Matthew opened his eyes as he surfaced up from the large vat of chemicals that was boiling around him and after wiping his face he looked over at Doc that stood behind a thick glass wall at a console
“How was it?”
A few moments passed before Doc’s voice echoed out through a set of speakers inside the testing room
“Well the inner layer of Mystic heat that surrounds your body topped out at around 4000 degrees Celsius, so it’s still under the surface temperature of a main sequence G2 class star”
Matthew blinked twice before he asked
“So I am hotter than the surface of a red dwarf star?”
“...Normally I would tell you not to flatter yourself Major, but in this specific case, you are technically correct”
Matthew’s smile widened as he commented
“So the best kind of correct”
Doc closed her eyes for a few moments before she continued speaking
“...Other than the contained heat, the heat that radiates past your Mystic containment field was measured at around 800 degrees when you were ‘Going full throttle’ as it were… So we’ll need to refurbish all your armor and arms to withstand these temperatures”
“Is it doable?”
Doc massaged her temples for a bit before she nodded, then she turned around and as she was walking out of the observation room she spoke
“Yeah, I’ll get on it… I should have something within a few days time”
With Doc having left the room, Matthew crawled up from the vat of chemicals and began washing off before he put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt
“How does the advance go, Aea?”
[Current advance is estimated around 24 kilometers, drones attrition rate remains at 100%]
After Wicka’s failed assassination attempt on him, (more likely Alina by Matthew’s estimation) Matthew had ordered the start of a drone assault into the spacial hellscape. At the start there weren’t really any rhyme or reason to the advance, drones were ripped apart, compressed to a perfect sphere a few centimeters wide, rusted to dust in an instant and had all their parts seemingly randomly rearranged
[321.000 Golem drones have been destroyed, however 167 spacial anomalies have been successfully cataloged and 123 have been made identifiable with current sensor technology, with the current progress a full ground assault towards the center will be possible within the next 24 hours]
“How is the supply chain holding up to the strain?”
[Metals prove no problems as of this moment 21 open pit mines are being opened, 164 prospecting operations are underway, further manufacturing lines are being created, overall the supply chain are holding under the current strain]
Matthew felt silent for a few moments, he still felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach, after the attack Wicka had launched on them the spacial hellscape had shrunk by half, however it seemed to have already started recovering
‘So not only will there not be a better opportunity to launch an attack, it’s also pretty much been confirmed that Wicka, The Might Endurance, and it shares a link… And hopefully investigating the spacial hellscape will lead to dealing with Wicka…’
“... I still don’t like it”
[The current operation can be postponed, even if the spacial hellscape recover to its original size, conducting a similar incursion will be feasible within a years time]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Matthew continued his silent brooding for a while before he let out a sigh as he changed gears and walked out of the testing room, he continued walking through the hallway somewhat absentmindedly
“Major”
Matthew snapped out of his thoughts and glanced to his side where he found Ripper, she had gotten the drop on him once more. Not that this surprised him anymore
“...Ripper, did you need anything?”
She flashed a smile and nodded before she asked as she gestured in the direction of the gym
“Why don’t we go a few rounds?”
“...Sure, I could use a change of pace”
Ripper’s cat like smile widened a bit as she spoke
“Then let’s get going already~”
-
Thus the days passed, even though he did his best to hold in his impatience as Matthew received hourly updates on the spacial hellscape moving towards recovery it became increasingly obvious to everyone else than him that he had made his mind up already, Alina sat on the ceiling of the main hanger and looked down at Matthew that were attempting to meditate to calm his racing mind
‘Any progress, Aea?’
[Not in the direction you wish, mistress, 28 complete neurological scans have been completed, and still, no outside interference has been detected on Matthew’s mind]
“Hmm…”
Alina still didn’t buy it, as someone that had very nearly fallen under Wicka’s control it was clear to her that someone, if not Wicka, were messing with Matthew, however the few attempts she had made to address it with him directly hadn’t exactly gone over well. They weren’t fighting per se, but Matthew had shut her down every time she tried to talk about it
She didn’t like it, he wasn’t exactly meaner, but he had clearly stopped making any attempts at being not being too blunt… He was clearly still Matthew, however she still felt he was almost like a different person
[Might I suggest you change your approach, mistress?]
