I hate jungles, and forests for that matter. The sweltering atmosphere, the incessantly moist air, the bugs, the critters, and the constant sounds in combination makes it a living nightmare for me. Considering my recent luck it is only to be expected that my first real forray into a new universe, has taken me into a planet mostly consisting of jungles. My group and I are traveling with four other mercenary groups into the dark jungles of Brynhildr. 

Thankfully, we are not walking into the jungle at least. Each team have been placed on a strange carriage like contraption known as a "hover-car" according to my Analyze skill. Truly these are remarkable machines, as they let us travel through the green landscape of Brynhildr at a breathtaking pace. Each car is piloted by a Goblin worker that are to be our guides in the jungle. 

I look over from our car and over to our so-called collegues in theirs. Yet again the majority of the people in them are humans, two of the teams are only comprised of that species in fact. The two other teams have only one non human member each, a modified brown bear and another Areia like Tlokbur. This other Areia at first seemed like another automata, as most of the plant mass is hidden by several thick plates of metal. This puzzles me to the point that I overcome my usual distaste for showing ignorance.

"Tlokbur, why are the other teams almost solely comprised of humans?" I am careful in only whispering this to Tlokbur, as I am not to use her name while we are out in public. Tlokbur has altered her appearance considerably since we landed here, her body seems to have altered itself to be brown rather than green and several flowers are sticking out from her bulk. This trick has puzzled me since we have landed, but I can only manage to humiliate myself occasionally. 

Tlokbur on her end carefully flicks a tentacle before answering, "Welp specist hiring policies I guess, Shieldmaiden is a human founded company and has a policy of "cultural purity" to "maintain the roots and the values on which the company was founded"." Her obvious distaste practically radiates out from her as she mockingly explains their reasoning. I seem to have swallowed my pride considerably as I actually ask a follow up question, "But the g..indigenous people here aren't humans? And they work for Shieldmaiden."

The reply does not come from Tlokbur, but Mary who is seated ahead of me and busily files her nails. "Cheap labour and menial tasks are not the same as quote on quote real employees. Any position that involve power are handed primarily to humans by companies like Shieldmaiden, oh there are a few who rise up through the system. The fiction of equality has to be maintained for the sake of publicity after all." I consider this for a few moments before I reply.

"But, I read the legal summaries that Morgera handed me. Most legal governments in the galaxy have signed onto charters that statues that all sapient species are equal-" I realize my mistake too late as Tlokbur once more takes over the role of answering me. "Legal equality and actual equality are two entirely different things. The law is only one of many factors Glyphie: social classes, wealth, ethnic groups, sexual orientation, and gender are just some of the other ones that play a part of this. There are several Areia who take umberage with genderfluid people like myself if you want an example to go by. Your species place in the galactic power-ladder is another, and you as an uplift will feel that soon enough"

I nod and lift my hands to show that I have conceded the argument. Equality is a myth to appease the masses and I had been foolish for forgetting such a simple fact of existence. Clearly, the idealistic drivel of my compatriots must have infected my thought processes. This first forray into the jungle is intended more to scout the area where the monsters had last been sighted, as well as establishing a temporary basecamp, than actually exterminating all the beasts in one attack.

We fly through the thick jungle until we reach a clearing surrounded by a particularly thick set of trees. The goblin drivers set the hover vehicles down on the ground. "Sirs and Madames, we have reached the point where the cars have to be abandoned." The goblin says in the strangely grouchy yet chipper voice that his kind is known for. We all nod in response to this and make our way out of the vehicle. The other groups are on their ends similarly moving to disembark from their cars. 

We all assemble in a circle in the clearing and there seems to be some unease about who should speak up. Until a blonde human man in bulky metallic armor steps forward, "Well folks we're here. For those of you who don't know me my name is James Taylor, we are all in this together and this first stage is going to be shitty. I suggest that we set up our camp here and then with the help of our courteous guides here move to investigate the nearby jungle." His voice is friendly enough, but it carries with it an undertone of arrogance or maybe haughtiness that makes him seem less than likeable. The suggestion he proposed seems reasonable enough, however, so the rest of us all just nod and move to do as instructed.

