Chapter Thirty-Seven - Improved
Chapter Thirty-Seven - Improved
Octavia wasn't sure how she felt about whatever Alexis Lambda-3 was doing.
Sure, just an hour ago Octavia had been laughing as she cut mutants in half with her chainsword, and the memory of blowing that bigger mutant's head up with her bolter was going to live in her head for a long time, but...
But there was a difference between violent disemboweling and whatever Alexis was doing with that medicae servitor of hers.
Octavia glanced over and felt her gorge rise a little.
The Adeptus Mechanicus girl... no, she was an Adeptus Mechanicus Vanguard, just like Octavia... was lying on that dirty old cot with her servitor looming on top of her. Her guts were strung out, her colon being gently pulled out of her insides and discarded into a large trash receptacle.
Her leg was on the floor, which was... weird. Also, she was naked, and seemed rather shameless about it.
Not that Octavia minded that part much. But there was also a difference between sneaking a peek in the shower room and staring at a woman's chest when she was on an operating table.
Alexis' new lower half was being installed with careful movements. The legs were interesting, Octavia supposed. Long and thin, with needle-point tips instead of proper feet. They were bare metal, but that metal was dark, with a strange sheen to them that didn't quite reflect light the way Octavia expected.
If they were anything like Octavia's armour--which judging by the price they probably were--then they'd be tougher than just about anything else on most battlefields.
"You, uh, okay there?" Octavia asked.
"Yup!" Alexis said. "Can't feel a thing! Also, I've never actually seen my insides before. Honestly, this is mostly just reaffirming my faith in the Omnissiah. Do you see how gross this stuff is?"
"Uh-huh," Octavia said.
She shivered. The cult mechanicus were a bunch of weird religious zealots, the lot of them.
She turned her attention to Sister Jeanne instead, then muttered a small prayer to the God Emperor, asking for his blessing and for good health for her sister in arms.
Jeanne was taking on some colour, which was good. She had been far, far too pale before, and now there was a bit more of a pink flush to her. Octavia wasn't sure how that Nano-Regenerative whatever worked, but it looked like it was working. Soon Jeanne would be back up to full health and probably able to run circles around her in PT again.
"Hey, Vyper, how many points am I up to?" she asked.
"A decent number, actually. Here, let me post a summary for you."
Kills Confirmed:
57x Genestealers
2x Genestealer Magos
1x Genestealer Patriarch
New Point Total: 879
That was a decent number. Enough to rebuy everything she'd gotten so far, and then some. Then again... "Are there any more Genestealers left on the ship?"
"Reports are coming in of a few sightings, but many of them are dying already. The remaining numbers are relatively low. It seems that the main body of them were eliminated."
"Good," Octavia said. She reached down and squeezed Jeanne's hand. "Uh, what's with the numbers, though? They look a bit off?"
"When two Vanguard are responsible for the same kill, the numbers of points earned are divided between them, with a bonus given to each. The total number of points earned is greater, though not for the individual. This encourages cooperation."
"Neat," she said. On thinking about it for a bit, she could see the logic. It would mean that going off on her own would be better for her, but if she helped Alexis, then the points earned overall would be greater. Seeing as how their main source was kind of finished... she didn't like thinking about that too much.
Octavia rubbed her face. She was tired. It was nearing the start of the next day. Usually she'd be in bed... two or three hours ago, actually. She could keep going, of course, but her energy was definitely low.
And she hadn't confronted her superiors yet.
She wasn't sure what Palatine Sister Androsa would say. That woman was several ranks above a plain novitiate like her, and so they'd never really interacted.
Daydriss was easier to predict. She was the Novitiate Superior, and had been cross with Octavia for as long as Octavia had been around.
It wasn't a secret that Octavia would never make it to full sister, let alone a Sister of Battle. Her best bet would have been to keep her head low, pray often, and be properly devout. Then she might have been given a pat on the back and a job doing some menial task for the Order.
There were nine Sisters in charge of menial tasks for every one Sister of Battle in their order, and that ratio seemed pretty normal as far as Octavia could tell.
Those who rose up the ranks were almost always those that could make themselves stand out in a battle, but there were entire decades that went by without, so there was hope for the normal labourers as well.
That was going to be her faith. It didn't matter that she genuinely did believe in the God Emperor, that she did fervently pray sometimes. The fact that she was born a little too short made it all rather moot.
Was she also petty as fuck? Maybe. But it was a pettiness that was never going to go anywhere.
Now... not so much.
She wasn't sure what the reports would look like, but she had led the charge, and had been personally responsible for the death of a hundred-odd mutants and enemies of mankind. It was hard to deny that she was effective in battle now, despite any shortcomings.
The issue would be... well, if Sister Draydiss found out that Octavia had gained all of her equipment from consorting with Vyper, a being that Octavia knew very little of, then there was a very real possibility she'd be labelled a heretic of some flavour.
Safety in audacity was still her number one plan. But right now, there was little to be audacious about. The enemy were dead.
So, things were going to get a little rough for her.
If things escalated to a fight...
"Vyper," she muttered.
"Yes, Octavia?"
"I think I want... two things. First, I need to be more resistant to psykers. They're a pain in the ass. If I'm going to be a, uh, 'saint' then I might be fighting more of them later. Then there's just fighting in general. I wanna be better, faster."
"I see. I believe that, generally, there are four routes you can take from here that will satisfy all of your needs."
"Alright, I'm listening," Octavia said.
"The first is gear-based augmentations. I can sell you some headwear or a necklace-like interface that would protect you from psykers, and gear that would help you fight better. The second is cyberware, such as what Vanguard Alexis Lambda-3 is currently employing. Replacing your weaker flesh with customized, purpose-built machines could alleviate many issues."
