Spires

Now

“Am I going to get this all in writing later? Cause any agreements we make, I’m going to want in writing,” Cal said.

“Negotiations are being recorded. A copy will be provided to the Arbiter Corps. Enforcement and adjudication of any potential future disputes are their responsibility,” Prime Custodian 3 said.

“Alright, so, let me get this straight,” Cal said. “You want me to kill or capture this Zalthyss, Hunter of the so-called Dominion of Immortal Light and Joy,” he rolled his eyes.

“Capture is preferred, but kill is adequate,” Prime Custodian 3 said.

“And what do you offer in exchange for undertaking this task?”

“Not undertaking. Completion will be required.”

“You won’t budge on that detail huh?”

“Correct,” Prime Custodian 3 said. “Outline your demands in exchange for the completion of this task.”

Cal held up his index finger. “First, I want my freedom. As in I can go where I want, when I want. No limitations, no forbidden areas. If I want to try your Encounter Challenges and Spawn Points then no one will stop me.”

“Provisionally agreed, pending your agreement with amendments.” Prime Custodian 3 continued at Cal’s nod. “Freedom is granted, but only applies to the region under my jurisdiction. I do not have the authority to make such an arrangement beyond my region. If you wish to have freedom throughout the entire world then only the Collective can grant you that. However, I will be remiss if I do not state the probability of that is currently less than a percentage point. Secondly, you will have access to Encounter and Spawn Zones appropriate to your level of power and ability. Furthermore, your access to said zones will be conducted in accordance with standard procedure. Is this acceptable?”

“Maybe,” Cal mused. “Except how do I guarantee that you won’t use some kind of bureaucratic trickery to keep me out of the zones? Something like continually keeping me at the back of the line, so to speak.”

“Procedures guarantee fair access. The system that governs this is impossible to manipulate, even by a Prime.”

“How big is your region?”

The Prime’s eyes took on a blank look for a moment. Suddenly, the holographic projection in the center of the room change into an overhead view of a map. Except this one looked live from the way the clouds drifted across the scene. There were two main landmasses separated by a blue-green sea. The landmasses curved around the sea. It reminded Cal of similar geographic features on his planet. When a particularly powerful volcano erupted and essentially blew out its center and allowed the water to fill in the resulting void.

The two landmasses looked to be somewhat connected by thin stretches of land and islands to the north and south of the circular sea. The southern portion was vastly more open to the rest of the water. Scattered about in the sea where many smaller islands.

A series of strange symbols suddenly appeared on the holographic projection. Cal was about to ask the Prime for a translation when the symbols turned into numbers that he recognized.

The eastern landmass totaled 2.347983 million square miles. The western one was 2.879631 million square miles. There were even numbers for the hundreds of smaller islands. The inner sea itself was 6.864321 million square miles. An impressive number floated above the entirety of the projection, 13.093790 million square miles.

If the numbers were accurate then Prime Custodian 3 held supreme authority over an area that was almost half again as large as all of North America. Cal shot a glance at the Prime. He was going to have to reassess his views on the frail-looking Threnosh.

“Acceptable?”

Cal cleared his throat. “Fair enough. I accept those terms. Now on to the next. I want free access to the spires… in this region,” he gestured at the holographic map, “oh and a list of all their locations. I also want comprehensive information on all of the Encounter Challenges and Spawn Points. I’m talking everything. Types of monsters, threat assessments, historical records of previous expeditions, and anything else that I might think of in the future.”

“Agreed.”

“Wow, that was quick.” Cal narrowed his eyes at the Prime.

“That information is readily available from any information terminal or PID.”

“PID?”

“Personal Information Device.”

“I also want one of those,” Cal said.

“Agreed.”

“Okay, now that the easy stuff is out of the way. I’m going to need a place to live, train, and do my research.”

“This facility will suffice,” Prime Custodian 3 said.

“What? Seriously?” Cal frowned. “You didn’t forget about that freedom bit, right? Cause that’s the most important thing.”

“It is convenient. This area is isolated from significant numbers of Threnosh. It has already been cleansed for your presence.”

