Point Zero. (_.6) (Patreon)

 Point Zero. (_.5)

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Commissioned by Ichypa

Wordcount: 1000

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There are a multitude of drugs in high demand within Point Zero and those with access to a Chemical Fabricator are more than capable of creating whatever they wish. While large, industrial scale ones must be purchased from the greater galaxy, and therefore the Intrepid, those with funds and Credits were more than capable of getting their hands on a few lesser, smaller Chemical Fabricators of goodly quality. 

The medical fabricators that were hacked and of varying sizes could not create what was truly needed, merely the drugs and narcotics of the past era, which had demand but were poor in regards to compatibility with the renewed, human form. 

It is through Chemical Fabricators that many illegal combat and recreational drugs are created, and they are the lifeblood of any criminal organization. No. It the very foundation of their power. The cornerstone upon which empires are built. If they are ripped apart or taken away by a state who will gladly reuse them for the war effort, then the criminal empire in question will lose a vital piece of their empire, which will inevitably draw the attention of rivals.

So, I was unsurprised to find something rather dangerous protecting the innermost chambers.

“The legs of the woman are over there. Take them and leave this place. You will live.” The creature in question was more cybernetics and power armor than man. He stood at five feet and with narrow shoulders, as to enable him to fit in small nooks and crannies, but the shape of his form was entirely of corded, reactive muscle and over it was tungsten and ceramic plate. He had a featureless face with a neck protected by a large, modernized gorget and he held a two-handed battle hammer with two hands. There was a fusion reactor contained within the head and it was powering both a gravity emitter and a thruster. It was like looking upon a knight in shining armor, except he was protecting the heart of a criminal organization that destroyed dozens of lives every hour. “Leave this place be and live. That is the word of my superior.”

‘Bloody hell, that’s fucking military-gear. Last generation, but still damn better than anything I’ve seen on the street.” That is because last-generation military hardware is the common, normal equipment for the average, human soldier. Top-of-the-line hardware is entirely reserved for the best of the best, due to the need to create proper supply lines and refit factories. Therefore, given the wear and tear upon the suit, as well as the man’s ease of standing in it, my opponent was the best of the best and received his suit as one of the first. “Can we take that?”

“We don’t need to. Leave the thug aside. There’s no use in fighting that man, especially since my limbs are nearby.” Yefimova made a valid point, however as an officer of Point Zero, I couldn’t simply allow a criminal wearing military hardware to his own devices. “…What? You cannot be serious. That’s an American suit, and probably one of their prized cybernetic commandoes, it is a victory to avoid fighting one.”

“Deserters of any government military must be apprehended or, if necessary, destroyed,” The old soldier’s gaze was strong. His body barely shifted as he changed his focus on me. As Yefimova’s deducted simply from his outward appearance, he was not only well-armed, but also brimming with experience and knowledge. Therefore, he was not someone I could simply throw aside or capture. This was a battle that would prove difficult. “Go ahead and fetch your limbs and leave the laboratory. I’ll handle this.”

O’Hara’s eyes widened at my words, but not due to me. 

“Elliot, watch out—

However, while she’d been surprised, I hadn’t been. One of my eyes in the shadows, floating quietly and implacably, saw the old soldier’s engines thrumming and ready to charge before we even entered. Whether he’d been planning on attack from the start, or merely had the assault drive active out of habit, didn’t matter in the slightest. It was the same as aiming a primed, powerful weapon at an officer of the law. I’d given him more than what he deserved by speaking about his circumstances around my companions as he listened. 

Yes, without a doubt, he was a criminal for whom I had no mercy and intended to capture via simple incapacitation by decapitation. 

That required giving him an opening that didn’t exist.

Or, rather, which normally didn’t exist.

There are very few people around the world that can shift their entire head around the path of a speeding gravity hammer. It was actually quite painful to receive the blow and capture the headlight-sized head of the hammer within the shape of my skull and all its underlying musculature. The heavy mass of the head cracked several of my facial bones, while the burning engine scorched the inside of my face, but the result of the matter spoke for themselves. 

I was in arm’s reach of my foe. 

With ease of long practice, I changed my arm and shifted it into a weapon. A monomolecular edge at the end of a long, elongated whip composed of segmented bone and long, red lengths of muscle appeared at my behest. Given the lack of need for range, I was capable of refining the edge and durability of the weapon at the end to what I needed it to be, thus I sent it flying towards my foes helmed face. 

The only decision he had as it approached him was to take the hit and rely upon his regeneration or let go of his weapon—

Oh, he hadn’t had the time to consider either move, because his head has simply fallen off his shoulders. 

“Oh, Hell, you pretended to be distracted to kill him.”

“No, I did not.” I caught the head and called for the drones gathering and storing the minds and spines to my location. However, even as I did my duty, I was aghast by the thought of using a distraction. “I was looking at him and paying him attention the whole time. He assumed that I was distracted and lost. That is all.”

“…That’s semantics and you know it, boss.”

“Yes. Commander Elliot, those are entirely semantics.”

Oh, phooey. …