"Did you have to kill him?""I did. You should evacuate now."
"Don"t give me that s.h.i.+t!"
Las.h.i.+ng out in rage the wind around the grand elder shock and ravaged the laboratory as if indicating her internal state of conflict.
(VIPER STRIKE PACKAGE #1 TTA MARK 60 SECONDS.)
"I killed elder Silas because he"s part of the problem I am aiming to fix with this incursion into these elven lands. Seems like the trend of any and all sort of power on this dirt ball of planet when they see the technology of my people is to think "mine" and try and grasp its power without any respect, care or precaution. The effects of such carelessness have shown themselves this time in a practical example of atomic annihilation and wiped out all life in a 10 kilometer radius, but it could have been much worse, next time this very world might crack.. So I have to set an example, and did it as painlessly as possible."
".... I understand."
With the wind around her calming down the grand elder fell silent, but she still looked at Dax with a grim expression.
[VIPER STRIKE PACKAGE #1 TTA MARK 10 SECONDS, 9, 8, 7, 6-]
"Get down!"
Realizing something the very last second as ICI"s final countdown started, Dax charged the grand elder and knocked her over while s.h.i.+elding her as she herself started picking up some strange sounds
[- 3, 2, 1, SPLASH.]
With ICI as a cue something crashed through one of the walls of the laboratory and shot out steel wires with hocks everywhere as it crashed into the oppersid wall and finally stopped with a bang.
"For worldwide delivery in under 10 minutes, settle only for the best..."
Rex Viper-V23.5 ultra long range cruise missile.
Even in the world of self guiding high precision orbital artillery the time honored cruise missile still holds merit, and the Rex Viper is the latest in a long line of high grade cruise missiles. Developed by request of the the galactic navy as a more flexible alternative to conventional orbital artillery. The Rex Viper comes in about 50 varieties for anti personnel, anti armor, tactical cla.s.s MIRV, strategic cla.s.s MIRV, chemical deployment or just plain old high explosive veritants, one for every occasion. Able to be dropped from orbit with independent and highly efficient targeting, seamless smart guidance and hive swarm intelligence the weapon platform is has high enough intelligence to beconsidded self aware by some standards, but that hasn"t stopped its extremely effective implementation as close in fire support.
Helping the grand elder to her feet Dax walked over to the Viper cruise missile and ripped open its central compartment to reveal the contents inside.
"Oh I"ve missed this, ICI prepare for main 4 connection."
[ICI AFFIRMS, MAIN 4 ONLINE. READY FOR INTEGRATION.]
Grabbing a brand new artificial arm from the Viper Dax quickly connected it to the shoulder link before confirming its operation.
"I hope this one lasts a bit longer than the last one…"
Having connected his new arm Dax used it to quickly swing on an ammunition carrier and a holster belt that fitted his new demon sword and his trusty old pistol loaded with new and improved anti personal soft target hollow point ammunition.
"Is that how your kind normally dress for combat? It looks very non protective.."
"Well my armor didn"t fit so here we are…"
Grabbing a Rex Alpha rifle too Dax swung the sling over his shoulder before pulling the "medical container" out of his pocket and breaking off the trigger guard and pressed a small indent under as he tossed it towards the center of the lab.
"Let"s be off."
With chemical fire erupting from the incendiary grenade as a cue Dax took the elder by the arm and walked out of the lab with her.
"If you want to leave you should properly do that now, I"m going to do a lot of very bad stuff."
"Oh? Like what?"
Not really taking the entire affair that seriously after Dax explained why he killed Silas to her the grand elder simply smiled like she was playing a game with Dax.
"Okay that didn"t really come across that great. I am going to murder all who stands in my way with no mercy. And completely destroy this building."
"Well in that case this outcast shall not stand in your way."
Stepping aside in a playful manner the grand elder"s behavior only confused Dax
"Outcast? Don"t the elves call you grand elder."
"They do, but that"s merely because of my mana control. If I did what I did as a normal elver they would have executed me long ago."
"Execute? What did yo-"
"I brought in outsiders, slave children lost in the woods desperately looking for food, and cared for them as my own. When I was ineverbialy discovered the children were all killed, but as I was a grand elder no one could touch me, even after I murdered all the ones responsible for killing my children they kept treating me with the same reverence and respect as they always had, so I left… If there"s anyone that can see the problems with my society it"s me, and even if I don"t completely agree with your methods I realize that some sickness must be cut out for the body to recover."
"I can"t imagine what that must have felt like.."
Having seen much cruelty Dax didn"t even pretend like he could relate to her pain of losing a child, even if he had went through that exact experience and offered his open arms to the elder that looked like she was about to choke after sharing such a painful memory that she had no doubt been repressing for a long time.