It is while I help Namatha set up a strangely orange tent, that it happens. Out of the shadows in the jungle a swarm of horrific abominations suddenly appear and charge the mercenaries. Normally, these beasts would be no stranger than the monsters I have seen before. Large lizard-like creatures with greenish scales and tusks are primarily the ones attacking us, but they are also accompanied by smaller deers with majestic antlers. What makes them terrifying are how each of the animals are halfway composed of metal. Metallic legs, strangely blinking lights, armor-plating, and other stranger additions to their bodies can be seen on each of them.

Their glassy eyes carry no emotion as they rush towards us with a combined sound of roaring animals and groaning metal. Namatha responds faster than I do and drops the tent we are working on, she pulls out a long "particle-rifle" and it fires strange white bolts of energy into the charging creatures. I manage to call my staff to my hands, before the tide of flesh and metal reach the camp circle. At which point shouts of pain, anger, and fear fill the clearing along with the soft groans of the beasts. 

This fight unlike my previous one on the mercenary ship, goes relatively smoothly for me and my compatriots. Tlokbur manages to dispatch six of the monsters by scrambling them, I beat back two of the deer-like beasts and my remaining crew mates hold the beasts at bay with various long-range monsters. The battle is overal a chaotic place, but it doesn't look like any of the other teams have any fatalities. What I do notice is that the beasts are just as destructive towards the environs and items in the clearing, as they are towards the living beings. The goblins are as is normal for their kind, hiding under the large hover-cars while the animals are scratching and reaching for them. 

I almost sigh in nostalgia, before my attention to dispatching an incoming beast. As quickly as the battle began it ends with four dozen abominations laying dead and bleeding into the jungle soil. Each Captain quickly assembles their crew and we over-look the damages to personell and equipment. When we assemble in a circle again after that the conclusion is that only one of the mercenaries got injured, the handheld equipment also mostly survived the assault. The hover-cars were the only notably damaged items and are at least temporarily rendered inoperable.

The soft-faced blonde human named James once more takes charge of the situation. "So, the threat is far more active than what we were initially briefed about. My suggestion is that we leave all but one of the guides here to do repairs, the rest of us move out now to try and hunt down the nearest nests of the beasts. If we are going to keep this base camp area relatively safe, it is best that we ensure that the nearest threats are dealt with. They are seemingly mindless creatures, so slaying them should be relatively easy."

It is that last sentence which triggers something in me. The long-haired human is seemingly correct in his assersion about the beasts, but seemingly correct and actually being correct are not the same things. For outnumbering us two to one and having such monstrous advantages augmenting them, the animals fell easily enough in the battle and none of them fled. Even the most simple minded of beasts will flee if properly pressed, fighting to the death is more likely a trait of sapience than animalism. 

I continue to ponder this as the teams wander with one of the Goblins leading us deeper into the jungle. The other noticeable thing is that the monsters so mindlessly attacked everything and everyone in that clearing, even a tree or two got mauled by the monstrous beasts. Despite this most of our equipment ended up being unharmed by the ordeal, only the hover cars...were damaged. Our only practical means of retreat ended up being the only equipment that was meaningfully damaged, the rest were either of lesser value or completely irrelevant like the mauled trees. No, these creatures are not fully mindless at all.

Either these creatures are far more intelligent than we know, or more likely something is steering these beasts. I have dealt with enough Necromancers in my time to recognize the tactics of one when I see them used. They rely on shock and brute force to surprise their enemies for sure, but they also sacrifice their lesser monsters to lull their quarry into a false sense of unease. After the adventurers have slaughtered countless zombies and skeletal warriors, they then send in the bone mages and lich-knights to devestate their cocky adversaries.  

