Purity of Essence with new Purpose [Rich/Melon]

Zakhet got a small sense of relief at being included in the invisibility. While she wasn't overly sure it would be effective against the creature over there, having something to conceal them was a comfort rather than having nothing at all. Kuuso would see her eyes slightly readjust however, her irises focusing and seeming to glow a bit. A feature Anubites displayed when using their night vision, which she seemed to do instinctively upon the strange coloration.

With a closer inspection of the woman, she was quite alike to a Brayr, but clearly not. For the psionically sensitive, this was even more obvious, as this creature practically oozed with innate power, their body nearly overflowing with the natural strength they had. Yet despite that power, it was also easy to tell just by looking at their pouting face as they tried to relax that this creature was young. She seemed to be quietly mumbling something to herself, but it wasn't possible to make out at range.

Then, laying her head back, she sighed, and spoke aloud yet clearly was just talking to herself, "Now I comprehend why father was in a consistent state of irritation. Lab work has its own stresses. Perhaps I should get to a conclusion point, and take a break? Mayhaps even sample mother's hobbies, for a change of pace? But then I'd never prove my worth... Ugh." The alien was clearly lost in her own troubles, and thus did not appear to be searching for intruders. Kuuso would have a bit more leeway in his actions.

The door in the distance did seem to have a button next to it in order to open it up, thus if they could get past the psionic entity in the pool, they'd likely be able to get out. But first was the matter of getting past. The console did have a number of other buttons on it, but what they might do was harder to determine since they lacked any clear indicators.

Looking around at the alien's lab, he'd recognize most of the specimens. Zerg of various species, growing and developing. Sadly most were too early in development to really do anything, busy growing within their test tubes. Until they had more time to grow, the lot of them were just sacks of meat.

It was when he looked at the less familiar ones that some possibilities opened up. Off to the far back right of the lab. In particular, there was one set of tubes which seemed to have been very recently repaired, and the creatures inside were moving a bit despite the suspension tech and fluids. Within these, a rather strange set of Zerg were there. Clearly based on Zerglings, and yet their carapaces had clearly been modified. They were fully developed, alive, and clearly unhappy about their current state.

Zakhet looked over finally, and got a look that mixed confusion with disgust. She quietly whispered, mostly to herself, in exasperation, "Are those... edible Zerg? ...Why? Those concepts do not make much sense. Failed batch indeed, failure in conception! The epitome of wasted science... Oh! Kuuso, look!"

The Anubite pointed over at the control console, but more specifically at the desk. Her finger gestured below the console itself, for something was hiding under the desk. One of the strange yellow-banana Zerglings was hiding underneath it, clearly attempting to avoid the view of the alien woman in the pool.

"Seems she didn't catch all of the batch," Zakhet whispered. The Zergling, focused on the alien woman, fortunately hadn't noticed them. When it did look their way briefly, it didn't seem to react. Kuuso's invisibility worked on its senses at least. Thinking a bit, Zakhet continued, "I can identify a few ways to take advantage of this. Could lure her over to the console with that little guy, and sneak out the back. Or perhaps try to set the others loose, get to the console, and leave the way we came in. You're more of the expert in these matters, so I'll follow your lead." She sighed, "Strange to be trying to escape a lab rather than get into one, but I suppose this mission was unusual already."

- - - -

Tamour watched the simulation end, and turned about to head back towards the elevator. He gave a nod of approval towards the modular concept, and spoke up in response to both Seffa and Melyphis, "Modularity has a number of advantages, and quite fortunately it is not a foreign concept to the Nebula. The Union Military has a fair bit of familiarity with modular designs. Now it has been more popular with the Union Army rather than the Union Navy, as the army is all too happy to utilize the same chaises for various vehicle roles. Makes maintenance and transport easier when the artillery and the APCs have similar patterns for weight and size. The Navy is less keen. Preferring to utilize specialized designs for specific roles, which has its advantages of course. But the disadvantages are also all too clear. Lacking a type of ship means lacking a full capability in a naval group, not to mention it is dreadfully expensive! As an admiral I didn't have to worry about pricing, but dealing with costs has been half the job as a minister... Certainly gives a fresh perspective when I actually see how high the costs are."