"Why are you acting all sensitive all of a sudden? Don"t act like you start caring all of a sud-"
"Because it"s what you need to step forward."
Looking with a difficult facial expression Dax held the elder gently in his hands while she cried tears of blood the grand elder finally rejected her race, after all the years standing idly by she finally moved on and would no longer need to drown herself in alcohol to not feel the pain and see herself covered in her children"s blood night after night.
"I never got your name by the way, my name is Dax, a qiton from the Alph4 clan. I also go under the name "The immortal or warfare"."
"h.e.l.lo Imortal of warfare, my name is Lilly, as I was named by my mother so many winters ago."
---
"Zephyr come over here to mom!"
"Arf!~"
Having reached the plaza at ground level Lilly called out to Zephyr that quickly went to her side while wagging its tail.
"Grand elder what is going on!? Someone said the outsider killed elder Silas and threatened to destroy the council building!"
Still not able to see the chemical fire burning on the top floors because it was above cloud layer, Eva of the border control force was very confused by the things she had heard from the elvers escaping from the council building, and didn"t even notice that Dax had regained his artificial arm.
"That is exactly what is happening child, he has also killed several other elders than Silas."
"Wha!- DIE!"
Instantly flaering with rage Eva nocked an arrow and shot for Dax"s head.
Dax responded by swatting the arrow aside like a fly before he instantly closed the range and hit Eva with a fist directly in her stomach.
"GHA!-"
Puking up blood as she nearly shattered a brick wall she hit Eva"s eyes didn"t show defeat at all as she took control of the nearby mana and quickly send sphere"s of highly compressed air towards Dax while once more charging him.
"Come on give it up already."
"NEVER!"
"Don"t make me kill you brat."
As they exchanged close range blows Dax didn"t hold back this time and he quickly got the upper hand as he broke one of Eva"s arms with a well placed jab.
"ARG!- YOU!"
Still not giving up even as she had already lost Eva continued her a.s.sault which made Dax respond in kind as he hit the same arm once more, this time completely shattering the bone he had fractured before.
"Are you done?"
"f.u.c.k! Grand elder why are you letting him do this!?"
After being incapacitated by the pain Eva screamed out in confusion as she finally noticed Lilly"s lack of action to stop Dax.
"Because this is what needs to be done. Don"t kill yourself child, your people will need your talents to recover. Dax fix her will you?"
Having realized her worth as a leader after the council"s downfall Lilly looked to Dax for him to fix what he broke.
"That works too… Hold still."
Pulling out a syringe filled with nanomachines Dax graped Eva"s destroyed arm before stabbing it with the syringe.
"AAAAAARRRRGGGG!!!"
The repair started instantly, and without painkillers was extremely painful as what remained of her bones were forcefully set and then rapidly healed as Eva almost bit off her own tongue because of the pain.
"Now go sleep over there, and remember: f.u.c.k with the Galactic Empire"s technology again and this will just repeat itself."
Picking up Eva by her healthy arm as the other was still healing Dax threw her over the building behind her as he turned towards Lilly as the Stinger landed in the plaza.
[COMPLETE RDS IN 60 SECONDS, STAND CLEAR.]
"Let"s go, get Zephyr in here too."
"W-what is that contraption."
"Less questions more movement."
Swooping Lilly off her feet Dax carried her in the loading ramp as Zephyr nervously followed them, barely able to fit into the Stinger.
"Dust off now!"
As soon as Zephyr was inside the Stinger lifted off the ground with the engines roaring and spitting purple flames.
[RAPID DEMOLITION SEQUENCE IN 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, MARK.]
Just as the Stinger cleared minimum safety distance a volley of over 60 Viper"s with different explosive yields all hit the council building at the same time and destroyed the building in a somewhat controlled manner as it fell in on itself and collapsed into a cloud of dust and rubble.
"Could you let me down now?"
As the loading ramp finally closed on the Stinger did Lilly snap out of her daze and realized she was still in the arms of Dax that carried her in a perfect princess cary.
"Why? This feels right somehow, right Zephyr?"
"Arf!~"
As if giving her consent to the entire situation Zephyr licked Dax in his face with a happy expression.
"No don"t agree with the brute you traitor!"
With even her ears blus.h.i.+ng in compete red Lilly struggled to free herself from Dax"s embrace even if she was a tiny bit happy with it.
"I can"t wait to you meet my family, oh and my disciple too, you"re gonna love her~"
"Stop saying things that can be misunderstood already and let me down!!!"
.
..
With the Stinger disappearing in the distance Eva looked at it with intense hate and determination in her eyes.
"I will never forgive you."
Swearing that in her heart Dax didn"t realize he had created something terrible.