Ice lay on a bunk in the battleship, where the crew dumped him. His nano prosthetics were still disabled and supposedly until they got him to System Central Station. He had been surprised when the captain told him that the Nano Forge would fit just fine within the docking bay of the much larger ship but was happy he wouldn't have to leave it behind when they took him to System Central Station.

Ice tried to sleep as much as he could so the inability to move wouldn't grate as much on his mental state.

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The Emperor looked up from the report sent to him from a battleship near the capitol planet. A human claiming to be a System User had been found and he seemed to be in possession of Alanna's Destroyer. He had ordered the ship brought to him using, the now defunct, dimensional fold gates. Their use had been outlawed since before he was shifted; however, they had still not discovered any faster ways to travel.

If anyone had been around, they would have heard his augments clicking and grinding as he slowly walked from the Central Command Hub towards his quarters. He tried to remember the last time he had walked this way as each step caused a small cloud of dust to rise. The automated cleaning system had failed a few hundred years earlier and without someone to repair it. The cleaning had fallen well behind.

Emperor once more considered his decision to kill every member of the organic crew of the Space station and shrugged. Organics attracted Theriopes. He hadn’t even considered simply allowing them to leave. Such a thing was impossible without more organics coming to the station.

Knowing he would soon have to kill the few hundred crew on board the battleship made his stomach growl. It had been quite some time since the bio converters had run dry. He patted the bronze plate holding his few remaining organs in place almost placatingly. Soon he would have plenty to eat. Hopefully, he would also have a new ally to fight against the Theriope. Although, if they didn't measure up to his expectations. Well one more would keep the bioconverter running for a few extra days. Emperor chuckled darkly at the thought. Still, he had to prepare to receive the guests.

He ordered a number of his combat automatons to the hanger where the ship would dock. Once the airlock had been opened they would scour the ship of life, leaving only this… Dronemancer alive. "Francis, recall the 2nd squadron from patrol. I would not want our guests leaving early." As usual the AI did not respond. It didn't matter, Emperor knew his orders would be carried out to the letter. Francis had become much more compliant since he went silent after the fall of the capitol. "Also have my armor prepared. I wouldn't want the last true System User to die."

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Emperor thought about the five so-called System Users that had been brought to him over the years. None were strong enough so he had mercifully killed them before the Theriope could. He waved away a Servitor class automaton holding a tray of water crystals and stepped into his quarters. The blood stains on the floor had faded away over time but the smashed furniture remained. The Superhero System User had put up a fight but that stopped when Emperor ripped off his arms. The man never even thought of using a System Healing Utility. That was how he knew he was weak.

Emperor walked past many pieces of destroyed furniture and dented bulkheads until he reached the vault door that led to his personal armory. He caressed the door before reaching down and typing in the five digit entry code. Inside were hundreds of weapons from the mundane swords near the door to the automated shoulder mounted plasma cannon Alanna had gifted him for his birthday 1200 years ago. Finally he reached the clockwork armor midway down the long dusty hallway and he reached out a bronze and steel hand to brush the dust off one pauldron. He shrugged off the dirty cloak he wore and reached for a bronze boot…

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Ice woke up in a panic when he couldn't move his arm and leg. It took several minutes for him to remember they had been disabled. He looked up as the door opened and a creature with eight tentacles shuffled inside carrying a tray.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but the Captain thought you might like some food. It's nothing special. Just what the crew eatS but it is filling!" The creature had a distinctly feminine voice.

"Oh, uhm thank you." Ice replied as he struggled to sit up; the deadweight of his prosthetics making this simple task difficult. The creature extended a tentacle to help him. He grasped the tentacle firmly and pulled himself upwards in one swift motion. At the same time the creature screamed and Ice felt the tentacle pull apart in his hand. "Oh my God. Are you okay? I didn't mean to." Ice tried to comfort the creature as several more guards entered the room. One of them pointed a rifle at him and he hit the bed unconscious.

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Captain Drake prided himself on being careful and meticulous. However, the human in his brig was a conundrum, and a scary one at that. On the one hand, he was potentially a hero that would save trillions of lives. On the other he was… one of those Earth humans. X1 humans were bad enough. They were stronger than most other species and dizzyingly intelligent. Earth humans, those that had been shifted on the other hand, were head and shoulders above every other sentient creature in the universe. They were stronger and faster with a much higher tolerance for pain. It could be argued that some were smarter. That was all great. It made them unparalleled fighters against the Theriope. Any accident involving a human and another species ended in accidents or a catastrophe; as evidenced by Petty Officer Billyrong losing a foot off one of her tentacles.

The captain did not believe the human had done it maliciously. Neither did Billyrong, but a small accident would take months to heal. The shifted were just too damn strong. "Pilot Bernard, how long until we reach System Central?"

"Three days, Captain. We are approaching the first dimensional gate now."

Three days was ample time for a lot more accidents and the captain dreaded the paperwork he would have to do at the end of this trip.