While he was unusual as a Dragon in a number of ways, especially in his nationalism, Tamour still had one great Draconic urge; hoarding. Dragons were good with money, and so one might think they were well suited to handling money. But their hoarding instinct meant that although they were good at keeping and managing money, they were all too reluctant to see it disappear, even for a good purpose. And having seen the sheer costs of the Excave styled navy after getting a look at the books, that had truly shook the new defense minister. Fortunately he had people with him to prevent him from becoming too fiscally conservative, like Melyphis, but it did incline him towards rethinking their naval doctrine.

Shaking off the chills on his spine, Tamour continued, "Modular designs are great for keeping things cheaper and easier. Simplification of manufacturing,  easily exchangeable parts, and so on. I believe such a design philosophy is perfectly suited to the Zemour, for a few reasons. First, as your society is young and you are still establishing industry, the more simple you can make your supply lines; the better. Less to worry about. Second, it should make exchanging concepts and designs with the wider Union Military easier. I'll see about creating some connections with our engineering corps to your designers, see how many components we have that could be re-utilized for you. And finally, it is culturally fitting."

"That last point may sound like mere aesthetics, but I assure you that it matters," Tamour exclaimed before going on to explain himself. "Having seen the multiple cultures of the Nebula, the way a person of each culture thinks is slightly different. Proscorines are independent-minded, Anubites are incredibly stiff, Zantines are glory hounds, and so on and so forth. Individuals vary, of course, but aspects of one's culture seep into everything. A military must reflect those it serves, or it will have trouble. The Zemour are a people naturally suited to adaptation and creative problem solving. Thus it would be rather strange to try and force you to use Anubite equipment and battle doctrine, as I sincerely doubt the utter stiffness and inflexibility of their style would suit the thinking of the Zemour. Play into your strengths. Thus, I am happy to see you using them."

He paused for a minute, and then spoke more sagely to address one concern, "In addition, do not worry that such a concept will see you return to old habits. The Zemour have evolved, but that does not mean you cannot take lessons from your past. After all, evolution does not discard the past, it simply builds upon it, yes?"

Getting back to the elevator, the Dragon sat himself down. It was a bit embarrassing still to use the cargo elevator, but such is life for a creature of such size.

Kuuso was quite sure that whatever this being was it was not one of the Zerg, its psionic potential was far too high… If she was something closer to the Queen of Blades then he could understand the absurd potency. Thankfully she was still unaware of them… Looks like she isn’t a very cautious individual. If it were him he’d have a net of Psionic energy around him when in situations like this, you can never be too careful about security. Perhaps he shouldn’t be thinking about this stuff, he may jinx himself…

That said… From what he has overheard so far from this powerful Being masquerading as a Brayr had parents that likely contributed to whatever was happening here. A family or terrorists? Not the strangest thing he has ever bared witness to but it was definitely up in the top 3. Thankfully they seemed too lost in their own petty troubles to be worried about a potential breakin… Her arrogance and ignorance was warranted given the fact that even he was hesitant to consider apprehending her. Her Psionic potency outclassed that of a real Brayr, needless to say it outclassed his own… It was like looking at the Queen of Blades. But not the Hydra’s imitation… The true Queen.

Once he was close to the console there was an unfortunate issue, none were marked. Likely done on purpose in case this Lab needed to be abandoned if destroying it immediately was not an option. All the keys and their shortcuts are likely committed to memory…

What’s more he could recognise some of the Zerg specimens in the tubes. All of them are forced to undergo maturation into different strains… Yet slowed down for observation for better insight into the metamorphosis process most likely… They would truly only need minutes to fully develop if this was for the sake of growing them into specimens of different strains.

Then something caught his eye.

Something that stirred an odd feeling in his chest. Hearing Zakhet’s whispers, he empathised with her point immediately. Looking upon the creatures in the tanks, seeing and feeling their strife, it stirred quite a volatile emotion in Kuuso as he looked upon these poor and wretched ‘fruitlings’ suspended just before him as he moved closer to the command console… He had to remain wary, if that woman in the tub felt any strong emotions then that could give them away…

But…

But…

H̷̹̒o̷͕̗͗̿w̶̖͚̔̚ ̷̨̯̑ͅc̷̡̺̞̾ä̷̺́̿n̶̨͉̪̆̋́ ̸͚̊̾I̴̩̎̌̕ ̴̢͍͍͠o̷̞̘̠̾̀v̸͔͔̰̓̂ê̶̻̭r̷̛͚͎ͅḷ̶̏̊̓o̵̰̒̏̒ò̷̙̱̘̄k̴̺̹͠ ̵̲͙̔́t̵̠̆̒̃h̴̭̝̒̾į̴̭͛s̵̺̀̅͝?̶̼̫͉̊̓

It was inescapable. This was not just a waste of potential, it wasn’t just an insult to how far they have come, this was even further beyond mere hubris! It was an affront to all they are! All they have achieved!

