bionic eyes should be red… not yellow.
"Abominations." It hissed, the apparatus giving its voice a mechanical hiss. "Insults to the Solver." Its mechanical parts whirred and grinded as it hunched over, what fleshy bits remained of its face contorting into a furious expression. "I will cut you all down myself!" It screamed, rushing towards the orks who without hesitation charged at it.
It was fast, much faster than the orks. Within a moment it had bridged the distance, piercing the first with one of its blade arm half as long as the ork was tall and cutting it in half, twirling and slamming it into the head of the second. The third however managed to slam the blunt side of its choppa into the side of the modified servitor, a fourth ork opening fire on it with glee only to be slammed into from the side by a second servitor.
All across the streets, from every sewer opening, from every ventilation shaft, they began pouring out. In the hundreds at first, then the thousands.
All across the hive. From every corner of the world, from every factory, every home, every building. The use of servitors was ubiquitous in the Imperium of Man, something so commonplace most did not even consider the sheer amount they represented when all were taken into consideration.
By the billions they came, eyes glowing an eerie yellow, pouring into and out of the hive-city with mechanical screams and roars of fury, answering the orks with an all too human hate.
Within minutes, the tide of battle began turning against the orks as they found themselves, for the first time since coming to this world, outnumbered.
The warboss let out a bellowing laugh as it watched the monstrous centipede like form of his foe tear through yet another gargant, lasers scything through the air to take down fighters and bombas' alike.
This was what he had been hoping for.
An opponent that wouldn't just die from a single punch. That wouldn't be broken so easily.
Someone who would get back up, and keep on coming.
It was almost a shame he had not the strength to face it at their full power. The Gods were generous to put them on more even ground, but there was a part of him that balked at his own weakness.
Oh well.
Then, to his surprise, the creature suddenly froze. It twitched, before vanishing before his very eyes.
He blinked.
"Giggle. That's a lot. Better."
The warboss whirled, slamming his mega-klaw into the little maid that had materialized behind him, watching in shock as she stopped the blow with a single finger and the sound of metal striking metal.
"...Well that ain't right." He muttered to himself.
"Sadistic smile. No, no. I would say everything is. Back to normal." She pointed at him. "Boop."
Gurgak watched in shock as his entire left arm was ripped off by some unseen force, sent flying backwards with blood splashing from where it had been taken off. He stared at her, watching the strange symbol in front of her hand.
"Ah. The Gods' blessing has faltered then?" He said, a sigh escaping him. "I suppose it couldn't last forever. How, if I may ask?"
"Your people are being slaughtered as we speak. Unexpected. Help." The thing said, taking a step closer to him. It glanced to the side, to where the space marine was fighting with the last of his meganobz. "Your Waagh energy is. Diminishing. And my powers are. Returning."
"I see." The ork said with a grunt. "Well, that was a good fight. I can die happy."
"Die?" It said, suddenly teleporting right in front of his face, floating midair. "Seething giggle. Oh no. You do not get to. Make me feel. Small and helpless like. Back then. And get an easy death." It's smile widened, growing twisted and full of teeth. "I am going to. Take my time. With you."
Despite himself, the warboss found himself shivering in subtle dread. "I ain't going down without a fight!" He roared, swinging his remaining arm at her.
She didn't move as it froze midair, the strange symbol once more. "Mocking smile. No. A fight is. What you want. What this is going to be is. A game." Her face returned to a neutral smile. "For me. Not for you." She reached for him, placing a hand on the contraption on his back. "It was a. Mistake. For you to face me with a biomechanical. Device." Her grin grew twisted. "You toyed with. My powers. MY TURN."
The warboss didn't understand what she meant at first.
Then he began to hear the voices.
One. Then two. Then twelve. Then more.
Each of the brains he had stolen. Each of the minds connected to his own, suppressed by the device on his back. All the restraints, all the safeguards. Gone.
His eyes grew wide as his mindscape became a literal battlefield, each ork brain trying to assert dominance over the others.
Zorial watched with muted horror as the warboss fell to his knees, roaring with maddened pain, scratching at its own eyes as it wailed and contorted, the robotic maid staring at it with the same damned neutral smile she always seemed to wear.
