Daniel’s eyes widened as he watched a whirl of purple light corkscrew up at him at a rapid speed. He barely had time to dismiss his Oceanglide and pull out his spear before it was on top of him. With a scream of metal, the Xenos bit into the haft of his spear at full speed. Daniel held on for dear life as the predator’s momentum jerked him up and out of the water, spinning through the air like a whirling dervish. Daniel closed his eyes and focused on his ‘sight’ through his Domain, finally getting a good look at his opponent.
It was a long, midnight black fish with a slate grey underbelly. Its scales were rough against his skin, and its well-muscled frame thrashed powerfully against his body. Black eyes, with a white central pupil, swiveled to try and catch a glimpse of the prey that held on so stubbornly. Its thin, swordlike mouth had fastened its serrated teeth onto the metal of Daniel’s spear, but this was the weapon he had purchased at an exorbitant cost. Its long black haft looked like normal Blacksteel, but it had been thrice tempered and thoroughly reinforced. It easily suffered the beating even as they flew through the air. When they finally stopped spinning, Daniel seized the chance to fight back.
Daniel hugged the fish’s midsection with his legs, reversing his grip on the spear and reinforcing his arms with the Destroyer’s Strike. He used the creature’s persistence against it, twisting the spear and snapping its neck in a single, fatal instant. Opponent now out of commission, Daniel shunted its body into his Codex and focused on his surroundings.
The Domain showed Daniel that the air around him was full of predators. A school of these…fish…had attacked simultaneously, using their Psionic Capacities to strike as one. Daniel caught a glimpse of the Andrako, whose name was Gronik, caught in the jaws of one Xenos. The fish had latched onto his shoulder, carrying the non-human upward, yet Gronik remained stoic and largely intact. He had manifested a massive purple arm construct, layered atop his freehand, and was now squeezing the life out of the fish that held him fast. A couple of the other Pioneers were struggling in the air along with him, having been caught up in the surprise attack. Daniel considered trying to help them, but he had his own problems.
Daniel watched through his Domain as several fish shimmered with amethyst light before vanishing. “Cloaking too, huh?”
Quick as a whip, Daniel reached out and typed a shortened command for the Oculus Mundi. The ability could break through camouflage, though only in Daniel’s personal vision. He watched as 4 of the ‘cloaked’ fish turned in midair and aimed their snouts right at him. They activated their corkscrew ability again, spearing in at him from all sides just as Daniel typed in a second command:
Manifesting Heaven Walker Tech
With a step downward, Daniel found a ‘solid’ surface, leaping out of the way of the charging Xenos. They crashed into each other unceremoniously, drawing blood and leaving themselves stunned. Daniel’s feet were covered in greaves of shining gold and white, decorated with small wings of white fire on the heels. They pulsed gently with light as he reoriented, looking down on the Xenos and trading his spear for his blaster pistol. The quartet of idiots who had knocked into one another suffered a withering barrage of green plasma that they couldn’t defend themselves from. Daniel could fire a lot before needing to reload, and all four were perforated with smoking holes before they even hit the water.
Daniel also allowed himself to splash back into the water as well, angling himself to help the others.
It was pure pandemonium under the waves. Some of the Xenos had re-oriented themselves downward while in midair, activating their corkscrew charge and divebombing the Pioneers remaining in the water. Some men had been captured and dragged further into the depths. Others were still struggling with the Xenos that had latched onto them in the initial charge, churning the water into a fog of white and red. Daniel’s Domain allowed him to see through all that, planting well-aimed plasma bolts on several unsuspecting fish who held men in their jaws. Even if he didn’t kill them, he pained the Xenos enough to release their prey, allowing the Pioneers to turn the tide. One of the Xenos turned to attack Daniel, and he switched his blaster for his spear. While Daniel’s new spear possessed a black haft, its pointed head was a white crystal. It shone a bright yellow as Daniel brought it up in a powerful thrust. He took the Xenos’s charge head-on, spearhead meeting the tip of its swordlike beak in a blinding clash.
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While impressive looking, it was no contest. Daniel’s spear tore through the Xenos, skewering it outright. The creature’s momentum took him away from the fight, and Daniel promptly stored both his spear and the fish’s corpse in the Codex. He brought back the Oceanglide in their place, speeding back into the fight. As he approached his squad, he saw that the men near the surface had gotten things sufficiently in hand. Daniel angled the Oceanglide downward, pivoting to help those who had been dragged deeper.
