Serion Invasion: Chapter 1 - The Last Remnant

In a hidden base deep in the Grey Wastes of Valar, a blonde-haired woman wearing a silver bodysuit, with cybernetic implants showing in various places, stood motionless in front of a shimmering blue portal, the energies in the event horizon in a state of chaotic flux. This was the moment she had been waiting for for what seemed like an eternity. Kaytlyn Kal'Dior stared into the blue wall that faced her, remembering, for the first time in decades, everything that had happened. Along with everything that would happen should she do nothing. To prevent what had happened to her race from happening again, she had to journey to Earth and warn them. From the stolen intelligence reports she had procured, she projected that, even if she did succeed, it would still require the complete co-operation of the population, along with some new tactics that Kaytlyn herself had been working on, to stand any chance of success. She had studied the reports endlessly. If anything, she sought to at least give them that chance.

Shutting the portal down to conserve energy, Kaytlyn went about preparing for the mission. She filled her Dimensional Storage pouch with everything she thought she might need. This included her med-kit, scanner, weapons, and most importantly her Gateway Module, which would reopen the portal at her position to get her back here. Kaytlyn put on her protective body suit. The reports had also indicated environmental concerns that posed a threat to the Serions. She trusted to hope that her suit would protect her from whatever concerns they were referring to. She holstered her sidearm and sword, grabbed her rifle and activated the portal again. Taking a deep breath, Kaytlyn Kal'Dior gripped her rifle firmly, and stepped in. The next thing she knew, the systems in her suit were fluctuating wildly. Then, she hit ground hard. Searing pain hit her, and she realized her suit had been compromised. She screamed.

Gaige was troubled. And when she was troubled, she did the only thing she could think of, work on some piece of tech or the other. This time, she was really troubled, so she was building a new set of power armor. Weaker than her Overdrive, but less draining. A nice balance. She had yet to paint it fully, so right now it was a silvery colour, the natural colour of her secret Alloy. She activated the suits packing device. Time to test it out. She could paint it later.

She pressed the button that caused it to pop back into her dimension forming around her. The suit was light, atleast it was when it was on. It made her stronger, though not as much as her overdrive would. But she added something to this that felt right, a pair of wings formed from coursing energy, extending from a powerful mobility pack. "Feels good, feels good.. Now, what to call you..." Before she had time to think, she heard a crash, followed by screaming coming from the back garden.

Reacting instantly she turned and moved, dashing through the house and out the back in seconds. Impressive acceloration, it might not be as fast as her overdrive, but it would reach its max speed much sooner. And it was agile. She shook her head and concentrated on the screaming woman in her grass.

She accessed the security system and displayed footage from seconds before, of the woman basically popping into existance, falling out of a swirling blue vortex of Dimensional energy. Strange, no world connected to earth had a gateway like that, there for this woman had either teleported from somewhere on earth or was an alien. Gaige scanned her life signs, and frowned.. She was not human... Or spirit. She had no reiatsu to speak of, and even worse, the reiatsu seemed to be attacking her body. It would kill her in minutes.

Gaige thought quickly, going over everything she knew about reiatsu. This wasn't to different from her own reiatsu distortion sickness. Gaige dashed into the house and to her room, grabbing a bottle of pills off her dresser. She jumped out the window and zipped to the woman's. "If you want to live, eat this now!" She said, helmet turning her voice slightly robotic. She handed her two pills. They wouldn't last long, maybe an hour, but they would stop it long enough for Gaige to ask some questions and help her, she hoped.

The pain was blinding. Something in the atmosphere was beginning to eat away at her. Before Kaytlyn Kal'Dior even knew what was happening, a person in a winged cyber-suit was standing over her, giving her tablets to take, stressing that it was urgent for her survival. Kaytlyn decided that nothing could make things worse, so she took the tablets and downed them. Instantly, the pain began to subside. The tablets appeared to be warding off whatever was attacking her cellular structure. Gasping for air, she realized that she had been sweating profusely inside her helmet. She tugged it off and put it in her Dimensional Storage. Kaytlyn's blonde hair was matted to her head. After gasping for a second or two, taking in lungfuls of welcome oxygen, she spoke. "Thank you for your assistance. My name is Kaytlyn Kal'Dior. Is this Earth?" She looked around, observing all of surrounds. She was standing in front of a large house. There was a light snow covering on everything outside. She waited for confirmation of her destination before continuing.

"Then I made it. I'm in time by the looks of it. But first tell me, what was happening to me?" She surveyed the tear in her suit, on her left leg. The skin there had burned quite badly. While Gaige replied to her question, Kaytlyn retrieved her triage kit from her Dimensional Storage, and began to treat the damage.