The meganob seemed just as uncomfortable with the sight before them, if not more, and turned to run. Zorial didn't hesitate and took advantage of the opening, blasting the ork's cranium with a bolt shell before making his way to Cyn, watching the massive ork whimper on the ground as its horrid yellow nails scratched at its face, digging into its very skull.
"...What did you do to it?" He asked with some trepidation.
She turned her head towards him, that eerie smile now directed at him. "Giggle. I simply showed him the fun of. Sharing your head with. Others." She turned back to the ork. "Sigh. It is a shame I cannot simply. Go on in there myself. But I work better with. Mechanical minds. Or at least minds that are more. Mechanically augmented." She shuffled forward, patting the ork on the cheek even as it sobbed from empty eye sockets. "But that is. Alright. I'll work on that for this one. It is not the. First time. I transfer a biological mind into a. Synthetic one." There was something horrifically malicious in her voice, and for the first time Zorial felt he was seeing the true monster under the little maid's skin.
Not the massive mechanical horror from before. Not the being that had annihilated entire planets, or slaughtered orks by the tens of thousands effortlessly.
The one capable of such immense cruelty.
Zorial glared down at the ork. "As much as this thing probably deserves it, it seems entirely unnecessary. If you do not want to do it yourself, let me put it down and be down with it." In the distance he saw as orks were running in retreat, pursued by… something. Tanks were turned to scrap, gargants were swarmed and dismantled. "...And what are those things?"
"Amused look." Cyn patted him on his armored leg. "You do not recognize. Your fellow man? Shame on you." She pointed to the swarm. "Those are. Servitors I have. Freed. They felt my distress and came to. My assistance. How delightful." She gestured to the ork. "However. This one is mine. Do not. Overstep."
But Zorial, as frightened as he was by Cyn, was never one to let fear stop him from speaking his mind. "You said you wanted to be better right? That starts with not torturing something unnecessarily." He saw her look at him, and despite her expression being unchanged he could tell she wasn't pleased with what he was saying. He continued regardless. "Cruelty for the sake of it is the gateway to many more acts that will only cause you to stagnate in your previous state. You want to improve? Kill it. Torturing does nothing but satisfy your own sadism."
"I am. A monster. What does it matter if I indulge in. Sadism?" She demanded of him.
"It does if you want that friend of yours to ever acknowledge you as more than one." He retorted, glaring right back at her.
She raised a hand at him, that strange symbol of hers appearing as he felt an invisible force clamp down on him. It felt impossibly strong; He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would not be able to move even if he were to try. "I could. Kill you." She said softly. Dangerously. "You are pushing your. Luck. Priest." She gestured around them. "You bring me to a battlefield. I wanted. No part in. Which made me experience. Things I did not wish to. EVER. AGAIN. And now you. Lecture. ME?" She said. her visor glitching for a single second as both her eyes displayed a yellow X.
But Zorial remained firm. "You want someone who will tell you what you want to hear? Get yourself a bootlicker. You do not come to me because you want easy answers or things that are pleasant to hear. You come to me because I will tell you what you need to hear." He let out a breath. "I will admit that my bringing you with me here… was manipulative. And yet I do not regret it, for in doing so I saved more lives than I can count."
Cyn stared at him for a long time. He could feel his armor groaning in protest…
And then she let him go, Zorial falling to the ground with a grunt.
"Your honesty to your nature does. You. Credit." Cyn said. "Fine. I cannot say I blame you. You did what you wanted. And I followed." She turned away from him. "But as you do what you want. So will I." She pointed to the ork.
And with a crunch, it was crushed to the ground, turned into little more than a puddle of gore and blood.
"I will see you later. Zorial. I have some people to. Thank. It seems." And with that, she was gone.
Zorial grunted as he rose back to his feet, staring at the corpse of the ork warboss… or what little remained of it.
He'd angered Cyn. A dangerous prospect given her power, but…
He looked to the hive-city. To the retreating orks and their burning warmachines.
A small smile came to his face.
Yes.
It had been worth it.