Cal narrowed his eyes at the Prime. “It sounds like I’m going to be kept away from the general public.”

“Correct, until probability of interaction leading to negative consequences decreases, you will be quarantined from the population at large. This is not negotiable.”

“Fine, don’t want to hang out with you guys anyways,” Cal muttered. “Alright. Last bit then. How much are you willing to help me against Zalthyss?”

“The task requires that you complete it.”

“Well, I’d like to amend that,” Cal said. “Look, Prime Custodian 3, what are the probable outcomes? One, I fight and win. Great! Everyone is happy, well, except for Zalthyss, but we don’t care about that asshole. Two, I fight and lose,” his voice took on a serious tone, “now things get dicey. You have to step in then, don’t you? What if you barely win? Or worse, lose? Then what?”

“Another Prime will attempt to defeat the invader.”

“Sure, but how long will that take? By the time you pry another Prime away from their region then there could be two or three other Zalthysses waiting.”

“We do not have enough information to declare certainties, but projections indicate the probability of more invaders appearing within the next several days at 65.3214 percent.”

“I’ll bet that number keeps getting higher the more days you tack on,” Cal said.

“Correct. Research into the spires indicates that an invader can claim the area around an individual spire through means that we have not discovered yet.”

Cal chuckled. “You mean you guys bought all of the tutorials that you could.”

Prime Custodian 3 quirked their head. “Is that not the most prudent course of action?”

“Probably,” Cal shrugged. “I’m just theorizing here, but I think once you claim a spire then it’ll get easier to bring more of your people over. It makes sense from a promoting conflict standpoint, which as we know is what the spires are all about.”

“I have a dispute with a portion of your words, but it is unimportant to the current issue,” Prime Custodian 3 said. “The actions of this Zalthyss aligns with your supposition.”

“When did the fights you showed me take place?”

“Roughly two and a half rotations.”

Cal raised a brow. Was the Prime trying to match his own mannerisms and word choice? Too bad his telepathic peaks continued to yield nothing but static, it would’ve been illuminating to see what was on the surface of the Prime’s thoughts. “And its just been kneeling in front of the spire since then?”

“Correct.”

“I think we can safely say that it’s busy claiming your land, which is why it’s imperative that we work together to show it that it’s making a big mistake.” Cal took a deep breath. “Bottom line, Zalthyss is just the first of probably many. It needs to be beaten, preferably decisively. We have no idea if the rest of its people, this Dominion, is watching, but if they are then you, we, need to show them that we aren’t easy prey. Because the impression I got from Zalthyss is that being seen as such would be a very bad thing.”

“Agreement. Aid will be furnished. Make your requests.”

Cal fought the urge to smile. He wasn’t expecting such an easy acquiescence. “For starters, I’ll need all the numbers you calculated in regards to Zalthyss physical capabilities.”

“The information will be available with your provided PID.”

“Then I’m going to want all of my weapons that you confiscated from me.”

“Regrettably, your belongings were recycled. Replacements to your specifications will be provided,” Prime Custodian 3 said.

“Hmm… when is my fight going to take place?”

“As soon as you are ready… though projections indicate it must take place within one rotation.”

“Figures,” Cal muttered. “Fine, I’ll take those replacements and is it possible if I could get a few other things?”

“I will task an engineer and a fabricator to aid you.”

“They can do this all in one day?”

“Correct.”

“Great!” Cal smiled. “Now, one last thing.” He ignored the nearly imperceptible narrowing of the Prime’s eyes. “Since this is the first time our two species are working together, I thought it’d be a great idea if you had a direct hand in the action.” He grinned. “As an added bonus, it’ll give us just the edge we need to take care of our common foe.”

Prime Custodian 3 looked surprised when it nodded along to Cal’s plan.

Cal was bummed that he couldn’t appreciate the ride in an honest to God flying car. Well, more like a flying van, since the vehicle shared general shape of a minivan. Such a cool thing to be doing, yet he was too busy trying to keep his breathing steady. The last time he felt like this was when he was hunting for the Midtown Mauler.

