Trooper: Prologue

Angel

109, P.A.

Lavina, Russia

23:12, April 12th, Sunday night

Lavina was a simple but still relatively advanced town about 90 kliks out from the city of Alekseyevna, and as one might imagine, stark and grim just like the rest of the warlord’s kingdom.

Ice scarred the buildings and clung to the life still bold enough to force itself within mother russia’s stranglehold. One not filled with patriotism might realize she’s not quite ready for her children yet, but still they try. Lavina was one of lucky few industrial towns with modern day tech within a warlord’s grasp. Lamps thoughtlessly stamped to the side of buildings haphazardly provided light for those working long into the night, which many did.

To one not used to the overbearing grays and blues of the town, it’s actually quite pretty, the lights of the town and the glow of the moon reflected by the colorless buildings and ground set a mood of safety, continuity, relaxation. And even once it begins to drain you of such relaxation with long hours within its factories, it still wraps its denizens in the promise of safety and conformity, something that many others outside of Russia would kill for. The streets were empty, save for an old clunky patrol bot and a penniless vagrant desperately clinging to his thermal. However, upon the rooftop of the largest building within the small town, a re-fitted and heavily modified bomber-class Nokus fighter ship (a glaring rarity that would turn heads if the ship had not docked constantly within the city), rested idly.

Although to say it had docked there would be an overstatement, as even the term landing pad would be a stretch. It was simply a large empty area on a rooftop conveniently located on top of Lavina’s military installation, and weathered with constant visits. One would think the only type privy to such rare and powerful tech were high rank clansmen or some kind of prestigious freelancer, and to be fair, they’d be half right. The owner of the vehicle was a member of the Alekseyevna clan, but not high rank, in fact, the lowest rank, a reaver. And not a prestigious one, either. She simply had it for as long as she remembered, and has not yet been coerced, by peaceful means or otherwise, to part with it, even for the efforts of demon slaying. We have plenty of tempests as is, she always insisted, just ask the mercs to hop on their backs if they need a lift. Or maybe dangle from their legs, whatever works.

Of course, she didn’t often use the term mercs to describe clansmen unless she was actually looking for a fight. But in all honesty, that’s all they were. Sure, the rewards were different than a normal merc contract, and there certainly are many knights that are truly a service to this country. But there are at least as many, if not more, especially those that would ask for her nokus, that see it simply as a war, a contract, and they seek their rewards from those they save. It’d be understandable if their wars were purely against the brodkil and gargoyles instead of their own brothers, fighting the same fight they do every day to try and keep a foothold in this horrid region. But instead, many lives are tragically wasted, pitted against eachother in a sad battle frenzy while the demons beyond the borders constantly recover their relatively minor losses and amass, further spreading their influence as the humans squabble like children.

Below the rooftop, was a slightly lengthy staircase that ended at the heel of a maintenance hall, which then led to a largely derelict surveillance center. Right before the end of the maintenance hall, however, was a rather large spare room, formerly meant for containing spare supplies for the base. Now, it held the office of one Petri yamarov, an officer and “handler” of reaver operations at the edge of Alekseyevna’s usual operational influence. The plain plaster and brick along with the fundamentalist layout of the room was a little jarring and insulting to petri at first, but after a little time he learned to quite enjoy the simple and efficient structure of his quaint silent office.

Silent, of course, until his agent came in. Singular, agent. Only an odd one such as her could be depended on to maintain tight vigilance over such an empty sector. She had no real name, and seems to still be unable to think of one, so she is dubbed simply by her higher ups as Inos, a shortened form of Inostrannyye, meaning a foreigner. To most, this would be considered an insult, to not be called among the ranks of the brave russians, and a sizable percentage of reavers would all wish to be russian natives, but Inos doesn’t mind.

Propped up against the wall, arms randomly fiddling in her idle posture as she reviews her debriefing with Petri over her last mission. Inos is a full-conversion cyborg, with only her brain remaining the last organic part of her, being supplanted in a body of incredibly strong and impenetrable material. This is, of course, a commonplace event, as many russian knights sacrifice their bodies, and any likeness to them if they choose to be an elite shocktrooper, in order to better combat the demonic menace threatening those not yet ready to take the mantle themselves. But Inos had a model not yet seen anywhere in Russia, possibly further out. It was a confusingly simple and aesthetic model, but also had strengths other borg bodies usually do not.

The model is very smooth and angular, efforts made to be aerodynamic and contained, lightly increasing mobility and stealth, and it focuses heavily on the “shell” concept, having a dense but relatively thin outer layer of heavy protection for a few inches before at all hitting anything relatively vital. Normally, this design produces more strain on the base frame of the borg, thereby reducing mobility and increasing physical stress, but the inner body is very compact and tight. The model is bleeding edge, and manages to stuff the wires, valves, and other necessities of the body in a space actually slightly smaller than a comparative human; Inos’s inner skeleton has arms that are a little less than 1 inch thinner than the records state her original arm was.

Under the protective shell is something akin to yet another robotic body, yet the outer shell is still linked deeply to Inos’s body and shares the somatic connection a regular borg body would provide. The overall reduced weight allows the heavy material to be used and not impede the mobile functions the model seems to be made for. The frame is also shorter than a normal combat borg, only 2 and a half meters tall. Again, for mobility and flexibility, but this further increases the mystery and perfection of Inos’s design, fitting so much strength, durability, and practicality in a relatively diminutive model. The model almost seems more like a design for a robot with its sleek efficient design and compact wiring.

Her legs are rectangular, and heavy metal shin protectors are affixed to them at all times; she states the shin guards not only defend slightly better against attacks aimed at the legs and causing the borg to trip, they also allow more precise shots while on one knee. There is no extra protection such as this on her thigh, likely to cut down on weight. Her hips use a familiar tri-plate design, again, used often for robot designs over borgs, and engineering experts insist this will cause excessive grating and slight stiffness as Inos ages, and Inos has indeed given some thought to getting work on it. They also suspect the model Inos sports was a prototype not ready for production yet, as the tri-plate design seems it could work well if the torso and hips were joined with a swivel joint, a technology still not perfected for use on humanoid borgs, rather than traditional lock joints that she uses now.

Her torso is exceedingly angular, akin to a glacier or rough diamond, and slightly top-heavy, again designed for mobility, but also a breath of defence, as the chest area can be reinforced more than the abdominal area, and still offer a mobility advantage as the borg can easily put the weight forward.

The arms seem to be a large focus of the design, as they are complex, and likely the strongest function of the model. They contain heavy shock absorbers, Cyber-nano repair cells (1 each), a grappling hook launcher in her right arm (the underarm folds out and reveals the launcher, sheathing and unsheathing in around 5 seconds), retractable knuckle spikes on both hands, a laser torch finger (pointer on the left hand), an e-port hyperlink finger (thumb on the right hand), and most importantly, a compact ion blaster located in the left forearm.

The blaster can be drawn and shot almost instantly, the outer shell instantly opening up and popping out the blaster, that lies compact before activation and is in a way re-constructed when needed in mere nanoseconds, with power lines connected to Inos’s power supply rooted behind the barrel of the gun, just above where a handle would be. There is actually a foregrip near the end of the barrel that can be gripped by Inos, and also has a trigger, even though Inos can shoot the gun as fast as she thinks and no trigger pulling is required. This is the part that requires nano-second reconstruction. Robotics experts suspect that this is so others, presumably allies, can actually use the blaster if the borg is incapacitated, and even a short while after the borg has died.

The grip does help Inos steady her aim slightly better, but those same robotics experts speculate Inos’s secret model is actually designed for military/police robotics.

The high mobility and lower defence fits the idea of a quick responder or expendable guerilla attacker, allowing one to strike first decisively, and the sleeker design is likely an attempt at looking more welcoming to those it’s meant to protect, and to appear less altogether when attempting stealth. Even the ion blaster, the main (only) weapon of the base model, seems more fitted for attacking lightly armored groups than strong single targets. Most believe this design to have been lifted from either the NGR or the sovietski.

The arms are thick and blocky, but designed to restrict movement as little as possible, although some very specific tight situations might exploit this design. They have a locked swivel joint heavily covered at the elbow and shoulder, offering the same degree of movement as a normal human arm. The hands are comparatively small when matched to normal borgs, but at least as strong and durable, and much better suited for delicate work. In hand to hand combat, these incredibly sturdy and strong arms are likely to deal out a large amount of damage while easily parrying strikes with the immense durability of their armor, thicker here than anywhere else in the whole body, save the head.

The head is the strongest argument for the police model argument, as it takes the appearance of an old-age riot armor helmet; a thick faceplate, a small section for Inos’s eyes to pierce and survey, then the rest getting covered in even thicker armor. It has all of the sensors and like equipment standard for borgs, albeit Inos regrets they couldn’t integrate laser eyes.

Inos’s body can actually flash from dark green to pitch black, something actually afforded to her by the clan rather than her initial conversion. She usually donned green in safe situations and when travelling tundra, and wore black when attempting stealth or wanted to intimidate. The function is a holographic illusion of sorts, and her default colors are dark green, with her shin guards dark shiny black.

Her final peculiarity is a slide rail, starting from her back and ending at the apex of her shoulder. It’s actually unclear as to whether this was on the base blueprints, or added by the cyberdoc, but either way, Inos has used it to good effect for holding, transporting, and quickdrawing heavy weapons, which usually conveniently slide into Inos’s hand.

Altogether, Inos has a fantastic bleeding-edge model, but an experimental one that sacrifices the security of others’ massive damage capacity for a sizable boost in movement and maneuverability, especially for the normally cumbersome and tank-like borgs of russia. Inos’s strongest defended point is her arms, quite literally being able to be used as a shield even against something like a particle beam, with her head being a close second, having more armor overall but still moderately vulnerable to getting ripped off by some incredible creature, or maybe even a juicer. Her upper chest brings up the middle, more durable than your average borg knight, but a solid mark to shoot at, and one that’s easy enough. Then comes the legs, combined with the shin guards, offer just about the same as your average borg knight, but they also have shock absorbers, so it’s unlikely you’ll knock her down. Finally, her weakest and most vulnerable point, her midpoint: abs, hips, and thighs. They’re still defended enough, but for how easy they tend to make a target, it’s something inos has to think constantly about in battle. Something considered in the design, as the forward-leaning rushing borg will usually obscure their body with their own dashing extremities. It’s also relatively safe while aiming while taking a knee. Even in melee combat, a standard military commando fighting stance leans forward, Inos using a mixture of boxing and commando.

Another potential weakness is Inos’s ion blaster, as yes, it can be fired quickly, even before reconstruction is fully completed, but due to how the model works, powering itself instantly, it requires a lot of power in a split second. If Inos were to continuously fire 3 or 4 shots immediately after drawing the weapon, she would experience minor fatigue and dizziness for a moment. If Inos stopped only for a moment, she would regain the energy and would be free to fire nearly endlessly. But if she continued firing more even after the first 4 shots, around 10 or so, Inos would suffer heavy power drain, resulting in loss of motor control and limited functionality. Just a moment of reprieve is enough for Inos’s power cell to recover, though. Her last weakness is her stealth camo can be rather easily disabled or even seen through by certain cameras. Her stealth camo can be interrupted by typical electric interference, or specifically attacking a small projection node located on her hip, which is weak and exposed, but luckily easily repaired by nano-bots.

“Supplies were recovered successfully and returned to Lavina military checkpoint, and the reaver Inos returned with a full report.” Petri finished, finally capping off the unnecessary re-read of Inos’s own report. “Good work as usual, Inos.” He added absent-mindedly, already sorting the passages into folders to send to command momentarily.