It worked. Gaige sighed with relief. "Oh thank the technolord I thought you were going to die and take what ever amazing alien tech info you had to the grave." She said, hitting a button on her wrist, the helmet folded back and open. "This is indeed earth, though I don't know what you made it in time for." She said, standing back from the woman.

She though about the woman's question, and looked at the burn on her leg. The memory of the slowly decaying power core she'd taken from a strange robot a long time ago came to mind. As she was replicating it she remembed how it had slowly been corroded by the reiatsu in the air. She still had it stored in a special containment unit. She had a feeling it was connected to this woman and her world but she would ask about it later.

But well, that train of thought gave her a possible answer for the woman. "It appears the Reiatsu in the air has decided you do not belong here, and has decided to try and remove you. Its literally trying to tear you apart atom by atom. You are the luckiest person in the universe, and I'll tell you why." She smiled.

"You landed in the back garden of literally the only person on this planet who could help you, you know. Those pills i gave you were actually made to stop My internal reiatsu from tearing my body apart on the inside. Though I do also have a collection of implants in my body that regulate the flux of my Reiatsu, and stop it from killing me in a matter of days. Now i'm guaranteed to make it to my thirties atleast.. " She said with a grim smile.

"Oh by the way, I'm Gaige Ashe. Finest engineer you'll ever meet." She extended a hand for the woman to shake. "Why don't you come inside, and we can talk about why your here."

Kaytlyn followed Gaige into the house. She muttered to herself. "Reiatsu. That must be the environmental hazard the reports refer to. Lucky indeed." They entered Gaige's workshop. "The reiatsu is harming you too? Fascinating." Kaytlyn gazed around at the workshop. It was cluttered. Compared to Valar tech, the gadgets were slightly crude. However, compared to the average human tech that she had witnessed in the intel reports, it was highly advanced. "Your work center is impressive, by human standards." She turned to Gaige. "As for why I am here, it is a matter of your race's survival. Though I was aiming to meet whatever form of leadership you have here, fate has been kind and dropped me with one of the more technologically advanced humans. Logically you should have a greater understanding of the implications of what I am about to tell you." Kaytlyn let those words sink in before continuing.

"I am a Valarion. My race was both technologically advanced and intellectually brilliant. But we were also arrogant. We created machines to take care of our more mundane needs, while we focused on science and art. The machines were named Serions, and they were brilliant. But then a glitch in the system happened. They gained sentience, and for some reason saw us as enemies. We were unprepared. The death toll was very nearly 100%. I am all that remains. But now the Serions have found a new target. Earth. I am here to help you stop them. But I also need some help from you in return." Kaytlyn retrieved her Gateway device from her Dimensional Storage. "I need you to return to my home with me. We will use your knowledge of Earth's topography to calibrate my portal device to prevent anymore unfortunate incidents happening, like the one that occurred on my arrival here." Kaytlyn opened up a blue portal to her home and turned back to Gaige. "Will you help me Gaige Ashe of Earth?"

"Not for the same reason its harming you." Gaige said following her into the house. "I'm the greatest engineer on earth, i'm light years ahead of human tech.." she responded. She listened to what the woman had to say though she didn't seem all that interested, as she tinkered away with her suit.

When Kaytlyn was done speaking Gaige stopped what she was doing. "Interesting stuff. If what your saying is true, then the strange machines that attacked several of cities a few months back were these Serion. I'm pretty sure I have one of their power cores over in that box.  I guess I have you to thank for that little beauty. I made my own using its design, use them to power my suits." Gaige shrugged. "I hope you don't mind cause I don't really care if you do..."

Gaige walked over to a locker and pulled out a silver case. She didn't say what was in it but she walked back over to Kaytlyn.  "You want me to step through a portal into an unfamiliar, potentially deadly world without a moment's notice?" Gaige asked, very serious. She waited for her response but interupted her anyway.  "Sure, why the hell not! but you owe me lady."

Kaytlyn listened to Gaige's reply. "That was just a prelude. They were sent to gather information and evaluate resistance. They have learned from their experiences, and since then, they have been preparing, obviously considering the benefits of invasion to be outweighing the cost. I'm impressed that you managed to neutralize one, but it will not have been prepared. The ones that come through next will be. And I've spent centuries hunting these creatures. At least it went to good use."

Kaytlyn watched Gaige walk over to a storage locker and produce a silver case. She eyed the case warily. She replied to Gaige's inquiry. "Yes." She nodded when Gaige accepted the request. "I think saving your planet should cover that debt." She retrieved Gateway device from her Dimensional Storage. "Very well. You should know, when we traverse this portal, all of this, what did you call it? Reiatsu? Any of it that is in your body will be removed. Understood?" Kaytlyn turned and activated the portal. She then remembered something. "Also try not to touch anything once you're there. After you." Kaytlyn waited for Gaige to travel through before going through herself.


