by SK Benton
Clarisa had barely finished her thought when she heard a light knock at her door. Smelling Max… and something else, she answered, surprised to see Jennie with him.
"Max! Jennie! Wow, you smell different, sweetie. Did you find a new perfume or something?"
Clarisa had only been informed that Draagh was dead, but had yet to receive any further information. Max walked in, kissed his mother on the cheek, with Jennie doing the same after he did. The two then took seats on her couch and gave her a solemn gaze.
"Mom, where's Liliana?"
"She's showering in her quarters sweetie, why?"
You haven't told her anything about Draagh yet, have you?
"No, not at all. What happened, Max? And Jennie, why have you… oh my god - your eyes!"
"Nice, huh?" responded the beautiful hybrid.
"Did you get a gen-mod? Why would you do that?"
"Mom, she got a gen-mod, but not the way you think," said Max.
"Okay, what happened? And I want to whole story, Maximilanus Gunnarsson."
Thirty minutes later Clarisa Gunnarsson sat with a confounded expression, having heard the entire account of what happened, and still trying to digest it all. Jennie was now a Primulus hybrid, like Max, and Draagh would be gone for around a century.
"Max, I think there's something you should know. Liliana told me she visited with Draagh this morning."
"Well, that's impossible," said Jennie.
"Never say impossible, sweetie. We learned that long ago, but still. I'd like to ask her what happened."
"Liliana, are you done with your bath yet?" Clarisa asked over their local castle comm.
"Yes, Abuelita. I am on my way. Oh, Papi is back, and with someone else!"
Liliana burst into her grandmother's room and stopped dead in her tracks.
"Mami? Grandfather was correct! You have changed! Oh my, you are so pretty. I love your new eyes."
Jennie gave her adopted daughter an astounded look, and asked, "Lili, when did you see Draagh?"
"Why this morning! I didn’t actually see him. He spoke to me, and told me that things were changing, and that you had changed. He also said he would help me whenever I was in need. Come! Let us have our evening meal!"
Liliana grabbed Jennie by the hand and pulled her up off the couch. It wasn't but a moment later that the woman yanked her hand away.
"Liliana! You… touched my wedding ring! Didn't you feel anything?"
"Feel what, Mami?"
"Shit, Jen. She wasn't burned. Maybe my cantus didn't work?" said Max.
"Hang on a sec. Clarisa, could you touch my… your ring - just quickly?"
"Sure sweetie, why? What's the… ouch! What the hell?" Clarisa yelped, as the rhodium in Jennie's ring made a shocking/burning sensation on the lovely lycan's finger.
"Lili, come here please," said Jennie, sitting down with her daughter and clasping her hand. "What did Draagh tell you?"
"He said that everything was changing, and that we would always be together. Then he touched my forehead. It felt funny, but I am fine now. I do like your ring. It is so pretty," she said, as she fondled the beautiful rhodium setting.
Max knelt down in front of his daughter and looked deeply into her eyes, and what he found astounded him.
"Her eyes, Jen. Look. They were coffee brown before, and now they're hazel. They have bits of green and gold in them." He then produced an infoscreen and examined Liliana's DNA, creating a comparative analysis with her previously logged genetic code. Two DNA strands rotated side by side, one looking much significantly complex than the other. The lesser one was from months earlier, and the more complex strand was from that very moment.
"She's been changed. She's not Primulus, but she's been changed. I need to ask Dad about this."
"Oh my god," Jennie exclaimed breathlessly.
"Max, what does this mean?" asked Clarisa.
"Well, first of all, Draagh's not completely gone, and secondly, well, Liliana is… more than just a minor-mage."
"Yay! Grandfather was correct! I shall live forever with Mami and Papi!" she squealed in delight, and then looked at her parents lovingly. "Perhaps then my cantuses are more effective! Graveincantatio potentia!" she screamed, as she pointed at the wall.
Max, Jennie, Clarisa and Liliana all stood at the edge of the floor, where Clarisa's bedroom wall used to be. The little girl, using a simple push cantus, had destroyed roughly two metric tons of stone and mortar, opening up Clarisa's room to the outside world.
"Yup, she's changed, alright," said Max. "Lili, I think we need to go see your abuelito now."
"Oh, that is such good news, Papi! Perhaps I can show him my new skills!"
Sweetie, that's not in the plan, thought Max.
Chapter 40 - Vacuum
Max, Jennie, Clarisa and Liliana stood in Bagatelle's office on the Revolution, facing Michael, who was seated at the admiral's desk, an infoscreen floating before him.
"Hmm, yes, you are correct, son. She has been modified. Enhanced would be a proper term. She is the equivalent of a mezzo angel now."
"Woah. We weren't planning on this," said Jennie.
"Father was always one to tinker. We should feel fortunate that he did it while out of his corporeal form."
"Why's that?" asked Max.
"He is much more powerful now that he is not hindered by a body, Max. I thought you would have known this."
"Um, nope."
"Very well, how shall we address this situation? The youngster definitely has much more power than she needs at this time."
Liliana gave her grandfather a curious look, bordering on rebellion, when alarms suddenly went off throughout the ship.
