Admiral Rodriguez discovers that, thanks to his body's evolution, not only have his physical and psionic parameters skyrocketed, but so too have his mental capabilities. Already a man standing at the apex of humankind's physical capabilities, the Admiral pushes himself further than ever before as he works to rebuild his comrade's body.

Grundle lays motionless on the operating table, his brain suspended in a vegetative state, while his Admiral spreads out more than twenty invisible psionic limbs to push, pull, and pin the Kraktol warrior's body in different places. Acting with the same capacity as ten surgeons, the Admiral stretches his mind to its absolute limits while he injects various substances into his friend's body, repairs severed arteries, and molds together broken bones.

José sweats as he performs his work. "Umi. I absorbed the Kolvaxian's abilities through the use of nanites. Can I pass this capability on to Grundle? Can I give his body the same regenerative properties?"

The synthmind beeps an error. "Unknown. I am not familiar with Project Supremacy. Your suggestion seems plausible, but I cannot know for certain."

A moment later, the second synthmind, Centurion, speaks.

"NEGATIVE. PROJECT SUPREMACY IS A WEAPON CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF THE DIVINE EMPEROR. IT IS TERRANKIND'S ULTIMATE ASSURANCE OF THEIR GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO RULE. ANY NON-TERRAN SPECIES SEEKING TO UTILIZE SUPREMACY TO FULFILL THEIR OWN GOALS WILL INSTEAD PERISH INSTANTLY. FIRST OFFICER GRUNDLE DOES NOT POSSESS TERRAN DNA. THEREFORE, ANY ATTEMPT TO ABSORB KOLVAXIAN DNA WILL RESULT IN HIS IMMEDIATE DEATH AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF HIS BIO-VESSEL."

"...I guess I should have expected as much." José mutters.

He continues patching up Grundle until the Bloodbearer's lights suddenly become noticeably brighter. Umi beeps in affirmation.

"Sabotaged command and control codes restored. I am now regaining access to my critical systems."

Umi's holographic transmitters come online, conjuring four medical holo-entities into the room.

One of them appears familiar to the Terran. He turns to the side to see a woman with blonde hair, a symmetrical face, and green eyes.

"Penelope."

"Hello, Admiral," The holo-entity says. As always, her appearance triggers a moment of hollowness in the Terran's heart. His thoughts wander, forcing him to shake his head and return his attention to Grundle.

"I've fixed up most of the damage..." José says. "He can finally breathe normally, now."

"Excellent," Penelope says, her voice reminiscent of Evelyn's. "The four of us will take over. You have a lot of work to do. There are injured crew in the Armory, and there may be survivors elsewhere on the Bloodbearer. Umi's internal sensors are still not working properly, and the Mallali sabotaged thousands of holographic transmitters. It will be up to the remaining crew to search the fallen for signs of life."

José pulls away from Grundle. He nods. "Alright."

"Are you okay, Admiral?" Penelope asks. "Please remember that one of my capabilities involves limited counseling and mental health services."

"Ask me later," José says, turning away from her. "Right now, I can't think about anything but the task at hand."

The Admiral leaves Grundle behind. He steps into the hallway, only to pause, momentarily overcome by the stench of death outside. All around him, the lifeless bodies of Kessu, Kraktol, Mallali, and Avaru lay in small clumps and heaps, often kicked or shoved aside to make room for hallway traffic. The Admiral's rage flares up again, only to dissipate a moment later, replaced instead with a feeling of hopelessness.

No matter how angry he becomes, and no matter how much hatred he releases, he will never be able to bring back the fallen.

He'll never be able to apologize to them, pet their heads, or revel in their happiness.

He stifles his emotions, opting to carefully send out pulses of psionic energy, checking the bodies for signs of life as he makes his way to the Armory. While he could teleport there directly, he decides to walk instead, using the extra time to check and see if even one additional Kessu or Kraktol crew-member survived.

By the time José reaches the Armory, he reaches the dismal conclusion that, at least for the path he walked, not one did.

"Mallali bastards..." He growls.

The Admiral arrives at a pair of double-doors welded shut, with hundreds of blaster marks, multiple signs of forced entry, and yet no visible gaps for anyone to have made it into the interior. In the hallway outside, a gruesome scene of blood and exploded guts remains, where the Admiral detonated the bodies of his hated Mallali enemies. Clumps of fur and bone sit stuck to the walls, all across the floor, and even against the ceiling as well.

José ignores the welded doors entirely. He teleports inside, arriving amidst a bevy of screams as the Kessu trapped in the Armory reflexively turn their weapons on him. A moment later, they recognize their Admiral and sigh in relief.

Baaru, Nyoor, and Ruuki are the three Kessu José recognizes first. The other Kessu appear to be elders of respective clans, and a few adults, both male and female. In total, only about thirty Kessu survivors linger inside the Armory.

