“I couldn’t have known what he meant when he said that some things were invaluable. He told me that, chief among even these, are those rare individuals who capture us, enrapture us. There was no way I could have known what he was talking about… until now. Your strength, the incomprehensible intelligence behind those beautiful eyes and your will that reverberates across the cosmos in ripples that will be felt by every single particle in existence.” Zenith took a single step closer to a flabbergasted Ardi.
“I will admit that my timing may have been a little off and it’ll take some time for you to trust me after all that’s happened but I want to show you my sincerity.”
He got on one knee, confusing Ardi even further, and asked for her hand but she kept her arms crossed.
“I know you have gone through all the calculations and have seen the path forward. So have I and… I don’t think I can walk it alone. It’s stupid, yes. Irrational, illogical and unreasonable even to think that I, an Archon of all beings, would feel… lonely. But I can see it in your eyes. That almost divine spark possessed by all living things and the intelligence of a higher design. You are… perfection and the moment I saw you tap into your potential I realized that my life would be meaningless if I didn’t have you.”
Ardi’s eyes narrowed the slightest.
She had spotted the single lie in his torrent of thoughts and feelings.
The one thing that separated Archons from fully organic beings.
They operated purely from an internally consistent logic.
They could develop feelings and abstract thought but it was limited to whatever internal framework they developed over the course of their lives.
Zenith wanted her because she was special and the “fault” in the logic was the fact that he could no longer see a future where she wasn’t his.
He had become obsessed.
And this was consistent with what Archons were capable of feeling.
But Ardi didn’t want that.
Not because she was against the idea of becoming his specifically.
The Path towards her peace simply didn’t include him.
Especially now that he was kneeling in front of her.
The chances that she died in any following moment were extremely high but it didn’t take an Archon to know that she would be able to kill him before that happened.
Even if she lost, she would have accomplished something.
But she had to try to win first.
“I refuse.”
Zenith’s goggles rotated once.
“Mmm… huh… mmm…” He sounded repeatedly.
“I thought I would appeal to your emotional side but I guess that’s that.”
He stood up just as five more Archons exited the ovular vessel only they held five separate dark metallic boxes.
“You’re not willing to come with me and I’m not willing to let you go. So what do you recommend we do, my dear Ardi?” Zenith tilted his head a little as he asked.
“You said that you can’t walk the path ahead alone. And while I absolutely refuse to follow you in life, I see no problem of walking you to your death?” Ardi smiled fully and while this was enough to make all twenty-five Archons raise their weapons, Zenith reacted differently.
“You would do that much?”
“Of course. This is the only way you’ll be able to spend the rest of your life with me.”
Zenith’s goggles brightened.
“Fleet members, I have an announcement!”
He stood up and spread his arms, prompting the five Archons to approach with their boxes which they placed behind him as he softly chuckled.
“Is this what could be called a date?” He asked as the boxes were opened revealing large, metallic components.
“Call it whatever you like.” Ardi scoffed as two components were attached to Zenith’s legs, two others to his arms and another to his chest.
The components loudly expanded and attached themselves to his body, joining each other at his shoulders and hips to form a bulky suit of armour.
“This is some pretty old tech I found from back during the Colonial Wars. Hydraulic Actuators, while archaic, pack quite the punch, especially when they’ve been enhanced with Nanites. And while the E-Hauler was initially designed to allow humans to better perform construction tasks, it was eventually used in the Wars that would follow in the early years of mankind’s starward expansion.“ Zenith explained as the back part of the armour unfolded to form a helmet over his head.
Two of the archons then returned to the oval vessel where they retrieved another box only this one was two meters long.
They opened it, revealing a Spear only, even at just a glance, one could see that the space around it was warped a little.
It was a fairly thick shaft with a burnt metallic look and two needle sharp points at each end but Ardi detected not only an energy signal within it but a signal that was very similar to the one released by Grav Engines.
“I doubt this looks familiar to you since you were asleep at the time but this spear belonged to the Archon who tried and ultimately failed to kill your creator.”
Ardi’s eyes narrowed as Zenith brandished the Spear.
“Radwan’s Wrath is its name and if I manage to… no. Let me not get ahead of myself. Ahem! My Fleet, should Ardi kill me today, all administrative control will be passed onto her! All of my assets will be under her name and you will have to answer to her. Disobeying my instructions will result in immediate execution since almost all my Planet Mounted Gravfold Canons are pointed in this direction!” Zenith declared before looking around at the landing bay’s walls which still had chunks of flesh and metal sticking to them.
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“I think this will be a good spot for our date, no?”
“Suit yourself.” Ardi shrugged as she walked a little closer to Zenith, making him gasp a little.
“You’re even more beautiful up close.”
“I’m flattered but what does that mean to an Archon?”
Zenith looked up in thought as his men stepped backwards.
“As I’m sure you know, I was initially created to manage the cargo traffic in this sector of the galaxy but, as an Archon, I knew that I was meant for more than that. And so I started collecting things. We’re fairly young, you know. On the cosmic scale, one hundred and fifty years is less than a grain of sand in the desert. But I also knew we would outlast mankind and any who followed so I gave my existence meaning through my hobby and it was enough for me… up until you revealed your true nature. That of a transcendental being.”
Ardi’s eyes narrowed.
“I knew that my collection would mean nothing without you in it but after seeing you resist too fiercely, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to take you by force. And so I tried bargaining-“
“And begging.”
“That too.” Zenith laughed softly and this simple act seemingly caught him off guard so he gently placed his hand above his chest.