V took a long, long sip of oil, letting out a satisfied sigh as she wiped her mouth clean, dropping the oil canister next to her.
She glanced at the rest of the group, standing around as they chatted. They'd taken a quick break in order for the drones to refill on oil, the fight having taken a good amount out of them. Sometimes she missed getting to hunt workers… there was a certain thrill to it. But it was worth dealing with regular oil if it meant not having N giving her the puppy eyes.
"So what kind of weapon is that anyway Amatoth?" Uzi asked curiously, staring at the necron girl's weapon with undisguised curiosity.
Amatoth seemed caught off guard at being talked to but quickly recovered. "Oh, this?" The necron lifted up the strange halberd-like weapon she wielded."Oh, it's called a hyperphase sword. It… I'm not sure how to explain it. It vibrates on multiple dimensional planes, which allows it to cut through almost anything effortlessly."
Uzi whistled. "Wow, that's pretty damn cool." She said with an impressed nod.
Amatoth smiled. "You think so?" There was so much damn hope in that voice it made V nearly wince. "Well, if you think that is cool, then watch this!" She twirled the staff around, faster and faster, and then…
"Ah, I get it!" Uzi exclaimed. "It's your wrists! You can rotate them!"
"Yes!" Amatoth cheered, stopping the motion instantly. "It is ever so funny watching one's foe's face when they suddenly see my weapon spin the complete opposite direction out of nowhere!"
"Pretty tactically clever. And convenient." Uzi said, frowning at her own wrists. "I should see if I can figure something like that for myself. I mean, the others can turn their hands into a whole bunch of damn weapons…"
"Oh? Are you some kind of engineer?" Amatoth asked curiously.
"You could say that." Uzi said, unstrapping her railgun and tapping it with a smug smile. "I made that baby myself, after all."
Amatoth stared at the weapon. "But… I saw that thing shoot straight through an ork tank. Which isn't exactly the most heavily reinforced vehicle out there, mind you, but still… you made it yourself?"
Uzi seemed unsure what to respond. "Uhhhh…" She glanced around desperately before her eyes landed on N, who was watching the exchange with a wide smile, giving her two thumbs up in encouragement. "Yeah! Yeah, I did. Wasn't that complicated, the main difficulty I've been running into was trying to bring the cooldown to a more manageable level, but that's prevented partly by the heat loss of the weapon not being efficient enough…" She stopped, blushing. "Gah, and here I am rambling again."
"No, no!" Amatoth quickly said. "This was quite interesting! I admit myself hopeless when it comes to designing weapons, so this was quite the fascinating insight!" She winced. "I… I apologize if I came across as disinterested, I…" She looked away, embarrassed. "I am not quite used to discussing with people my own age. Most of my peerage is quite ancient…"
"Aren't you like, millions of years old?" J suddenly spoke up, glancing towards the conversation.
Amatoth startled at that, but shook her head. "I may be so, but my development was… halted for a long time. A very long time. I was only alive for a short time before the biotransference, and my own was… hardly usual. There was a long time I was stuck with the mind of a child, and then we all went into sleep… in truth, I haven't been conscious for that long. My development puts me at a young adult for my species."
Uzi gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, I know what it's like not having a lot of people to talk to." She shrugged. "But for what it's worth, you seem pretty cool to me."
Amatoth looked down, a small smile on her face. "...Thank you." She said softly.
V stretched her wings, letting out a small grunt. "We should get moving." She reminded them. "The longer we spend here, the worse it's going to get out there."
"Right." Uzi said, looking to Amatoth. "Can you still keep up with that weird teleport thingie?"
"It is actually proving a tad problematic; I do not believe I will be able to maintain its functionality due to a lack of power…"Amatoth admitted. "I am unsure whether I can keep following you."
"That's okay!" N spoke up, walking up to her. "I can fly you the rest of the way!"
V was pretty sure that if Amatoth could blush, she would have. "Oh dear, um, N, I assure you that is not necessary…"
J however glanced at Uzi before looking back at the two, an evil smile on her face. "I dunno, it's like V said, we can't afford to lose time. N, take the necron girl. We'll be faster that way."