Nyoor's panda-colored fur, now matted with long-dried blood and bodily chunks of an indescribable nature, sits heavily on a small box against the far wall. Even when José materializes, Nyoor barely raises his head to look at the Precursor.

His wife, Baaru, appears to be in slightly better condition than him. Her reddish-fur rests slick with blood, and her gait unsteady, as if she's suffered a painful blow. Even Ruuki seems worse for wear, with his right arm broken and slung in a makeshift cast.

"Does anybody here require immediate medical attention?" José asks, pausing for a moment to examine Ruuki's broken limb.

The Kessu shake their heads.

"We were... fortunate... compared to the others," Baaru says, her voice low. Unlike her usual self, she appears unenthusiastic and drained of energy. Not only is she exhausted, but mentally beaten down as well.

Ruuki hangs his head.

"The kittens... my wife... my children..."

José purses his lip. "There... might be survivors. I need all the help I can get searching. Are any of you up to... the challenge?"

It takes several seconds, but eventually, most of the Kessu nod their heads, if reluctantly.

"I have to know..." Ruuki mutters. "I have to know what happened to them."

"As do I." José says.

The Admiral forces open the door with his psionic abilities, causing many of the Kessu to recoil in horror when they see the bloodbath outside.

"Mraww... oh, no. Oh, how horrible..." Baaru whispers.

"You'll find similar scenes like this all across the Bloodbearer," José says. "Prepare yourself. But just be aware... they're all Mallali. Not our people. I... lashed out."

Ruuki snorts. "A quick death. Too good for them."

Despite their disgust and horror, the Kessu dutifully file out of the Armory, wincing as their paws splash through the slowly drying blood of their oppressors. Despite their hatred of the Mallali, many of them feel conflicted about the horrific ends their enemies met at the Admiral's hands. They can only imagine what methods he used to spread such vile lakes of gore across the Bloodbearer's interior.

However, as the Kessu file out, one of them remains behind, unmoving. José turns to look at the lone holdout, the one who has not said a word since his arrival.

"Nyoor..." José mutters.

He walks over and gently sits down beside the old cat. The Patriarch continues to stare at the floor, as if unable to perceive the world around him.

After a full minute, Nyoor exhales through his nose.

"...It is my fault."

José blinks. "What is?"

"All of this. It is all my fault. Every choice I've made called doom upon my people. I killed my kittens. My grand-kittens. I brought them from our world to this vessel. I ferried them to their deaths."

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"That isn't true." José says. "It's not your fault. If anyone is at fault, it's me. I didn't take enough precautions. I stoked the Mallali's greed. I... should have planned out several contingencies. I should have taken more care to protect my crew. As an Admiral... I have wholly failed my subordinates."

His words don't make Nyoor feel any better.

"I chose to call upon the Machine God. My ignorance led to countless deaths. If we had only stayed upon our world and sought refuge there..."

"The Kraktol would have killed you," José says. "Because you left, you pulled their forces away. You saved your people, Nyoor. It was me who failed them."

"You've done so much for us," Nyoor says. "Treated us fairly. Given us purpose and a new lease on life. You were not here when the Mallali came aboard. It was my leadership which faltered when the Dakkit attacked. I tried to play the role of a hero. I tried to rally my troops, thinking we could beat the Mallali if we relied on Precursor magic. But it didn't work. Mraww... it didn't work. And now, they're all dead because of me."

José closes his eyes.

"You're right about one thing, Nyoor. I wasn't here. But I should have been."

...

Not long after, the Terran leaves Nyoor behind in the Armory. He joins the search, using his psionic potential to scan for life signs all across the Bloodbearer.

"Admiral. Crew-member Baaru has found a Kessu alive, but trapped beneath a mountain of corpses," Umi says at one point. "Please travel to Maintenance Bay Seven on Deck Three."

José's eyes flash with insight. He teleports directly to Baaru's position, finding her next to a pile of a dozen bodies haphazardly stacked atop one another. Among them are Kessu, Kraktol, and Avaru corpses.

When José appears, he finds Baaru struggling with all her might to roll a Kraktol off the top. Thanks to her age and exhaustion, she barely manages to budge the several-hundred-pound Kraktol, yet she still pants while trying to dig to the bottom.

"I'm here," José says. He reaches out with his psionic power and levitates all of the bodies at once, revealing the figure of a blood-soaked Kessu kitten at the bottom, barely three years old.

"Meow! Meow!" The kitten cries.

"Precious baby!" Baaru meows. She ducks down to pick up the kitten, even as her touch makes the kitten cry even louder.

"Admiral! She's hurt!" Baaru says.

José doesn't recognize the child. However, he still picks her up with his psionic potential, gingerly laying down the bodies afterward.

"I'll rush her to the medical bay," José says. "Good eyes, Baaru."

