Fierce and Swift

Waking up in the body of a fictional race, in a fictional world that is on the verge of destruction seems like a really bad joke. The worst part of it is, it might just be one.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 3

The conversation with the Chief Director took nearly an hour to complete and could basically be boiled down to her attempting to subtly question me to make sure I wasn't lying and me being as honest as I could without bringing up anything like the Aeons. I don't think Earth Bet is quite ready for the revelation of literal semi-eldritch deities existing in the cosmos. They'd find out soon enough, but I did not feel like having that conversation.

I did manage to extract a fair amount of help in living on Bet for the foreseeable future. There was a suggestion that I join the PRT or Protectorate, but neither I, nor the Director liked that idea. I was technically a foreign military officer and it would inevitably cause problems later on. Instead, I was given a position similar to New Wave, an official relationship with the PRT, while still being separate, mixed with a dash of how the PRT handled Case 53s who didn't want to join the Proctorate for whatever reason. I agreed to give my help when asked and in exchange, I got a stipend and a place to live. All around, a good deal, way better than I was expecting to be honest. Maybe Contessa was leaning in on my behalf?

Either way, once that was done, Armsmaster led me down to the underground car park where they were storing my equipment. I had hoped that I might be able to do something with my Starskiff, but one look at the remains put an end to that idea.

"You can't fix it?" asked Dragon, who was projecting onto a monitor that had been set up in the makeshift lab.

"Nope, not a chance," I said as I examined the shattered remnants of the Jade Wheel, "I am trained in maintenance and I probably could repair it if I had just been shot down, but this level of damage…I doubt even the greatest Furnace Masters of the Artisan Commission could do much with this mess. And even if I could fix the hull, this thing is dead."

I kicked the wheel and turned my attention to the shattered remains of my porcelain armour. I picked up the chest piece and examined the massive crater in the middle of the metal.

"Welp, not fixing that," I said, "The fact I survived a blow like that is, frankly, a miracle."

I dropped it back on the table with a sigh and turned to the silver bangle that sat beside the armour. I slipped it on and tapped it gently, activating my Jade Abacus and projecting a few screens into the air. I frowned as I scanned the screens, particularly the blinking warning about no connection.

"Well, I don't know where I am, but it must be WELL out of the way," I said, "The IPC is a pain, but their network coverage is second to none."

"IPC?" asked Dragon.

"Interasteral Peace Cooperation," I said, "Big megacorp who basically own the economy. You can have a look through the data I've got on here later."

"I'd like that," said Dragon, "I find this whole thing fascinating. I never thought I'd get the chance to meet a real alien."

I snorted.

"Believe me, its not as fun as it seems," I said, "Not everyone out there is as nice as me."

I ignored the worried look the two Tinkers shared as I activated my SOS beacon and shut my Jade Abacus down and turned to a large, beautifully crafted box of dark wood that had sat in the storage area of my ship. The lock clicked open at my touch and I opened it, pulling out a rack that contained my civilian clothes and other possessions. After checking that everything was in order and that my storage chest wasn't damaged, I locked it back up and stood.

"Right, that's everything for now," I said, "What now?"

"If possible, we'd like to get some samples of your pharmaceuticals, just in case, but other than that, it's just paperwork," said Dragon, "Normally, there'd be some power testing, but since you aren't technically a Parahuman…"

"Thats fair," I said with a sigh, "Lets get this over with."

The pure white meeting room was silent as the occupants around the table slowly worked their way through the information they had gathered from their extraterrestrial guests personal computer. It was…interesting to say the least.

Eidolon sighed as he sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

"I…have no idea what to make of all this," he said.

"It is hard to believe," said Number Man, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he flicked through an article on the IPC, "But we really have no reason not to believe her."

"And you say you can't Path her?" asked Alexandria.

"Not…exactly," said Contessa, for once not wearing her hat as she leaned back in her chair with a damp cloth over her eyes, "Its not like with you or the other blind spots. In those cases I just don't get anything, with her and anything from the outside, I get whats more like an error."

"Which makes perfect sense based on what we know about Agents and how they work," said Dr Mother, "This does open up a number of options however. If we can make contact with this…Xianzhou Alliance, we will have a valuable ally."

