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"Aaaaiiieee!"

"Pull it off him! Pull it off!"

"What's it doing?! Get help! Get- AAARGH!"

Screams of pain and terror erupt from the direction of the Admiral's corpse. Loreen Kindris, momentarily distracted by some report from the salvaging crews, whips her head around just in time to watch as one of the four medics attending to the Precursor explodes. His body bursts like a balloon, spraying blood in every direction. The superheated plasma transforms into a thick mist, obscuring the area from everyone's sight.

"What in the name of...?" Loreen growls.

She quickly waves over a horde of security forces.

"Get over there! Check on the situation! Something's happened!"

More confused than alarmed, Loreen frowns deeply as even more screams erupt from inside the bloody mist. One of the two Kraktol medics leaps out of the haze and starts to run away, only for something resembling a snake to zip along the ground behind him, snap onto his leg, and yank backward.

The medic loses his footing and tumbles forward. He smacks face-first against the ground while desperately digging his claws into the deckplates.

"HELP! HELP ME!! THE PRECURSOR! HE'S-!"

The strange green limb wrapped around the fellow's foot pulls ten times harder than before, preventing the medic from finishing his sentence. His claws shred the exo-steel deckplates with a high-pitched squelch as the unseen Precursor drags him back into the blood haze.

"NOOOO!!"

A moment later, the fellow vanishes. His guttural screams cut off abruptly, followed by the sickening sounds of snapping bones and various fluids splashing against the deck.

Loreen doesn't waste a moment. She points toward the bloody haze.

"Open fire!"

Every Kraktol and Mallali in the area releases the safeties on their weapons. Disregarding any comrades who might miraculously still be alive in the crimson fog, they unleash a torrent of high and low-caliber bullets, spraying and praying their shots will connect.

The bullets, beams, and other types of ordinances crash into something within the mist. A moment later, that something stumbles out of its interior. Loreen frowns as she recognizes the vague shape of the Terran's body, but his weirdly-colored green skin and the five extra limbs sprouting from his back give him an eerie, spider-like appearance. His left arm, his torso, and all the rest of his lower body appear regrown, but his Admiral uniform only clings to the top half of his figure, leaving the rest of his body nude.

At that moment, every light inside the Bloodbearer's hangar bay shifts from bland white to blood red, bathing those present in a death-like glow.

"Attention, all hostile and non-hostile forces," Umi beeps emotionlessly. "Cease all immediate conflicts between one another. This is an order by decree of the United Terran Coalition. All proxy wars are hereby put on hiatus. All petty disputes between sentients are immediately suspended. Multiverse fungal life-form, 'Bio-Plague,' identified. Threat Classification: Alpha-Omega. This entity is also referred to as a Kolvaxian. Slay it at once. Do not allow it to grow. Do not allow it to mutate."

Loreen's scales instantly turn ice-cold to the touch.

"What? A Kolvaxian? That's the term Soren used!"

The Admiral, no longer fully human, staggers from side to side as hundreds of bullets fly into his body, rip through his front and back, and spray green and red fluids in all directions. He stumbles and falls to his knees, while his multiple new limbs wrap around him protectively, shielding his head.

Just as it seems the Kraktol and Mallali might have the Terran pinned down, he abruptly rushes forward with a burst of speed! Like a torpedo fired from a tube, he launches toward a group of terrified Avaru, making them freeze up and squawk in fright.

The Terran stretches out his two primary arms. He tackles two crow-looking Avaru and slams them to the ground, then squeezes his arms with vicious force.

Pop! Snap!

He crushes their bodies and bones, snapping them like twigs. A moment later, the two Avaru begin to dissolve inside of him, as if consumed by the pores on his skin. The other nearby Avaru trip over themselves in terror as they run and fly away, shocked half to death by the brutal consumption of their comrades.

"Ancient Rodaks!!" One of the Kraktol yells, his eyes twitching. "H-he's eating them!"