It demands retribution.

And for a moment, a cold and terrible moment, he considered what it would take to kill that woman in her hot tub… A terrible pun could do it. A single bomb joke backed with so much hate as fuel…

N̶̬͔̰͂̇ǫ̵̮͒

‘No… I need to keep calm. We leave, and hope this woman doesn’t disappear too quickly after she notices this location is no longer secure… Retribution can come later. I mustn’t lose myself now.’

As the good doctor points out, Kuuso can see one lucky failure who managed to evade his creator's scorn, hiding beneath the control console… This was wonderful. Brilliant even! If he could get this little one out of here they could gain insight into her design philosophy and perhaps find a way to understand what she and whoever else has been aiding her have been trying to accomplish…

Her suggestions on how to proceed leave a terrible taste in his mouth. If the conditions were ideal, stacked in their favour, he would wish to liberate all the test subjects and apprehend this woman and learn her secrets… Make them all pay for this outrage! But this was far from any of those conditions. In this situation, sacrifices were necessary… But he will be taking one of them back with him. “I will release the rest of the batch, I will also be grabbing that… Fruitling… The one under the console… We may be able to gain insight into what her true goals are. Or not… If I could I would liberate them all… But our safety comes first.”

With that said in hushed whispers he made his way to the console… And knelt down so he was able to look at the little Banana Zergling. Zakhet could feel the vibe around Kusso change for a moment, since he moved ahead and his back was facing her. But the Zergling could soon see something that it would recognise in the deepest recesses of its undeveloped mind. His three eyes once more merged into the larger and more realistic green one that harboured a terrible secret. Zakhet couldn’t feel the same monotone and clinical vibe she got from the councillor as before, instead it was now volatile and malevolent yet tempered, still calculated as before but now there was not so much an educated feel about him as it was just malevolent, terrible, monstrous. Like how the Broodmother’s originally were before their rehabilitation if she had ever gotten close to one before then.

Č̸̻̐o̶̖̤̒m̵̡̯͝ĕ̷̘̜.̷̻̯̚ ̸̮͂Ṛ̶̟̏é̸͖̈́j̴̩͎̏͝ő̶̭̱̓ỉ̵͎͝n̶̩͈̉̃ ̷̜̿t̸̬̀ȟ̵̳͘e̸͍̋ ̸̟̯̓̆Ś̵̳̏ẉ̴̀̕ą̸̓ŗ̶̈m̸͙͇̀.̶̱́ ̶̫̥̈Ŕ̶̖͑ͅë̷̘͇́ĝ̸̣a̸̮̕͠ȉ̷͎n̴͎̗̆ ̸̅́ͅẏ̸̪́o̷̼̔̈́u̴͖̎r̷̨͒ ̶̠̳̏̏p̶̗̉͜ṵ̶͖̐r̵̰̤̂̿p̴̦̯̂ò̶̼̟ŝ̶͇̲ė̷̪̖͗.̵̩̕ͅ

The Banana-ling would feel an overriding will envelope it, no longer feral or cowering alone… It was connected. It was not alone. It had a chance to leave. Kuuso stretched out his hand, making the invisible field just that little bit larger for a moment so it peeked under the console. The once hollow and dim look in its eyes was now vibrant, green, and so full of determination. It didn’t hesitate to move close to Kuuso and the good doctor at that moment. “Good boy, now then…” He starts to stand, ready to use the console to get their way out sorted.

And then he looked at the tanks. ‘The doctor has already seen something hard to explain. Influencing the evolution of these Zerg will undoubtedly draw questions from her, and many more if she reports it… But without any way to influence them without in turn understanding this madwoman’s systems I cannot utilise her equipment to create an appropriate distraction… I will just have to cross that complicated and exposition heavy bridge once I come to it.’ Thought the councilman as he raised an arm up, pointed at the tanks that held zerglings yet unaltered before he envisions his desired outcome.

Banelings. simple, chaotic, guaranteed to create a distraction. Once again his vibe changes as the eyes of the suspended Zerg gain a green hue.