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly dire out here, I think I can handle whatever the ice sheets can dish out” Inos responded, bored as usual. “Well, we need the best at all fronts, regardless of how important they seem, inos. Be proud of your work for mother russia.” Petri stated, a line inos had heard far too many times to believe. “I’m barely even fighting demons out there! I didn’t convert just to keep eyes on Sokolov patrols, I could’ve done that without any limbs, roll me out on a goddamn hoverboard.” Inos absent-mindedly vented. Inos knew that it needed doing, but felt a deep distaste and hate for fueling Sokolov’s madness further and indulging his tantrum-induced war games.

“Inos, we’re not having any of those discussions. You are aiding Alekseyevna, and therefore, aiding our efforts to destroy the demons and drive them away. Keeping Sokolov under tabs is imperative to those efforts.” Petri responded, exhausted at the mere idea of another of Inos’s pleas to be sent elsewhere. “Besides, when you converted, you pledged your loyalty to lord Alekseyevna, so you serve him how he likes, not the other way around.” Petri added, always quick to pull that card. Inos stared into nothing for a moment, bottling up her annoyance best she can, and the room fell into an ambient silence, the ones petri longed for.

It was not quite as quiet in Inos’s head. “Do I have another assignment yet?” Inos asked, annoyed reluctance unmasked in her voice. “No, we have nothing for you at the moment.” Petri answered, sighing to clear out the tension in his lungs. “I imagine you haven’t blown your credits yet, feel free to head down to Josephi’s and gear up. I know you prefer to be fully loaded for your next mission.” Petri offered, hoping to sedate the borg a bit. “I’ve been loaded for 3 assignments, Petri, you handled them, I think you understand there was no ammunition spent.” Inos pushed herself off the wall and, if she could’ve, she would’ve sighed in frustration.

“I’m heading off base, con-” Inos began as she started walking out the office, just before a ringing noise came from petri’s computer. Petri was also surprised at this, pulling away a bit from his computer. “Oh, uh, I’ll be going then, li-” Inos tried again, but this time Petri actually motioned for Inos to stay as petri answered the call, stopping what he was doing and paying full attention to the call. Inos was curious and stood there, listening to petri’s half of the conversation.

“Hello, commander nyguyev, this is officer Petri speaking, how may I be of assistance?” “Yes sir, installation 1207-C, based in Lavin-” A long pause as petri listened intently and inos’s curiosity was piqued. “O-oh, of course, sir, what would you like us to do?” Petri asked as his expression grew tense and excited, beginning to type out something on the computer hurriedly. “Not really, sir, our only real military presence is a special reaver agent operating-” “Yes sir, they will be there momentarily” “We actually have access to an aircraft, would you prefer we- understood, sir” “Oh, s-sir, I am ashamed to admit this, but I am barred from combat due to disability- no, I am unable to operate vehicles as well.” “Yes sir, I’ll send a couple of other officers and keep in constant contact. Absolutely sir.” Petri stared at the screen for a moment. “Understood, sir, should be as soon as 10 minutes.” “Yes, a custom nokus bomber, actually.” “Yes sir, I will contact you immediately after the operation is underway.” “Thank you, sir, we will do all for mother russia.” Petri quickly pulled off the microphone headset and typed even more fervently.

“I take it I’ve got work then?” Inos asked, already running through preparations for takeoff within her head. “Some kind of dignitary that was supposed to meet with the NGR for an arms deal was sucked into a rift while flying over the atlantic and reappeared at the edge of our territory, and was almost immediately attacked by a spare group of gargoyles.” Petri quickly expounded. “His ship’s distress beacon places him about 60 kilometers south of here, close to some rural village. I’ll fill you in on any extra details as you fly, you leave immediately.” Petri glared at his screen in a deep focus as Inos started out the door and headed up the stairs. “Uh, sir, I’m fairly certain I heard something about officers accompanying me?” Inos asked as she saw petri move faster on that keyboard than ever before. “No time, you go now! Just don’t screw up, Inos, or it’s both of us on the block.” Petri grumbled, casually ignoring executive commands that would land him a court martial if it didn’t play out right. Inos was slightly surprised at the usually passive petri doing something so bold, but a promotion out of lavina was likely fueling this ambition.

Inos exited the building and approached the gunship. It was clearly a fighter jet, compact with comfortable room for 4 and cramped room for about 8, and pronounced heavy weapons affixed to it. It has dual gyro-jet and hover capabilities, offering an excellent degree of control during dogfights, but this does come at a cost to both speed and fuel efficiency. With the jobs Inos gets, she’d wish it was a lot simpler and cheaper, but aircrafts, other than low-altitude hover vehicles, are rare in russia, especially out in the sticks of Alekseyevna, so Inos deals with what she’s got. After all, if she ever did get into an airfight, she’d most surely win, against gargoyles or other gunships.

As one could surmise from its airship class, it can dispense high-impact or plasma grenades and drop them below like a bomber. There is a projectile launching function that can shoot the grenades forward, but it is less accurate and more risky, leaving it unused in Inos’s adventures so far.

Originally made for low-altitude air support, It’s also modified to carry 2 laser turrets near the cockpit, not exceptionally powerful, but useful for light evasive fighters.

The main weapon is a plasma launcher located on the nose of the ship. It deals heavy damage and is a large projectile, balanced by relatively low velocity and high energy cost. Medium armor plating covers the ship, sturdy enough to take a hit, but light enough to carry out quick bombing runs and keep up in a dogfight. The dual gyro-jets were also a modification, jets added for a drastic increase in speed along with the tight control of the base gyros. The flames of the jets would show the dark green paint that adorned the ship, as well as its deep red windows.

The landing ramp opened and Inos quickly entered into her ship, checking her instruments to make sure they were working properly. Certainly an unorthodox mission, but hey, it was exciting at least, and would likely net a good bonus. Inos was constantly saving up for upgrades, her eyes currently set on specialized hydraulics to allow for stronger leg strength, allowing leaps over even buildings. She had discussed it with the cyber doc prior, making sure it wouldn’t interfere with her base systems. Inos quickly fell into her chair in the cockpit and a bright display quickly splayed in front of her. Of course, the screen was unnecessary considering inos used an interface, but the ship was not originally designed for borgs, and inos never bothered to figure out how to disable it. Inos pressed her thumb to a port on the control board, then pulled back, her thumb sticking to the port while a thick wire spun as she withdrew her hand to her side. Inos took over controls through the borg interface easily modded into the airship, and began takeoff operations.

“Reaver Inos, please confirm communications connection.” Petri’s voice buzzed into her head. “Comin’ in clear, petri, I’m taking off as we speak.” Inos responded. “Your codename for this assignment will simply be Soldat, and your objective, the dignitary, will be referred to as Angel.” “Understood, sir.” She responded again as the hoverjets blasted on. “Note the current time is 23:17. You are to secure angel within the next 10 minutes, full speed to your destination.” The nokus lifted up into the air as inos finished takeoff preparations.

“Alright petri, if you’ve got that out of the way, I’m gonna need a little more info.” Inos stated as the nokus slowly began propelling forward off the rooftop, then exponentially gained speed and pierced the skies of the small industrial town. The main thrust kicked in and the nokus took off, rushing throughout the cloudless night sky. “Refer to me as officer for the remainder of this operation, soldat, but yes, you’re free to request intel” Petri answered, obviously distracted by the 4 reports he’s likely to be writing even while he’s overseeing the operation. “Well, I’m gonna need to know what he looks like.” Inos stated, stifling a laugh. “Just a moment... there we are.” Petri said as a picture blew up on Inos’s interface.

A thin, insidious looking man was in it, standing in conversation with someone out of frame. His skin was fair and his clothes relatively luxurious, and his stance secure and friendly. The picture of a diplomat who’s never fought a day in their life. If those gargoyles were still chasing him after the crash, there’s no way he survived.

“Sorry, the ‘benefactors’ were taking their time supplying a picture.“. “When did it crash, and what crew was it running?” Inos added as she flew faster, knowing urgency was a higher concern than refueling. “It reportedly only crashed... around 7 minutes ago, and there was only one other person aboard, angel’s attendant serving as a pilot.” Petri answered quickly. He might just make it. “Anything useful on this nearby town?” Inos probed further. “Nope, it’s maybe got a little above 100 villagers, no tech, main export is, beet crops.“.

“Yeah, one last thing I think, officer” Inos asked. “Go ahead, soldat.” “Why are we running rescue efforts for the- our ‘benefactors’? I didn’t think we were that buddy-buddy with them.” Inos asked as the ship balanced out into autopilot, allowing Inos to analyze the situation and prepare herself for the mission. “Well, I don’t feel comfortable saying too much over the line, but I’d wager our friends offered something quite tantalizing to our higher-ups if we closed out this issue easily.” Petri answered. Russians, alekseyevna most prominently, disliked the NGR and their peacekeeping intentions, trying to unite the fractured union like Romanov. Inos remained in her pre-battle trance for a bit and analyzed this strange happening further as her ship darted southward, the barren night sky wrapping around it. Her mind was always quick to race with thought, but she didn’t mind terribly. Not much else to do during her more mundane assignments, and she knew how to focus when she needed to.

“You’re about 15 kilometers from the site, soldat, prepare to land and extract angel.” Petri buzzed in her ear, prompting Inos to slowly reduce to cruise speed. Inos surveyed the ground and locked in on the ship’s distress signal. She couldn’t see it quite yet, but it was very close. The village was a little southwest from the beacon, so if angel was still alive, he certainly saw it on entry and would likely run there for sanctuary, gargoyles or not. “Approaching the site, officer, no eyes yet but beginning landing preparation.” Inos stated as she began preparing the exit ramp and lowering speed. “Very good, soldat, stay in constant contact and alert me as soon as you see it. Approach cautiously.” Petri said, waiting with bated breath.

Just then, a smoldering heap of metal followed by a trail of black peeked into Inos’s view. The ship quickly dropped in altitude and began opening up as it rapidly approached the crashed ship. A quick scan showed no conclusive evidence of any life form still here, diplomat or gargoyle. “Officer, I have eyes on site. Looks terrible. I’m surprised even the distress beacon survived the crash, I don’t like angel’s chances. No gargoyles left on site at least.” Inos informed petri.

“Investigate immediately, soldat. Inspect the site thoroughly and look for angel, his attendant, and any remaining threat. Again, be careful.” Petri responded. The nokus touched down on the cold dirt and opened up as inos retracted her thumb and left her seat. Inos grabbed a knapsack and wrapped it around her hip tightly, then grabbed a large cannon of some kind and slid it into the slidehook on her back. The weapon seemed to be a triax particle cannon, extreme heavy weapons made for taking out borgs, bots, and monsters, and one of the strongest weapons usable by anything less than a borg shocktrooper or a power/robot suit or vehicle. It had a kick strong enough to unsteady even strong borgs such as Inos, but she was used to it. The downside was, there is no convenient way to reload it. The weapon uses a specialized ammunition that is actually created within a power cell affixed to the weapon, and it’s not so much energy running out, it’s actually the power cell within wearing down and breaking due to the immense strain of such a powerful beam. You could theoretically reload it with a new power cell, but due to the make of the weapon, necessities of keeping its heavy size from being even bulkier and inconvenient, you cannot put a new power cell in without tearing half of the gun apart. The risks involved in taking apart a particle cannon and trying to put it back together perfectly without it blowing up in your face the next time you try to shoot it need no mention.

Triax does make even heavier borg cannons that can be reloaded (still longer than an active firefight will usually allow, unless you throw around millions like confetti), but due to heavy demand for personal use among partial borgs, juicers, and even the rare sturdy enough human, triax also markets rifles like this as a weapon you won’t need to reload: a heavy duty eraser gun that’ll likely get its job done before you run out of battery, and if you do, you see enough action to warrant buying a real one. A kind of tech demo that can still cost around 20,000 creds. Even with how expensive sounding it is, it sells rather well. Due to its expendable nature, it’s also a bit fragile, made of cheaper materials, meaning that the gun has a chance to become defective or entirely inoperable before its guaranteed 8 shots are spent. Inos had actually swiped it off one of those Sokolov patrols only a couple missions ago, and chose to spend one of those shots as a test round. She was very satisfied. She had carried it around with her ever since, as it fit conveniently on her back slide. It was unlikely to ever be needed, but if a fight ever came up, just flashing the thing might help to end it, and a blast surely would.