"We'll need to do some clean up before they arrive," said Alexandria, "If we want to be able to join this new society, the world needs to be more united than it currently is."

"Agreed," said Dr Mother, "Contessa?"

"I'll get on it," said the Cauldron Boogeyman as she got to her feet and put her hat back on, "Door me."

She stepped through the resulting portal and vanished.

"There is one thing that concerns me," said Number Man, "What do you make of these 'Aeons'?"

There was a moments silence before Dr Mother spoke up.

"I am…unsure," she said, "There is a lot of information in here that is far more solid than we'd expect from normal religious beliefs. Records of genuine miracles being performed and the beings meeting the Aeons face to face. For now, we should simply accept that they believe it until we have more data."

There was a general round of agreement before everyone turned back to working their way through the data provided by their visitor.

Contessa emerged from her portal into a dark room and lent against the table that was the only piece of furniture. On the table was a statue of a woman with a fishes tail and feathered wings and a purple orb cupped in her hands that appeared to glow faintly. It was made of black stone, struck through with purple and white vein and its hair was painted a pure white.

For a moment, she remained still with her head bowed to the statue, before she lent back and opened her eyes, lighting the room up with an eerie purple glow from her suddenly diamond shaped pupils. After a moment, she blinked and her eyes returned to normal.

"Path complete," she said, "Door to Berlin."

The portal appeared and she stepped through once again.

With the paperwork done, I was released for the day, with a temporary guest pass and room to stay in until they sorted out something more permanent. No one wanted me hanging around the base for longer than absolutely necessary.

I quickly retreated to my new room and, after using my Jade Abacus to make sure no one was spying on me, I buried my face in the thin pillow and screamed. I'd basically been putting off a breakdown all day through sheer force of will, nearly a century of military experience and aggressively ignoring the rising part of me that wanted to break down crying. Now that I was somewhere reasonably private, all of that went out the window. This whole situation was…well, fucked to put no finer point on it. Worm was one thing, but to throw in Star Rail as well? Thats just mean! And its not even like I was just a random NPC either, no, I had to be an experienced, high ranked member of a prominent factions military, complete with connections to the leadership of the Yaoqing vire both a friendship with the General AND family ties. There is no way that I could just disappear and not get involved in whatever bullshit might happen in the future, assuming I make it that far.

I WAS currently stranded on Earth Bet after all…

I let out a groan and flipped over, staring up at the ceiling. A part of me wanted to keep panicking, but the part that was from Yanfei wouldn't let me. She had dealt with situations far worse than this and knew how to maintain control. That did not mean I wasn't tense as hell though.

After a moment, I sighed again and rolled out of bed, leaving my room and wandering through the halls of the building until my sharp ears caught the sound of exertion. I paused and looked around, spotting the door to the gym. I hesitated for a moment, before shrugging and slipping inside. I was bored anyway.

Naturally, the gym was well appointed, with basically everything you could want to keep the troopers of a law enforcement agency meant to take on superpowered lunatics in shape. One half of the room was set up with various mats and rings for combat training, one of which was currently occupied by a man in a blue and silver bodysuit and a matching mask who was swinging a training halberd with impressive skill.

I stayed back so as not to disturb his training and to observe. The more I watched, the more impressed I became. Armsmaster was 100% native Human, with no boosts from powers, 'blessings' from the Plagues Author or a Path that I could see and yet he was skilled enough to be on par with a Cloud Knight. Combine that with his technology and it was easy to see why he was one of the Proctorates premiere members, despite his…less than desirable traits.

As I watched, Armsmaster finished his kata and finally noticed me. His expression shifted slightly before he caught himself.

"Ah, Miss Yanfei, did you need something?" he asked.

"No, I was just exploring and heard you training," I said as I picked up a water bottle he'd clearly set down early and tossed it to him, "You are rather skilled."

Armsmaster just nodded as he unscrewed the bottle cap and took a deep drink. I wandered over to a rack of training weapons and ran my fingers over another halberd, before plucking it from the rack and spinning it around, feeling the balance. Once I was satisfied, I turned back to Armsmaster.

"Care to spar?"

Armsmaster frowned, but nodded and stepped back onto the mat. I moved into position across from him, flipping the training weapon into a ready position as I did.