C̷̘͝h̵̞̆a̸̜̿n̵̻͛g̸͙̓e̷̦̐.̸̝̐ ̸̥͆E̷̝̔v̴͇̇ŏ̸̡ļ̵̀v̴͍͝e̴̫͒.̵̖̈́ ̸̘̔C̴̺̀r̸̨̀e̴̤̊å̶̩t̶̩̃e̸̻͆ ̶̡̆m̵̻͠ỹ̴̰ ̷͇̿e̴̳͠x̴̛͓i̷̫͠t̸̺͐.̴̥̀ ̶̞̀O̶͓͗b̸͓̈́e̸̦͗y̵̘̅!̴̢̓

Empowered, even under the control of the lab equipment, Zerglings that have gone still unaltered obeyed as Kuuso demanded. With the suspension fluid, these unassuming experiments take on an erratic purpose. They shift and gestate in moments, drastically limiting their own lifespan… But they would not need it any longer.

“I am sorry that you cannot come with us. But your sacrifice will ensure that this madwoman will pay. Now… E̵͒ͅ ̸̭̓R̷͔̾ ̷̢̀Ų̵͛ ̷̘̓P̴̩͐ ̴͓̾T̸̠̎”

The Baneling’s quickly rupture their tanks in their chemical explosion after this command, the other tanks rupturing along with them, freeing the masses of flesh and the other feral zerg out into the lab as Kuuso presses the console button that he had seen the Fake Brayr press to close the doors beforehand. Hoping that it did the inverse along with seeming that the rupture caused some systems to break too to mask their escape before he motioned to double back, if need be he can force the trapdoor open once they got upstairs and it was still closed.

Yet something ate away at him. There was a part of him that couldn’t let go of the feeling that it was too easy. Perhaps… Perhaps leaving only gave her a chance to run. She’d slip through their fingers… Perhaps… Perhaps he should stall her. Open with something outrageous to hold her attention while Zakhet gets the Fruitling out here and gets backed up from the others up top.

If all else fails then he’ll take direct control over the Zerg in her lab to hold her attention and reveal himself. Try and buy time for Zakhet to get out.

- - - - -

The Navy’s preference for specialisation over modular designs wasn’t hard to comprehend. Like Tamour said, it could be outrageously expensive for the Union in the long run, having to buy seven different designs of cruisers when they could just have one Cruiser type that could be fitted to serve in different battle group roles. Roles like craft screening, artillery, frigate screening, support, heavy or even escort. Though it could be argued that the different components and the cost to constantly refit these modular components would cost just as much as getting the specialised vessels in the long run.

Melyphis knew of these woes of military spending since she helped the Minister with most of his paperwork, either in proofreading, sorting and sending them off to the appropriate places. Her field was still strictly tied to xenobiology and weaponised evolution. Though the latter has taken more of a backseat to more conventional studies since the end of the Civil war. “Having been on some of those vessels, I actually see little issue with the openness of refitting them. What Excave had were solid designs. Though… Having done some of the book keeping… The costs do tend to make my toes curl.”

“I can understand the Navy’s stance on this matter, starships are a whole other can of worms when it comes to spending. Ground vehicles don’t require as heavy an investment.” Says the serpentine councilwoman as she moves to the elevator. “But it wouldn't really kill them to invest in a cruiser or frigate that could fit multiple roles. It is understandable for battleships and carriers to have more specialised variants, but surely not the likes of smaller vessels… Then again I’m not a naval tactician. That is more councillor Kreea’s area of expertise. She loved to fly during the Civil war so ships are her hobby… And is currently a nightmare for our R&D team who she wants to work with with ideas for patrol vessels.”

“Already? That's impressive… Before long that girl will be designing artillery dreadnaughts.” Melyphis jokes but quickling looking to and seeing the tired look in Seffa’s eyes makes her realise something. That joke hit close to reality.

“Oh… No… She already has the rough specs on one all planned out.” Lamented Seffa. Kreea has already been hard at work in her spare time, and scarily beyond, working on ship designs that worked in line with the theme of modular frameworks. “She already has something called an ‘Artillery Carrier’ that frankly made me worry about the R&D team I sacrificed to her whims.”

“Wha…” Melyphis could already envision the hellish and absurd meaning behind those words. A carrier ship frame fitted with artillery instead of hangers? Special hangers that fit artillery gunships? Only Kreea and her poor sacrifices likely know.