Upon arriving in Kaytlyn's hideaway, deep in the Grey Wastes on the planet of Valar, the first thing Kaytlyn did was race over to the dampening field monitor console. She ran a quick diagnostic to make sure it was working alright after the portal usage and then returned to Gaige. "This is my home. We are on my planet of Valar." She gestured to a large work area that was filled with many Serion parts and high-tech parts and gadgets. "As you can see, I have had a lot of time to perfect my tech and tactics. I am your civilization's only hope."

"There were two, and I think you might be underestimating earth. You might be more advanced but most of our defense forces have Reiatsu and powers. I'll introduce you to Laura at some point, you'll understand what I'm talking then. And no see, that's not how debts work. We'll talk about it later though." She smiled at the woman.

"Telling me to not touch things is like telling a normal person to stop breathing." Gaige says as she approached the portal. "Really? Thats fascinating.. Is that by design or does your world reject it?" Before She could answer Gaige Dived headlong into the portal screaming Woo!

She shot out the other side and flipped herself using her mobility wings, landing on her feet. And then she felt a great relief on her body, years of pressure lifting in seconds. It was a strange experience to have all of her Reiatsu stripped in one go. This gave her an idea, but she would have to wait. She spotted the table covered in stuff and was over by it in a flash, though she didn't actually touch anything yet she admired the tech. She'd probably need some of this to be explained.

Gaige stowed her powersuit since she didn't seem to be dying. She picked up one of the serion arms and started to compare it to her own while Kaytlyn spoke.  "This is certainly good robotics. I thought about building my own, but the worlds not ready for Ashe Inc AI running around. I understand the dangers, so I'll stick to limbs and suits for the time being. Now, where's this thing I'm to play with?"

Kaytlyn regarded Gaige as she removed her suit and began playing with the various bits of debris on the worktable. "How do you feel? Are you experiencing any difficulties in this environment?" She watched Gaige examine the bits and bobs on the table. She raised an eyebrow at the compliment on the craftsmanship of the various parts. "Thank you. I think you are wise in your caution. Come with me." Kaytlyn gestured to a master situation monitor that sat in the center of the portal room. There was a large holographic display of a planet, but it was completely blank.

Kaytlyn approached the monitor and gazed at it speculatively. "Due to constant fluctuations in the dimensional boundaries between our dimensions, I cannot conduct a proper scan of your world. Because of this, I also cannot properly target my portal device, as you saw by my abrupt entry into your realm. To this end, I require you upload any and all knowledge you possess about the geography and topology of your planet. I also require the locations of any important installations that I might need. I read a report somewhere about some sort of "Coalition Against Spiritual Interference". The location of their base of operations would be helpful also." Kaytlyn produced her scanner and performed a quick scan of Gaige. Kaytlyn directed Gaige's attention to a coffin-like device resting against a wall. "Please step into this device. My scans indicate you have a cybernetic devices throughout your body, including a computerized processing center in your head. The technology is impressive compared to the rest of your race. My device will interface with your internal computer and upload any data you wish. Don't worry, there is no physical trauma. The directed energy bursts will be calibrated to your specifications. You will not be harmed."

"I'm fine." She said, dropping the arm onto the table with a clang she turned and followed Kaytlyn to her non functioning geoscope. She examined the holographic display a moment, then went to the thing Kaytlyn pointed out. "I suggest staying away from the coalition, they're less than trust worthy, though some have proven themselves. If they don't arrest you and dissect you you'll be lucky. Still, I can give you the needed information." She was about to continue, but Kaytlyn spoke first.

"Hey, I'd appreciate you not doing that. You ruined the surprise. But yes, I do. My father built and installed that." Gaige shrugged and hopped in the thing. As Kaytlyn reassured her it would not hurt, she wistled. "Ok, turn this baby on and lets get this show on the road!" She said all enthusiasm and pep.

Kaytlyn raised an eyebrow again at Gaige's warning about the Coalition. Though she was not worried about the threat of dissection, she was alarmed by the discord being demonstrated. She muttered to herself. "Human society is more unstable than I imagined. This maybe harder than I thought." She watched Gaige enter the device without hesitation. Normally this device was used to drain a captured Serion of its data, before it was destroyed. Today, it had a far more benign purpose. "Very well. Don't move." Kaytlyn touched a control that closed the device's front hatch. The device lit up for a few seconds and a low whirring was heard, before the device shut down and opened again.