The young man couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face as he saw what was happening within the deep. It appeared that the Xenos had targeted their CO on their second pass, managing to latch onto even the powerful Delta class. Flashes of yellow light could be seen from far away as Korta blasted his way through the enemies surrounding him. Their fearless leader had manifested a Psionic copy of himself, the yellow construct able to operate independently of the original. Both it and the original were shooting out javelins of yellow light from the tips of their rapiers, carving holes through the surrounding fish. While Korta did show some signs of injury, Daniel ignored their boss. He could take care of himself.
He aimed instead at some of the Xenos who were taking pieces out of the others. Daniel saved two of the guys from a brutal death, provoking the ire of three other Xenos. The fish vanished as they swam toward him, but Daniel just shook his head. They could hardly know, could they? Another Oculus Mundi revealed all, but what it revealed wiped Daniel’s confidence away as quickly as it came.
The Xenos drew close to him before firing off their corkscrew abilities, positioning themselves to come at him from the most awkward angles possible. Daniel grimaced, pulling out his spear and bracing himself, relying on his Domain to track all of them at once. He ran the Destroyer’s Strike through his spear again, bludgeoning one incoming Xenos with a mighty swing. Another came in from below immediately afterward, capitalizing on the distraction. A pulse of white light from his boots sent him backflipping away just in time. The third tried to capitalize, shooting after Daniel mid-tumble, but an upside-down swing of his spear sent it flying away impotently.
The Destroyer’s Strike had been enough to instantly kill the first Xenos, while the fading version had only been enough to deflect the third. The two living Xenos seemed as if they wanted to try again, but they’d been forced to drop their cloaking ability when using their corkscrew attack. As they tried to position themselves again, they were lit up from above by the blaster fire. Several of the other Pioneers had come down to help. And with that, the fight was over.
Despite a lot of blood, the Pioneers had taken zero losses. Much of that was thanks to their hardy Constitutions, though many had been forced to pop stimulants to stay alive as well. Several men had been at death’s door, only to be saved by a flying purple orb that attached itself to them and steadily healed their wounds. Reggie the Colare possessed a rare healing Psionic Capacity. That, on top of his scouting Capacity, made him useless in single combat but invaluable on the battlefield. Thanks to his and Daniel’s heroics, they’d come out with a clean victory.
Lieutenant Korta was the only person in a bad mood. He was covered in blood and doubtless annoyed at having been effectively targeted. Everyone else was rather triumphant, and they just tried to stay out of his way as they moved to divvy up the spoils.
Daniel came out of things with 10 total corpses, the most out of anyone, even Korta. One of these yielded a Morphic stone, which he happily pocketed. Their monetary value was of no consequence, since all remaining salvage was going into the Imperial coffers. This stipulation was to keep the Pioneers focused on their primary goal. The only reason to hang onto the bodies was to strengthen and feed himself for the duration of the mission. Still, Daniel checked the Xenos’s Codex entry out of curiosity: “Spinning Sea Devil: A deadly ocean-dwelling predator, the Sea Devil relies on ambush and mob tactics. They are capable of tearing even Leviathans to shreds in sufficient numbers. Their spinning ram attacks, in combination with their cloaking abilities, make them almost impossible to defend against. Their primary weakness is their comparatively fragile constitution, making them vulnerable if they don’t kill their prey quickly. Adult Sea Devil spotted! A school of Sea Devils spotted!
Class: Mid-Grade Epsilon: Individual Threat Assessment: Low-Moderate: Group Threat Assessment: Moderate.”
Reflecting on this entry dampened his enthusiasm. A normal team on this planet would be mostly populated with Low-Grade Epsilons, likely led by a Low-Grade Delta. If their team had been like that, this fight’s outcome would likely have been reversed. Their squad had won with superior force and a few key abilities. Even with all that, they nearly took casualties.
Once the cleanup was done, they decided to rest. The Pioneers had expended large quantities of Mental Energy, which recovered much faster with sleep and a high-quality diet. They’d brought a large inflatable platform with them for this exact purpose. They cooked the fish on the platform and ate a hearty meal as the sun began to set. Daniel absorbed the Morphic stone and then slowly laid down. As he gazed up at a legion of stars, twinkling in the heavens above, Daniel drifted off to sleep.