Inos quickly descended the ramp and set foot on the cold barren earth. Sad grey crags as far as the eye could see. “Officer, I have left my vehicle and will now investigate the site. I will report findings as I discover them.” Inos told petri as she began walking towards the smoky metal mess. “Proceed quickly but cautiously, we must find angel immediately.” Petri quickly reminded Inos. With the formalities out of the way, Inos turned her attention to the crashed ship. It was absolutely trashed, the ship would certainly never be operable again, much less protect any life that was in it when it crashed. Inos scanned for life again, and found absolutely none. Inos stood before the ship, still alight with sparse fires, and looked for an entry point. The former cockpit had its window smashed, but further than the pilot seat, the hull had collapsed into itself. Inos hopped in there anyways and looked around.

She couldn’t find any blood in the cockpit, likely meaning neither him or his attendant were actually in the cockpit when it crashed. Likely figuring out how to survive the crash, knowing it was too late to stop it. Inos approached the interface, sparking but without any other evident damage. She pressed her thumbjack into the port, hoping to find some uncorrupted clues on just what happened and where angel might be. Of course, it was restricted access, but even though it was a foreign operating system, Inos cracked it rather easily. The interface was mostly barren, no data was stored on it. There would usually at least be ship logs, especially if this was a business trip... strange. There’s a possibility that angel survived the crash and purged all files to avoid whatever kind of trade secrets he had getting out, which is common practice, but certainly doesn’t help him survive a gargoyle assault if his rescue team doesn’t know how to find him, or if he’s even alive.

Inos withdrew her thumb and exited the cockpit. She looked over the crash again for another entry spot while bringing up her communications. “Officer, I first investigated the cockpit and checked the ship’s data for logs or clues, but there was no blood or other evidence of angel or his attendant in the cockpit, and the ship’s memory had been wiped clean.” Inos chimed as she saw a possible entry point blocked off by part of the ship’s rudder. “It’s possible angel survived the crash and erased the memory himself to avoid intel leakage.” “Very likely, soldat, which means there’s a very good chance angel survived the crash! Now let’s just hope gargoyles didn’t get him. Investigate further into the ship. If you locate the distress beacon, there’s a chance it’s a model with an auto-recording system, maybe you can find something to help in its recording.” Petri answered as he monitored the situation with dreadful tension. He and Inos could not screw this one up.

“I’ll look for it, officer.” Inos responded as she approached the wreckage blocking her path. She quickly picked up the 250+ kilogram piece of ship and tossed it to the side. The interior was at an angle, inos had to adjust her weight distribution carefully just to avoid sliding back out. This was the main deck, the cockpit would be to her left if the roof of the ship hadn’t fell in. Inos scanned for signs of life, but again found none. She did, however, find the end of a blood splatter in her vision. She climb-walked through the doorway, but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the ship creak underneath her feet. Inos did weigh over half a ton, and the ship was falling apart. She had to make whatever she was doing quick before the ship fell on her. She looked to her right and saw the rest of the blood splatter... and its source. It was a little more than half a corpse, the legs beyond the thighs smashed into pulp by the wreckage. It wasn’t angel, it was his attendant. The rest of the corpse was horribly mangled and emptied of organs, but inos could tell not by a gargoyle, and the sharp pieces of metal scattered about the floor were easily deduced as the killing blow.

Inos scanned the corpse, just to be safe. Definitely dead, but the scan actually reported the attendant was not actually a human, rather, a very humanoid dimensional being (DB), or maybe even a mutant. The only real difference other than undecipherable genetics was a more hunched skeleton and eyes with a wider degree of vision. “Officer, I’ve located the attendant. Killed in the crash. Scans show that the attendant was a very humanoid DB or mutant, possibly enough to simply pass off as human.” Inos reported. “Also, I’ve found no blood other than what belongs to the attendant. It seems angel somehow made it out without a scratch. Will verify upon investigation completion.” She added as she realized herself. This was a horrible crash, it’s unlikely angel made it out without at least a trickle of blood. “Very good, soldat. I think we can conclude angel survived the crash, now focus on finding out where he went.” Petri responded. To inos’s left was the distress beacon, conveniently rolled down to the wall near the entrance. Inos leaned over and grabbed it before jumping out of the creaky metal mess. No need to spend any longer in that death trap. Inos looked around on the beacon, a kind of glowing cone pulsing blue, and found a small datajack port. Inos plugged in and, as petri said, there was a short 20-second video recording. Inos immediately played it.

The first frame was the side of angel’s face and his arm, his hand pressing the activation button off frame. The ship deck was in the background, shaking a bit with the attendant in the pilot seat. Klaxons constantly blared and the ship already showed signs of attack. Angel left the beacon on a table and went back to the cockpit and joined his attendant. “It’s set, rico, now we have to abandon ship!” Angel said as he grabbed a bag that resembled a parachute. Angel’s demeanor was shockingly calm and collected, moving about the cabin as if they were simply leaving a party. Just as angel demanded his attendant, the shadow of a gargoyle leapt onto the cockpit window and started smashing against it, creating a small crack after a moment. “Master, your will is my command, but I must confess-” a short pause as the ship’s weight drastically shifts to the left. The camera view slides and tumbles with it, eventually falling off the table and hitting the wall, now only capturing the ceiling. “There’s no way for me to survive this, master! Leave me and continue your work!” The attendant screamed with a shaky voice as a distinct voice read out “Low altitude warning”. “You will leave with me at once.” Angel said, in a starkly sinister but comforting tone. “Y-yes, master, I will leave now...” The attendant answered angel’s demand, some of the former emotion melted away from his voice, almost as calm as angel’s. The gargoyle’s attacks could still be heard smashing against the glass and ship plating as footsteps could be barely heard, running from the cockpit back over to the docking bay.

Some light shuffling was heard before everything came to a lurching stop and the camera view spun and flew around as the ship crashed. A sudden splatter could also be heard, along with a heavy thud and a groan. The camera had apparently landed close to rico’s body, the view showing rico’s corpse with its fresh blood painted on the ship, with no sight of angel. The view rolled along with the beacon, moving further away from his body. “No!!...” A desperate shout from angel as he was seen running to rico’s side. One last frame of mourning showed as the video concluded.

Inos had broadcast the video to petri while she was watching it, then after it concluded, sent him the file for further research. “What language was that, soldat?” Petri asked quickly. “English, sir. Would you like me to transcribe?” Inos answered quickly. “No, we have communications here, you need to search for angel immediately. We know for sure gargoyles attacked them, and we saw they were still on them up to the crash. Recover angel immediately, soldat.” Petri urged inos as she unplugged from the beacon and tossed it on the ground. “Understood sir, will look for tracks immediately.” Inos responded as she scanned the ground thoroughly. No tracks registered... inos scanned again, all around her and the ship, and still saw no tracks.

“I found no tracks, officer. Heading to the nearby village, it’s the only place he could’ve gone.” Inos reported. There should be tracks, even hovercycle pathing would show up on inos’s sensors. “Hmm, curious... go ahead and make your way there, soldat, report to me anything you find on the way, and when you get there.” Petri told inos. Inos looked around the ship one last time for some evidence of angel: a body, blood, tracks, anything, lifting up wreckage and peering to see a single drop of blood or shred of skin. But she found none whatsoever, no evidence of anybody being on this ship other than rico... Inos started towards the nearby village, questions floating around in her mind. But no time to look for answers. She can get answers from angel as soon as she finds them, that’s her priority right now. And hey, she might get to wreck some gargoyles while she was at it.

That was the only thing she liked about this job, actually getting to kill demons. Inos had no dog in the fight of the warlords, she wasn’t even a native. She may not remember why she converted, but something inside her hated and despised beasts and parasites, monsters feasting on those trying to enjoy life. Her soul wouldn’t allow her to tolerate it. The thought of getting to put down gargoyles quickened her step as she jogged through the empty barren russian landscape, ice spikes casually stabbed into the packed dirt still going strong even well into spring. She checked her weapon systems as she walked towards her target: All systems functional and optimal.

“Soldat, come in,” Petri buzzed in. “Reading you, officer, just a couple kliks out, I can see it.” Inos responded, magnifying her view towards the town in the distance. “After analyzing the video and investigating as well as we can, we believe there is something we don’t know going on. We’ve requested further intel from our benefactors, and they said this is all they could give us.” A file flashed up in inos’s view before she could get a good look at the village. There was a picture of angel, and a short file. Joseph reseda, 32, son to an american father and mexican mother. Represents Tampico oil operations, Mexico. Brought 1 attendant, a Rico reguarez, no information. And then a short excerpt on Tampico oil operations, an oil field in northern mexico. It’s heavily defended and moderately profitable.

“We can infer he’s likely unarmed, so there’s a chance he has access to magical powers. Be careful around him, but bring him back all the same.” Petri stated. Inos put the file away and returned her view to the village. Upon further inspection, inos saw obvious signs of battle. Caved in roofs, smoke rising from behind the buildings, scratch marks pocked across them. Inos started into a sprint. “Shit... Officer, village is under attack, attackers not visible but likely demons, moving in to engage.” Inos quickly stated as her heavy weight cracked and dug into the packed earth, a titan stomping towards the town. “Dammit!... Your focus is the safety and security of angel, only once he is secured may you protect the citizens!!” Petri exclaimed. Killing them will save both the citizens and angel, inos thought, no real argument there. “Understood, officer, but I recommend we send a recovery team as soon as possible.” “Yes, soldat, they’ll be on their way shortly.”

Inos slowed down as she was only about 100 feet from the town. Not a living thing in sight so far, but scars from a battle were everywhere. Magic was the only way angel got out unscathed... he’s just as dangerous as gargoyles. But I guess he’s on our side, Inos said to herself. She had nothing against magic users, just knew they could be as powerful as any borg shocktrooper. Of course, she was the minority. Most russians held ill will towards magic, the power of gypsies and demons. Brodkil used laser weapons and bionics, but somehow that’s different. Inos armed her ion blaster just in case, folding out and powering up in nanoseconds. She must’ve missed the fight... angel might not have much longer.

Inos quickly but cautiously entered the quaint village, scanning and checking constantly for any signs of life, hostile or otherwise. Just beyond the gate laid bodies of the quiet little villagers... torn into pieces and gored. “Damn it...” Inos spoke aloud, resisting the urge to lash out wildly at her surroundings, hoping a stray blast happens to hit a gargoyle somehow. While they’re busy kissing up to the NGR, people are getting slaughtered like this... where are the knights now? “It’s... not the time to grieve, soldat. We get angel back, we get better weapons, then we run it right back to them.” Petri said, trying his best to imitate grief for Inos’s tastes. But it’d do for her anger for now. She growled and continued further into the village, stepping past the bodies of men, women, and children alike. This seems gratuitous even for a gargoyle raid... it’s possible angel was fighting them here. Did he try and save these people? Or maybe he simply used them as a meat shield. No knowing til inos found him. Straw roofs covered in an amber glow from nearby flames, primitive stone walls shattered and cracked, the houses of the civilians afforded no protection.

