Moving through a labyrinth of marble, gla.s.s and starlight Dax was mostly running on autopilot as he mentally mapped out the supplies needed to complete the job he had been tasked while spamming his home base outside of Black Hollow with new construction request."ICI standby to relay new directives for comsat-1"
[READY.]
"Disable stealth mode operations and switch form observation mode to indirect fire guidance and tasking, and wake up all reapers in my AO, it"s time for a hunt."
[ORDERS CONFIRMED, ENABLE WAR PROTOCOL Y/N?]
"Yes. Get me a tacmap and wake up all units and place them on high alert, I"ll be ready in half an hour."
[WAR PROTOCOL ENACTMENT CONFIRMED. NOW SCRAMBLING ALL COM NETWORKS AND STEPPING UP ACTIVE ENQIPTION TO LEVEL 5, ESTABLIs.h.i.+NG COMMAND AND CONTROL HIVEMIND… COMPLETE, 256 UNITS TASKED IN MESH AND READY FOR OBJECTIVES.]
"Hostile is designated as "The Northern Republic" a.s.sume all civilian targets to be hostile until confirmed pa.s.sive, high level mana events are to be flagged and eliminated within 5 minutes."
[ENEMY OF THE GALACTIC EMPIRE REGISTERED, STRIKEFORCE READY IN: 12 MINUTES AND 35 SECONDS. WARNING: WAR PROTOCOL IN EFFECT, SCRAMBLING COMMS AND REORGANIZING HIVE MIND COMMAND AND CONTROL MESH… COMPLETE, 120 SECONDS TO NEXT SCRAMBLE.]
Getting back to the visitor"s area of the sanctuary Dax found Terra, Alice and Rai waiting for her in full combat gear with Alice in her exoskeleton and Terra and Rai pointing rifles towards him.
"Good job keeping the Kingdom people safe, but it turned out okay in the end. And who taught you to use a rifle Rai?"
"I learned from watching you~"
Being surprised by the sight of Rai, self important demonkin wielding a rifle just like Dax did when they traveled to the sanctuary he took a second to inspect the stance.
"Well you look the part, but your safety is still on and your mag is empty."
"I have no idea what those words mean at all master~"
"Right… Terra take that away from her before she hurts herself."
"Sure… So what happened?"
"I"m suppressing, then annexing the republic. You guys head home to Kingsted."
"Wait what?"
Understandably that statement was met with confusion.
"Let us at least help D"
"Nope. Head home, especially you Alice."
"Why not!? I want to help you!"
Over the last few weeks Alice had gotten more and more attached to Dax and was obviously upset.
"You"re not coming with me, none of you are."
"But!-"
Feeling increasingly desperate Alice"s voice started to tail off while Dax was getting even more stearn.
"That was not a suggestion, oh and Terra can you help me with something real quick?"
"... Sure."
Leaving Alice behind looking like a abandoned puppy at a shelter Dax relocated to where they had dumped all the gear that had been carried by the exoskeleton and quickly found a ceremonial looking woven blanket and spread it out on the floor.
"That was really f.u.c.king mean."
"Yeah it was, can you help me here?"
"..."
Being meet with silence and contempt Dax shrugged and then took out a large leather bag and sat down on the blanket, and Terra reacted to that quite poorly.
"SHE"S CRYING FOR f.u.c.kS SAKE!"
"Yeah I can hear that, but what would be even worse to bring her, or you, with me."
"WHY!?"
"Because this is not going to be us killing some bandits or some light skirmis.h.i.+ng."
"Isn"t that even more reason for us to help!?"
"You"ll just be in the way."
"WHAT!? Say that again!"
The very idea of being detrimental in a fight really tickled Terra off, and reacted by channeling strengthening magic into her already enhanced body as she punched Dax straight in the face.
"HOW THE h.e.l.l AM I INADEQUATE!?"
"Like this."
With fluid motion Dax grabbed Terra"s hand by the wrist and then used his other hand to
grab Terra by the jaw and slammed her head into the ground as he made sure she remained conscious. With m.u.f.fled screams escaping Dax"s grasp he stared directly into her frightened eyes and released a extreme amount of bloodl.u.s.t.
"I am going to war. Now you people and your world might think you know something about it, but you don"t so let me be absolutely clear: This is not going to be a fair fight. This is not going to be enjoyable for anyone involved. This is not going to be kind or fair fighting, I am going to maim people and leave them to die, I will slaughter people, without any form of mercy and/or chivalry. The qiton art of war is not kind, and as a wetwork operative I"m going to use any kind of dirty, dishonest and cruel type of warfare to end this war as soon as I can.. Having lived for as long as I have I can tell by looking at you and Alice is that either of you will not be able to witness that without snapping, now Rai might be able to do it, but will most likely lose grip on reality. Now I ask you, which of my options are more cruel?"
Having made his point Dax released the now meek Terra before returning to the leather bag which he opened and pulled some strange looking ceramic plates out.
"I can do without your help, you can leave now."
"..."
With about a minute of pure silence following as Terra just laid on the floor as Dax unpacked even more ceramic armor plates he was about to toss her out when she stood up on her own.
"I"ll help."
"Are you su- okay then, get over her and help me."
Stopping himself mid sentence as he saw the renewed determination of his disciple Dax put on a warm smile and sat down on the ceremonial looking blanket.