Kaytlyn turned to the hologram and it began to fill with details of regions and locations. The main base of the Coalition was marked in a city known as "New York", along with dozens of smaller installations. The terrain was being mapped out with impressive detail. Finally the globe finished morphing, and full holographic representation of planet Earth. "My thanks. This data will be most useful." She turned to her portal device and began muttering to herself. "Now, I believe some modifications are necessary." She opened a panel underneath the operations console of the portal and began to re-wire something. Then she suddenly stood back up again and faced Gaige. "My apologies, I seem to have gotten carried away. There is something more important I need to discuss with you. Before I can return to your planet, I need to find a more efficient way to shield myself from this "reiatsu" in your environment. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have, given your greater experience with this anomaly."

The lid closed and the machine activated. Gaige giggled. "Hoo hoo that tickles!" She said. She noticed the machine extracting information but she blocked it from getting personal stuff. Kaytlyn didn't need to know more than what she asked for. When it was finished she hopped out, and looked at the geoscape again. "Looks good. " She crouched down to see what Kaytlyn was doing out of curiosity.

Gaige nodded. "Yeah, I figured you might want help with that. I came prepared. Now, I'm no surgeon so.... I guess I can try.." She watched the womans face a moment and smiled. "I'm joking, I won't need to put a knife near you." Gaige walked over to a semi empty space in the workshop and made a bit of room. She placed the silver case down and opened it. and started working. She didn't ask, she just started working, claiming a few bits of scrap material. Using nodes that controlled the flow of reiatsu she modified how they worked slightly, so that they would repel most of the energy instead of draw it in. She made seven of these little nodes, flat discs the size of a coin.

"Alright so, these little fella's will repel spirit particles in a small area around your body. While it will stop the enviroment from tearing you to bits, and also collect some of the reiatsu and use it as a power source. It wont protect you completely, so if you get in a fight with someone on earth, try not get hit by them. If you do, these should force lingering reiatsu out of your body, but its going to hurt, allot.

There are two ways you can use these, build them into your suit, or put them under your skin. I'll let you decide. Oh, check your computer, I took the liberty of uploading the program that will run these onto it. You'll need something like my artemis to run it, and keep the nodes doing their job. Unfortunately I don't have a spare artemis, and I'm not a qualified xeno brain surgeon, so you'll have to figure the rest out on your own." Gaige smiled.

Kaytlyn raised her eyebrow skeptically at the suggestion of surgery, but upon seeing that Gaige was attempting to convey humor her face returned to its normal expression. She watched the human work for some time on something, utilizing spare parts from the workbench. The finished product was a set of seven coin-sized nodes that theoretically would repel spiritual particles from her body, as well as flush out any that were already inside. Kaytlyn listened to Gaige's explanation. Gaige finished by stating that Kaytlyn would have to come up with a way to integrate them. She already had one.

Walking over to the workbench, Kaytlyn tapped a control which opened a panel on the side of the bench. A drawer filled with micro-tools for performing maintenance on her implants slid out. "I think the most logical choice is to apply the nodes on a sub-dermal level. I can modify my cranial implant to regulate it. I believe I can also integrate into my suit's HUD so I can be alerted to its integrity at a given time." Kaytlyn walked over to a medical diagnostic station, and programmed it to upload Gaige's program to her cranial implant. She used a mini-tool to open access to her implant, which was above her left eye, and began the upload. It took roughly 3 seconds. She then retrieved a diagnostic tool form the drawer and probed the implant, carefully watching the readings on the screen in front of her. Satisfied, she looked back at Gaige. "The program has been successfully integrated. The next step is to install the nodes. I can do most of them myself, but I will require your assistance for the spinal node."

Kaytlyn prepped an area for the proposed surgery to take place, and made some modifications to the nodes. She explained. "I have modified the nodes with latching appendages. Once they are all inserted, I will activate the appendages, which will result in the nodes attaching themselves to the nearest skeletal feature. This will ensure they will not move inside. I will now begin the procedure." Kaytlyn began by removing her silver body suit, standing completely naked. Her body was lithe and elegant as a typical Valarion, with flawless skin, though Gaige would notice a number of implants protruding through at various points on her beautiful body. Then, using a laser scalpel to open a section of skin, inserting a node, then using a nadion suture to seal the incision, leaving no scar. She repeated this process until only one remained. "I now require your assistance. It is performed exactly as the others I have already completed. If need be, I will instruct you on the process as we proceed. The optimal location is on my T1 vertebra." Kaytlyn move to her bed and lay face down, awaiting the final node installation.

She watched Kaytlyn preform the upgrade to her augments, and nodded when she said she needed help. "Oh yay I love spinal surgery." Gaige said. She watched as the woman slipped out of her silver suit so that she was nude. It was interesting that she appeared so human, albeit a good deal more attractive than the average human."Should I get naked to? would that make you feel more or less comfortable?" Gaige joked. She watched the method with which Kaytlyn installed the nodes.