For a moment, we stood still, before I moved. Armsmaster met my first strike with a perfect block and deflected my second, before countering with a sharp jab I sidestepped. From there, we quickly fell into a rhythm, slowly speeding up as we got more into it.

The entire experience was…weird for me. My body knew exactly how to move with the polearm in my grip and I could clearly remember the many hours of training and experience I had in combat, both with my halberd and other weapons, while another part of me felt like I was experiencing all this for the first time. However, weird or not, I couldn't deny that this was FUN.

I wasn't a battle maniac like a certain General, but the act of testing myself against a worthy opponent, especially one who wasn't an Abundance twisted monster, was invigorating. I could very easily see why the Wardance was such a popular event among the Xianzhou.

I sped up more as I began to push Armsmaster back, my grin growing as the rush of combat flowed through my veins.

Colin frowned in concentration as he manoeuvred his training halberd to block or deflect the lightning fast blows coming his way. He was one of the best the Proctorate had in terms of pure weapons skill, simply because most others relied more on powers than actual skill to increase their combat powers, and yet, despite that skill that he was rightly proud of, he was quickly coming to the conclusion that he couldn't beat Yanfei. She was a little faster and stronger than him, but not to the point where it granted an insurmountable advantage that wasn't negated by his greater height and weight. No, it was pure skill and experience that was beating him.

The way the pink haired fox-woman manoeuvred her weapon to take advantage of openings and block attacks was damn near perfect, almost appearing more like dancing than truly fighting. The only time he'd felt so completely outclassed in terms of pure skill with a weapon like this was during a joint training exercise with the Guild where he'd come face to face with a short swordswoman who had utterly destroyed him, despite having his full equipment available to him.

Weirdly, Yanfei almost reminded him of her. Maybe it was the ears?

Regardless, Colin knew that if he didn't finish the fight soon, he was going to lose. With that in mind, he suddenly shifted from simply defending himself to push forwards, making use of his greater size and weight to force Yanfei back while bringing the heavy axe head up, aiming to strike the shaft of her weapon and force her to drop it. It worked to a degree. She was too skilled and clearly used to fighting larger opponents to lose her grip on her weapon, but he did manage to shift the tempo of the fight. Robbed of her momentum, the fight shifted back into an equilibrium. Yanfei was more skilled, but Colin was still good enough that he could use his physical advantages to level the playing field somewhat.

Of course, an equilibrium like that wasn't going to last forever and eventually one of them would make a mistake. A strike that was just a little overreached was all it took and the tip of Yanfei's halberd struck out, smacking Colins down the mat where a foot slammed down onto it as the head of her weapon came up under his guard to tap his chest.

After a moment, she stepped back, still grinning, pressed her fists together and bowed.

"This one thanks the Master," she said formally, "That was an enlightening experience."

"I can hardly be called a master," said Colin, a little sharply, "I did lose after all."

Yanfei straightened, her grin fading slightly.

"Perhaps not, but I have nearly a century of experience with a halberd, both in terms of training and battlefield experience, but you were still able to match me in pure skill," she said, "If we were to fight with our actual equipment, I'm not sure that I could beat you without killing you outright."

She placed her training weapon back on the rack and turned back to him.

"I know what I'm talking about when it comes to weapon mastery, particularly a halberd, and trust me when I say that you are one of the best I've sparred with, outside of the genuine monsters."

Colin frowned.

"How are you so good anyway?" he asked, "I thought you were a medic?"

Yanfei snorted.

"Medic means something a bit different on the Xianzhou," she said, "Our opponents generally don't care about anything as civilized as rules of engagement. If you are on the battlefield, you are a target and sometimes even if you aren't. Medics have to be able to fight to keep themselves alive. Besides, I was a regular Cloud Knight before I was assigned as a medic and mastering the Devastator Glave is part of basic training."

She stretched and yawned.

"Well, thanks for the spar, we should do that again at some point," she said, "I'll leave you to it."

Colin watched the fox-like alien leave, before tidying up his training gear and returning to his lab. He had some deeper research into the data Yanfei had given them to do.