"That's a red alert!" cried Jennie.
"G, what’s the alarm for?" Max asked over the comm.
"Vrol are on the ship, Max."
"Shit, and I have Liliana and Mom in your office. I gotta get them out of here."
"Do it quickly, Cuñado!"
Max was about to slip off the ship, spiriting Clarisa, Jennie and Liliana away, when the door to Bagatelle's office blew open. Three Vrol ground bugs fought to get inside, but before they could enter the office Liliana went into action.
"Graveincantatio potentia!" she screamed, pointing at the rancid insects, the power of her cantus disintegrating them and destroying 30 meters of the interior of the Revolution at the same time.
"Holy cow! If that were in the other direction we would have been sucked out into space! Lili! Be careful! We're going now. Dad - Jen and I will be right back."
"Nuuu, Papi! I want to fight! I just killed three more Vrol! It is my new record!"
Four people - two Prīmulī, one lycan and a little girl that was much more, disappeared with a light pop.
Michael also disappeared, entering into the fray of battle.
###
"Papi! Why can I not assist? I have proved my worth, have I not?"
"Lili. No. Stay."
Max and Jennie blinked out of view as the little angel sat down on her grandmother's couch, crossing her arms and pouting.
###
Max and Jennie appeared on the bridge of the Revolution and ran to Bagatelle's side. The admiral was scanning a number of displays, tracking Vrol movements on his ship.
"Max, we have bugs in the corridors, as well as on the flight deck. We need to get rid of them quickly. The Brood Carrier is back, too."
"Got it, G. I'll slip them out into space. Jen, can you slip other things also?"
"I believe so, hun. Let's do it."
The two Prīmulī raced off the bridge, only to be passed up by none other than King Krynos, who was charging down halls, trampling any Vrol in his path. However, his attempts were futile, as he could only knock them over. Their temporary shields were much too powerful for the lycan king to overcome with brute strength.
"Have at ye, disgusting creatures of the netherworld! Die by the hand of Krynos, protector of Mankind!"
"Boy, he really takes his whole prote
ctor thing seriously, doesn't he?" said Jennie, as she lithely slipped a small group of Vrol into the cold vacuum of space with a simple gesture.
"Yup. Ooh, good move. Looks like you have the ejection thing down," responded Max.
When they could no longer find any Vrol nearby, they both slipped to the science lab, where Josh had the facility on lockdown. The last thing the young lieutenant wanted was for a Vrol to get its claws on the antimatter bomb he was modifying.
"As you were!" Max bellowed, not having the time for formalities. "Josh! Good move locking the lab down. How close are you to getting this thing done?"
"It's done, sir."
"Cool, get it all polished up and ready to go. Once we get out of range of the Brood Carrier I'll slip it over."
Josh turned and got to work, as Max contacted Bagatelle via the comm. "G, we need to slip out of here. I'm going to set the antimatter bomb inside the Brood Carrier, and then externally initiate it."
"Go for it, Max. We've already started the hook. We'll be off in a matter of seconds."
"Max - Krynos reports having found a huge group of Vrol in the landing bay. He says there are dozens. We need to help him out," said Jennie, as she went to slip directly to Krynos' side.
"Okay, you go and start to eliminate them. Stay clear, and just eject them. I'm taking the antimatter bomb over now," he said, as he disappeared, the bomb going with him.
You'd better not screw up, dork.
Max found himself on the outside of the Vrol Brood Carrier, not able to get inside.
Dammit, probably the same cantus that kept us out of Vladros' castle when we went to rescue Jennie.
He quickly slipped to various locations around the massive ship in the vacuum of space, looking for an entrance. Luckily finding one, he used a gravicantus to blow the bulkhead open, nearly being forced back by the depressurization from the interior. Dragging the bomb with him (while using a levitation cantus), he stood in a dark, slimy hallway, trying to figure out how to get as close to the inside of the ship as he could. In order for the bomb to work, it would need to be in the very center. On a whim, he conjured an infoscreen, and finding a massive space in the ship's center, he tried another slip. This one worked, as he was already inside the moon-sized vessel.
What he saw astounded him.
There was what appeared to be a small Azulian transport vessel inside a large room. Curious, he quickly entered, looking around and examining the craft. Max saw a humanoid figure, immobilized, on the far side of the expansive chamber. He left the antimatter bomb behind and slipped to the person's location.
Oh, hello, Chairman Dictator Dickhead.
Max was looking at Len Johnson, strapped to a bulkhead with numerous tubes and wires attached to his head and body. Max considered liberating the traitorous politician from his constraints, but figured he would just count Johnson as a casualty of war and not say anything.
Jennie would probably like that, he mused.
Max surmised that Johnson's ship was what facilitated the Vrol's ability to navigate side space. Thinking quickly, he went to his lycan phase 2 form and used his enhanced claws to tear up some of the wiring that connected the small craft to the carrier. Once he was satisfied he had effectively destroyed the Vrol's side space navigational capabilities he went over to Johnson.
Hello, Mr. Chairman. You look comfortable.