He wondered if the multiverse had it in for him. There were quite a frightening amount of similarities between the Mauler and Zalthyss. The latter healed any and all injuries rapidly by consuming flesh and blood. The former, well, Cal still found it hard to believe that one of the super powers that the spire unlocked was cannibalism-based.

“Stupid apocalypse, stupid spires,” Cal muttered.

“Concerns, Designation: Honor?” The power-armored Threnosh piloting the flying minivan spoke without turning their head to Cal in the back compartment.

“No, you’re doing great! Piloting this… van!”

Piloting was perhaps not the correct term, Cal mused. The Threnosh’s power armor appeared to be plugged into the center-front compartment of the vehicle. There was no visible control stick or wheel or anything. Just a few screens, switches, and buttons. Some kind of cybernetic system, was what he decided it must be. Something to research in the future, if he survived the upcoming fight.

Too soon the flying minivan alighted with a soft hum just a few inches off the surface of a grass-covered field. The side door slid open and Cal took a deep breath before he stepped out. As soon as he was on the ground the door shut and the silvery vehicle rose into the air to disappear from his sight. He was completely alone in the middle of nowhere, with one exception.

Cal made his way to the spire at an easy pace. Prime Custodian 3 wanted more time to observe and test Zalthyss’ capabilities. The Threnosh had dozens of cameras and a myriad of instrumentation pointed at the area. They wanted to get as much information as possible. For example, could they discover the range at which Zalthyss detected Cal’s approach? How?

Cal agreed with the value of the potential information. Plus it would give him a chance to get more comfortable with the somewhat makeshift set of armor that the engineer and fabricator came up with.

The base layer was similar to the body suit that he had been wearing during his imprisonment, except more robust. On to this plates of armor copied from the same type of material that the Threnosh ‘heavies’ used, were added over his vital points. When Cal asked them why they couldn’t modify a set of actual power armor for him to borrow the answer he got was confusing. Essentially he was told that the power armor couldn’t just be made, but had to be earned. He realized immediately what meant. That they likely obtained their power armors from the spires. Weird that humans got super powers and magic, while Threnosh got power armors. He granted them that, but found it difficult to believe when they claimed that they were unable to replicate said power armor in its entirety when he pressed them on the topic. According to them, they could make separate parts of the power armor, but whenever they tried to make an entire one, it invariably failed to function. Spire bullshit, he called it and surprisingly the Threnosh agreed.

Luckily the engineer and the fabricator that the Prime sent Cal’s way were readily open to his requests. They made it clear what was possible and impossible with the materials available and the equipment already at the facility. Which, oddly enough included a full suite of fabrication machines. Cal was starting to think that the Prime did him a favor by giving him the place as a future residence.

Fabricator Riverport 11725 and Engineer Verdant Mechanica 3581 were decent sorts. They were task-focused and not emotive, which Cal expected was the default for the Threnosh as a whole. Unlike the interrogators, however, these two weren’t particularly guarded with him. They answered his many questions to the best of their ability as far as he could tell, considering that he couldn’t read their thoughts either.

Their power armor was different compared to the warrior types and the interrogators. They were more utilitarian, with various tools and devices that fit their specific roles. The lasers they shot out did no damage, but were precisely accurate when it came to giving measurements.

The Threnosh naming conventions still eluded Cal and neither the fabricator nor the engineer were willing to shed more light on the topic. It was as if the question was incomprehensible to them. There was definitely something not translating properly through whatever means the spires used to make the species’ words mostly understandable to each other.

The trio had spent almost all of the time they had available to design, build, and test the devices that Cal had requested. He hadn’t had an opportunity to sleep. Fortunately, ever since the spires arrived that was a lesser concern.

Everything was ready. All he had to do now was to keep Zalthyss occupied while things were moved into position. Hopefully, he could get the angelic alien talking for at least a few minutes before the punching started.

As Cal slowly walked up the hill from the last fight he watched he took note of the signs of battle. Flattened grass. Furrows in the dirt. A frighteningly large amount of blood stains. He realized his fists were clenched tight. He forced them open with a deep breath. It was important to stay relaxed before a fight. Tenseness just wasted energy.