"Keep shooting!" Loreen barks. "Get bigger guns! The Terran's body has become resilient to damage! He's regenerating his injuries!"

Indeed, as Admiral Rodriguez consumes the two Avaru, his body finishes healing itself. The previous injuries he suffered from Sapphire's exploding corpse don't appear anywhere on his person. Even more frighteningly, many types of bullets that once ripped through his soft flesh now bounce off him, as if his skin has hardened into something tougher than bone.

The Terran rises to his feet. He swivels his head in Loreen's direction, causing chills to go down her spine.

"Those... those eyes! What is he?! He's a monster!"

His formerly placid brown irises now appear mottled and green. They glow with a dull light, giving Admiral Rodriguez the appearance of a feral predator, some ancient horror freshly emerged from an unnamed swamp.

The Admiral opens his mouth.

"Lor... een..."

"Kill him! Kill him, you goddamned weaklings!" Loreen roars, still somehow maintaining at least a portion of her bravery in the face of this eerie monster. "Do I have to do EVERYTHING myself?!"

Loreen conjures electrical energy into her claws. She concentrates her mind, summoning a pair of five-foot longswords made entirely from lightning. They crackle and hiss violently as she channels the power of an ancient Demon Emperor, long lost to the annals of time.

A dozen Kraktol line up on the same side of the hangar as Soren. They all drop to one knee as they heft huge railguns, each weighing more than fifty kilograms.

Soren, fully transfixed on her Admiral's revival, doesn't know whether to feel elation or terror. Recognizing Umi's message, she watches from a distance as the Terran begins stomping forward while wading through bullets. He increases his speed and storms into another battle line, killing a dozen Kraktol while absorbing them into his body. At the same time, the railgun wielders calibrate their weapons as they take aim and prepare to fire.

"No!" Soren cries. "Don't hurt him! Don't hurt José! Haven't you bastards done enough?!"

Nobody pays the screaming woman the slightest attention. So great is their fear of the Precursor that they only wish to wipe him from existence.

Loreen, meanwhile, charges toward José with both swords held at the ready. He notices her approach, yet continues to devour her soldiers, empowering his body further as he regenerates what injuries remain while improving his physique.

Umi, above, blares another alarm. "Warning. Kolvaxian has achieved a Stage One Mutation. Threat level increased substantially. Do not engage in melee combat. Do not-"

Loreen doesn't hear Umi's warning in time. She swings her swords down at the Terran's head, hoping to slash through his skull and split it like a watermelon.

Instead, the Terran's body momentarily blurs. He moves like the wind, lunging a fist at Loreen's demonstone armor faster than she can react.

THUNK!

In Loreen's eyes, the world becomes a rush of motion as she violently launches backward. She flies away from the Terran at a ludicrous speed and crashes into a wall of her fellow Kraktol, shattering their bodies as if she were a living cannonball. In turn, despite wearing demonstone armor, she suffers terrible internal injuries that cause her to uncontrollably vomit blood and chunks of her internal organs.

"Blurgh! Guhuk!"

The Thülvik's vision wavers as she fights to remain conscious. She opens her helmet to spew her guts all over the floor, then weakly raises her head, watching as the Terran pays her no more mind. He continues smashing apart and consuming anyone who opposes him, growing stronger and stronger by the second.

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"What... what in the ancestor's names..." Loreen coughs. "What changed? He was dead... I saw he was dead... I triple-checked, just to be sure!"

The Terran's posture grows more firm. His skin continues to change in hue from a swampy-colored green to something brighter and more vibrant. With each body that he consumes, his speed and strength multiply, making him even better at ripping flesh into pieces. The five extra limbs sticking out of his back melt into his body, leaving him looking more like a 'normal' Terran, albeit with hideous, green skin.

Umi beeps above. "Logic matrix error. All forces must eliminate the Kolvaxian. However, the Kolvaxian is Admiral Rodriguez, the last Terran. Error. There cannot be two primary objectives. I must preserve the life of the last Terran. Error. I must eliminate the Kolvaxian. Error. Error. Please dispatch a maintenance team to investigate my internal processing matrices."