My thoughts are disrupted as ahead of my group one of the mercenaries seems to have fallen over. We rush closer to see what is going on and I see the thin human man who had sustained a light cut to his arm, laying on the ground. As one of his teammates kneel down to examine the man, the second most common Necromancer tactic strikes me like lighting. Their second most favored tactic is elimination through contagion, have one of the lesser minions lightly injure one of the adventurers. This damage is easily healed after the battle, but the true purpose of the injury is to plant an undead conversion toxing or curse in the adventurer. So that he or she can then easily be used to damage the group from within.

Just as I finish that thought the kneeling mercenary suddenly has a metallic hand grasping around his throat and several talons digging in. His former compatriots veins are pulsating as more and more of his face is coated with a light cover of metal plates. The other mercenaries gasps in shock as the once sapient man rips out the throat of his now former colleague. I rush forward before anyone else can react and jab the monstrosity on the ground with my staff. Electricity courses through my staff and into him and soon the smell of cooking flesh joins the smell of blood. After the monster has been killed I step to the dying man who's friends are now attending to him, I lift my staff and jab it into him and soon enough he has joined his former comrade in death.

Suddenly, I have several different weapons pointed at me by angrily shouting mercenaries. A lesser being would have been flustered by the barrage of anger and sound, but I merely point down at the first corpse. "He was changed by being damaged by the beasts, his victim was dying and would end up the same way. If a tiny little cut took several minutes to change him, then having his entire throat ripped out would make it over in far shorter time than that-" My explanation beyond that is cut short by an angry human woman with a circular scar around her green eyes. "You had no way you could know that, a medic would be able to fix it for all you know! You just killed two of our comrades in cold blood and with no thought, be glad we aren't returning the favor." She moves up closer to me to stare me right in my eyes as spittle flies into my face.

Suddenly she rapidly steps away from me, and I curiously glance behind me to see what caused it. The entire crew of the Incredulous, sans Morgera because he is still back at the ship, were pointing their various weapons at the people threatening me. Torran is the first person that says something, "I would advise y'all to take a closer look at the corpses, and while we are it you drop those weapons and fuck off from our comrade." His voice is completely calm and collected as he says this, while gesturing with one of his two pistols towards the dead bodies.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Sure enough, the second body on the ground had suddenly developed an entirely metallic throat and one of his eyes were being replaced by a strangely glowing machine. I casually jabbed the body again and sent in more waves of electricity from my staff, to ensure that his body would not be reanimated by this strange machinery. This causes the others to lower their weapons and exclaim various curses in surprise. Since their hostility has been temporarily redirected from me, I make the wise choice to retreat back into the safety of my crew. 

While I retreat the mercenaries who were the front of the group returns with Captain James leading them. "What's the hold u-, okay I see what the hold up is." He finishes his own question and kneels down to examine the corpses and somehow his river of blonde hair does not touch the bloody ground as he does so. After a few seconds he gets back up, "So that means one thing, don't get scratched or injured by these creatures. Most of us have armor plating that should be able to withstand their attacks, but don't get cocky or you will end up like these two." He turns and resumes leading the exploration after giving that completely unhelpful advice, to my surprise the corpses are left behind without as much as a second glance. These mercenaries are not like the sentimental and idiotic adventurers I am used to.

We of the Incredulous take to the back of the troop to ensure we have some modicum of privacy as we wander deeper into the jungle. Tlokbur is the first to speak up when we are sure to not be overheard, "The monsters have to have some trick that makes them able to infect our nanites in order to rewire them into rebuilding our bodies. That is the only way I could see them be able to transform flesh into metal so quickly, it is spookily similar to a zombie virus from the human fantasy novels." Namatha turns to glance back to where we had been and says, "I regret asking Morgera to stay behind on the ship, he is probably the only one I know that could be able to cure or at least hinder an infection like this. At present it means we are going to have to be extra careful."