As inos rounded a corner, she found a building caved in through its door, and the lower half of a stone gargoyle visible through the wreckage. Hot damn... angel really did fight. “Officer, I’ve got sights on a dead stone gargoyle. Looks like angel had a bit of fight in him.” Inos chimed in to petri. “That’s good. Now make sure he’s still got some in him and find him, our benefactors are getting anxious.” Petri answered. Inos approached the building and scanned the body. No life signs. She grabbed a hold of the monster’s leg and yanked it out of the rubble, sending rocks tumbling and causing the roof to collapse further, covering the area in a small blanket of dust, just before it quickly settled back into the earth. Inos surveyed its body intently, searching for whatever power killed him. After analyzing an impact crater in its abdomen, her instruments reported that it was a supernatural attack of blunt force against the creature’s abdomen, and the building falling on it dealt the killing blow. No signs of magic... inos’s magic sensors were limited to only detecting it while it was being actively used, but this was still far too fishy. “Inos, get a move on!” Petri reminded inos with an exasperated tone. Inos stood back up quickly and resumed scouting the village. Still no solid clues as to where angel might be.

A rustic well poked out of the ground, a bucket on a rope laying tossed on the ground, next to some unfortunate civilians. Inos let down her guard a bit more and proceeded faster into the destitute town, a sad shell of what it might’ve once been. More villagers laid dead, but also a couple more gargoyles, all seemingly killed by a similar heavy impact. This wasn’t making any progress... “JOSEPH! I’m a rescue effort sent by the NGR, please respond if you hear me.” Inos blasted loudly into the dead town, sending a couple small stones tumbling around her. No answer from the dilapidated empty town. Inos was taken for a moment at just how dead it was. In front of her lay dozens of families, fathers, mothers, never asking for more than a quiet life. Cotton and leather clothes, education in nothing but agriculture and economy, little knowledge of the horrors that wait to prey on them, and all too revering of the heroes they depend on. People like inos. Reavers and clansmen. This was the price of her failure, this is what she had to lose... Inos snapped out of it as her sensors isolated a vocal sensation deep into town. It was barely audible and didn’t sound like any actual words, but it did sound human. Inos began running towards the source, weapon still drawn and still scanning the roofs and skies for leftover gargoyles. She darted through the town and came to a mostly unscathed part, the source of the sound residing within a lightly damaged building, the mark of gargoyle’s claws showing they perched on this roof as the attack happened. One of their bodies laid ungracefully and twisted on the ground. If angel really was the one to trash all these gargoyles, Inos owed him a beer. “Joseph, I’m calling to you again, if you hear me, please respond for me” Inos called out again, and was instantly met with a restrained voice.

“Yes, I’m over here, I’m safe.” It responded mostly calmly. “Are you alone in there? Are you aware of any threats or survivors still present?” Inos asked as she neared the building it came from. Just another peasant building it seemed, and another dead quiet one save for the voice. Inos approached carefully regardless. “I’m alone, I’m afraid... they didn’t leave a single person alive. Something or somebody scared them off before they got me.” He answered forlornly, guilt laden in his breath. Inos swung open the door and aimed her blaster in front of her, peering around and making sure to clear the room. It was empty and barren, the residents likely grabbed what they could and escaped with what they had once the fighting took place.

Slowly, a figure crawled out from below a rickety wooden table. Inos swung her blaster at its direction and shot a few centimeters in front of its slowly advancing frame. The ion bolt quickly jumped out of the barrel and smashed into the wood with a sizzle, blasting a hole straight into the ground and leaving the surrounding area sizzling and burnt. The figure recoiled and held still. “It’s me!!” Angel replied as the hands raised in surrender. “Get out from there, slowly and with your hands visible.” Inos responded, ion blaster still trained in the direction of what’s likely angel. This was confirmed as inos saw the diplomat’s arms crawl out and his torso shortly after, lifting himself off the ground and dusting himself off. He was dressed in very similar clothes as inos saw in the picture she was supplied, there was no mistaking it, this was angel. “Do you need any medical attention?” Inos quickly asked as she scanned over angel and... nothing.

Nothing? Angel was saying something, but she wasn’t listening. Angel was standing here before her, but her scan revealed no heartbeat, no heat, no life of any kind from the being in front of her. She trained her blaster right at his heart and assumed a fighting stance, which caused angel to recoil slightly and wear a worried expression. “My scanners say you’re cold as a rock and deader than the wood on that table.” Inos was ready to let a blast off right in this thing’s chest, but couldn’t risk being too sure with such a valuable target. She backed off a pace to get out of melee range. “O-oh... well, I suppose the word must get out after all.” Angel said with hesitation and confusion. He looked to the side, seemingly in thought. “You have 3 seconds to explain before I fire.” Inos stated coldly, ready to put him down. 1. 2. “Alright, alright!!...” Angel seemed to snap back to reality.

“I’m... a psychic. What you’re reading is a false death forcefield. Nothing scared off the gargoyles, I just made them think I was dead while I hid and this poor village was laid to waste...” Angel explained, taking a seat at the table he was hiding under with guilt and anxiety riddling his face. “Nice try, but I have psionic and arcane detectors that’d be going off like crazy right now if that were the case.” Inos pointed out, not dropping her guard a centimeter. “Like I said, it’s a false death forcefield, its point is not to show up on anything. If you need evidence I’m a psychic...” Angel did nothing physical, but suddenly inos’s sensors lit up, both her life scanners, and psionic alert systems. Angel seemed very sickly health wise, but while inos’s sensors may be quite limited, she could tell the psionic power was strong.

Inos kept her weapon trained on angel, but opened up her comm channel. “Officer, I believe I’ve recovered angel alive, but I’m getting some interesting information.” Inos reported, not vocalizing the communication for angel to hear. “Yes!! That’s great soldat, you did it! What’s the info?” Petri shouted and exclaimed when he heard the news. “When I read him, he was dead and cold as dirt. Says he’s a psychic using a false death forcefield, I’ve sent you my sensor data.” Inos didn’t take her eyes off angel for a second, ready at any moment to fire at whatever that thing might be.

“Hmm... well, it’s interesting, but I’m certain he’s telling the truth. Thank you for being particular, soldat, but he checks out. Bring him back just as planned.” Petri answered, seemingly brushing off the very strange and dubious news. Too focused on pleasing higher ups, but he’s probably right. Inos lowered her weapon, still keeping it drawn. “I suppose that makes enough sense. Cmon, we’ve gotta get going, I’m sure the... ‘people you’re meeting with’ are getting antsy.” She said as she walked toward angel to examine him further. Still no injury visible on him. “Whew. Thank you for believing me, at least. Just... please don’t tell them about my, ability. No reason to, it’d be just as well to leave it alone...” He pleaded as he relaxed a bit and brushed himself off. “That’s not for me to decide, my superiors will decide what they want to do with that information.” Inos answered succinctly, approaching the front door.

Angel sighed with a forlorn look. “I suppose all I can ask is that, well, you ask them to make the right decision?...“. “Look, sir, this whole thing? Reeks. I was sent here as a last resort, I’m lower class.” Inos whipped her head back towards angel and explained. “This is very much a classified event that I’m only privy to because there was no other choice. So, I know my place in this operation, and it is not one that affords recommending my superiors on how to proceed.“. Angel moved his head in a motion vaguely reminiscent of a nod and looked off to the side. “If they ask, which they won’t, I’ll tell them to let it go. That’s all I can do for you. Now let’s get out of here.“.

“Yes, I suppose that’s fair enough. I’ll handle it if it comes to that.” Angel responded in the familiar calm manner inos had heard from the beacon. Inos swung the sad cold wooden door open back into the ravaged country town, a sight she had not missed. It was hard to contain her anger knowing he had just hid while these people, not involved in anything, were torn apart as his meat shield. If for some reason she had a chance to influence how to proceed with the fact angel’s a psychic, she’d certainly make sure word got out. Honest words are wasted on such selfish cowards.

Inos kept a very close eye on angel as he slowly walked through the door into the ruined town. He took another look around, not seeing it since he ducked in and hid, and... seemed only mildly perturbed. Bastard. Inos trudged on, trying her best to stop herself from looking at all the victims of the gargoyles’ rampage. Inos was reminded of the gargoyle corpses sparsely strewn about the town. “So, you did those?” Inos asked sternly as she slowed her step, waiting for angel to catch up. “Oh, yes... I tried my best, but, after expending so much energy I was getting terribly vulnerable...” Angel seemed hesitant to answer. It didn’t make up for everything he left behind, Inos stated angrily in her head. At least it made Inos’ job easier that he made it through the attack... a faint chime played on her sensors as they walked across the barren town. Inos extended her arm to halt angel as she analyzed it. Both her pulse and motion sensors were reading a very faint signal from a modest house on the edge of town, perpendicular to their path back to the nokus. “Hold up, I’ve got something on the sensors. Something faint, but slowly moving. Could be a survivor, or a remaining threat.” Inos spoke to angel as her view was filled with the data coming from her sensors. The pulse was low, on death’s door for a human, but less so for a monster like a gargoyle. It was only moving a few kliks an hour, faintly in the direction of Inos and angel.

“So uh, how do we proceed?” Angel asked as he stood behind Inos’ vanguard, observing the foreign color palette russia had stained upon it since the cataclysm. To call all of russia a sad stark tundra may have been hyperbole before the cataclysm, but it sure fit the bill now. “We go investigate it.” Inos stated quickly and coldly. There would be no question there if you had a goddamn spine left in you, she wanted to add. Her ion blaster instantly folded out with a click and a slight hiss and her aura shifted to critical vigilance. “Don’t stray a single meter from me and keep an eye out.” Her words cut through her previously lax attitude.

She covered ground quickly as angel tried to keep up, their bodies displacing the biting near-midnight air of the russian turflands. Inos slowed as they reached only 10 meters away from the source. The air was dead silent as Inos and angel halted still in front of the tall rural house of stone and sticks, nothing to denote any life within other than the ping of Inos’ sensors. “Stick with me, close.” Inos told angel as she raised her arm into a firing stance. “Um, shouldn’t I remain out here, away from whatever that is?” Angel asked. “Maybe... but it’s also likely it’s safer with me in case this is a trap, stealing you as soon as I walk through the door. Or that it makes a quick move and escapes outside, right where you are.” Inos answered. “I assure you, I can handle myself against anything that may impede us.” Angel retorted. “Well then, you should be fine sticking with me, shouldn’t you?” Inos answered quickly as she yanked his hand and advanced forward, under the awning of the 2 floor building.

“My, your ice-cloaked land has dulled your peoples’ sense of warm hospitality...” Angel said disdainfully, wiping his hand on his robes. Inos whipped around and pointed a thick, heavy metal digit into the diplomat’s face. “These people just all died to keep you safe, you son of a bitch rat! That’s more hospitality then you’d ever deserve.” She raised her voice, her eyes brightened and glaring straight at him. He looked indignant and upset for just a moment, before sighing and returning to his resting expression. “You’re right, I apologize. Let’s get this over with and head back, I’m sure we’d both rather have me somewhere else.“. Inos glared at him for another moment before returning her hand to her side and turning back to her sensors, indicating it was still in the same position it was before she yelled at him. They must’ve alerted it, whatever it was.

“Soldat, come in, it’s been a while since your last report, any developments?” Petri suddenly chimed in. “Yes officer, apologies, we’re both still safe, investigating something that’s come up on my sensors, possible survivor or threat, dealing with it in case it had plans to cause problems for us later.” Inos answered succinctly. “Soldat, your priority is the safety of angel, do not under any circumstance jeopardize it.” Petri stated slowly and calmly, knowing that Inos wouldn’t on purpose, but her inquisitive, careful nature mixed with her itchy trigger finger could land them in trouble. “Just making sure nothing or nobody tails us, officer.” Inos answered as she approached the riveted wooden door of the house. Upon further inspection, it was already slightly ajar. Petri let out a frustrated sigh. “Please be careful, Soldat.” is all he had left to say.