The Kessu Matriarch doesn't offer even a faint smile.

"It's... the best I can do. Only one survivor..."

Unable to teleport anyone but himself, José levitates the meowing kitten all the way to the nearest medical bay, where he gently sets her down on an operating table. Penelope materializes next to him and scans the kitten within seconds.

"Multiple cracked ribs," Penelope says. "However, these wounds are relatively superficial. A few hours in a Healing Tank and she will patch up just fine."

"Do you know whose kitten she is?" José asks.

"I do." Penelope answers. "This kitten is named Phina. Her parents are presumed dead."

José lowers his eyes.

"Oh."

He leaves the medical bay to resume his search. Over the next few hours, he and the Kessu manage to locate and retrieve nearly a dozen survivors. Among them are three badly injured Kraktol, while the rest are all Kessu.

After the Admiral levitates a Kraktol missing both of her legs to the medical bay, he leaves again, feeling momentarily exhausted.

The Admiral staggers against a wall. Sweat drips from his forehead as his consciousness wavers.

"Ohhh, Ramma, guide me. Umi, why do I feel as if I'm about to pass out and die? I've barely even exerted myself. My stamina should be much higher than this."

Umi beeps in response. "Affirmative. According to your medical records, you should not yet be anywhere near your mental and physical limits, especially with your enhanced Kolvaxian body parameters. Based upon my previous calculations, your supply of energy should be essentially inexhaustible."

José wipes the sweat off his forehead, inadvertently smearing dried blood across his skin. "I need to take a rest. I don't remember the last time I felt this winded."

As José stands against the wall, sucking in deep breaths, Centurion speaks once again.

"ADMIRAL RODRIGUEZ. THE FULL EFFECTS OF PROJECT SUPREMACY ARE NOT ENTIRELY KNOWN. AS IT WAS ONLY EVER A THEORETICAL PROJECT, THERE WERE MANY POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS LISTED, BUT PROFESSOR BECKER COULD NOT KNOW ALL THE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF MERGING KOLVAXIAN AND TERRAN DNA. HOWEVER, ONE OF THE LISTED POSSIBILITIES INCLUDED A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER TAXATION ON THE SUBJECT'S METABOLISM. SIMPLY PUT, YOUR BODY CAN OUTPUT AND WITHSTAND FAR MORE PSIONIC ENERGY. HOWEVER, THESE INCREASED LIMITS ALSO REQUIRE FAR MORE ENERGY TO SUPPLY THEM."

José blinks. "So you're saying, the more I use my psionic powers, the faster I'll exhaust myself?"

"AFFIRMATIVE. YOUR BODY CAN NOW HANDLE PSIONIC POWERS UP TO THE FOURTH INVOCATION; A SUBSTANTIAL POWER INCREASE FROM YOUR TERRAN BIOLOGICAL LIMITS. PREVIOUSLY, YOU COULD ONLY UNLEASH THE THIRD INVOCATION, AND ONLY BY STRESSING YOUR PHYSIOLOGY TO ITS ABSOLUTE LIMITS. WHILE YOUR MAXIMUM POWER HAS INCREASED TWENTY-FOLD, YOU WILL NEED TO CONSUME SIGNIFICANTLY MORE BIO-MATTER TO SUSTAIN ANY BURSTS OF PSIONIC POTENTIAL."

The Admiral falls silent. He stares at the wall ahead of him, momentarily becoming lost in thought.

"'Consuming more bio-matter.' By that, you mean... devouring other sentients?"

"AFFIRMATIVE. HOWEVER, KOLVAXIANS DO NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRE THE CONSUMPTION OF BIOLOGICAL ENTITIES. ONE SIDE EFFECT OF BECOMING A KOLVAXIAN IS THAT ANY WORLD WITH RICH AND FERTILIZED SOIL WILL CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLY YOU WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF ENERGY. IN AN ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT, SUCH AS THE BLOODBEARER'S CONFINES, YOU WILL REQUIRE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION."

José nods. "That's right. The Kolvaxians... they consumed and adapted life in all forms to enhance themselves. That's why they were considered the worst bio-plague ever discovered. The number of sentients killed numbered in the septillions, but in the end, they lost when all the sentients unified to wipe them out."

He pauses.

"...Kolvaxians weren't just heretical. They were the greatest heresy in the entire multiverse. For me to become one myself..."

Umi beeps. "You are fortunate to be alive, Admiral. By now, you have already observed that the concepts of 'heresy' were often bent and twisted by the Ramaldian leaders, as well as the rest of humanity. You are not a heretic. You are the ultimate weapon left behind by Ramma. You should continue to pursue your goals and advance Terrankind's interests."

José's expression shifts to disgust.

"So I'm a monster, now. What else is new?"