Len Johnson was completely unconscious, and had no idea his hated enemy was staring at his face. Max considered waking him, but turned and slipped off the ship, porting himself the minimum distance away - 300 kilometers. Then he attempted his cantus to trigger the dead-man's switch on the bomb.
Nothing happened.
Aw man, the same anti-slip cantus probably prevents magic from penetrating the hull. I'll have to figure something else out.
"Max, where are you?" Michael asked over a private comm channel.
"Outside the Vrol ship. Why?"
"Gadreel is inside the vessel, I am assuming with his brother. We must take advantage of this situation."
"Where are you?"
"Father's office. Come quickly."
Max used the Hub to slip to Draagh's office in Krynos' castle, finding his father, Gabriel, the king and Jennie standing at the expansive mahogany desk.
"Hi sweetie. Welcome back. Your dad brought me over," his wife said.
"Hey Jen. So tell me, they're inside the Vrol ship? This is too good."
"We shall engage in glorious battle and finish these fools off immediately," boomed Krynos, ready to enter into the exquisite field of gore.
"Yes they are, but we must act quickly. Samyaza retains slip capabilities, although not as robust as ours," said Michael.
"Robust? What do you mean?" asked Max.
"The Grigori are rebels, son. Before they were cast from the Hub they had their genome modified. But that is of no consequence. We must go now."
"Wait! We can't slip inside. There's some kind of cantus preventing slips in, but we can slip out."
"How do you know this?" asked Gabriel.
"I just planted an antimatter bomb in the center of the ship."
"Max, you shall take us to the ship. How did you enter?" continued Gabriel.
"I opened a door. Well, I kinda destroyed it."
"Very well, take us there, " said Michael.
"Wait! Outer space? I'll die!" yelped Jennie.
"Aw no, Jen. You're a hybrid like me now. You'll be fine," said Max, immediately feeling a thunderous slap to the back of his head.
"Ouch! Gabe! Seriously?"
"Max, while Jennie shall not perish, it cannot bode well for her to be exposed to the vacuum. She has yet to obtain her ghanlo, so she cannot move freely throughout the void. Aside from that, Krynos shall not survive but seconds without atmosphere."
"Oh, crap. Okay. Sorry," he said, getting a stupid look on his face, as Jennie looked at him wondering why he would be so quick to eject her into space. "Aw, Jen. I didn’t know. I'm sorry," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
"They are still there. We go. Now," said Michael.
The five found themselves outside the hull of the Vrol Brood Carrier, with Jennie and Krynos encapsulated inside a cantus-driven, pressurized oxygen bubble. Once inside, Max, threw a quick shield over the hole in the hull and created an air-tight seal. He then slipped everyone to the center of the ship, where Johnson and his small transport had been stored.
"What the hell is this?" demanded Jennie upon seeing an Azulian transport with a side space hook installed, albeit, with all of the wires pulled out as Max had earlier done.
"Just what we thought. This is what caused all these problems, hun. I disabled the hook drive, but we still have something to drag out of here."
"Uh, what's that?"
"It is Chairman Johnson. I believe he is quite incapacitated," stated Gabriel, as he looked upon the dictator with a curious glare.
"That bastard!" yelled Jennie. "Let's kill him now!"
"No Jen, we can't. In fact, we have to take him back with us, but first…"
"First? Hahaha! No, there is only a last! You are finished, Cousin!" screamed Samyaza from the far side of the large chamber. "Welcome to my vessel. Well, the vessel of my wondrous creation, the Vrol."
The fallen Primulus was accompanied not only by his brother Gadreel, but also dozens of lower and mezzo angels, as well as hundreds of Vrol, all clicking their pinschers and mandibles in anticipation of a quick meal. Alongside Samyaza was Anaita, who was wearing an arrogant smirk. The Primulus truly believed she was on the winning side as she looked at her hopelessly outnumbered cousins.
The team looked around, taking stock of their options. They weren't trapped in any sense of the word, but still wanted to terminate the war without further casualties. They had two choices - slip out or stay and fight.
They chose to stay
Michael lurched forward and executed a fire cantus, creating a wall of flame that caused the resident Vrol to screech and back up. Krynos went crazy at the sa
me time, spraying fire with his Tornado rifle.
"Wow, he looks awesome with a modern weapon, doesn't he?" asked Max.
Jennie looked over and was equally impressed, watching as the lycan king mowed down dozens of Vrol, each having its own weapon and firing randomly.
Gabriel shot toward Samyaza's location, his wings extended, and fanning the flames in their direction, while driving them further into the bulkhead and causing the bugs to trample their lower and middle angel allies. Max slipped forward and used gravicantuses to push the rancid creatures back, as well as break the bones of more than a few lower angels. As he attempted to do more damage, Jennie was quietly in the background, shielding her stupid/brave husband. He may have had a PhD, but he seriously lacked in quick-thinking skills. When it came to inventing, Max was the best, but when it came to battles, he was no more than a mindless beast, destroying anything in his path.
And it actually turned her on.
"Max, start to pound the bugs on the left, and force them to the right. We need to corner them off," she said over their familial connection, left open for Michael and Gabriel.
"Got it, hun. Dad, can you compliment that?"
"Yes son. I shall direct my flames toward the back-corner of the chamber."