Sensors indicate it’s on the second floor. Audio’s picking up a very low grumbling sound. Inos slowly opened the old door without a sound and signaled to angel to keep the silence unbroken. He seemed to understand it and stepped lightly behind the hulking borg. They both advanced into the empty stone building. Everything was knocked over and around with scratch marks on the walls, but no blood visible anywhere. Audio was still providing the same low grumble. Evidence was very inconclusive on if it was a survivor or enemy. Inos and angel slowly inched their way to the stairs. Inos glared at the wooden stairs and the modest woodwork of the second floor visible from the first. It definitely wouldn’t support Inos’s weight, not for longer than a couple seconds at least. Angel looked at Inos confused, likely not realizing the quandary her mechanical frame presented. Inos shook her head at him and looked inward, deep in thought. Maybe it’s just as well they leave it alone... she took a step back from the stairs and reevaluated her options. “What is it?” Angel asked. Inos ignored him as she kept thinking to herself. Only one solution seemed safe enough, albeit awkward and extreme.

“Stay here next to the stairs. I’ve gotta go about it another way.” She told angel as she backed away towards the middle of the house. Angel almost asked again, but Inos quickly raised a finger in front of her face, reminding him to keep quiet. She reached for something from her belt and pressed a button on it, unfolding a small energy blade. Even out in the russian sticks, it was still commonplace for soldiers to carry diminutive energy sidearms and tools. She analyzed the wood, running a hand across it lightly. Her data gave her a spot with increased pressure and a rough radius of said area under pressure. Unfortunately, it seemed the pressure was excessive for most human body types. Angel slowly understood the situation, but was more fixated on just how ridiculous a solution it must be.

Inos stood under the wooden floor for another moment, then swiftly raised her arm and slowly slid the laser blade into the aged wood. Her instruments had not predicted, however, how aged. Just a split moment of silence and surgical precision, then the upstairs floor dramatically splintered and collapsed, passing the burden of carrying the nearly-unconscious flesh gargoyle on top of Inos.

Angel collapsed backwards, narrowly avoiding the maelstrom of wood and dust that had overtaken the downstairs. Screeches suddenly exploded from the eye of the storm, the bloodied gargoyle’s fight or flight response sharply rousing it from its desperate rest. It wasn’t technically a gargoyle, a fellow flighted sub-demon welcomed to the flock, along with its sister species, named by the commoners as “Flesh” and “Stone” gargoyles respectively. They refer to the normal gargoyles as “True” gargoyles, and all three have been shortened to Plotya, Kamya, and Pravya. Luckily, plotya and kamya are closer to a gurgoyle than an actual gargoyle, plotya averaging at a forgiving 3 meters, and kamya at an unfortunate 4. This is of course unique to the rural area near the southern border of alekseyevna’s territory, dialects of other regions likely refer to them properly as the minion comrades of gargoyles, not their kin.

This difference gave some confidence to Inos as she quickly reacted by grabbing the flailing monster’s leg and tail and grappled it backwards, away from angel. A moment’s scan noted this creature suffered the same injury as the rest of the gargoyles. It lashed out wildly, now aware flight was not an option, swinging its right leg to swipe Inos with its talons, unsuccessfully. It flailed its arms violently in an attempt to orient itself, one long clawed hand latching onto the floor, the other fruitlessly smashing the debris to the side looking for something sturdy to cling to. It groaned resentfully, its adrenaline only doing so much to alleviate its terrible pain from its nearly fatal injury. Inos summoned more of her unnatural strength in a powerful yank backwards, bringing the debilitated beast right in front of her.

Her hand quickly slipped off of its demonic spaded tail, just for a moment, to bring her arm up, then smash her elbow down onto its sternum. The beast spasmed as whatever organ akin to a spine it had was annihilated with megaton force. The plotya let go of its grasp on the ground to begin ferally scratching and screeching at the ground, knowing its end was imminent, its horrid mind knowing no value of dignity in face of final death. In its frantic scurry, the violent form of prayer known to demons and beasts in their last moments, it swiped at a splintered length of wood, scattering its shards like shrapnel towards the man huddled next to the staircase.

Two hisses were heard at this moment; the nearly imperceptible hiss of Inos’s actuaters crashing her foot into the plotya’s head, popping it like a grape instantly, covering the debris of the dilapidated house in its tainted essence. The other hiss was much more grave and abnormal, as Inos quickly turned her sights to angel. He was sitting in the corner, reeling from the creature’s death throw, a small sort of splinters embedded in his left forearm and leg. But what worried Inos was the feral, demonic hiss coming from him, the unnatural skin color and aura he was now cloaked in, and his now bared fangs. As if it wasn’t telling enough, the flesh that was only cut by the wood instead of pierced, healed instantly before Inos’s eyes.

Inos drew her ion blaster instantly, sliding out her particle cannon in tandem, and held angel up at gunpoint. Angel was wholly unaware of Inos’s advance, instead hissing further as he quickly and painfully ripped out each earthen shard and hatefully cast them aside. He then yelled angrily, again without looking at inos, and struck the floor to his side in anguish. The force from his strike smashed the floor into splinters with even more strength than the plotya. “What kind of monster are you?” Inos stated slowly and deadpan, alerting angel to her armed weaponry. Angel closed his eyes for a moment, notably calming himself. Inos was just one errant twitch away from smiting whatever abomination laid in front of her, and her hesitation to pull the trigger was fast dissolving.

“Please, I know it seems strange, but don’t worry!” He stated in his slow, particular, calm voice. As he did, his eyes opened slowly and softly. They now looked... radiant. Glowing. Safe, and soft. Bright and gentle. Comforting. They showed something Inos had desired for so, so long, something unknown but terribly vital. Her grasp became incredibly weak and she visibly faltered in front of him. “I’m just a psychic! We’re quite strange and foreign. Now, no need to take any longer, you need to get back to your duty, defending this country. And getting your sizable bonus for a job so well done, of course.” Angel soothed her with a slow, deliberate, conducted voice. His voice was a uniform tapestry, promising nothing but knowledge and comfort. His voice sounded so confident, so sure of the future, that no terror would dare conduct itself within the schedule laid out in his speech. Assurance. “You can use that bonus to better defend this land, ensure you have the abilities to save this world from evil.” Angel continued as he slowly stood up and carried himself in an open, safe manner. Inos couldn’t betray his expectation of peace like that... She lowered her weapons and withdrew to a more reserved stance. “Sorry about the hostility... we don’t exactly... have psychics in russia.” She said slowly, to match his slow comfy tempo.

Angel gave a slight chuckle with a perfectly calm smile. “That’s perfectly fine, my good friend, I’m always happy to broaden people’s horizons.“. He responded jovially and began walking over the mess of the townspeople house. Seeing him just walk over that debris and death... a very small doubt sprung into Inos’s mind. Inos didn’t think about it, though. She just followed his steps out of the debris and back into the town. It suddenly seemed a bit brighter... but there was still death everywhere. Angel saw her look at the gore and destruction and slowly walked over to lay his hand on her shoulder and comfort her. It had been so long since anybody had even touched her without some kind of malicious intent... “This won’t happen again, Inos, we won’t let it.” “You’re right... I’m going to protect them, angel.” She said as she looked into the distance at nothing and reflected on herself. “Angel?” He asked. “Oh, right, sorry. That’s your codename for this...” As she explained it her mind returned to her usual objective-focused mood. And this attitude hated something about this situation. “Ah, right! That makes sense, apologies!” Angel spoke in a slightly louder but even more joyful voice. Inos snapped back to angel and fell back into his aura. “Anyways, how about we finally get out of here? Lead the way, please.” Angel asked politely, even with a microscopic curtsey. Inos was quick to oblige, and began walking back out of town towards the nokus. Angel followed close, making gentle small talk throughout.

A little under 15 minutes had passed, the nokus now slightly perceptible in Inos’s far scope. It only took Inos about 6 to get here from the nokus before, but she had no reason to rush like before. Inos was plodding along without a thought, entranced in angel’s new aura. She just wanted to get back and relax. “I’m glad they chose you for this assignment, Inos, even if they were forced to. I don’t know if any others would’ve been so capable.” Angel added as they walked a comfortable pace. “Thanks” She responded without much thought or effort. Something had started to become apparent to her. She wasn’t thinking. Was there something she’s supposed to think about? The operation’s a success, everything was fine, wasn’t it?... Something felt unexplained. “So, angel, everything uh, turn out good in the end?” She asked, hoping his magical voice could soothe her curious heart. “I’d say so, friend. I only wish my attendant had survived this ordeal as well...” Angel answered with a thick layer of sorrow that strangely only added to his smooth speech, dark chocolate drizzled on the cake. That’s right, his attendant was crushed in the crash... but, didn’t somebody else get hurt? Inos steps slowed for a moment as she thought critically. That’s right, the town they had come from, it was annihilated! Did he feel bad about that?... No... no he didn’t.

Inos’s step quickly caught back up, not wanting to draw attention. Why didn’t he care? Inos didn’t like him. Inos realized this feeling she felt was not of comfort... but of losing control, responsibility. There was something wrong with him. He wasn’t- It suddenly hit her. He wasn’t human. He was a creature, a beast, a monster. One that stepped on others for self preservation. He had tricked Inos. Whatever monster he is, no knowing how soon he would catch on that Inos broke the hypnosis. Inos patched together an instant analysis as her body prepared for combat. Psychic powers. Unnatural strength. Weak physically? Too much was unknown, but she didn’t have a second to spare. She spun around in an instant, planting her feet in the cold packed dirt, her weapon rail sliding out the particle cannon. No hesitation came to her movement, no thought of petri and the clan. Angel had time to look shocked, but not for anything more.

Inos instantly discharged 3 blasts from her ion blaster dead center, obscuring her view of her target in a haze of smoke and radiant heat. As the third shot landed, her particle cannon reached her open hand, gripping the trigger tight and expelling a powerful blast of energy, a beam of dark violent hues erupting from its barrel and piercing the haze the ion blasts had left, and the sound of it forcing itself against a solid object. The beam continued projecting for a short moment, then the cannon finally powered down and the beam dissolved until it was a wink of light, then ended. But even then, Inos could see angel. He was standing there. Arms tensed at his sides. Legs dug into the ground, stopping him from being flung away by the blast of the cannon. A large gaping hole in his robes, but flesh all the same underneath, no damage, no singe marks, nothing. He looked utterly disappointed. He cleared his throat with a growl and looked back at Inos, the glow in his eyes mostly gone, and what left had turned red and vile. Beyond that, his eyes looked lost and dead. “Foolish. Simply, foolish.” Angel responded as he stared her down. Psychic field or ungodly durable, his steadfast resistance shook Inos’s resolve. “It’s always uppity rats like you that don’t know their place in the order of things.” His voice had been revealed, condescending, unapologetic, insidious, with the disturbing charisma of a great leader. “Those upset with their fate as cattle, attempting to become something stronger by their own meager means.” He added, taking a dramatic step towards Inos.

Inos shot another ion blast at him the moment he advanced, painting another coat of white hot light onto his head. She watched her sensors carefully when she fired, revealing there was no telekinetic energy when he walked through the blast and continued talking with no visible damage to him. He also still appeared dead and ice cold. There was no other explanation for what he could possibly be: A vampire. A beast yet encountered within post-cataclysm russia, but well known around the world, and held in disturbing legends within the tundra. “A vampire?...” She said aloud, aware no weaponry she had could possibly harm him if what little info she knew was true. She slid her particle cannon back but kept her ion blaster drawn, just as a fleeting feeling of safety in the face of something so prolifically evil.

“Haha, so more of you do know of our legacy... no matter.” He let his fangs extend and Inos saw in her peripherals his nails extend into short claws. “I’m going to rip whatever pitiful scrap of humanity you have left out of that embarrassing shell” He cackled as he taunted her, the evil glare in his barren eyes pulsing with malevolent, eldritch will. “H-how would you get away with it?” Inos accidentally asked out loud, slowly stepping backwards and desperately analyzing any data she had on hand that could possibly help her overcome such a foe. “I only need to convince one of your superiors that you were a traitor, the rest of your fellow insects will easily fall in line. After all, I’m the important one. You’re just some revolting metal merc.” He explained as condescending as possible, slowly advancing with a taunting smile. “I tire of talking to meat in a can.” He added as his pace quickened slightly. Inos stood her ground with a harsh aura about her, not knowing what else to do. She hadn’t run away from monsters before, and even though she was outclassed her instincts kept her stalwart.