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Octavia scrunched her nose. The first option there was better, but she was still worried that some of her stuff might be confiscated. She wouldn't expect immediate execution or anything like that, but being tossed in a cell, or a nice gilded room that she couldn't leave? That wouldn't be too surprising. "The other two?" she asked.
"The third option is biological enhancement. Some of these can be rather subtle, others less-so. Essentially, directed genetic changes or new organs designed to fix various issues."
"I could be tall?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I could have a huge rack?" She didn't actually care (too much) about that kind of thing, she mostly wanted to poke fun at the voice in her head.
"... Yes."
"Neat. And the fourth option?"
"A combination of the above. You have armour which enhances your strength. What if you took supplements with minor gene-alterations to augment your musculature and bone density, and then combine that with some light cyberware? It would give you the best of all three worlds, while also coming with some minor disadvantages from all three sources."
Octavia bounced on the balls of her feet as she thought about it.
Then she shrugged and gave in. Rumination wasn't her thing. "Okay. Option four. I need anti-psyker shit, and I wanna move faster."
"Fantastic! In that case, I'd suggest the following: For your Psyker resistance, three items. An anti-influence node in your brain. This would come in the form of a large pill that you would swallow. The node would grow in your brain until it was the size of a pea over the course of several days. It will dampen indirect influences and protect you from chemical imbalances and other mind-altering effects. I've noted that an entire branch of Psykers, notably biomancers, uses external abilities to affect internal chemical and hormonal processes."
She swallowed, then nodded. "Okay, go on?"
"Next, a Psychic Resonance Capacitor. A small device implanted into your flesh near the nape of your neck which collects exotic energy into a capacitor for later release, and which can jettison itself if over-full. The capacitors are a consumable resource but are relatively cheap. These would essentially render you extremely difficult to manipulate directly via psychic means."
"Neat," she said.
"Finally, a Null-field generator. A device worn as a necklace that produces an area of calm in what the Imperius call the Immaterium. The radius is limited to several meters in diameter. Within that space psychic effects would be muted."
Octavia licked her lips. That last one sounded... very, very good. But it was also something that someone could rip away from her. Emperor, it was exactly the kind of thing an Order would love to use as a relic, especially if they ever had to face off against warp daemons or a psyker cult.
"And the cost?"
"For all three items? 70, 55 and 95 points, respectively. And an additional 40 Points for the Tier One Anti-Psyker Catalogue, which will be required first."
That was... not too much. And it would be a layered set of protections. She could really use that.
"Okay, cool," she said with a nod. "Now, the other thing?"
"Ah, yes. I noted that you had a particular focus on speed. This is natural, since speed is a determining factor in most combat. My first suggestion, however, is a minor supplement: Generalized Muscle Enhancer. It's essentially a very potent steroid, with few side-effects. It will make your muscles grow stronger, but also faster."
"I like the sound of that," Octavia said. "Will I look like one of those half-naked Repentia madwomen?"
"... Somewhat?"
"Cool!"
"My second suggestion is a small implant that will push into your brain and lay out non-metallic connectors to certain parts of your brain, mostly those that control movement. This is a Perception Dilator. With a thought, you will be able to 'turn on' a system that will make the world feel significantly slower to you. Obviously, the world's actual speed remains the same, it simply increases your perception speed noticeably while pushing you to move rapidly enough that you won't feel this slowdown except with regards to the maximum output of your gear, musculature, and outside factors like wind resistance."
"I'll move so fast that the wind is going to slow me down?" Octavia asked.
"You will move so quickly that to most non-augmented humans, you will look like a blur. Obviously, this only has a short duration, being that it's a simple version with no esoteric effects built in."
"... Fuck yeah," she muttered.
"My third suggestion is a larger system, along your spine. A Spinal Nerve Augmentor. You may require the assistance of Alexis Lambda-3's KYS to install this one, but it's a set of small plates that will cover your spine and fuse with it. The inner side has filaments that will slowly dig into you and enhance your nervous system's conductivity and reaction-time. Non-essential, but a great aid when using the aforementioned perception dilator. It is removable, which is why I consider it more like gear than an implant."
Octavia swallowed. "And the cost?"
"A little steeper. As I'm still researching psyker-elements, I have decided to lower the cost of associated materials. These don't apply. Respectively: 40, 150, and 80 Points. Along with a Tier One Battle Augmentations catalogue, for 90 points."
Octavia considered it for a while, then glanced down at Jeanne, then finally at Alexis, who was quietly suffering through the end of her operation.
"One more thing," she said.
"Yes?"
"Alexis helped, so, uh... maybe one of those red mechanicus cloaks? Made from whatever this is?" She tugged at the cloth of her armour. It was nearly intact, having resisted fire and cuts all day long.
"Certainly! That's kind of you. A simple reinforced set of robes fit for Vanguard Alexis would cost approximately 20 points."
"Okay... let's do this!"
New Purchase: Tier One Anti-Psyker Catalogue
Points Reduced to: 839
New Purchase: Anti-Influence Node
Points Reduced to: 769
New Purchase: Psychic Resonance Capacitor
Points Reduced to: 714
New Purchase: Null-Field Generator
Points Reduced to: 619
New Purchase: Tier One Battle Augmentations Catalogue
Points Reduced to: 529
New Purchase: Generalized Muscle Enhancer
Points Reduced to: 489
New Purchase: Perception Dilator
Points Reduced to: 339
New Purchase: Spinal Nerve Augmentor
Points Reduced to: 259
New Purchase: Reinforced Mechanicus Robes
Points Reduced to: 239
Octavia was promptly bowled over by a heap of boxes. She suspected that Vyper also liked teasing her. Or just liked seeing her eat the floor.
***