He flicks his eyes to a bunch of piled up corpses. In an instant, he picks out several Dakkit soldiers, as well as their Avaru comrades. Among them are multiple Kessu, and even a few Kraktol, all of whom wear the Admiral's colors.

He reaches out with his telekinesis, extracts the bodies of his enemies, and pulls them to himself.

"Waste not, want not."

The Admiral presses his palms against the figures of his fallen foes. Within seconds, a flood of green tendrils spreads out from his hands to engulf the bodies. He sucks the blood, bone, and marrow from their figures, drying them out and consuming them whole.

Two minutes later, he stands up straight, his body restored somewhat. All that remains of his haphazard dinner are their clothes and weapons.

"Heretical..." José murmurs. "So terribly, terribly heretical."

The Admiral stomps down the corridor, resuming his search.

An hour later, he reaches the other end of the Bloodbearer. With him and the Kessu having searched the Bloodbearer's many rooms and facilities, only twenty surviving Kessu and Kraktol line the operating tables in several medbays.

All the rest remain among the dead.

José's expression darkens.

"...I still haven't found her."

As the Admiral stands in the hallway, hesitating about what to do, Umi speaks.

"Admiral. I believe I have detected a single life-sign located in the Bloodbearer's ventilation ducts. My scanners are damaged and unable to provide detailed feedback, but I will transmit the location to you. Please investigate at once."

"You did?" José asks. He pauses for a moment as Umi's transmission enters his cerebral implant. A moment later, he teleports halfway across the Bloodbearer, arriving at an access panel in an out-of-the-way crawlspace. He drops to his hands and knees to shuffle forward, moving as quickly as he can. It only takes him fifteen seconds to arrive at the end of the duct inside a small room, one which triggers a faint memory.

The Admiral stands up, finding himself faced with a control panel on a wall. This panel appears only once in his memories, at a point in time before his first death, when he first met a certain somebody on board the Bloodbearer.

"Lele..."

The Admiral recalls a vague memory of a bored kitten annoying him while he was trying to work. She pestered him and kept asking him questions until he relented by letting her help him fix the panel. After that, he put her on the fast track for officer promotion, discovering her latent talents for electronics and repairing gadgets.

José whips his head from left to right. He spots several nearby ventilation ducts, one of which contains splatters of blood leading to its interior.

"No..."

The Terran drops to his knees. He crawls through the duct, traveling deeper into the Bloodbearer's underbelly.

Eventually, he arrives inside another small room, one with a stifling temperature due to a broken air conditioning conduit.

The moment he enters, he freezes in place.

Before him, on the ground, lays an unmoving Kessu.

Her white fur, matted and soaked to the bone with blood, now appears more crimson than a Phoenix's feathers.

"Lele!" José shouts. "Lele!"

He climbs out of the vent and rushes to her side. When he drops down to touch her, his heart stops.

"No... no, she's... she's dead."

Tears well up in the Terran's eyes. Every one of his corneal sensors send her nonexistent vitals to him, revealing the truth of the matter once and for all.

Science Officer Lele has fallen.

The kitten who José once adored... who looked up to José as if she were his own daughter.

Gingerly, José shifts her weight, as if afraid he'll hurt her.

"Come on... come on, baby girl. You're okay. You're just... just playing around... you'll be fine... I can fix you up. I can-"

When José flips Lele onto her back, he receives another shock.

Lele's arms wrap protectively around a kitten, held tightly in her grasp. This kitten, equally soaked in blood, shivers silently, not meowing in the slightest. Her eyes look straight forward, staring at the wall, as if traumatized beyond recognition.

"...Lulu? Lulu, is... is that you?" José asks.

Lele's sister, Lulu, her father's youngest child, hangs in her big sister's grasp. José finally pieces together what happened, causing his tears of sorrow to turn to rage.

The Mallali wounded Lele, but she crawled into the ventilation ducts while holding her little sister.

Slowly, she bled out and died.

Even with her life ebbing away, she did everything she could to protect her sister's life.

The Admiral carefully plucks the baby kitten out of Lele's grasp. Lulu, small enough to fit in José's palm, curls into a ball and presses her bloody paws against her face. She doesn't meow or cry out at all.

The Admiral bites his lip.

Never, in all the time since his awakening in this new galaxy, has he ever felt such a torrent of grief, rage, and helplessness. He sags to his knees while cradling Lulu against his chest.

"Lele. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You were a good girl. You were... the best big sister."

The Admiral nods his head, sending tears to fall against the deck. He rocks back and forth on his knees, while stroking Lele's bloody fur.

"I'll... I'll take care of Lulu. I'll raise her myself. Your dad is still here. I'll take care of him too. I'll do better. I'll protect the remaining Kessu with everything I've got."

José picks up Lele and presses her against his chest, paying no attention to her blood running against his skin.

"I won't let the Mallali get away with this."

"I'll make them pay."