“Fear stay your feet? Or maybe your circuits’ve fizzled out, RUSTER!” Angel dashed forward as he shouted, his hand outstretched with claws poised to pierce. Inos could think of nothing to put herself in advantage as he immediately closed the distance, and instinct took over. She sidestepped to the right as he leaned in with a ferocious claw attack aimed at her waist, and instantly retaliated with a sudden knee to his chest, then an instant follow-up with a straight punch to his pale-skinned jaw. The impact was solid and brutal, Inos applying enough force to splatter a human along the grey crags. Angel was knocked back a few inches when met with Inos’s hardened knee, accompanied with a surprised groan, and reeled backwards after Inos delivered her heavy handed straight. Even so, he simply chuckled and slowly turned to face her again, not phased in the slightest, his skin just as smooth and unblemished as before.

“Mmm, quite the hand you’ve got there, but I suppose you humans have always specialized in making simple heavy objects to bash eachother with.” The words slithered out of his mouth as if his voice was dubbed over, his incredibly violent and hateful aura contrasting his aristocratic demeanor. Inos didn’t listen to a word he said and quickly threw a right hook right down towards his temple. His hand flew up and caught her fist, his wretched fingers encircling her hand. Inos shook with effort in the ensuing struggle, applying as much energy as possible to overpower his grasp and deliver the attack, angel using only a measure of his ungodly strength to stand there idly and spread his wicked smile as his grasp tightened and revealed his superiority in strength. Nothing infuriated Inos more than seeing this demonic politician, untrained and unskilled, mock her as he deflected her blows and overwhelmed her state of the art strength.

She lifted her leg for a brutal kick right to his ribs, but then his other hand flew with incredible speed right to catch it on its path, then swung her off her feet and pounced on top of her in the same moment. Her head bounced off the ground as her metal-heavy body dug a depression into the dirt. Angel spared no time, baring his fangs in an evil display before attempting to sink his horrid teeth into Inos’s neck. Regardless of blood to drink or humanity to turn, a violent tearing of the neck could easily sever Inos’s head from her body, death via decapitation. She clutched his throat before he could make contact, eliciting a groan of frustration from the vampire as her grasp forced pressure around his neck enough to turn stone into powder. She took great delight in watching his face twist in annoyed anguish as she held his gaping maw back like a rabid dog, and the feeling of squishing his putrid undead flesh under her fingers.

Before she could attempt to turn the tables with the advantage, angel stopped trying to pry her fingers from his throat and instead cut a swathe across her chestplate with his honed claws. Thin metal shavings peeled off of her chest from his attack. They flew off his hand as he immediately balled his fist and struck her chest with a violent fervor. Inos’s sensors started flaring from the horrifying impact, digging Inos’s body further into the dirt with its unholy force and unsettling clang against her reinforced chest. She finally found her footing and shot up to one knee before peeling the monster off her frame, delivering another scratch along her forearm as she did, and hatefully pitched his wretched corpse at a nearby ice spike, now reduced by the spring’s warmth back to an ice sheet covering an old dead tree. Angel shattered the ice and flew through the thick tree, offering an incredibly satisfying crack and crash as the dark creature tumbled on the ground past the shattered pillar.

Inos began sprinting immediately back towards the nokus, desperate to find something within her ship that could manage to damage a vampire. Her leaden feet smashed into the ground as she escaped the monster. The vamp sprung back up nearly as soon as he finished tumbling, then dug both of his claws into the soil, his skin becoming incredibly pale until it was white as snow, then fibers sprung out into hair. In just a few seconds, the monster morphed from vampire into a wolf, sheathed in white fur and predatory intent. It ran towards Inos unnaturally quick, but still much less than her advanced bionics gave her. Inos had a top speed of over 165 kph, more than enough to put considerable distance between her and angel.

As she was sprinting towards the nokus, she was suddenly reminded of petri, and her job as a whole. She deliberated for a moment if it was better to tell him or not, a lot could go wrong if she did. But there wasn’t any good way this pans out if she didn’t end up telling petri, and no better time than the present when she’s got some distance from angel. As she ran away, she remembered she had tossed him through a tree, and earlier he endured great pain from wooden shards. Inos had heard of stakes being used to kill vampires, but perhaps all kind of wood hurt them on contact, or at least when sharply stabbed into them? There was no way Inos would leave angel to escape, and even if there was, she would be returning without her target and without upholding her duty as a reaver. She’d be lucky to only be discharged. He’d slowly catch up.

“Petri, you still there?” Inos buzzed in while still thinking of what she was actually going to say. “What the hell did you call me that for!? What is it, soldat?” Petri answered angrily at first. He slowly realized something must be wrong and became more receptive, and anxious. “I have extensive and conclusive evidence that angel is a vampire, I’m sending you the data now, I’ve engaged with him and I need some intel on how to kill a vamp.” Inos expounded quickly through Petri’s “what?”s and “slow down”!s. Petri hushed as the info finished uploading, and just as the nokus poked through the black night horizon. Inos’s sensors weren’t picking up any activity behind her, but not like that meant anything, angel had proven already he wouldn’t come up on there if he didn’t want to.

“I-inos, what the hell...” Petri answered slowly and sadly, washing over all the audio, video, and data that spelled out the truth painfully simply. “Petri, give me some help, now, he’s still on me! How do you kill a vampire!?” Inos repeated insistently. She wished her life was in somebody else’s hands, but she just got the proverbial short straw. “I’m... going to report this to nyguyev, he’s in charge, he’ll tell you how to proceed...” Petri sounded entirely lost and defeated. He was hopelessly out of his element. “Just make it quick, petri, he’s fast.” Inos told him as she neared her ship and sent it the open signal. It folded out its accessway as Inos slowed her pace as to not stomp the ship floor into bits.

She quickly ascended the ramp as she scanned the nokus for a single trace of wood. She only knew of 2 things that could harm a vampire: Wood, and garlic. Clearly, a full convert had no reason to keep garlic aboard her ship. Nothing aboard her ship hinted at anything even remotely organic. She tossed bags around, tossed open compartments, even looked through her tools and weapons for a hint of wood. Anything that looked wooden was just fake plastic. Ironic considering it took more effort making plastic nowadays than it did wood. Even with all of the cheap crap handed to her by the clan, there wasn’t a single wood chip to be found. She should’ve just stuck around at the tree she smashed earlier. She cursed herself for not realizing his weakness sooner.

She zipped around back at the entry ramp and jumped out of the ship, cracking the ground with her weight. She issued a remote-pilot subroutine she had made herself to the nokus, causing it to retrieve its ramp and begin taking off. It would find a nearby elevation and land on it if it were safe, awaiting Inos’s signal to return to her location. She didn’t want to risk wrecking the nokus, or letting angel get his hands on it even if he did take her down. She stood there alone in the blackened cold, ship gone, the only light the nearby dying flames of Angel’s ship. Inos stared at the horizon in the opposite direction, scanning for any disturbance.

She engaged her motion sensor and opened her range for her audio receptors, trying her best to nullify the light crackles of the neighboring wreckage. Inos’s motion sensor was much more military in purpose and utility than typical ones, more akin to a sonar fixated on reporting and noticing disturbances and movement in the local environment. Its execution made the user need to stand perfectly in place for at least a couple moments, 10 seconds minimum, to get a control map of the area, to a maximum of 30 meters. Then the user may move, but movement causes lagging and inaccuracy, and it is ideal if the user stays motionless. Inos flashed on her pitch black camo and slowly, with light feet as possible, retreated to a depression nearby and laid flat.

She didn’t know what she’d do if she saw angel again, but she had no choice but to stand her ground against him. He had managed to scratch her armor with just his hideous claws... it’d take a dragon hatchling to accomplish the same. She was scrambling for some kind of plan... maybe vampires were vulnerable to open flames? The fires had mostly died out by now, though. Holy water also comes to mind, but obviously Inos had none. She was just, laying on the ground, exposed, and nothing to use against him other than her frame. And although she could beat him down, there’s no way she can stop him from getting back up again.

“Soldat.” Petri suddenly spoke up, almost startling Inos. “Petri, my savior! I almost forgot, gimme something!” Inos answered happily, already anticipating the ways she’d rid the earth of this cretin. The conversation didn’t distract her surveillance, her autonomous system was reliant enough to cross-reference her data and report a discrepancy. Naturally it’d be very sensitive and likely to “over report”, but activity would be depressively low in the empty tundra. There was a worrying pause after Inos answered petri.

“Soldat... command has decided to tolerate the vampire.” Petri struggled to force the words out of his throat. Inos took a moment to hear it again. She replayed it again in her head, and it still sounded the same. Not even a reflexive “What?” came from her. Petri didn’t dare say another word as she took it in. “What do you mean... tolerate?” She stated slowly, with boiling hatred seething underneath the surface. “If I hear anything other than tolerate til the sunrise wipes him off the face of the earth, petri.” Inos added, pressuring petri for an answer. “This command comes straight from our superior officer in alekseyevna, Nyguyev.” Petri answered robotically, ironically enough, considering who he was talking to. “I don’t care who the hell said something so stupid!” She yelled at him vehemently, preparing for a violent tangent of defamation and desertion. Petri continued his statement, seemingly unphased. “Our orders are to deliver him directly to the NGR and use him as a mole, getting everything we want out of him by blackmailing him with our knowledge.”

“Petri, you... you WEAK FUCKING PISSANT!!” Inos remained in restless silence out in the tundra, but her shouting at petri almost blew out his speakers back at base. “Inos, think with your head, goddamnit! This is an order approved by alek himself, we have no place or choice to resist this!” Petri pleaded with her... he was already beginning to tear up. If Inos didn’t play along with him, he’d be dishonorably discharged... and likely worse, excommunicated from the country. But he knew Inos too well. She wouldn’t back down from this. He knew. “You’re the perfect clansmen, petri, shut up and follow orders, huh?” He lamented this situation. He had no power left in it. Unless, he sacrificed his integrity for it. “Inos, please, I... do this, for me, finish the mission, for me.” He pleaded. “You tell me how to kill this monster right now, petri, or after I’m done with him, I’m going to come right for you, either my hands around your throat or my audio logs about your lying to ‘mastermind’ Nyguyev.” Inos pressured petri further. Petri was just a normal officer... how was he expected to handle this? He played the only card he had left.

“Reaver Inos.” His voice shook, the last warmth of his heart dissolving, leaving only a desperate cold husk. “I am formally charging you with treason against the clan, intent to obstruct and endanger sensitive operations, and desertion.” Inos laid there in the cold hands of her foster mother, the silent country, taking in every wretched word she heard. People like petri, nyguyev, especially alek. They didn’t deserve to live in this land. They were depended on to save russia and her people. They had forgotten that, likely long long ago. “You and your ship’s ID numbers will no longer be valid, and you will be apprehended on sight.” Petri let his lips talk for him as he focused more on his paperwork, slowly dismantling everything Inos had held within the clan. “If you choose to reconsider and bring angel and yourself to the capitol city and turn yourself in, your sentence will be heavily reduced.”

Inos laid there, remembering everything petri was and is. She knew, all along, that it’d happen down the line. She had always held out hope down the line she could finally bring him over, back to what mattered, their duty to the people. Petri cracked under the pressure after all. He was already sending 2 additional reinforcement teams to take over the operation, and escort angel safely back to the NGR. Funny enough, he would’ve already caught her if he had ever sent that relief team he promised for the village. “Petri... I hope you wake up from these pathetic politics one day.” She calmly and slowly said her last words to somebody she hoped could one day be her friend. “But I know, the demons you’re defending will feast on your sad little corpse before then. Take comfort in knowing it’ll be the way you pay the world back for what you’ve done.” Inos finished her farewell, then closed her comm channel.