Cal spotted the praying Zalthyss from a long distance. He didn’t take his eyes off of it.

He reached out with his telepathy. The lightest of touches, to probe. He had no idea what sort of defense or traps it had in its mind.

He found neither.

Instead he found something unexpected. If he had to put it into words he’d call it music, chimes, instruments, singing, individually and together at the same time.

Cal sighed. “Things used to make sense,” he muttered under his breath.

Zalthyss must’ve heard him despite the almost football field’s length of distance. For it stood, unfurled its wings and took to the sky.

Cal forced himself to hold still as Zalthyss landed a short distance in front of him accompanied by a powerful gust of wind. It was a good sign that the angelic alien kept its distance. That meant it was wary. That meant it wasn’t immediately certain of its ability to handle Cal.

“You are different.” A statement.

“No, you are,” Cal said eloquently.

Zalthyss stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes. Whether in confusion or that was just its normal face, he couldn’t tell. Up close and in real life it was even more beautiful than in the near-perfect hologram. Its creepy, uncanny valley-ness was even more pronounced.

“On behalf of the people of this world, I hereby request that you return to your own,” Cal said. “No further action will be taken upon your being with immediate compliance.” Prime Custodian 3 had insisted that Cal give the disclaimer. “Failure to comply will result in further action to enforce… compliance.” He grinned.

Silence. For a beat the soft whistling of the wind and the distant cry of an alien bird or some kind was the only thing that could be heard.

Zalthyss laughed. It was like the tinkling of chimes or fairies. Cal wanted to join in despite himself.

Alarmed, he quickly checked the telepathic walls around his mind. He sighed in relief when he found them intact and unaltered.

“Is it something auditory? Something in your voice working in conjunction with my hearing,” Cal said. “I don’t think it’s metaphysical, which means it’s likely physical.”

“Such a strange creature. Of what are you speaking off?” Zalthyss tilted its head to one side, impossibly far.

“That thing you do when you talk,” Cal said. “Speaking of strange things.”

“You hear the light and joy present in all true beings of the Dominion,” Zalthyss said with a smile, that notably remained tight-lipped.

“Interesting,” Cal said. The angelic alien seemed to possess enough awareness to avoid drawing attention to its rows of razor-sharp teeth. An indication that despite its weird, musical thoughts, it perhaps thought in a way that he could understand. It was not entirely alien to his human thought patterns. Cal shrugged. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Maybe it’s pheromones?” He mused.

“Your words are odd, strange creature,” Zalthyss said. “You are not like the others that I took for this world’s masters. Are you and your kind the true rulers of this world? If so I welcome you to the Dominion of Imm—”

“Tsch!” Cal snapped his fingers.

A look of surprise, which shifted into outrage, blossomed across Zalthyss’ face. “You dar—”

“Tsch!” Cal snapped his fingers. “I’m talking here. Will you leave? Yes or No? That’s all you need to answer.”

Time was up. Everything they had planned was ready.

There was a dangerous gleam in Zalthyss’ eyes. This time its smile was all teeth. “No.”

Cal adjusted his helmet one last time. A press of a button slid the clear visor down over his eyes and the guard over his mouth. He pointed at the distant pile of dead Threnosh that Zalthyss had carefully organized close to the spire. “Now.” His voice was clear and steady.

His heart beat once, twice and then a brilliant beam of green light lanced from somewhere high up in the clouds and incinerated the entire pile.

“No cheating,” Cal said as he covered the ten yards between him and Zalthyss. His straight right took the angelic alien in the stomach, causing it to double over. His left uppercut took it under the chin and sent it up into the air. He grabbed it around the ankles, spun and slammed it in an arc over his head, face first into the ground.

“Drones 1 through 4 converge on target Z, optimal range, fire,” Cal sub-vocalized into his helmet as he dashed back. Cybernetic control would have been better, but neither he nor the Threnosh were willing to implant the neural lace-like mesh that all Threnosh possessed over his brain. Commands given and followed at the speed of thought. So much science fiction made real! Cal grinned.

Four gleaming drones descended from the sky with the soft hum of their repulsors? Or was it anti-gravity tech? The Threnosh didn’t say or they didn’t make the distinction. So much was unclear for Cal.