I consider if it would be wise of me to add to the discussion, as I should not really have a way to know about these things. At the same time while it would benefit us to have the other mercenaries remain ignorant, it could have fatal or almost worse than fatal consequences for myself to have the crew be ignorant. Therefore, I sigh after Torran finishes adding his opinion to the matter, "I know I am still new to the crew and the galaxy as a whole, but I have...experience with matters of this sort. These creatures are not mindless beasts at all, someone is directing them. Think about how easily we repelled that initial attack, the creatures were almost more busy attack the tents or the trees than us. Yet despite the ease with which we destroyed the creatures, they managed to sabotage the only tool of import we have."

To the credit of my crew mates, they all immediately understand my line of reasoning as Mary adds. "The hover-cars, and with them disabled we can't easily retreat. We got distracted by our own cockiness as we thought these animals would be no threat, but in reality in one assault they took out two of ours." Torran hmms to this as the implications of this information reaches the final conclusion. "We keep this to ourselves until or unless it becomes necessary to share it with the other teams. Now, that we know that what we are facing is much more dangerous than anticipated we fight smart. If the odds get titled even slightly against us we retreat."

The rest of the crew including myself nod to these orders, as they are common sense. After a few more minutes we come to a stop in another clearing outside of a small stone structure, it seems like an old temple of some kind with a staircase in the opening that goes down into the darkness. It is the obviousness of the trap that makes me feel and think two things, the first being annoyance at the obviousness of the trap and the second being that it almost have to be a necromancer behind this. Only a stupid Necromancer with their unhygenic magic and simple minded focuses would think that this constitutes a clever ploy.

To my disgust the other Mercenaries almost immediately begin entering the structure and walk down the stairs. I glance over at my compatriots who seem to share my bewilderment at the others entering this obvious trap. We all collectively sigh and follow in after them, as anything else would appear suspicious. In my disgust I only absent mindedly activate Occult Eye, while hiding my mouth with my hand and whispering the spell. I blink and with it the entire world changes before my eyes, shadows grow muted and my sight get a red sheen to it.

As we wander down the stairs and into the dark corridors underneath the temple, it becomes even more apparent that this is an extremely obvious trap. The winding network of corridors would make retreat almost impossible, as there are tons of different bends in them and that one would easily get lost when rushing back. My crew and I wander only deep enough that we can find a larger room to stay in, and we carefully marked the walls on our way through. We don't even put words to our intentions as we find a mid-sized worship chamber which we quickly fortify. As the others take defensive positions within the chamber, I find myself distracted by a golden aura I spot in the darkness.

It does not take me long to dig through rubble in the chamber to find the heart of a goblin suspended in Amber, the item in my occult eyes has it's own aura. Without having any Mana inside of it, that means this is an item that probably fits the criterias needed to be a worthy sacrifice to Mara. I pocket the heart suspended in amber and rise up to join the crew behind the improvised fortifications they had set up. And not a moment to soon either as the corridors outside of the temple chamber became filled with the sounds of battle.

"Oh my, who could have seen it coming...this is a trap." I say dryly as I take up my place next to Tlokbur. Her massive bulk would make her an easy target for small cuts, and as such it would be logical for me to guard her flank. Torran and Namatha who prefer using ranged weapons, have taken their place behind a collapsed column. Mary has hidden behind the wall next to the entrance, readying herself to attack the incoming tide of beasts from behind. We wait in the silent room as the ruckus of battle comes closer and closer.

I blink and suddenly the tide are here, a large swarm of abominations rush at break neck speed towards the entrance to our room. Namatha and Torran immediately starts shooting out through the door and into the approaching tide of beasts. Numerous animals fall over, but they are just crushed underneath their compatriots who do not hesitate to step on them as they continue forward. When the first animals reach the door Tlokbur immediately begins to scramble the animals as quickly as possible.

I sense the flickering waves of signals her NVR projects into the vulnerable brains of the beasts. Except it turns out that they were not so vulnerable after all, as several of the animals fall over screaming soundlessly in pain as they are exposed to the scramble. We all notice that several of them begin to rise up from the ground and stagger ahead and in spite of our ranged combatants best efforts, the tide manages to push itself into the room. 