And then it was her turn. "My ability to process information and learn from it is highly enhanced. I've got this." Gaige washed her hands and gloved up. Then she took the tools and made her cut where Kaytlyn had indicated and placed the node under her skin. She used the same method to close up the cut. "All done." She said. She examined the extensive array of body augments. "What's the story behind all those? I can only assume you were not born with those augments."

Gaige moved back and let her dress. She had questions, allot of questions that she let wait until the important stuff was out of the way. She cleared a space and pulled her up onto a work bench. "So. Question time. Question one, your entire race died out, but you survived. How? I mean, between serion and starvation, you've done a good job of staying alive. Two, why have you not builtt an army of your own to fight the serion? Three, have you got any food, I'm kinda hungry?"

Kaytlyn responded to Gaige's quip about the two of them being naked with a simple "Comfort is irrelevant." They finished the procedure. Kaytlyn was again impressed with the fact that Gaige had seemingly mastered the use of her instruments after only seeing it only once. Gaige inquired about Kaytlyns array of implants. The Valarion explained while she got dressed. "That is correct. I am an Augment. The Serion rebellion led us to try and implement new tactics and ideas. We were modified to be superior to the average Valarion, and theoretically a match for the Serions. I helped co-ordinate the effort, and I was part of the first batch. We were effective, but we did not have time on our side, and there were too few of us completed in time to defend the facility from the Serions when they found it." She finished putting her suit back on and walked over to the medical station. Kaytlyn probed her cranial implant with the micro-tool again, activating the nodes. She monitored the medical readout, making sure the nodes successfully integrated.

Kaytlyn turned and was confronted with an inquisition from Gaige. "More questions. First, my survival was as much a product of good fortune as it was my own skill. My house was attacked in the night. During the development of the Serions, I had been constructing my own unit at home. This unit I called Serena Des'Ana. I had constructed her in my spare time to provide friendship to me, in a time when I considered that relevant. As breakthroughs and innovations were made with the Serions in the lab, I was applying them to her. When the Serions went rogue, she and two others entered my room. I was sure I was going to die. But Serena destroyed the other two and left. I cannot explain it. This allowed me to join up with a task force that was preparing to take on the Serions. When they failed and everyone was killed, I escaped into the Grey Wastes, where I constructed this facility. My aim was to locate any pockets of survivors and gather them. But when my sensor net finally became operational, there was nobody to be found. I was alone. I constructed a dampening field which conceals this facility from Serion sensors, and I devoted my life to learning what I could about the Serions so I could try and stop them. That was 1852 years ago." Kaytlyn observed Gaige's reaction before continuing.

"As for how I survived all this time, well, I can only presume that despite the casualties I have inflicted thus far, the Arc Mechanicus still does not consider me a threat, or they think the deaths are accidents or wildlife inflicted. Either way, they have not decided to come after me yet. I try to do as little as possible to change that. Attempting to build an army requires more resources than I possess, and trying to acquire such resources would almost certainly attract unwanted attention. Regarding my sustenance, I have constructed a water purifier outside and as well as a small incubation chamber for growing edible plants. The wildlife in the Grey Wastes, while dangerous, are quite efficient at providing high amounts of protein. I will provide some food for you." Kaytlyn walked over to another console and punched in a command. A panel opened and a tray with grayish block about the size of a hot dog, along with a flask of water, emerged, and Kaytlyn took it. Kaytlyn returned to Gaige and presented the tray. "While it is not a luxurious meal, it is the most efficient way of maximizing the nutritious value."

Gaige looked up with interest. Surprisingly Gaige didn't find it funny that Kaytlyn had built herself a friend. "Wait, you built one? Well I suppose that makes sense. But she must have really been your friend, if she saved you when all the other Serion turned on their masters. Do you miss her?" Gaige asked. She watched Kaytlyn carefully, monitoring her heart beat to see if she was completely emotionless or just hiding them well.

"For a race of sentient robots with access to a large amount of brain power, you would think they'd take more notice of their patrols being taken out." She said. "Infact, if I was their leader, and I even suspected you were out here, I'd probably carpet bomb your grey wastes until it was even greyer and more.. Wasted."

She accepted the food with a nod of thanks and tucked into it. Through a mouthful of food she spluttered. "Mmm, chunky and tastless. Offer this to Liv and she'd blow your house up. Well, assuming a spiritual being can survive a trip here." She though about that for a moment. "Oh hey, can I borrow your portal device and push some hollow through to see what happens to them? In the name of science and stuff."