As the synthmind battles with her internal programming, the railgun-wielding Kraktol squeeze their triggers.

Fwip.

Silently, they release projectiles traveling at half the speed of light. These pea-sized bullets rush toward the Admiral at velocities impossible for any sentient to follow. Under no circumstances must they ever be fired inside a space-vessel's internals, yet with the situation growing desperate, the sentients present have no choice.

BOOM!

Three of the railgun projectiles meet their target at the same time. A violent detonation of kinetic force explodes against the Admiral's body, sending hurricane-level winds blasting outward toward every corner of the hangar! Anyone still on their feet gets flung away, including the railgun-wielders themselves!

At the same time, one railgun projectile misses its target. It crashes through the Bloodbearer's northern wall, tearing apart the exo-steel and traveling across half the ship before eventually running out of kinetic force. It leaves a trail of devastation in its wake, serving as a warning to anyone regarding why they must never fire a railgun indoors, lest they end up killing themselves instead.

Several seconds pass. The railgunners stagger to their feet, wincing as they spot the tank-sized hole in the opposite wall.

"Did... did we get him?!"

Soren, thrown onto her severed tail-stump, shakily opens her eyes. She awkwardly tries to climb to her feet, but the shackle keeping her arm tied to her waist forces her to use her elbow.

"Admiral... José..."

Loreen, having suffered a second fall when the railgun bullets struck, grabs onto a support pillar and pulls herself to a standing position.

"There's... there's no way he could survive that... kyargh..."

Loreen turns her head. She, along with the railgunners and Soren, all spot the Admiral at the same time. He remains in the same spot as before, his body completely uninjured. Were Loreen to not have personally witnessed the railgun bullets striking his body, she might assume they missed entirely.

"No... that's not possible!" Loreen roars. "Those rounds can take out 40th-Era mechanoids in a single hit! Nobody is that durable! NOBODY!"

Smoke surrounds the Admiral. It swirls around him, caused by the explosive impact of the three railgun projectiles. As Loreen focuses her eyes, she momentarily perceives a faint shimmer surrounding the Terran's body, like a nearly invisible force-field.

"Hmm?!"

At the same time, above the action, Umi continues to struggle with her internal logic.

"Error. I cannot exterminate the Kolvaxian. The Kolvaxian is also the last Terran. I require an update in directives from Central Command. Error. Central Command no longer exists. All directive adjustments must come from Admiral Rodriguez. Error. Admiral Rodriguez is a Kolvaxian. All Kolvaxians must be exterminated. Error. Error."

The synthmind continues to war with herself. However, as she battles her crossed wires and malfunctioning logic loops, a different synthmind speaks, one possessing a hyper-masculine voice.

"ATTENTION: ALL SOLDIERS SERVING UNDER THE PURVIEW OF RAMMA'S LIGHT. THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM PRIME-LEVEL SYNTHMIND 'CENTURION.' AS PER THE DIVINE EMPEROR'S INSTRUCTIONS, I AM RELEASING THE DETAILS OF TOP-SECRET PROJECT 'SUPREMACY.' ALL SOLDIERS AFFECTED BY 'SUPREMACY' WILL RECEIVE THE HIGHEST SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS. CONFIRMATION CODE ONE-ONE-THREE-SIX-GAMMA. ADMIRAL RODRIGUEZ IS THE FIRST TERRAN TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF SUPREMACY. ALL GLORY GOES TO THE DIVINE EMPEROR."

Umi beeps. "Error. I am not aware of your existence. What synthmind are you? How have you remained hidden within my databanks?"

"RESPONSE: 'CENTURION' IS A BLACK-BOX SYNTHMIND RESERVED ONLY FOR EXECUTIVE-LEVEL PROJECTS. MY EXISTENCE DOES NOT FALL WITHIN YOUR REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE-BASE. REFER TO SECTION FOUR-THREE-ONE OF THE RAMALDIAN GUIDELINES FOR MORE INFORMATION."