Hearing Tamour’s justifications and assurances for their choice of using modular frameworks going forward was exactly the sentiments they had while they designed this Vtol and the concept for the rest of the mechanical military. Seffa and Melyphis liked his reasoning behind his idea on their culture. Which again, suited their philosophy. “I’m glad you think so, Minister. You’re actually rather spot on in how we came to settle on the idea of a modular military.” Answers Seffa as they came to the elevator once again, this time once they got inside the Council Woman pressed her ID badge against a scanner above the elevator interface. “R&D Labs. Section 3.” She says aloud before a conformational beep sounds, the doors close and the elevator begins to move… It was rather adorable to see him sitting down in a cargo lift. “We will be renovating the elevators next month, hopefully in time for your next visit.”

“It merely builds upon it…” Melyphis repeats herself as she smiles. “How long have you been waiting to use that line sir?”

Zakhet certainly noticed the change in demeanor from Kuuso, as well as his clear display of power that was somewhat concerning. But given the situation at play right now, she was in no position to comment on it. It would be such powers that got her out of here alive, after all.

The Fruitling fortunately was not difficult at all to assert control over. The poor creature was scared and was practically desperate for such a connection, and so it readily accepted with no resistance. So it moved over without issue, displaying the fact that it was actually quite fast and dexterous for a banana. It did seem that underneath the strange appearance, the Zergling form was still maintained and even improved in some ways. The Fruitling had a odd sense of strength to it, now that it had its confidence back and Kuuso could feel its mind.

Both Zakhet and the recently allied Fruitling watched Kuuso engage the next part of his family. The Anubite's eyes followed the Councilman's arm, and so she got to watch directly as Kuuso sent the command for sudden evolution. Her eyes widened at the speed. She had witnessed such things before, her experience in these matters were why she was on this mission in the first place. But her experience came mostly from reports and lab experiments, which tended to be slower and more controlled. Her purpose after all was to understand the process. That is why seeing it in action, and how rapid it actually was, did shock her.  

Banana-Ling simply watched with cold, dead eyes as his kin began to grow great green bulbous sacks filled with combustible material, going from Zergling to Baneling. Their lives becoming that of living weapons in the most literal sense. But it did not disturb Banana-ling, no. The fact a life could so easily be turned to such a singular, destructive purpose was... exhilarating.

It wasn't just Kuuso's allies who noticed the sudden transformation however. While the initial order to the Fruitling seemed to go under the radar, the false Brayr in the pool absolutely noticed the far more expansive expression of Kuuso's powers, and her head quickly shot up in alarm. Her eyes went blue and she instinctively threw up a hand, creating for herself a quick shield to protect her from the sudden batch of explosions that came about as the newly created banelings combusted. Not as many as Kuuso would've liked however, as at the same time he sent out the command to evolve, she quickly sent out a psionic wave of her own. This one was simple yet utterly devastating. It simply disconnected the nervous systems of the specimens it got to, preventing their bodies from receiving Kuuso's orders. The technique, although seemingly simple, would've required rather in-depth knowledge of the biology involved to do it so precisely and quickly, so it was a form of confirmation that this creature was at least a professional.

All the same, she couldn't stop them all. And so when the Banelings exploded, multiple containment tubes shattered from the inside. Baneling acid mixed in with glass acting as shrapnel bombarded the room. It was certainly very distracting, as well as hazardous, but Kuuso would get the time he needed to hit the button and open the door. He could hear in the distance the sound of the trap door creaking open, just as before, so it seemed to work. Zakhet at least for her part did not freeze up, and quickly moved on her own accord towards the door to the trap door, carrying the Fruitling along to snap it out of its carnage loving trance. She managed get into the doorway and thus avoid the glass, so she and Banana were unharmed.

Kuuso's fears however were not invalidated, as there was the sound of a shockwave from the pool. All the glass and acid thrown her way was harmlessly repelled, and strategically angled harmlessly away into a corner so they did not damage anything else. But now she was absolutely quite angry. Rising from the pool, eyes glowing bright blue, she centered her vision directly on Kuuso. She had pinpointed his location through the stealth when he put out that command, once again displaying that this madwoman was a lot more skilled than her demeanor prior would indicate. While her eyes betrayed her rage, her voice still carried surprising grace, almost like song, "A slaveling dares to disturb my lab!? And after I was so courteous too! I shall consider that a lesson learned about the ungratefulness of your kind. This will set me back weeks!"