She chuckled at the thought. "So, if your Serena didn't follow the normal and let you live, is it possible there are other serion? I mean they're sentient, and sentient beings tend to be..... Adversarial. Look at humans for instance. We don't all follow the same ideals and logic, we fight with each other and go to a great deal of effort to wipe each other out. Arrancar, and to a lesser extent the shingami, they act the same as humans. Serion must follow the same rules? I mean, The valarion must of had their own scuffles, before they found a balance." She stopped talking and tried to remember why she was rambling. "Oh right,  had a point. If there are Serion Dissidents, why not reach out to them and try to forge them into an army?"

Kaytlyn gazed inwardly at the question. "My memories of that time are distant. Vague. However, if I ever did encounter her, I imagine it would be an agreeable event. I suppose that would mean that I do indeed... miss her." Kaytlyn said nothing more for a while, gazing at nothing in particular on the floor. But then she suddenly regained her focus. "But that is a purely hypothetical scenario." She listened to Gaige's next question. "It is possible that they consider such an action to be an unnecessary waste of resources. The casualties I have inflicted have been negligible at most. Coupled with the fact that they have no idea where I am, they probably do not consider me a threat. Or at least not one that requires action yet."

Kaytlyn watched as Gaige tackled the "food". She raised an eyebrow skeptically at Gaige's request to send random spiritual beings through the portal to see if they survive. "Another time, perhaps." Gaige finished her meal and Kaytlyn removed the tray and put it back in the nutrient preparation device, then returned to Gaige. She considered Gaige's theory with interest, raising an eyebrow in thought. "An interesting hypothesis. There is a problem though. Any dissident Serions are likely to be inferior in quality and numbers to their counterparts in the Arc Mechanica. My technical skill would be insufficient to overcome this, an uprising would fail."

Kaytlyn paced for a moment before an idea struck her. "I think it would be best to show you firsthand what your planet will have to deal with. If you would follow me." Kaytlyn led the way outside and into a smaller building beside her own. The Grey Wastes provided little to please the eye. Inside the smaller building, there was a vehicle, about the size of a helicopter, but much sleeker and without rotors or even wheels. "This is my speeder. It is made for a crew of one, but I can fix that." In a few moments, Kaytlyn had created a seat for Gaige and installed it next to the pilot's chair. "While I believe you have no problem traversing distance at speed, this vehicle has been constructed to be essentially undetectable." Kaytlyn gestured for Gaige to climb aboard. Once they were in, Kaytlyn began the start-up sequence. She made sure all of the stealth systems were online, then started the propulsion drive. The vehicle rose up to about two feet off the ground, then suddenly shot forward at top speed. If Gaige looked back at the facility, she would notice it suddenly disappear at after a certain distance.

The Artemis picked up a tiny spike in sadness. It was only momentary though, though the woman seemed to loose focus completely. Gaige said something to reassure her. "Hey, don't give up hope. It might seem irreverent or implausible. The dimensions we live in are huge, and she could be anywhere, but the world sometimes turns out to be a smaller place than you think, and anything can happen. I recently found out I had a sister. She's in trouble, and I didn't know how to help her. But you suddenly show up in my back garden, and you bring me here, and now its very possible you've given me a way to save my sister using the technology that brought us here." Gaige smiled sadly. "I guess, that makes us even, even if I fail."

Gaige waited for the woman to stop pacing, and suggested an idea. "Sure, I'll bite. What do you have in mind?" Kaytlyn took her to a small garage where a vehicle waited. She wasn't as interested in vehicles as she was guns, but it still excited her a little. She watched Kaytlyn install a second seat and when it was ready to go she hopped in. "Oooh ooh, can I drive?!" She said. Okay she was more than a little excited.

She waited patiently, feeling for an energy or power signatures in the distance. Her Artemis could pick up most things, living or machinery. As it was, she detected three small power sources moving through the wastes. They were approaching the energy sources at high speeds. That seemed like the target. Gaige looked at Kaytlyn. "What exactly are you planning?" She asked.

Kaytlyn checked the sensor readout on her console. There were three distinct power signatures ahead, a standard Serion patrol. Kaytlyn stopped the speeder. She checked her readout again.The signatures were about 300 meters away, and only one was transmitting a communication signal. There were no other Serion signatures in the area. She turned to Gaige. "It is time for an update on the state of Serion tech. I hope to achieve two goals here. First, we need to neutralize the nearby patrol and recover their bodies for analysis. Second, you will gain an understanding of what will soon happen to your planet when these beings decide to invade." Kaytlyn exited the speeder and pulled out her rifle and hand scanner. She move quickly and quietly to a raised rocky outcropping that over looked a road of some sort 4 to 5 meters below. There, they saw their targets. Three Serions were walking along the road, looking around.