This was it. She no longer had a place in the knight’s ranks. Alek’s men would make sure Russia no longer had a home for her, at least in his sphere of control. Maybe she’d try to defect to Sodalenko or Romanov. She had heard nothing but good things, even in the distasteful tone of envy that alekseyevna troops spoke in regarding other clans. Her sensors hadn’t picked up any movement or sign of life nearby, in fact, the only report was a lack of wildlife, apparently to a degree even uncommon to this area, and an uncalled for thin pocket of fog approaching. Inos’s scans also gave her an idea of the local topography, a small plateau a few kliks to the east, where the nokus is likely hiding, and a light nearby stream, still frozen over on the top but still moving underneath.

Maybe Inos would die here. The thought seemed only now to finally occur to her. Abandoned by her clan, chased by an unkillable undead. The future didn’t seem too bright, but Inos wasn’t thinking too hard about all that. She just wanted to kill angel. Everything after would fall into place, she felt like. She knows she could easily run back to the tree she found earlier and grab a chunk of sharp wood from it, but then angel would know she’s armed and might escape with some yet unforeseen ability. Then again, there’s a good chance he had already escaped... Inos’s plan wasn’t a very good one. She’d have to work on her planning under pressure. The fog had almost passed over as she kept looking for a sign of him. The flames from the crashed ship were now fully silenced, and Inos felt steadily more foolish as time passed. She knew reinforcements would be here soon. Even though they likely won’t have high fliers at high speeds like the nokus, Inos’s stakeout was giving them plenty enough time. This land was no longer hers to live in.

She slowly brought herself up to a knee, when an alarm tripped on her surveillance protocols. The fog behind her was disappearing... no, condensing. She whipped around to look behind her, as right behind her the mist was sucked into a vacuum-like center. She jumped backwards, distancing herself a few meters from the reforming mist. Within seconds, it took on the same striking shape of the vampire. Inos could already hear his insidious condescending chuckling. “What did you have to gain by staying here, ruster?” She wish she never had to hear that voice again. “I just like these talks we have, joseph, gives me a peak into what I’ll be dealing with down the road.” Inos answered his provocation, staring him down just as he was staring at her, his eyes piercing the reforming mist with a dark red ire. “Your road has already ended, sow.” He returned at her, his horrid flesh returning to his humanoid form.

Inos still didn’t have a single move to make. Maybe she could coax something out of him with his taunting... “Shame you things don’t burn so good. I wouldn’t mind tossing you into a bonfire and seeing you writhe and scream.” She slowly backed up as he slowly advanced, trying to keep her distance until she had a plan. “It’d be much faster to watch your shell melt down and see your disgusting brain pop like a kernel before even ash clings to my skin, vermin.” He snarked back at her, answering her hidden question. “You’ve made a mistake following me here.” She planted her foot in the dirt violently and awaited his opening move, knowing he was already tired of talking. “Do you really think there’s any way out of this for you?” Angel asked, stopping in place and glaring at Inos. His form had now finally returned fully, robes and all. She could tell he was genuinely asking, and she wasn’t sure of the answer herself. She didn’t answer.

She got a feeling, standing there, looking at the seething amalgam of evil, hunted by humans, in the dead of night in an empty tundra, that the world had suddenly decided it wanted rid of her. That she had latched onto life for far too long, and her unnatural extension was to end tonight. If so... she’d repay her debt. The notion that her life ended tonight seemed only to bolster her resolve, no longer scared of the horrid aura the monster was giving off. She’d take him flailing to hell with her.

“It’s unfortunate a poor soul like you could never accept our gift” Angel said as he stood there, returning to his pompous but “friendly” voice. He then took a breath with a light hidden chuckle, and blinked. When his eyes opened, they had returned with the same incandescent glow from before. However, the light didn’t reach the borg’s video receptors. Instead it glow upon her chest harmlessly, leaned forward in running form, and her heel flying through the air. He had no time to parry or dodge the attack. A charging spin kick right to his forehead sent him collapsing backwards on the ground as Inos returned to form quickly. She picked up her foot, but the vampire easily rolled out of the way before she could stomp it back down onto him. He jumped up to his feet with a heinous growl and dove back towards her with his fangs bared and his arms extended. Inos picked her foot back up and kicked the ravenous advancing beast right in his chest. Angel’s feet dug into the dirt as he held his ground, catching the full force of her kick with his chest, then quickly latching his arms around her calf. Her attempts to yank her foot free from its grasp was unsuccessful.

He tightened his grip further, then picked up the hulking borg by the foot and shoulder tossed her into the ground. Another colossal depression was smashed into the dirt, most of the impact landing against Inos’s back chestplate. He dove onto the prone borg, then planted one foot callously on her midsection, then the other into the dirt beside her. His hands tightened painfully around her knee, then suddenly jerked forwards, forcing her leg into a vulnerable position. Too much pressure, and the joint’d simply snap and her leg would fall off entirely. She resisted with all of her robot strength, resisting his unholy force, but only for so long as more and more pressure would tear through her suspension. She couldn’t get a foothold, and the amount of pressure to keep her on her back from just one foot on her stomach still shocked Inos.

She switched her plan and swung her left foot to sweep the creature’s balance. Her heavy metal foot smashed against angel’s ankle, making him buckle, but not fall. She quickly followed up with a kick to his hands, smashing against his knuckles in an attempt to scrape them off. This time, she was successful, applying incredible amounts of torque exceeding angel’s vice grip around her knee. His fingers slowly peeled off as he groaned and grunted angrily, trying to squeeze tighter with his other hand to compensate and keep his advantage. His nails clawed along Inos’s shin guard as his hand slid off. She took the chance and kicked angel again in the ribs, colliding against the wretched undead and pushing him slightly with her force.

With the added momentum she pushed herself off of the ground, freed her leg from his grasp, and jumped on top of angel all in one movement. The surprise, momentum, and incredible weight of her frame was too much for angel all at once, toppling him and planting Inos right on top of him. Her hands instantly wrapped around angel’s wrists and tightened as strongly as possible, allowing him to only struggle slightly against her. Her knee firmly planted on his chest also kept her out of his bite range. In just one moment, she had rendered the demon helpless and weak against her superior abilities. A grin would be spread across her faceplate if possible, but she settled for staring him in the eyes as he struggled fruitlessly to overpower her current position. With enough time of course, his super strength would overpower her, but his tolerance for accepting her restraint was nonexistent. He snarled ferociously and a red hot hate flared in his eyes.

He withdrew his strength and let the borg have her small victory, then suddenly bright red energy flared in his right hand. Inos didn’t need to read her sensors to realize angel was conjuring a potent magical attack. She’d rather keep the tactical advantage she currently had looming over his horrid corpse, but she knew not to stare a magic vortex in the face, no matter how much industrial armor’s put between her and it. She leapt backwards up off of him, propelling herself off his chest. He took a wide swipe at her as she escaped, but it just narrowly missed her shin guard. She landed a few paces back from where angel now stood. A bright red glow now encased him and a very small area around him. This glow came from a wicked looking saber, conjured entirely from dark psionic energy throbbing vibrantly within angel’s grasp. Angel had a malicious grin spread across his face, yet somehow different from before, even more confident and condescending it seemed. The energy blade was seething with psionic energy... was this a weapon unique to vampires, or could gypsies and psychics wield this force as well? The question mattered little at the moment.

“Now, metal beast, you will feel the full assault of my strength, and know your place in this world!” He stated this in a calmer and more focused voice than before. It’s possible he was just now getting serious... Well, Inos still had an ace in the hole: the broken tree from earlier. If it got too dicey, she could disengage and sprint back there. Hopefully angel wouldn’t just grab her with his mind and toss her back or something crazy like that. She did a quick analysis while he stood there, combining her current sensor data with previous experience. Master psychic, impervious to all forms of conventional damage, (regrettably) superior strength to Inos, less combat experience and weaponry, weakness to (hopefully any form of) wood, Wolf and mist metamorphosis (Note: took angel around 7 seconds to switch forms, possibly less as Inos only witnessed this twice), affinity for grappling and biting over striking, incessant nose turning, and possibly abusable pride (seemingly easy to goad, at least previously). Not a very good outlook, but she’d figure something out, there’s got to be something to lay this monster to rest that doesn’t involve a priest or a forest. There was the robot, an intimidating hulking mass of metal, gleaming with weapons and strength, and just a meter or two apart, a horrid undead oozing an evil aura, a pulsing blade of hate clutched in its claw. Both of their eyes glowed brightly against the midnight tundra, fixated solely on eachother.

Angel suddenly lashed out with a wide swipe at a range surpassing what the blade seemed capable of. Inos’s high tense reaction time was more than enough to evade the attack. She weaved backwards nonchalantly, dodging the pulsing blade, and resumed a neutral combat stance. Angel stood the same as well, confident and scheming. His expression hadn’t changed a mite. Angel must’ve known Inos didn’t have time, backup for such a valuable asset would be here soon. Inos threw a feint kick towards the creature, extending her knee but keeping her leg tucked backwards, in an attempt to provoke it. This proved fruitless, angel standing still with his blade calm and at the ready for a real attack. Inos placed her foot back on the ground and bided her time thinking of another strategy. She had no way of telling exactly how strong that saber is, but the psionic force was registering off the charts, it wouldn’t be smart to let him get a hit in.

Now, Inos saw no other option. That tree was some form of safety, and the only conceivable way of hurting him. She took a slow, cautious step backwards, keeping all of her optics focused entirely on the looming demon as she plotted out her course back to the tree. “Finally lost your nerve, borg?” He stated sarcastically and brandished his sword again. He knew she wouldn’t disengage without a plan. She broke into an instant sprint, trying to quickly distance herself from whatever magic he might have available. Just as she picked her right foot up, her left seemed to suddenly fall into nothing. She looked and saw the ground underneath her being violently swept away by psionic force. She could do nothing to stop herself from tripping, the locomotion required to travel such high speeds could not be so easily stopped in nanoseconds. She clanged to the ground, at the very least catching herself on her knees and arms, but still laying prone.

The beast didn’t waste a moment, leaping upon her, stamping one of his feet on her knee in an attempt to keep her grounded. His blade swung downwards with him, aiming directly for her head, but it was intercepted by her armored right forearm, pulled up at just the right moment. The blade fell against her metallic skin and sparks flew as the malevolent energy of the sword dug a clean hole into her arm, chiseling his anger permanently into her armor. They stayed there, just for a moment, Inos registering how powerful the blade is, and angel, with a smug subtle smirk on his face, seeing Inos’s man-made flesh falter before his might. Inos doubted every possible course of action due to angel’s unquantified psionics, but she had to make some kind of move.

She instantly unfolded her ion blaster and shot a white-hot blast of radiant energy directly into the beast’s eyes. Then, before even being able to register if it had blinded angel at all, she swung her leg inbetween his and tried to kick him off. Angel’s legs lifted off her rather easily, but he had been dissuaded far too often for his tastes by Inos. He growled sharply and viciously forced his claw into a separation between her neck and shoulders while he stabbed downwards with his blade, attempting to sever her shoulder. Her hand leapt up at his arm in motion and held it back with her titanic strength as he fell to her side. They both now had a vice grip on eachother, laying next to eachother in seething fury. They both slowly got up as they exerted their strength keeping the other in check, both to one knee. Then suddenly, angel took his claw out of Inos’s neck, only to quickly place it on his hand, quickly overpowering Inos’s grasp and putting his blade in motion. She was forced to let go of his arm in order to evade the powerful strike. There they were, nothing accomplished, back to square one, except a handful of centimeters dug into Inos’s arm.