Each drone was modified to carry a single minigun of a similar design to the ones carried by the ‘heavy infantry’. For some reason the engineer and the fabricator made it clear that it was merely a copy, which apparently was entirely different from the ones the warriors wielded. Cal didn’t care about the difference.

The miniguns surrounded the fallen Zalthyss at a distance of ten yards and ten feet above ground level. The barrels rotated and spat out their projectiles with a soft whine. Immobile, the angelic being was a sitting duck. Hundreds of rounds tore into its body and sent luminescent blood splattering in all directions.

In less than thirty seconds the limited ammunition the drones carried was spent.

Surprisingly, Zalthyss rose to its feet and glared. The angelic alien looked more angry than anything, which triggered the mental alarm bells for Cal.

“If you surrender then your wounds will be seen to.” Cal gestured at the burning pile of dead Threnosh. “There’s nothing for you to consume and heal with.”

“Mistaken… I do not need meat to heal… for the Immortal Light lives within me.” Zalthyss straightened as it spoke.

A sudden flash of bright light around it had Cal shielding his eyes. When it cleared Zalthyss stood strong, unmarred. It looked bigger, taller. Its limbs were longer, more muscular, but still sleek. Its fingers were like daggers. Its toes, like raptor talons.

“Fuck… its got a bankai,” Cal said flatly.

Plan A was out the window. It was simple enough. Remove the source of healing. Catch Zalthyss off guard and fill it with projectiles. Once it was down and out they restrain it and take it away.

“Is intervention required?” Prime Custodian 3’s voice spoke into the helmet.

The Prime was somewhere high up in the clouds in the same position from which it incinerated the pile of dead Threnosh. Cal wondered if it was sitting, well floating oh so proudly. Although he was almost certain that if the Threnosh felt pride it was an extremely muted version of humanity’s.

“Negative. Switching to Plan B.”

Cal ordered the drones to slam into Zalthyss.

The now monstrous, angelic being swatted the drones aside with its gleaming, golden wings. The several hundred pound drones were swatted like bothersome flies.

“Good! I had feared that this world was filled with nothing, but chattel. Now I am filled with joy to find that prey worthy of hunting exists!.”

Zalthyss blurred in Cal’s vision and suddenly appeared right in front of him.

“Shi—!” Cal jumped back, but was too slow.

Zalthyss clawed hand swiped at his stomach. Cal blindly pushed back with his telekinesis. The speed and strength of Zalthyss combined with the unfocused nature of the telekinetic push meant that the blow was merely partially deflected rather than stopped.

Cal bit back a curse as bladed fingers cut through the armor and into the flesh of his stomach. Fortunately, it was a shallow strike and not one that disemboweled him. At least it was confirmation that bulletproof skin wasn’t tough enough to stand up to Zalthyss’ claws.

Cal doubled up on the next telekinetic shove to thrust Zalthyss back to buy some time and distance. He leaned on a telepathic skill that he developed to deal with super fast movers. Essentially, he increased the speed of his perceptions. This on top of his already more than human reaction speed enabled him to keep up with those faster than him. It allowed him to keep up with a quarter-speed Eron in spars and it saved his life against the Midtown Mauler. The only drawback was that it was particularly taxing on his brain. He felt the needle-like jabs growing more frequent.

Zalthyss dashed in for another attack. This time it wasn’t a blur. It was merely very, very fast. It came in low and aimed a blade-handed thrust toward Cal’s stomach.

Cal dodged to the right. A golden flash out of the corner of his eye had him bring up his right arm to protect his head. The impact sent a shock through his body and jarred him to the bone. He thought he heard a crack. His upper arm throbbed. The pain was muted, but he knew that was a product of adrenaline.

He’d read somewhere once that a goose could break a man’s arm with a swing of its wing. It made sense that a super powered angelic alien could do the same to even a super durable man.

The momentary distraction proved costly as Zalthyss' hand snatched Cal’s left arm. The vise-like grip crushed the metal of the gauntlet. Cal tried to pull away, but found himself held fast. He switched tracks and pushed forward with a right hook aimed at Zalthyss’ face.