Kaytlyn went prone to get a better look. She checked her hand scanner. "The one at the back is the first target. Once it has been neutralized, they will be unable to contact their command. I estimate we will have 18 minutes before an investigative party arrives, at which point it is recommended that we are not here." Without another word, Kaytlyn retrieved her sniper attachment for her rifle and equipped it. She took only an instant to acquire her target. "Now, do you think you will require my assistance or will you fight alone? If you choose the latter, I will cover you from here."

Gaige hopped out of the speeder and took up position next to Kaytlyn. She noted the woman drawing out a rifle from nowhere and guessed she shared similar technology to Gaige, who pulled out her own rifle, Oblivion Driver. She increased the zoom with her eyes 3 fold, getting a better look. She marked her main target as Kaytlyn spoke. "You brought me out here to fight and prove something? Good, I get to prove something too."

Gaige rose into a crouch, returning her eyesight to normal. "I can do this alone. Especially considering they're likely to underestimate me." She smiled. Most people tended to. Oh, she might not be as strong as Laura or Liv, but they relied on spiritual energy for their powers and higher forms. Gaige was right at home here, where her tech gave her an advantage other humans would lack.

Gaige stood up, and smiled as her Valkyerie combat armor deployed onto her. She closed the visor. "Enjoy the show." She said cockily as she launched herself into the air, moving at incredible speeds in seconds. She liked this suit already. She landed down next to the trio of Serion. "Hey, catch" She said, throwing a disk to the target Kaytlyn told her to take out first. "Don't worry, Its not a bomb." She thrust herself backwards as the disk exploded a second later.

Gaige launched herself up over the explosing and pulled out her shotgun. She fired down five times into the cloud of dust before reloading and storing the shotgun. She desended, waiting.

Kaytlyn nodded when Gaige announced her desire to engage the enemy alone. Even so, she remained in position, rifle aimed at the enemies below. She consulted her scanner. In her armor, Gaige appeared to be as powerful as each of the Serions. Kaytlyn wondered how they would react to the new threat. She also wondered how Gaige would combat the numerical disadvantage. Gaige seemed to have an impressive intellect. It remained to be seen if she had the experience to complement the raw talent. Kaytlyn took a breath, and watched through her scope. She had her speeder's sensor array rigged to send a signal to her scanner if any other energy signatures were detected. For now, they were alone.


The three Serions were blindsided by the sudden attack. The comms unit was taken out instantly by a high-yield explosive. The two remaining Serions dived away from the explosion, catching the occasional glancing hit from the shotgun rounds that followed, and got back to their feet. With communications down, they had no choice but to turn and fight. They were confronted by a person in a winged exo-suit. They had no knowledge of this enemy, but battle had to be joined.

The two Serion looked at each other and nodded. One was blue and the other red. The thirds was in bits. They split up and charged at Gaige from different directions each drawing a glowing power blade in their right hands. When they reached her, they began a swift but calculated attack pattern, aiming slashes at her arms and legs, Red aiming from the left and Blu from the right. Then they jumped backwards and formed their left hands into dangerous looking cannon appendages. Red fired first at Gaige, then Blu fired at where she dodged to, if she dodged. If not, Blu simply fired at Gaige as well.

Gaige snorted when the Serion exploded and almost lost control laughing. She'd only ever done that once before to a bad guy, and it had turned out the same. And Kaytlyn claimed these serion were intelligent. Red and blue, the surviving two, converged on her with a fancy energy blade each. Gaige was intrigued. She stowed her shotgun and drew her plasma rifle, at the same time deploying the Valkyerie's bult in kite shield.

She spun, delfecting red's blade and fired a shot of plasma at blue, twisting back she guarded against blue, swonging her rifle around, converting it into a sword. She slashed at red's wrist, and used her shield and speed to defend against blue. Blue landed a strike on her leg and she pointed the blade towards him, firing another shot of plasma, heating the weapon and then lashing it back at red. When red hit her arm, cutting into her armor She decided enough was enough and shot straight up. Both bots converted an arm into an energy canon and fired on her. Gaige dodged one and was clipped by the other, sending her into a spin.

She caught herself and grinned. Interesting, it seemed to her, they were made to fight perfectly in a team. Did they share a neural link, perhaps? Gaige fired a shot of plasma at each of them, heating the blade to searing hot temperatures, the kind that would cut through metal like an energy sword. She Shot herself right down at red, darting left and right rapidly making it difficult to keep a bead on her. She got right up to him and tried to shear off his energy cannon arm. Before he could retaliate she dodged and struck again, aiming for a leg, and then the other arm, and finally the last leg.

She kept track of blue to see his reaction, but she focused all of her attacks on red. She was analyzing their team work, their reactions, and also watching for signs of emotion using the artemis, though it would be hard to detect.