At this point she was starting to think she was the one going crazy, so Alina didn’t mind some input
‘...Suggest away’
[As I have found no internal distribution of Major Matthew’s mental state, I strongly believe the source of manipulation you have suggested is external, I have been scrubbing all data feeds Matthew are receiving without any apparent effect though]
Alina’s eyes widened for a moment before she narrowed her eyes and gazed intensely at Matthew for a few moments before she spoke
“...That’s because it’s not data that is manipulating him”
The next moment her figure disappeared as she folded space in on itself around her, she appeared in front of Matthew that still sat in silent meditation, after studying his face for a moment Alina gave an order to Aea
‘Lockdown the bunker and isolate this chamber from outside data streams’
[Confirmed, Lockdown instated, 30 seconds until complete isolation is achieved]
As Alina issued the Lockdown, Matthew’s eyes opened, he didn’t seem to pleased with Alina’s action, however she wouldn’t be seeking his approval. Only his forgiveness and understanding once this was over
“Sorry about this, Matthew”
Matthew opened his mouth to ask what was going on, however before he managed to speak a large wave of Mystic energy echoed out from Alina as she constructed a barrier around Matthew, effectively isolating the two of them from the outside space. Matthew blinked a few times before he asked
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on here, Alina?”
“Sure… it looks like it worked, do you remember when we talked last?”
Matthew fell silent for a moment before he nodded and stated
“Yeah, right before I started meditating”
Alina nodded and asked
“What were you doing before you started meditating?”
Matthew seemed more than a little confused, after remembering for a moment he answered
“Yeah, I had just finished sparing with Ripper”
Alina started at him for a few moments before she informed him
“That was more than a week ago, Matthew”
“...Seriously?”
“Yeah, we’ve also talked more than a few times since then, only I wasn’t speaking with ‘you’ it seems… We believe it was a parting gift from Wicka”
Matthew let out a deep sigh and laid down on his side before he muttered
“Motherfu… Any idea how the mental corruption took hold?”
Alina walked over and sat down with her back against the couch Matthew laid on and voiced her thoughts
“We only just figured it out, do you have a report Aea?”
[Not yet, however I have a thesis on how the mental corruption bypassed the neurological scans now that the corruption have lifted, it appears another metal profile was overlaid]
“And how wasn’t that caught in the scans?”
[It would be caught if it were a foreign profile, however the mental profile were Major Matthew, it was likely based on a mental snapshot taken before he entered suspended animation doing one of the many BlueArrow sponsored operations. From there, outside Mystic based interference likely guided Matthew down a path advantages to Wicka’s goals]
Matthew nodded, before he agreed verbally however he sat himself up with a set and spoke
“Raise the barrier Alina, we’re in deep shit”
Sensing Matthew’s urgency, Alina nevertheless asked him before she made any move to raise the isolation barrier
“How so?”
Matthew felt the hair on the back of his neck raise as he answered
“I am not the only person Wicka would be able to control using the exact same technique… There’s two more people in the bunker that also had a mental snapshot taken, which Wicka also have access to”
“...Shit”
Alina’s figure disappeared before it reappeared on the edge of her barrier, where she trusted her hand forwards and punctured a hole in her own barrier before she broke it down completely, a moment passed before Aea that had been reconnected to the rest of the bunker voiced a report
[Sector #2, #3 and #4 are under Biochemical attack, 5 assembly lines have been destroyed, all reactors have entered emergency SCRAM after reactor #2 received external damage… Currently tracking 2 enemy combatants in Bunker along with 24 drones under their control]
Matthew kicked off the ground to get his weapons as he yelled to Alina
“Get Doc first, I’ll go slow down Ripper!”
“Got it!”