It brushed the punch away with its free hand. The shock traveled up Cal’s arm, which caused him to wince.

Zalthyss’ too big mouth split wide in toothy smile. It tore the armored glove from Cal’s left hand in one swift move. It stared into Cal’s eyes, seemingly savoring his futile struggle to get free. It grabbed Cal’s pinkie, paused a moment then twisted and pulled.

The pain was like nothing Cal had ever experienced before. He watched through blurry vision as Zalthyss popped his pinkie into its mouth and chew with obvious relish. Before the horror of the situation set in, the angelic alien did the same to Cal’s ring finger.

“Shitty cannibals,” Cal said through grit teeth. “Choke on it.” He reached out to his finger bones. The ones currently traveling down Zalthyss’ throat. He seized them with his telekinesis. The larger ones he spun from vertical to horizontal, creating an X of sorts that lodged itself in its throat. The smaller ones he jammed into the throat lining with the force of all his rage.

The effect was instantaneous. Zalthyss eyes widened in shock and it gagged violently.

Free from its grasp, Cal jabbed it in the throat with his right hand.

“Plan B in place and ready,” Prime Custodian 3 said through Cal’s helmet.

Cal turned and ran for the thick forest behind the spire. “On my way.”

He covered about a hundred yards in around four seconds when he saw a dark shadow on the ground in front of him. He dropped to the ground and felt a rush of wind across his back.

Zalthyss flapped its wings and hovered in place high above Cal. “Tricks.”

Cal stood and tried not to look at his maimed left hand. “Like that one did you?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve got more.”

“I will enjoying unraveling all that you are.” Zalthyss licked its lips. “One delicious morsel at a time.”

The angelic being suddenly swooped down directly at Cal.

He crouched low, as if ready to dive under or dodge to the side.

At the last moment, just as Zalthyss was about to reach him. Cal rocketed up into the sky.

Telekinetic flight was a skill he learned shortly before he came to the Threnosh’s world. He hadn’t had much practice time and it was taxing on his stamina. Not to mention his fear of heights. His head already felt like it was being stabbed with hundreds of needles while simultaneously being pounded by a dozen hammers.

Cal zoomed into the sky with Zalthyss in close pursuit. He looped up and angled straight for the forest. His uncertain control meant that, at speed, he was mostly limited to straight lines in the air. Fortunately for him the visor on the helmet was already programmed with the most direct path through the trees. A single word lit up the line that he needed to follow for the plan.

Wind whipped in the wake of the two fast fliers. Leaves and even stout branches were tossed in the air by their passage.

The proximity warning beeped in Cal’s visor. He was flying fast, but Zalthyss was steadily eating up space. A flashing light with a quickly dwindling number blinked in the bottom left corner of the visor.

“F1, F2 trigger on my mark.” Cal waited for the counter to hit zero. “Fire!”

Two jets of thick flame billowed out on either side of Cal. The angle was perfect to just miss him, but not what was trailing behind.

Zalthyss let loose an inhuman shriek as it flew right through the flames. It faltered as its wings were aflame, yet it still came screaming after Cal.

The damn thing was on fire, yet it was still after him. Cal soothed away his concerns by telling himself that at least Zalthyss looked and sounded like it was in a lot of pain, which meant it was distracted.

All according to plan.

Cal followed the projected path in his visor. Tree branches whipped at him, but he maintained a telekinetic shield in front of him. While he followed the path, Zalthyss followed him.

The angelic being was so intent on its pursuit that it didn’t notice the sunlight glinting off the many thin and metallic objects in between several of the trees just ahead.

Cal pulled his arms and legs tight to his body to present as small profile as possible. He followed the projected path in his visor, held his breath and prayed that it was accurate.

When he zoomed past the line of trees without being suddenly and possibly fatally stopped he opened his eyes and let out the breath. He landed with relief as the strain on his brain eased. He realized that there was wetness beneath his eyes, nose, and ears.

There was a loud scream behind him. A mingled cry of pain, surprise, and frustration.

Cal dared to hope. He turned. He smiled.