Kaytlyn was impressed with how quickly Gaige had disposed of the Comms bot. She was also intrigued by the fact that Red and Blu appeared to be working a synchronized tactical subroutine. She had seen this before of course, but it was unlikely that it would have been seen on Earth, given its complexity and the level of programming required. Gaige seemed to be holding her own against them. But Kaytlyn also knew that they were not using their full power yet...


Red and Blu were surprised by the speed and agility of this new enemy. They had only managed to scored a couple of hits before they were forced to dodge rounds of plasma. Gaige then decided to take to the air. One of them connected with a shot and Gaige was sent spinning but recovered quickly. Red and Blu quickly shared a damage report. They had both taken glancing blows, but the damage was superficial so far.

Gaige then burst straight at Red, weaving a path that made it difficult for their visual sensors to keep track. Gaige then barraged Red with attacks, aiming to sever limbs. Red was just quick enough to turn what would have been lethal impacts on a slower enemy into glancing blows which chipped out parts of alloy. The structural damage was starting to stack up though. Blu did not remain idle for even a second. It jumped in and began to use identical blows to the ones Gaige was currently assailing Red with, but on Gaige herself. Red also mirrored Gaige's moves once she completed her sequence, but from the front.

(OOC: Just an FYI, Red and Blu are both 2-1, with a surprise to follow )

Gaige noted blu copied her attacks when she attacked red, and she took a few blows though she managed to avoid to much damage. Even so, blood was seeping from a rend in her right arm armor. She didn't stick around for red's retaliation, dodging the slashes this time. The blood stopped flowing a few seconds later, as nanites sealed wounds to her body and also began to repair the rend and chips in her armor.

Gaige was starting to get an idea of how these two worked together, it was almost like they were the same machine. That wouldn't surprise her actually. She needed to seperate them, and she had a way to do just that, though it wouldn't be for very long, it might be enough to put red down. Gaige dashed towards blu and grabbed it by the arm, she got a good hold swung it with all her might, launching it away from red. She then dashed to red in the blink of an eye and threw down a portable shield with a 10 foot radius, one that would stop up to a gran rey cero in power. It would also stop blu attacking her with that blade of his while she worked on red.

"Ah good, privacy." She said to Red, smiling. She dashed past, slashing at his arm and back, aiming for the lower leg. She moved around him as fast as possible, slashing and dodging, and attacking again, trying to keep red in the bubble shield, since he could leave if she gave him the chance.

Kaytlyn watched on through her scope as the battle wore on. Gaige was starting to take some damage, but she was dishing it out as well. She wondered how long the battle would last. She was ready to step in at any time if the need arose.


Red and Blu were analyzing the conflict as it was progressing. They were trying to adapt to the fighting style of this new enemy, but were having little success. Gaige's attacks were very frenetic and unorthodox that formulating a response was proving difficult. Things got worse for the tag team of terror as Blu was unceremoniously hurled away and a defense shield was deployed to keep it out. Red was now isolated, which partially nullified their synchronization advantage. Red was then subjected to a barrage of blows, which it was only partially successful in avoiding. Rends appeared in its glossy red metallic shell. It managed to avoid any crippling damage, but the structural damage was starting to stack.

Blu, for its part, simply tested the shield with its weapon. Upon determining the strength of the shield, it seemed content to simply stand there. It could have fled, however it had determined that for the greater good, the new threat had to be neutralized and captured for study. While it was standing there, it observed Gaige from its viewpoint, the data instantly being shared between it and Red. Red was simply content to dodge and parry any attacks for the moment until a consensus was reached between it and Blu. Red stopped suddenly and stood still. Gaige's attacks cut it to ribbons, effectively ending its existence. The parts of the robot formerly known as Red scattered about the ground.

Once the shield was lowered, Blu shot high into the sky and raised its arms. The parts of Red that lay on the ground suddenly raised up and shot up towards the remaining bot. The parts combined and covered Blu. The metallic mass shifted and morphed until a new bot was born. Redblu was born. The new bot flexed its new appendages and lowered to the ground, readying itself for combat.


Kaytlyn's jaw dropped at the change in circumstances. This was the first time she had witnessed a combination protocol in the Serions. She swiftly checked her scanner, and her fears were confirmed. The new form had boosted the power of the Blu unit so that it now far exceeded the power of the two original bots combined. This was bad. However, Kaytlyn also determined that the new bot was still only running off power from the Blu bot, given the destruction the Red unit experienced. This was a weakness they could exploit, if they survived long enough. Kaytlyn got ready to move. But she didn't move immediately. She waited to see what Gaige would do.

(OOC: RedBlu is 1-3, has enough power to last for 4 posts.)