Just as she had reset into her combat stance, however, angel had not, and held his sword nonchalantly at his side and left himself exposed and casual. Before Inos could react, however, his hideous aura seemed to darken even further, to where it was visually perceptible on Inos’s standard cams. Inos retreated slightly, not doubting the lethality of anything that angel could muster. Nothing came up on psionics or magic... this was just pure malevolent power. Inos kept her ion blaster drawn just in case. And, while she had it out, she figured there wasn’t any harm in letting off a few shots while angel was... otherwise occupied. She started discharging hatefully at him as a shroud of inky black enveloped his immediate area. They did nothing to perceivably halt whatever process angel was carrying out. Suddenly, within the horrid darkness that now only angel’s ruby red eyes pierced, dozens, then hundreds of life signs popped up. They quickly swarmed out from the cover of unnatural darkness that Inos’s night vision and IR cams couldn’t see through, baring themselves against the night sky. Hundreds of buzzing putrid insects poured out from the localized abyss, flitting directly towards Inos. She took a moment too long to register such an action, and lost her initiative.

She attempted to flee the fog of bugs, but Inos’s psionic power slowed her down just enough for them to begin reaching her. They moved unnaturally fast, almost as fast as angel had moved in his wolf form before, and with his constant telekinetic pull on her, not nearly enough to stop or move her, but enough to slow her for just long enough. She fired at the advancing cloud of pests, erasing fractions of the crowd, but still nearly 100 strong by the time they had reached her. They were sent with a clear goal, to hamper her sensors. They buzzed incessantly and clung to Inos’s lenses and audio receptors, clogging them up with their grotesque frames and monstrous audio clutter. Inos could tell angel was approaching, but little else. She swept through her sensors and isolated the only useful data left: her psionics register. This reading would only be a fraction as useful as actual audio-visual, but it’s what would save her in the moment. She ignored her other instruments and isolated a beam of psionic energy- she had been too slow, as the moment she would’ve recognized the energy blade swiping through the air, it was too late. Angel dug his sword back into Inos’s armor plating, feeling her arm reel from the impact. Sparks now jumped out of her arm, close to exposing her endoskeleton. She was lucky enough to roll with the impact and pull her arm away before his blade could get hooked and cut deeper.

She leaped backwards and combat rolled away from her assailant, smashing a multitude of bugs against her armor. She quickly attempted to brush the rest off her sensors. It was mostly successful, crushing the bugs easily and swiping their corpses to the ground, but now their smashed residue still smudged up her cams and even muffled her audio receptors slightly. It was more than enough to see angel attempt to capitalize on Inos’s momentary halt. This time, she crouched under his attack and countered with a rising straight, with her left to reduce chance of getting her arm severed. It would seem angel saw it coming, however, as he weaved backwards and rushed in with another attack, a stab directed at her midsection. She evaded but still recieved a small glancing blow, a small scratch on her armor. She retaliated with a harsh clothesline, taking advantage of his momentum and extremely close proximity. He attempted to dash backwards but took nearly the full force of the attack, Inos’s metal arm smashing against his head and knocking him backwards, almost onto his back. She took the moment to retreat a good couple meters and reset her stance as angel got back to his feet and refocused. He had certainly done a lot more damage to Inos than she had done to him. He returned to his idle form just as calmly and menacingly as before.

These dead bugs would be a constant disadvantage in an already impossible battle, she at least needed clean sensors. She needed to keep her distance while trying to figure out how to continue. She took another large leap backwards as angel continued advancing, a stark and determined look in his eyes. She had no form of self-cleaning system, but just a spray of water should work well. Suddenly, she remembered the topographical reading from earlier, a nearby stream. That’d do the job fine. It would indeed be a problem if the live exposed wires within her armor wound took on water, she’d have to be careful, and that could be a serious problem with angel chasing her into it. She’d have to figure out something to stall him while she took her little dip. Luckily, their battle conveniently placed them closer to the stream, only 30 or so meters away. She looked over her opponent, and suddenly felt a surge of hatred and disdain for him. What a cretin.

He chuckled as he slowly advanced the battered, scarred, stained borg that he had toyed with pleasantly for a short while. “Have you lost your feeling of fear holed up in that earthen trash can of yours, ruster?” He smirked as he began thinking of how he wanted to end this. She returned a savage stare, her eyes flaring bright red against the night with passion. “You’re going to have to do better than fear.” She spat the words out in a deep and menacing tone, then just as soon as they left her voice box, she swung her body around into a heavy combat roll backwards. Even while she was in an airborne tumble, her slide rail equipped her with her particle cannon in hand. She landed deftly on her feet and looked back to see angel approaching steadily, the thin glint of patience in his calm and cocky demeanor now replaced with brutal determination.

Just as he was within range to strike her down, clearing 10 meters in no time, Inos leveled her particle cannon at the monster and was nanoseconds away from firing, before she noticed something strange... angel suddenly seemed alarmed, paused, scared. Inos didn’t know what it was, and this look was certainly strange on angel’s previously stone-cold and condescending face, but the info didn’t cause her to deliberate, blasting him with the violent white-hot energy for good measure while falling back, nearing another few meters close to the stream. She leaped backwards, her heel cracking the ice sheet on the bank of the modest stream. Her readings told her it was only maybe 1.5 meters deep, maybe waist deep for inos and likely flowing to some small pond a mile or less out. Apparently, that beam had more of an impact than Inos had intended, as when the smoke cleared, angel seemed unearthly distraught and frustrated, but still barely perceptible under his conniving mask. There was a look of disgust and contempt, as if some invisible referee just threw a flag at a wrongful fault and now angel was to pay for it. Angel contained his emotions once more as quickly as they overpowered him.

Just what was it that gave angel such pause? It was surely Inos’s advance towards, rather, her retreat backwards to, the stream. The only materials here were, ice, dirt, water, and... that was it. As Inos was thinking, even in those few milliseconds, she suddenly felt a heavy pull downwards on her body, as if gravity had just magnified 100 fold. Her sensors flared once again, revealing it was a heavy psionic force from angel. She was barely able to keep on both legs and bent over, quickly adjusting her cams to keep an eye on angel. She couldn’t believe it. He looked, still underneath a mask of contention, scared. Shocked. Surprised. Anxious. She was so taken she barely noticed him begin sprinting away and suddenly begin to shrink. The temporary hold was long enough to immobilize Inos and let him transform safely, quickly condensing and turning into a vile, repugnant bat creature. Inos quickly overcame the equally quickly waning power of the telekinesis, not nearly enough to move Inos but enough to reduce her speed drastically. This was an escape plan. Angel was running away from her. Her (figurative) heart leapt at seeing the wretch attempt to run away in fear, admitting defeat. But that wasn’t good enough for her.

She sprinted at speeds faster than most vehicles, clearing the difference instantly. Angel’s small bat form had flown only 8 feet above her, she could easily reach him, but if she missed this chance, he’d likely make it out of her reach, forever. She took her running start and leapt high up, looming above the vampire even in the air. Inos had moved so fast angel barely even had any time to register that Inos was about to grab him. He barely had time to start flitting to the left before the giant metal woman sprung into the air and clasped her heavy cold hands around his spazzy little body, falling to the ground with the little monster cushioned against her stomach like an infant football. She squeezed the cretin tight and delighted in the pathetic squeaks and squeals angel now made in this ugly and weak form, but also noticed the monster began growing larger again, losing the veins on its wings and its body hair. Angel was quickly shifting back to human.

She sprinted back to the stream, stopping less than a meter away from the slowly drawling water as angel assumed his normal form, writhing and clawing as his strength returned to him, but too late. She had learned what reduced such a horrible monster as angel to a clawing and screaming defeated beast. She cocked her arms and took one last look at angel’s face. In the nanosecond of stillsight she photographed, she saw angel without his mask. Even anger and hate abandoned him now. Such human emotions were lost to a monster with its back against the wall. Now his demonic nature was plain to see; desperate, scared, thrown into a mindless frenzy in which it clawed with all of its putrid heart to escape its impending death. All of his bravado and attitude a facade: this was a demon’s true nature. Mindless and selfish, to the last.

She slammed the demon into the thin ice sheet with utter triumphant glee, the crack and subsequent splash of angel’s body submerging into the water, Inos prayed, a bell sounding her victory over angel. Her own titanic feet slid into the water as well, submerging angel even deeper into the stream as her body dipped into the ice cold water. The water indeed was getting into Inos’s gaping wound and was hampering and damaging her slowly, dispersing her signals into the surrounding water and shocking her immediate area, including herself and angel, although he was feeling other things at the moment. She hardly noticed it as she focused herself entirely on finishing off the vampire. Luckily, her arm still received enough instruction to clamp down as hard as possible on angel’s throat, deadlocking her arm to ensure angel would drown, if he were indeed able to. Inos flicked on her high-density profile visor, X-ray vision in other words, to observe angel underwater.

The effects were plain to see. Angel thrashed about in what was likely unspeakable agony, as he began melting into the water, his skin and flesh smearing towards the current as if he were just a mound of mud. Inos could also feel angel’s monstrous strength drain instantly as he was submerged. She stood there, eerily still as the calm stream, a pleasant sound within the deep dark wilderness of the russian badlands, was interrupted by splashing and writhing, so weak now it was like a wounded salmon floundering within the mouth of a bear. It was a calming melody as she watched this horrid monster melt away in front of her eyes, mother russia washing away an unspeakable sin from her lands. His eyes bulged out from their sockets and flew along the current, his arms slipped down Inos’s arms where they once clung as if they would never leave, quickly fell deeper into the unassuming stream and joined the sediment of frozen plants and dirt. Before long, only his skeleton remained, only for a moment before being conquered by the tide and swept from Inos’s overkill grasp, disappearing from Inos’s sight forever, left only to feed the fauna that was just as determined to repopulate the scarred mother country as the citizens were.

Inos stood there for another moment, falling back against the bank and letting her sparking arm rest on the cold, now infinitely comfortable dirt. She was caught in relieved disbelief. Against all odds, without superior weapons or intel, she overcame such a horrific enemy. She laughed audibly, a declaration to the world, that she had won, she now stood victor over the demons, if only for tonight. She laughed at how such a small unassuming thing, a simple weak stream of water, could utterly annihilate a horrific undead master. She laughed at how the clan was now hunting somebody who won such a one-sided fight, such an undeniable asset. It took a second to click for her as she relaxed inside the calm stream, feeling the current gently nudge her heavy steadfast robotic frame, satisfied more knowing she can easily endure such a paltry situation where a vampire would be reduced to dirt in mere moments.

Then it did indeed click, with sobering reality. Her ordeal, while still being preferable to staring down an undead demon, was now being hunted by the entire Alekseyevna clan and fleeing her (adopted) home country before she could be captured and executed or imprisoned for life. Her mind suddenly sprung to contact petri, and she was slightly saddened as she had to tell herself that was no longer an option. The days of working to save this great country were now behind her forever. It was possible, however unlikely, that she could defect to another clan. They might think her to be a spy, they might treat her as a disgraced reaver, they might not take her at all since she was banished for not following a direct order, a tribute no warlord would find desirable. She would think on it later. She pulled herself out of the cleansing waters and back onto the cold packed dirt of the badlands, wishing she could take in the cold crisp AM air, feel the biting freeze of the spring currents on her skin more clearly (she had simulated feeling sensors akin to about 45% of the feeling of human skin, bumped all the way up to nearly 75% for her hands, for dextrous efforts, always able to be turned off at will.).

As if on time, the nokus long-range radar pinged several vehicles approaching as fast as possible from the north. As Inos looked at her still sparking volatile arm and the water dripping down from her metal body, watching the stream carry the remnants of the vampire monster to some quaint frozen body of water, she accepted that things were about to get “dire”. And nobody like petri was left to tell her how to handle it. With that, she walked off in stoic optimism, a gallant strut to intimidate whatever forces may be watching, telling them she can handle what they throw at her.