"Right!" N said, reaching out to Amatoth but stopping half way, giving her a questioning look.
Amatoth stammered. "Um…um…" She then looked down. "Well… if that is okay with you…"
Uzi rolled her eyes at that, walking up to N. "C'mon dude, just pick her up." She said. "You ever flied before Amatoth?"
"I cannot say that I have." She said, glancing up at Uzi curiously.
Uzi grinned. "Oh this is going to be fun."
Amatoth had to admit, there was something about flying that was… exhilarating.
Perhaps it was the speed at which she was travelling, without being in a vehicle, allowing her to experience how fast she was going.
Perhaps it was the view, one that she scarcely saw spending most of her time in the tomb complexes, or at best in the ships of her parents.
But there was something… missing to it.
She couldn't really… feel it. The wind as they whizzed past, the cold… nothing.
Necrodermis only allowed so much after all.
It only served to highlight to her what she was missing.
No flesh, no skin, she can't breathe, SHE CAN'T BREATHE!
"Amatoth?" N's voice somehow cut through the scramble of her brain, even over the sound of howling wind as they cut through the skies of Copper 9.
She took a moment to calm down. "I… I am alright." She let out a breath. (Even though she has no lungs, never could draw breath, only imitating it through intricate processes.)
N hummed. "Right." He said, his voice neutral. "Well, have I ever told you about the first time I tried flying?"
"I do not think you have?" She said, confused. Where did that come from?
"Well, we'd just arrived on Copper 9. It's a long story, but while we were starting off on our job, I tried to jump someone… and slammed into a building at full speed."
She gave him an incredulous stare. "You did not."
"I absolutely did." He grinned. "What you're seeing now is the result of a loooot of practice and many, many destroyed buildings."
Amatoth laughed. "Oh my! That must have been quite the sight." She grinned. "I wish I could have seen it."
"Oh man, it's bad enough V saw it a few times…" N said, sounding strangely satisfied. But why in the…
Oh.
He'd been trying to distract her.
That… she wasn't used to that.
Thoughtfulness.
Huh.
Such a shame he seemed so clearly infatuated with the smaller drone…
Urgak was having a trouble.
There was a door.
It looked like an ordinary armored door, a large one that likely led to someplace with lots of scraps, and maybe even some fighting.
But the door was very, very resilient. It was annoying Urgak.
He'd hit it with his choppa. Nothing. He'd shot it. Nothing.
He'd even detonated some grenades on it.
Nothing.
It was getting annoying.
Urgak scratched his head, wondering what more could be done here. The other orks had moved on already and had made fun of Urgak for being so stubborn… but Urgak was certain there was something behind the door.
The damn door.
He turned towards his large sack of explosives. Maybe if he piled them all up next to the door…
The sound of hydraulics moving made his head snap back towards the door, watching it as it opened with a quick snap. His squinty eyes widened. Finally! And there was something standing right the…
Thad fired a single shot into the head of the ork, wincing as its head pulverized from the impact of the magnetically accelerated slug. "Ugh. Gross dude." He said with a sigh, walking up to the ork carcass. "Gonna have to move that before more find it…"
The sound of something whistling through the air caught his attention, making him jump back as something slammed into the ground ahead of him, sending fluffs of white powder into the air.
"Ha! You should see your face." The voice made Thad relax, but only slightly.
"Hey V." He said with a slightly awkward grin. "You guys finally back?"
The cloud of dust dissipated, revealing V standing in all her glory, wings folding behind her as the rest of the squad landed near her. "You could say that." She grunted. "Is the clown guy still here?"
"The harlequin?" Thad asked. "He's been in and out, but I think he's in right now."
"Good." V said, turning to the rest. "Let's get this over with." She walked past the ork carcass, giving it a raised eyebrow. "Having trouble?"
Thad nodded. "Just the one, but they've been trying to break through for a while. Decided not to give them the chance to succeed." He grinned, lifting up the gun. "Uzi does good work. And this time it's an actual railgun."
"Bite me! I call my guns what I want!" Uzi said with a snarl, pushing lightly against him. He could tell she wasn't really annoyed; Just Uzi being Uzi.