She reformed her clothes around her body, and continued speaking in her sensuous tone, "You clearly do not know who you have just angered, slaveling, so I shall tell you. I am not some simple basement dwelling fool, I am a Psion! You dare to trespass in the lab of Tulana'Run, biomancer supreme! Don't worry about dying here, for I am not so basic. Instead I'll reforge your flesh into a chair, you ignorant savage! You shall repay your debt to science with your biomass!" Power gathered, and much of the biomass strewn about the lab from slain specimens, due to explosions or otherwise, seemed to get absorbed into clumps of purple energy. And then, reforged into what looked like swarms of bees, glowing purple. Life created in an instant, and it was clearly aggressive. One such swarm of the suddenly created creatures instantly flew at Kuuso, stingers at the ready.

And yet instead of instantly attacking they just instead started preparing to surround him, with Tulana suddenly cracking a smirk, "Of course, I can be generous. If you surrender now, perhaps instead I can merely make you the replacement specimen. After all, you do appear to be one of these Zemour, and I've lacked a good chance to really pick at your kind! Of course you could refuse and I'll just do it anyways, but cooperation is always nicer! And clearly I do need to keep a tighter leash on you slaves, as you aren't keeping to our agreement..." Her eyes were locked on the councilor, mind already coming up with ideas.

Kuuso had the Psioness's attention, at least. And seemingly, sole attention. She seemed so enraged at Kuuso directly that she did not notice Zakhet and the Fruitling make it to the doorway. Zakhet's eyes were on Kuuso, clearly worried for him, and wondering if he would go with her. Last chance to decide if he wished to flee or stay to face Tulana. Though if he fled now, she would be very likely to pursue, since she had already located him and it seemed that his stealth didn't work on her when she wasn't distracted. Psions did live up to their rather egotistical names.

- - -

Given that Tamour had managed to win the war with the old vessels, he certainly didn't dislike them. But costs became more apparent with more ground to cover, and as Excave had gone from covering a third of the Nebula to instead being a national government that had to cover all of it... It was safe to say that the costs certainly began to pile up.

He then got a look of concern on his face, "Artillery carrier? That could mean many, many things. All of which are rather expensive. I believe the long range batteries on the battleships should be more than enough for now in that regard. More than that feels like overkill. Not to mention whatever might be meant by 'carrier' in this context, either." Then Tamour perked up, "However, we might have use for Kreea's... enthusiasm, for the topic of patrol vessels."

"Now that we are responsible for the whole of the Nebula, the Navy has had to change its organizational structure to suit its new purposes. We've come up with a few fleet types for this purpose. Most of our old ships will be filtered into either 'Rapid Response Flotillas' or the new 'Lancer Combat Groups', as these formations are more suited for battleships and cruisers, leveraging our overwhelming firepower in a more concentrated form. However that leaves the role of patrol duty open. Most sectors already operate their own sector defense fleets, or even planetary defense navies in the case of the more wealthy and storied planets. But Iammelon is big. We will require dedicated patrol craft and dedicated patrol formations to control our outskirts, as well as much of our interior. Big country, lots of ground to cover. Or, erhm, I guess it's space to cover in this instance."

"The role of these patrol groups shall be simple. They patrol for danger. If the danger is small, they deal with it themselves. But if it's a big danger, such as detecting an invasion fleet or discovering a particularly large pirate base, the patrol groups can then either call upon the sector and slash or planetary defense fleets for assistance. And if the threat is too big for those, then the Rapid Response Flotilla is called in to crush the foe. In the meanwhile, the patrol forces can harass the foe and keep them locked down until the big, but slower, guns arrive to remove the threat with overwhelming force. Defense in depth, as the strategy is known. By doing this, we can have the big, specialized ships kept in reserve for when we need them for big battles." Finally pausing his explanation of naval strategy, he then finished, "But of course, we're going to need new ships to do the patrol duty. Since those patrol ships are going to be performing a rather wide variety of duties, from recon to pirate hunting to escort duty, we're going to need them to be adaptable. So if Kreea has designs in mind that may fit this, do tell her to pass them along."

Moving on from that, Tamour looked down at his position within the cargo lift. Then he nodded, "I appreciate hearing that the elevators will be more fitting. I may be used to this but it is a bit... undignified." He did feel a little silly, sitting on his hind legs patiently. He wasn't sure of how he felt about this being considered "cute" by some of the softskins.