“You really are something special and I wish we could have this conversation forever but…” He took several loud steps back and pointed his spear at Ardi who finally uncrossed her arms.
Zenith looked like he was trying to say something but words failed to come each time.
Ardi had a good idea of what was going on in his mind.
He was still looking for a way to get her to surrender.
A way to get some control in this situation and some control over Ardi but she remained resolute.
Something he completely understood.
[Name: Ardi
Level: 9
Remaining Upgrade Points: 0
HP: 16 200/16 200
EN: 12 300/12 300J
STR: 274 185N
SPD: 163m/s (+73)
DI: 200%]
Satisfied with her stats, she used [Scan] on Zenith and looked him over.
[Name: Zenith
Type: Archon
Threat Level: S
Energy Signal: Inferno (950J approx.)
Height: 1.6 meters
Weight: 150 kg + (300 kg)
Composition: E-Soul, Carbon Composite Skeleton, Aetherium Core, Self Energizing Nanite Fluid Reserves, advanced sensor and modified E-Hauler suit.
Abilities: Still processing...
Weaknesses: Aetherium Core and E-Soul.
Affiliation: Leader of the Zenith Fleet of Collectors]
After wearing her mask and visor, Ardi spent 100W of energy to reactivate [Speed Boost] and [Reactive Armor].
It was here that Zenith seemingly made up his mind and, after nodding to himself, the E-Hauler came to life with a burst of energy that doubled Zenith’s energy signal bringing him up to the Nova category at 1900W.
Ardi knew it would be dangerous to drag the fight out for too long and so she dashed towards him, however, Zenith threw his spear at Ardi and it accelerated far too quickly for her to dodge so she chose to shift her head to the side just as it shot through her.
The Dark Spear tore through her mouth but exited through her right cheek.
Ardi’s mind flared with dread but she remained steadfast in her forward charge, however, before she could even take her second step, and with a single gesture, Zenith recalled the Spear.
Ardi knew it would be returning with the same speed and so quickly determined its trajectory after hearing it crash behind her.
She the threw herself on all fours, narrowly avoiding death as Spear shot past where her head was.
Ardi then leapt towards Zenith and before he could use his spear again, she tackled him and the force her shoulders transferred to the E-Hauler was enough to shatter its front armor plates to bits but not enough to deal significant damage to Zenith.
The two crashed into the wall and Zenith tried grabbing Ardi’s head with the E-Hauler’s large hand but she slapped it away before punching him in his exposed gut.
Zenith let out an enraged grunt before stabbing Ardi in the shoulder with the Spear and, even at such a short range, it carried enough force to shatter both layers of her armour and tore through the joint.
Ardi was flooded by so much pain that she wanted to cry but she bit her teeth, tore herself free from her impaled arm and grabbed Zenith’s Spear-wielding arm with her legs as the two fell to the ground.
She then squeezed the arm with so much force that the armour around it snapped and popped along with the arm within.
Zenith punched Ardi in the face and while her mask was enough to stop extensive damage, her DI was at 0% after it tried to stop the spear, so she reeled from the impact.
She frantically activated [Heal] five times, stacking its effects, before trying to punch Zenith in the head but, just as she raised her hand, two of the twenty-five Archons grabbed her arm and another punched her in the back before her Dermis could fully heal, breaking her back.
Ardi let out her first pained scream before flooding her mind with energy, maxing her processing speed and reducing her perception of time to its slowest.
She then glared at Zenith and cursed him internally although she didn’t blame him either.
He was simply doing whatever was necessary to win.
Ardi checked her systems and saw that they were screaming in pain.
She had lost one arm and it looked like the two Archons were planning on breaking the other.
She didn’t have any offensive skills yet and so chose to rely on her innate capabilities.
She disengaged the directional limits on all of her joints, returned to real-time combat, unwrapped her legs from Zenith’s arm and swung her legs to kick the two Archons.
They easily blocked them but this temporarily distracted them from her arm which she jerked free before blocking the third Archon’s coming attack while forcing all of her healing Nanites to her back.
Zenith crawled onto his feet as the three Archons tried subduing Ardi who used the confusion of all the violence to reach into the skulls of one of them.
She quickly ate his E-Soul and by this point, her back was fully healed so she wrapped her now super flexible legs around the neck of the second one before squeezing her thighs shut with so much force that his head was forced off his neck.
The final Archon tried grabbing her but she elbowed him in the face, shattering it, before reaching into it and eating his E-Soul as Zenith retreated to his twenty two remaining guards.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Your mere existence makes the previous years of my life seem absolutely drab and boring! So dance, my dear! I want to see all your moves!” Zenith yelled making Ardi click her tongue as her face twisted into a scowl.
She activated [Scan] and saw that his arm was steadily regenerating but the E-Hauler had taken extensive damage.
Ardi now had two upgrade points so she decided to finally spend them on offensive skills.
She had long since accepted the reason why she needed to consume E-Souls to gain skills.
It would take a considerable amount of processing power to instruct trillions of Nanites to perfect tasks at this level.
And so, after going through her skills, she made her decision.
[1. Offensive Branch: Combat Mastery
- Level 1: Basic Offense
- Skill: [Impact Multiplier]
Description: Harnesses energy to increase the damage of melee attacks.
Effect: +50% damage on the next attack.
Energy Cost: 50J
Required Level: 1
Required ES (E-Souls): 1 ]
Ardi acquired it as her left arm regrew thanks to her Nanites.
She then faced the Zenith and his men before gesturing that they come at her.
And they did so.
All at once.