"So what are we doing?"
"A old qiton tradition, you"re helping me put on my armor."
"Okay."
"Then let"s start with the back piece, that will be those armor plates over there."
"..."
"What"s wrong?"
Picking up one of the brown armor plates Terra fell silent as she put on a questioning expression.
"How the h.e.l.l does it fit?"
"Just push it towards my skin, then you"ll see."
"Okay?.."
As Dax pulled off his t s.h.i.+rt Terra pressed a armor plate that looked like it should cover his spine towards it. With a snap the plate suddenly stuck to Dax.
"What the?"
"Neat isn"t it? The plates have spikes that pierce my skin and hooks onto subdermal supports and then turns flexible, see?"
Demonstrating Dax bent his back, making Terra realise that the plate was not one solid piece, but thousands or even millions of interlocking plates of ceramic armor.
"That certainly is impressive.. Is this the next plate?"
"Yeah you got it, that one fits to the left of the prior one. If you get the plates on my back, I"ll start with my legs and work my way upwards."
"Like this?"
"Yeah like that."
Quickly finding the pattern Terra worked with Dax to quickly cover him in light brown armor. From top to toe all expect Dax"s head was covered in a layer of armor, with even his hands covered in a truly complex set of armor.
"Thanks~ Now for the sup armor cover."
"There"s more?"
"Yeah, this is the sup armor meant to be the last and final layer of defence. Next is the layer that supports the sup armor and then is the 5 more layers of armor and heat dispersion before the final ERA layer."
"I-I see… This sure is some impressive armor…"
"It is yeah, I"m really glad I found it in a sphere near Kingsted, it is a one of a kind too, as it is proved far too expensive and difficult to ma.s.s produce."
"One of a kind huh? How much did it cost?"
"This set would cost about as much as about 50 CAS-7"s."
"50!?"
"Yep. But don"t worry, it"s quite the challenge to damage."
"T-that"s good then, what"s next?"
"Thermal protection, that is that one over there."
"Ah, then how does this fit-"
Continuing on with the additional layers of armor the disciple and master combo used the time to catch up and just talk about whatever.
"So do you like your new eyes?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Nowhere. I just never go to talk with you about it, figured now would be the time."
"Hmmmm… They"re fine I guess? Even if the colour is a bit off putting for some people."
"Yeah I"ve noticed that after the fact too.. I can make them blue or brown if you like."
"No need, I quite like the colour."
"Then I won"t bring it up again."
"..."
"..."
"Is that normal where you"re from?"
"What is?"
"Changing ones eye colour."
"Ah. It is completely normal, in my world one it"s normal change anything from eye colour, hair colour and skin tone. Some people even got cybernetic implants to be able to change body parts on the daily for fas.h.i.+on."
"I can"t even imagine that. Have you ever done that?"
"Bodymods? Nope, never feel like I needed to. I once tried to get a tattoo, but then my mom found out and beat my a.s.s, and that"s about as far as I went in that direction."
"Your mom beat you up huh? That"s the first time you mentioned the her, how was she?"
"In a single word? Brutal, but she was still loving. Being the single remaining member of the Alph4 clan from a young age she should have died and be forgotten, but she didn"t. Rising up to become leader of the qiton war council at a age of 16 she basically became a legend. Then later she had me, and raised me alone to inherit her position while still fulfilling her duties."
"She sounds amazing."
"Larger than life yeah. I am proud to just have know her, let alone be her child."
"I would love to hear more abou- Hey is it supposed to do that?"
Leisurely talking while continuously layering Dax in armor plates Terra was suddenly surprised when the armor locked in, closing any air holes and gaps.
"Construction complete, thanks for the help."
Standing up Dax examined the smooth pure black outer armor that seamlessly had become part of him while still allowing full mobility.
"G.o.d I love this armor."
Checking the functions Dax made a fist, making metal spikes pop you on top of his knuckles.
"Oh I need armor like that."
"And for the last part~"
Getting a black helmet with a tinted visor Dax put it on and locked it in click as he was completely shut off from the world.
[XMRA CONNECTION ESTABLISHED, SYSTEM SEALED NOW RUNNING ON INTERNAL LIFE SUPPORT. OPENING UTILITY ACCESS PORTS, READY FOR ERA ADDON.]
["I can take it from here Terra, I task you with bringing everyone home safely."]
"I can do that. Please explain yourself to Alice when you get back."
Being left with those words Dax was suddenly as alone as the day he landed in on the forring world.
["Time for work…."]
Grabbing a Rex Alpha rifle Dax walked towards the exit of the sanctuary.
"You seem ready."
["That I am, get out of the way I don"t need your help."]
Brus.h.i.+ng off Solaris that had meet him in full combat gear Dax"s mood soured.
"Oh come on you can"t take on a entire country by yourself."
["Can, will and have done before. Last chance, move."]
"Ara~ Don"t be so sure of yourself, let me help.. You…"
Opening the bulkhead Solaris walked out of the sanctuary as she teased Dax, trailing off when she finally saw the small army of reaper drones that had gathered outside without her knowledge.
["Then do what you want. But if you slow me down or interfere I"ll leave you behind."]
"O-okay…"
Breathing a deep sigh Dax cracked his neck as his gauss rifle slowly humed and then mumbled quietly to himself.
["Time to cull an uprising…. Been a while since I did this sort of work…."]