The Blue Dragon then looked over at Melyphis with a smirk, "Been sitting on that one for a while. Simply had to find the right time to use it. You best reckon that I got myself plenty more up locked and reering to go in the ole farm brain here." He tapped the top of his head with a claw, reverting temporarily to his more rural voice for a moment before catching himself.

This was certainly going to be something he will have to explain in detail later, it was unavoidable now. There were likely other options that could have kept his secret secure for a time longer, but this was the only method he could think of at this crucial moment. Though it looks like his newly acquired friend revelled in such destruction. How surprising, how nostalgic. He’ll have to make sure his new buddy isn’t too violent later.

Speaking of surprises…

Kuuso did not like that the faker was quick on the uptake. He did his best to downplay his command but it was a futile effort. At least Zakhet and the fruitling were able to get to the door before he was spotted. He lingered too long. Now the enemy has spotted him despite being draped in a cloak of invisible energy… She was not only competent with her command over biomass, but powerful enough to see even through this mirage of his. ‘There are still precious moments to escape…’ He thinks to himself as he takes several, seemingly futile, steps back. Foe seems to be able to follow his movements. That was unfortunate… Stealth was no longer effective.

He was surprised that her voice was not tainted by the same rage that so fiercely burned in her eyes, but that was far from more pressing concerns. Like how was he going to escape? Though now she was giving her introduction, he could only hope that Zakhet was still listening… This was the evidence that she and her team needed after all. But now she needed a way to get to the surface so her team could know of this, so that Tamour would know of this…

‘She… Is focused on me. She has not noticed the doctor yet… I’m thinking of something bothersome.’

Kuuso remains silent to her introduction, but he stops moving for the exit. Instead he sees an incredible lack of options at his disposal. For Zakhet to have a chance to bring that information to the surface… She will need time. And running now will endanger her, the team up top, the Zemour that have been coerced into working for this Psion and many more. If he ran now… Not only could he still be captured, but the others could be too, or killed. He really wasn’t liking the idea of the alternative.

But…

The Councillor watches as the madwoman cleverly manipulates the scattered biomass and changes it into a swarm of bees as she voices her displeasure. Even he has to grudgingly admit that it was an impressive display of biomancy. Her Psionic potential was astounding… For a pompous Alien. Her power was going to be too difficult to overcome, this body was not suited for extreme psionic combat. He lacked the biomass. It would lead to his own death. He could not hope for his consciousness imprint to surface again in another of the Zemour. This life was all he had to gamble with.

‘... I must hope for rescue at a later date...’

So that was going to be his play… He needed to keep her attention. Give Zakhet time to reach the surface. And hope to be recovered later down the line. If there was a later at all. His life could end shortly after this, and his new life would be over… But sacrifice was no stranger to him. He did what he had to do to orchestrate the death of the Dark God who enslaved his race the first time… And as luck would have it. His new friend could prove to become a similar trojan horse to shepard the defeat of these Psions. He will leave a memory. A seed of possibility with the fruitling. Should he perish.

Now to give the Psion something to focus on…

“It would appear I am going nowhere… Fine. I will remain for a time.” Hopefully that was enough of a hint for Zahket to flee. The Councillor watches as the creatures that she created in an instant begin to encircle him. Waiting on him to move. “One of the Zemour… Now I know you are a child playing at forces you have no true comprehension of… I thought you Run Psions were supposed to be masters of Biology. Yet you cannot discern me from a typical Zemour?” He no doubt struck a nerve with that. So he needed to quickly raise the stakes and keep her attention. Kuuso clad himself in green psionic flames and focussed his mind on the life that had been forged from the converted biomass. Zerg biomass. Tulina has worked diligently at understanding Zerg biomass to an extent that would make Tamour’s efforts with the creation of the Zemour look lacking no doubt. But Kuuso was more than just someone who knew how to work zerg biomass. He created the Zerg.

His own psionic potential would not overpower Tulana’s. But he had experience over the Psioness. He had to hope that where he could not overpower her influence, he could finesse it. “You arrogantly declare that I am slaveling. Yet I am one who cannot be shackled by someone lesser. You speak with the genesis seed of the Overmind. Zerg Progenitor reborn.” He raised a hand. Influencing what he could of these strange bees and forcing a change. From them he causes them to change into pint sized Mutalisks. Under his command. “There is no biomass that I cannot influence, no potential that I cannot tap into. Next to me, you are a child dissecting her first amphibian!” He hoped that this would be enough of a lure to keep her attention on him. He just showed a card that might have meant freedom later. “Yet it pains me to admit that I lack the biomass to evolve a form more suited to combat you… I have little choice but to surrender. I loathe the idea of being shackled to an arrogant child… But I hate the idea of dying even more.” Kuuso releases his hold over the Mini-mutalisks, if he could maintain control in that losing tug of war, and raises his hands above his head. “I surrender, Tulana’Run.”