There, tangled up in the monofilament wires he had the Threnosh string across the trees was Zalthyss. Like a butterfly in a spiderweb, the angelic alien struggled mightily. The wires only cut deeper into its skin and wings.

Cal laughed. “Fuck you! You cannibal piece of shit!” He practically spat.

The Prime wanted a capture and Cal had agreed, but the damn thing ate two of his fingers. Clearly it was too dangerous and insane to let live. He made a fist with his right hand despite the throbbing pain in his arm. He focused telekinetic force around the fist. He pictured a sharp, pointed spike. His imagination became reality. It wasn’t visible, but he knew that it was there.

Cal approached the trapped Zalthyss slowly, cautiously.

“The prey has bite,” Zalthyss said in a voice that sang of beautiful music. “Yet, such tricks are unworthy.”

Such beauty from such a terrible being was incomprehensible to Cal. It offended him on a very personal level. What sort of universe allowed such a thing to exist? Was the universe fundamentally sadistic in nature?

Zalthyss opened its mouth as if to speak when a boom shook the skies.

Prime Custodian 3 flew down at tremendous speed and just as suddenly stopped in between Cal and Zalthyss.

“Beware, Designation: Honor.”

As the Prime spoke a small, conical device, like a futuristic megaphone appeared to grow out of their chest or rather their power armor’s chest.

At the same exact instant, Zalthyss let loose with a scream.

Cal released the telekinetic spike in his hand and threw up a forcefield in front of him. He recognized the scream. It was the same one that devastated the elite Threnosh.

To his surprise he wasn’t liquefied. Instead there was just the sound of Zalthyss’ high pitch scream echoing through the otherwise tranquil alien forest.

“Uh… what’s happening?”

“I have identified the frequency of the invader’s attack and am deploying the countermeasure.” Prime Custodian 3’s voice was all business.

It took over a minute for Zalthyss to stop, whether by choice when it realized that it was having no effect or because that was all it could manage, Cal didn’t know or care at the moment.

The fight was done and he had survived, at a cost. The ache in his left hand, his missing fingers, couldn’t be ignored. The throbbing pain in his upper right arm paled in comparison. His body started to shiver and shake as the adrenaline wore off. There were limits to everything, even superhuman physical capabilities and it felt as if he had passed his some time ago.

“Designation: Honor, you stated that you were capable of rendering the invader unconscious.” A statement and a question.

Cal noticed that the Prime’s eyes briefly flicked in his direction.

He forced a chuckle. “Doubting my abilities? I think I’ve proved what a valuable ally I can be to you.”

“You are leaking vital fluids at a significant rate from multiple cranial orifices and your hand.”

“I think I’ve got enough left in the tank.” Cal stretched his uninjured hand out toward Zalthyss, who could only glare. His hand shook as he slowly curled his fingers tighter. A dozen feet away, the angelic being started choking. It struggled for a long time before its eyes finally rolled to the back of its head and its head fell limp. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Cal held out a closed fist to the Prime.

“I do not understand.”

“We bump fists when we pull off something epic, this qualifies.”

The Prime tentatively mimed Cal and extend a tiny fist out. Cal lightly tapped it with his own.

Cal looked down at his hand. His fingers were still missing. He suspected he was in shock. He looked up at the unconscious Zalthyss, strung up between the trees. “I should’ve done that at the beginning.”

“The invader requires oxygen, confirmed.” Prime Custodian 3 said. “Capture completed. You have fulfilled the terms of the task. Prepare for transport and medical treatment.”

“Good to hear. You can handle that thing in case it wakes up, right?” Cal’s voice grew weak. His vision was starting to grow dark. “I’m just going to sit down for a bit.” He plopped down on his backside then fell to his back. He heard nothing of the Prime’s somewhat concerned queries.

Prime Custodian 3 glanced at Cal’s still form. They noted the rising and lowering of his chest and satisfied that he was still alive turned their attention back to Zalthyss. The Prime raised its right arm and pointed it at Zalthyss. Capture was preferable, but killing was acceptable if necessary. It settled in to wait for their containment team to arrive.