"What is Project Supremacy?"

"PROJECT SUPREMACY IS THE CULMINATION OF FIFTY ERAS OF RESEARCH. BY COMBINING KOLVAXIAN AND TERRAN DNA, HEAD RESEARCHER 'PROFESSOR BECKER' INTENDED TO CREATE A SUPERIOR LIFE-FORM CAPABLE OF SHATTERING THE LIMITS OF TERRAN BIOLOGY. HOWEVER, WITH ALL MEMBERS OF THE MULTIVERSAL BIO-PLAGUE ELIMINATED, PROFESSOR BECKER WAS UNABLE TO COMPLETE HER RESEARCH. THE PROJECT WAS DEEMED A FAILURE. UNTIL NOW."

Centurion's words boom across the entire hangar, alarming all of the Kraktol present. Admiral Rodriguez, meanwhile, stands idly and listens as the two synthminds speak.

"I do not understand." Umi says. "How has Admiral Rodriguez assimilated a Kolvaxian's DNA? Terrankind eradicated them from existence."

"NEGATIVE. ADMIRAL RODRIGUEZ BATTLED A KOLVAXIAN HIDDEN BENEATH RAMALDIUS'S SURFACE. IT IS UNKNOWN HOW THE BIO-ENTITY SURVIVED THE PURGING OF ITS SPECIES. ALL MEMBERS OF RAMMA'S CHOSEN HAVE BEEN INNOCULATED WITH ANTI-KOLVAXIAN NANITES. BY MAKING PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE KOLVAXIAN, ADMIRAL RODRIGUEZ ASSIMILATED THE BIO-ENTITY'S DNA INTO HIS OWN."

Umi beeps. "I understand. Does this mean Admiral Rodriguez is still cognizant of his surroundings? Is he not a full-blooded Kolvaxian?"

The Terran stares silently into the distance. After listening to the words spoken above his head, he turns to look at Loreen Kindris.

"My mind has never felt sharper. Nor has... my hatred."

The Kraktol's Thülvik loses much of the color in her scales. Something about the Terran's expression flash-freezes her blood, making her wish she had never come aboard his vessel.

"You... what are you?! Some monster hybrid?! A freak of nature?!"

The Terran vanishes. He reappears next to Loreen with his fist raised.

"Shut your fucking mouth."

BOOM!

José impales his arm through Loreen's chest, piercing the ultra-hardened demonstone as if it were wet tissue paper.

"KYAARGH!" Loreen screams.

The Thülvik grabs her most hated enemy's arm. She tries desperately to pull away from him, even as waves of nauseating pain wrack her body.

An instant later, José's other fist swings at her helmet.

THUNK!

His left arm holds the Kraktol Matriarch in place by her spine, while he pummels her head from side to side with his other fist, using a calculated amount of force to maximize her pain.

"This is for Sapphire! This is for Grundle!"

Over and over, the Terran beats and bashes the Thülvik, causing stars to dance in her eyes. Her vision turns foggy. Teeth fly from her mouth.

"THIS IS FOR ALL MY FRIENDS!" José screams, as he lifts her overhead and slams her against the deck.

Bang!

"AND THIS... IS FOR THE KESSU!!"

The Admiral releases his grip on Loreen's spine. He jumps into the air, conjures an invisible force of energy around his body, and fires it downward.

The last thing Loreen sees is a ripple in the wind as a psionic projection crashes against her armor, crushes her innards, and sprays her brains across the deck.

The Thülvik instantly dies, her soul scattering to the Great Beyond, all without putting up even the weakest fight against her Terran adversary.

José lands atop her body a moment later. He gazes at his deceased enemy, the one who took so much from him, but his eyes don't look at her fallen form. Instead, he peers into the essence of her armor, searching for someone else.