Mary immediately starts shooting with her large rifle into the crowd of animals, blasting several of them apart but they still reach our fortifications. I have to join in the battle myself as I jab forward with the stab and shock several of the creatures, while Tlokbur desperately tries to bring down or at least slow the horde of beasts by unleashing scrambling waves into them. 

After only a brief minute of battle it becomes apparent that while we are quite capable of repelling the waves of beasts, it will not be possible to do so without casualties. Even if we retreat out through the door we came the animals would be able to breach our defenses and at least injure us. That is unless I even out the field, but using magic in front of these witnesses might be a mistake.

The choice is unfortunately taken out of my hands as a massive horned beast smashes through the horde and the downed pillar protecting Namatha and Torran. It's metallic horn stabs into Torran's armor and sends him flying into the wall with a sickening crunch. If the captain dies my chances of becoming a proper crew member will be squashed and with it my magic will be lost. That is unacceptable, so I do the only thing I can.

I channel all the magic I can as I rush out from my position next to Tlokbur and scream out spells. "GRASPING HANDS, JAM TECHNOLOGY, LESSER DOMINATE, GRASPING HANDS! GRASPING HANDS!" I flick spells out through my fingers into the horde of beasts and immediately dismiss a system notification that appears in my vision. The ground under the tide of animals erupts into countless grasping limbs that wrap themselves around the abominations, the horned beast collapses as it's metallic parts refuse to function. Another animal in the back immediately starts attacking it's fellows. The ocean of grasping limbs manages to finally stem the tide as they are slowed down and lightly injured by the limbs.

I pay no notice to this as I kneel down next to Torran's body and I roll him over. I block out the other sounds of battle and the surprised exclamations coming from my crew members, the task at hand is too important. My Occult eyes gaze into the bleeding wound of Torran and I focus it with my analyze skill and my natural ability to sense mana and hidden energies. To find what I have to find I must dig as deep as I can.

It only takes a moment of intense concentration to find what I want, but that moment seems to last an eternity as I force my senses to find what I seek. Inside of Torrans blood I sense an unnatural trickle of machinery which seems to almost have a tiny thread of 1s and 0s connecting it to something else. I ignore the connection and rather focus on isolating the unnatural intruders. Healing arts are not something for a Warlock, altruism is not a trait known to exist inside of Eldritch entities, and the nature of a Warlock's magic is to achieve results through sacrifice. 

Therefore, what I am trying here is not to heal Torran as that is outside the scope of my powers, rather it is to contain the curse within his body. I lift my hand over the wound, and with a rather clumsy and hasty approach to it, begin to chant while moving my fingers into various intricate patterns. The principle of Containment is channeled into the blood of Torran, with only one effect attached to it. Contain the invading nanites as long as possible.

When I feel my channeled mana have taken hold I rise up and turn to rejoin the battle. The others have significantly thinned the herd, but to my surprise I see the horned beast i disabled and the animal I dominated, are both back to trying to attack the rest of the crew. I rush back in to protect Tlokbur's flank as the crew collectively manage to destroy the animals and bring the room back into silence. 

The moment the last cyberbeast falls over dead on the ground after a volley of blasts from Namatha's rifle, the three women in the room collectively turn to stare at me. "Glyphnax...WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Tlokbur says as she for the first time I can remember actually uses my full name. Mary and Namatha on their end are just staring at me in silent shock, this will not do. There will be a time to handle the questions of my fellows, but that time is not now. I lift my hand in what I hope is a placating gesture. "Magic. But we don't have time for explanations right now. Torran is dying and I cannot heal him, therefore I need to summon the one who can."

I can feel the disbelief radiating from the others as I turn my back to them, and I am sure Tlokbur would yell angrily at me, but the blood on the floor next to Torran stops her from doing it. The blood serves the purpose for what I need as I kneel down next to it and begin tracing glyphs on the ground, I also pull out the heart suspended in amber while doing so. To be able to save Torran I would have to call upon the most powerful entity in this world, and that entity is sadly not myself.