Valefor made his way through the compound, ignoring the lesser members of the family as he headed deeper into an area off limits to everyone but the most trusted members of the inner circle. There were guards at the entrance, but they didn't even attempt to stop him, as was natural. On the other side of the door was a corridor lined with six statues of indistinct figures, not all of which appeared Human. Above the door at the far end was a seventh statue that seemed to just be of a flame that seemed to shift eerily as Valefor approached.

The Mathers Master paused for a moment in front of the door, before he pushed it open and stepped inside. The room on the other side was set up as a shrine of sorts, mostly dark and lit only by a few candles and a sickly, golden glow that was emerging from the broken statue that sat in pride of place. In front of the statue knelt Mama, apparently deep in prayer.

Valefor stopped a respectful distance away and knelt, bowing to the statue of their true god before sitting up and waiting to be acknowledged.

"So, what have you to tell me?" asked Mama.

"You were right Mama," said Valefor, "An outsider has come."

Mama smiled as she looked up at the statue of the true Lord of the Fallen, her eyes and teeth gleaming in the golden light shining from the huge gash in the statue's chest.

"Then it seems that our time will soon arrive," she said, "Even now, I can feel the seed begin to stir. Soon, we'll be able to send out a signal and bring forth true Destruction."

Bad Canary hummed softly under her breath as she ran a brush through her hair, carefully avoiding the wings that stuck out the side of her head as she listened with half an ear to her assistant, Katheryne, go through some last minute details. It wasn't anything she didn't know, but it was still worth the reminder. It had been a good few months since her last show thanks to her asshole ex trying to sue her. Thankfully, that hadn't gone anywhere and she could finally get back to what she loved.

Despite all the hardships that came from her career, both naturally as a famous singer and the suspicion she was STILL under thanks to her mutations and minor Master power, she wouldn't have it any other way. She loved music more than anything, ever since she was a child and she'd first started singing. She loved how it could be used to inspire, to guide and to help others understand themselves and those around them. And the fact that she could use her fame and money to help people elsewhere in the world made it all even better.

"Are you ready?" asked Katheryne, drawing Canary from her thoughts.

Canary took a deep breath and put down her hairbrush, feeling the familiar butterflies in her stomach.

"Yes," she said, getting to her feet and brushing off her dress, "How do I look?"

"Perfect," said Katheryne, quickly adjusting Canary's hair clip, "Go knock 'em dead."

Canary smiled and took another fortifying breath, before making her way out of her dressing room as she heard the announcer begin her introduction. This was what she lived for. No matter the nerves, asshole ex boyfriends or overly paranoid PRT directors, she'd fulfill her dream and bring Harmony to this world.

In a prison, deep under a hollowed out mountain, a young looking girl hummed to herself as she carefully put the finishing touches to the painting that rested on her easel and took a step back to admire her work.

The painting depicted a flaming crater in the middle of a city, surrounded by shadows of people apparently moving around, while a bow and arrow and a laughing mask floated in the sky.

"Hmm, such an interesting memory," said the girl, "The first of many I'm sure. I can't wait to see where this one goes."

She reached out and touched the painting, which immediately shrank down to the size of a playing card. The girl plucked it out of the air and carefully tucked it away alongside the other memories of this world she had gathered. The planets future was not yet set, although it was much better than it had been, but she would continue to do her duty and ensure that it would be Remembered, even if it was shattered into pieces.

And done. I have to admit, I'm not exactly happy with the latter half of this. The ideas are sound, but I feel like I didn't do a good job with them, so I might end up rewriting this later. Probably not though. Also, this fucking fought me every step of the way, which doesn't help.

I really didn't feel like doing any big power testing scene. We'll see what Yanfei can do at a later date.

Oh look, the Cauldrons interested. And we also get to see the first proper difference in the timeline, namely, Contessas power doesn't seem to be the same. I wonder what it could be instead…

Quick spar with Armsy. I intended it to have a bit more philosophy, but it kept coming off as incredibly preachy and not that believable. Still, it managers what I wanted for the most part.

One antagonist set up. I don't think I need to spell that out, do I?

Same with Canary. We'll see more of her later.

And a Memo fairy as well. That should lead to some fun stuff later down the line.

Anyway, I'm going to wrap this up here. I feel like this chapter is…lacking, but I'm sick of the sight of it and want to get it out there. I might come back to it later and do some rewrites…anyway, thats enough of that. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!