Maty, Aer-ki Jyr [top 20 books to read .txt] 📗

would be taken back to a secure area so her wounds could be further analyzed in an attempt to ascertain exactly what the acid was made of. In lieu of actually examining the material, the next best thing was to analyze that which it reacted with and try to infer backwards how those molecular alterations had occurred.

Given that biological matter melted on contact, there wasn’t anything left to analyze in most cases. But Kyra’s exposure had been so small she now had burned out tissue along several tracts in her body, and the points where the intact tissue met those areas should hold some valuable information.

It was a gamble, but she had seen the opportunity and taken it. Now it was up to the Craniems and their medical scanners, for Kyra’s internal systems were limited for the kind of in depth analysis needed…and the last thing they wanted right now was for Kyra to heal, so along with her shutdown order was a secondary order to deactivate her mechanical augments to her healing abilities.

They needed her damaged body as it was, and Kyra was glad not to need to be awake during the examination process.

9

October 3, 154959

System 9923004 (Hadarak-Occupied Territory)

8th planet

Kyra was awoken by an external cue, coming back to consciousness without pain and waking inside a PanNari facility. That much she could tell from the structure before her interlink woke up enough to pinpoint her location.

She was no longer inside the Maty, but rather outside it and back inside Nevantha…and her arm and hand had been repaired, mechanically and organically.

“The data you collected was valuable,” the Elloquim spoke to her as a hologram of his squid-like shape appeared beside the bed where she half laid, now propping her torso up with her arms as she downloaded information about her repairs.

“Do we know what it is?”

“The suicide of minion variant 328 is not only explosive biology, but also Essence collection. It charges the acid to exceed physical predictability. That was why we could not determine its cause previously.”

“Do we have a countermeasure?”

“Not in total, but we now know what materials and shield frequencies are more resistant to the basic structure. Our knowledge of Essence is limited, so we have requested Star Force analyze our findings. They have responded by demanding an in person team be allowed into the Maty in order to confront and capture one of the 328s.”

“How are they going to get through the blockade?” Kyra asked, sitting up all the way and swinging her naked legs off the edge of the bed and swaying them back and forth experimentally. She had pose-induced stiffness, but it wasn’t too extreme.

“They already have. Their team is waiting below.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Your revival. I am assigning you to be their guide.”

Kyra hopped down, her legs wobbling a bit, but not as much as her breasts. She wore no clothing, which was typical onboard Nevantha, for she needed none. But going into combat required protection.

“My armor?”

A panel in the wall opened to reveal a slightly different variant from the suit she had worn before, and Kyra raised an eyebrow in the direction of the hologram.

“I made some minor modifications while your tissue regrew. It will have greater resistance to the acid and the ability to interface with the Star Force comms.”

Kyra walked over to it, spun around, then stepped backward into the metallic suit as it opened for her and seemingly swallowed up her pale flesh inside, covering every square inch of her body, including her face, with no openings for breath or vision.

“Ready,” she said, with the floor dropping out from under her as the compartment she was standing in was moved rapidly through Nevantha’s interior enroute to the tendril connecting him to one of the Maty’s entrances…

5 months later…

Paul-024 kicked forward as he twisted his hips, with Morgan-063 sliding under him and getting a punch in to his left hip…but his body jerked so fast his other hip rotated over on top of her and he shoved her to the ground with a Jumat blast before she could counter.

Morgan bounced back up, covering herself with a bioshield, but Paul wasn’t there. Instead he was standing 3 meters away staring down at her with a cruel smile.

“Stop it,” she said calmly. “I know that look.”

“Is it the ‘I’m better than you’ or the ‘it’s overpowered’ look?” he scoffed.

“Your horizontal movement is way faster than Yen’mer allows,” she said, referencing the flight psionic that got the majority of its power going up or down as it opposed or enhanced gravity. Sideways movements were always lesser, because you had to pull or push against a slice of the planet on the horizon and not the core, thus there was less mass and less gravity to work with. “You’re using it, aren’t you?”

“Yen’mer? I always have.”

“Paul…”

He leaned forward into a combat stance. “Figure it out, tiny.”

He didn’t let her get a reply in, darting forward and throwing several punches…all of which she dodged by inches…then he threw a body-generated Jumat blast into her at close range, attempting to knock her backwards, but Morgan was ready for it.

Paul’s Jumat blast bounced backward, and not from the physical hit. It landed with nearly full strength on his own body, knocking him back instead of Morgan. He almost got his balance on his flailing feet, but he lost it and tipped over…then froze in partial fall and righted himself in the air, ending up in a low crouch on the ground as this time it was Morgan who held off and scoffed at him.

“How?” he demanded.

“Cav,” she said simply, citing the Tier 4 psionic that worked to reflect other psionics back on their user.

“That doesn’t work on Jumat,” Paul said, standing up. “The energy matrix is too