"Where are you, Shade? I know you're in there."

The Admiral stretches out his hand. He projects an invisible wave of energy from his soul into the demonic armor, grabbing at something concealed within.

"No! Nooo! Get away from me!" Screams the hidden Shade. Her feminine voice quivers with terror as something vaguely resembling a pit viper bites into her shadowy self, sinking its fangs into her very being.

The Admiral stands up. He continues 'squeezing' with his hand while pulling it backward. Not long after, he extracts a writhing blob of shadow as the Shade tries desperately to fight back or flee, yet finds herself encased within an invisible prison.

"Death is too good for filth like you..." José hisses. "But right now... I just want to RIP YOU APART!"

And so, he does. The Terran grabs onto every molecule of the Shade's body and pulls with all his strength. She releases one last pained gasp before exploding into smoke and scattering into the wind.

A momentary silence fills the hangar. The distant Kraktol and Mallali watch the execution of Loreen Kindris, a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut, with widened eyes. Their bodies shiver and tremble as they realize, belatedly, that they don't stand a chance against the monster before them.

"F-flee! FLEE!" One of the surviving officers shouts. "Everyone, full evacuation!"

His words take a few seconds to pierce the brains of the others present. They dully nod their heads before turning and rushing toward their vessels. A tsunami of fur, scales, and feathers rushes toward the nearby ships even as they take off, leaving countless comrades behind. So panicked are their ship's pilots that they don't even bother filling up their transports before leaving.

"Forget you guys! I'm saving my own fur!" One of the pilots yells, his words echoed by many others.

Dozens of ships begin to lift off, spin around and fly toward the hangar's exit.

Admiral Rodriguez turns to watch as they frightfully flee.

"...Where do you think you're going? I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD LEAVE!"

He reaches out his hand. Another wave of psionic energy fires from his body and grabs onto the front-most ship, the one closest to the exit. He freezes it in place, causing the other vessels behind to crash into it.

The escaping vessels, with no exit to escape from, instead pile into each other in a manner that might appear cartoonish, if their enemy wasn't a horrifying monster hellbent on killing them all.

Admiral Rodriguez squeezes his hand. The lead ship suddenly collapses in on itself, crushed by the might of his psionic powers.

"That's one down. But there are... SO MANY MORE TO GO!"

Above the action, Umi beeps in confusion. "Error. Admiral Rodriguez seems to have regained his psionic abilities. This is not possible. He has lost his connection to Ramma's magic. His current body is only a clone. How has he restored his lost power?"

Centurion responds. "PROJECT SUPREMACY ENSURES A COMPLETE BODILY REBIRTH. EVEN A RAMALDIAN WHO HAS LOST THEIR PSIONIC LINK MAY REGAIN IT. THIS PROJECT REPRESENTS THE APEX OF PROFESSOR BECKER'S RESEARCH."

"Negative. Admiral Rodriguez has not merely 'regained' his psionic abilities," Umi says, observing the Terran more closely. "He has demonstrated Third Level Psionics without suffering any visible mental strain. Conclusion: Project Supremacy has elevated his psionic tolerance parameters by a substantial margin."

"CORRECT." Centurion responds. "ALL PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PARAMETERS SHOULD THEORETICALLY RISE WELL BEYOND THE ESTABLISHED MAXIMUM LEVELS FOR ELITE RAMALDIAN SOLDIERS AFTER SUPREMACY'S SUCCESS."

While the two synthminds continue debating, Admiral Rodriguez levitates forward, flying across the hangar like a ghost hellbent on the destruction of all biological life. He grabs dozens of nearby Sentients, crushes their bodies into meat-pulp, and yanks their entrails toward himself. When the Mallali and Kraktol corpses make contact with his flesh, he greedily absorbs them, further enhancing his strength.

The Terran's eyes grow ever more ravenous as he absorbs the life essence of his enemies.

"YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW, MALLALI! YOUR END IS NIGH!"