N gave Thad a wave, Thad returning it with a grin as his eyes slid to the newest person.
"Oh hey! Name's Thad. Don't think I've seen someone like you before." He said with a grin, holding out his hand.
The weird drone… alien? Probably an alien, looked at his hand before hesitantly reaching out, shaking is slowly. "Amatoth. Necron." She said in a cautious, chopped tone.
"She's a princess!" N said with a cheery voice.
"Wow, that's awesome!" Thad said with wide eyes. "Uh, might wanna be careful letting her meet Lizzy. No clue how she's going to react to an actual princess."
N chuckled. "Right. Well, for now we need to talk to the harlequin." He said softly. "Things are getting pretty bad out there. Might want to head back in.
Thad frowned. "Got that."
The door closed behind them as they headed into the bunker, leaving the frigid outside behind.
Doll looked down to her hand, willing the Solver to appear…
Nothing.
A grin appeared on her face. It really had been successful.
Oh certainly, the Solver was still there. Buried within her, ready to awaken once more under the right circumstances.
But it was otherwise dormant. Kept shackled by the patch, restrained by its influence.
"Well, at least that confirms we're on the right track." Nori said, spinning the patch over her using her own solver. "But it still needs some work before it's finished. I'll have to keep working on it."
"Or." Doll spoke up. "You could go to the surface and inform your daughter you are still alive."
Nori let out a grunt. "Not happening Doll. You know that."
"It was worth a try." She frowned. Still, not having the Solver made her feel… defenseless. She still had her capacities as a worker drone of course, rendering far stronger than a normal human, but in a galaxy of nightmares like this one…
If she was to defend herself. If she was to take revenge on V for what she had done… if she was to stand up to Cyn when she inevitably turned on them.
She needed power. Power that wouldn't corrupt her, wouldn't control her. "Sir Isotatekh."
"Hm?" The necron phaeron muttered, looking up from his examination of the human consoles.
"Your weaponry and equipment was most effective at dealing with me in my possessed state." She began, wondering how to present her request. "Would you be willing to perhaps share some of these with me in our quest to achieve true victory over the Solver?"
The necron phaeron examined her with a critical look. "You ask for no small gift, little one. And the ability to use such weaponry is not easily granted."
"I am a worker drone. Learning new skills and adapting is what we do." She said with an amused smile. "Uzi learned how to fight from watching anime. Give me a few hours of watching you use your weaponry and some basic explanation and I will show you exactly what I am capable of."
The phaeron seemed more amused than anything. "Very well, it sounds interesting enough. But I will ask for something in exchange."
"Of course." So long as it did not involve something… distasteful.
"My daughter is on this world. She is alone, though being followed. It is my understanding she has met up with some more of the creatures of this world… drones." He gestured to her. "It would soothe this father's heart if you would be willing to go to them and keep an eye out for her."
Doll shrugged. Easy enough. She'd always had to look out for Lizzy after all. What was another girl to look after?
She tried to ignore the way thinking of Lizzy brought a pang of pain to her chest. "Acceptable. Do you wish for me to conceal your presence?"
The necron snorted. "She likely suspects I am here already. You need not to, but neither do you need to explicitly state you are here on my behalf. Though the technology I will grant you will likely raise a few eyebrows. It is… distinctive to that your own kind uses after all."
Doll grinned. "If you can get me a bigger gun than Uzi, I will be quite eager to follow your request."
The phaeron chuckled softly. "Ah, youngsters. All the same at your core."
Doll didn't have any issues with Uzi.
But well. Having something to rub in her face after all the trouble she'd caused at the prom would be somewhat satisfying.
Nori stiffened. "Ah. Shit."
"What is it?"
"Solver network's going pretty crazy. I think our intervention was noticed." Nori said with a grunt. "I expect Cyn will be making her way here in not too long?"
"Is that so?" The phaeron said. "Well then. I suppose there is no use delaying further."
Nori gave him a look. "What do you mean?"
"I will contact my subordinates." He said, holding out a small device. "It is time for me to establish exactly who rules this particular system."