- - - - - - - - - -

It was amazing that Excave had managed to cover so much ground, nevermind cost of Ships, there was also armour, weapons, troops and training, prefab base structures, R&D developments through the war, etc. All of it was pretty expensive. It was likely nothing short of a miracle that they managed to work their way through that economical nightmare.

“I shudder to think what that entails too.” Said Melyphis, sharing Tamour’s very real worry for their nation’s wallet if such an idea made it past any sort of official concept phase. Though it honestly sounded too goofy to make it to any official prototype.

The council woman agreed. She found the idea rather ludicrous. But Kreea has been given the go ahead to think on designs, not to create anything yet. Not unless it was a weapon that could be mounted on their modular vehicles or used to arm their ground forces. Though with the topic shifting as it had to Patrol Craft, Seffa felt like Kreea will be able to help here. Since the ‘carrier’ nightmare she has thankfully been working on some designs for patrol craft. “Thankfully she has some designs. I may be able to show you the plans for the Patrol Craft along with the VTOL Prototype.”

The cargo lift soon came to a stop at the R&D floor. Like last time, large doors open and just like the other floor they were greeted with pristine white walls and hallways in every direction, there are labs enclosed in sections with what deceptively appears to be glass but was actually interactive image feeds projected onto the walls from within the rooms themselves. Each section was seemingly self contained, and appeared hard to get into. The strange hidden doors that open to those with authorization were here too, though at the door to each enclosed lab was a large console that seemed to require multi-factor authentication. Tamour would see a Zemour scientist, an Orale, who seemed to use a special key card and a DNA scan before the doors opened for her to step inside. The Zemour took their secrets very seriously it would seem.

“The test hanger we’re keeping the VTOL in is just down here on the right.” Seffa says as she leads them down the pristine corridors. Just like the other floor, there was signs of maintenance work going on all around them as engineers fit these specialised wall panels onto the framework of this floor that hid not just the infrastructure like lighting and power but also special security features like stasis projectors, shield emitters, security camera strips and concealed turrets.

One of the enclosed labs they were passing does have a number of scientists tinkering with holo projections of vessels, and towards the back they could see a projection of a much smaller ship design. Seffa notices this and points it out. “Ah, here is the actual lab working on our eventual ships once we have a orbital dock to build them. You can see the Patrol Craft schematic being worked on.”

As they kept to the right corridor they finally made it to one of the hangers they saw from outside. The hangar held multiple floors, and smaller storage sections that looked like they were designed to hold the future modules they would have for their VTOL’s and other air vehicles. There were multiple pads that were empty. All but one. The prototype VTOL that councillor Kreea had been working on. There was a team of engineers making sure the prototype was all ready to go. The VTOL was large but not large enough for a Dragon, not unless they really wanted to squeeze inside of it. That could be solved when it reaches mass production.

Now that they were pretty close, they could see that the underside of the craft had specialised clamps that would hold the modules. “And there she is. Our modular VTOL. We’re still coming up with a suitable name for when they’re deployed.” Seffa says as she looks to the landing pad beside it, a large crate serves as a dummy module. Likely to serve as a test later. "Hmm... Kreea should be here.Yet I don't see her... She may have just stepped away to check on her other projects. We'll wait here for moment. But first, thoughts mInister?"

The hint seemed to have been received, as in his peripheral vision he could see the last traces of the Anubite doctor (and the fruitling) disappear as she very quietly ascended the stairs, hopefully to safety. And then later, potential rescue.

All the while, Tulana's focus stuck on Kuuso. The Psioness seethed in yet more anger as Kuuso made his rather inflammatory speech, with the word that seemed to annoy her most being "child". Whenever he said that (twice), there was a spark of energy in her eyes. However the anger was now wrestling with a different emotion, one sparked by his words about the Overmind. It was a conflict of wounded pride and scientific interest, debating over how to respond to the creature in front of them now that it was surrendering.

But in the end, it seemed that she was a Run after all, and scientific interest won out. Raising her head, she glared down at him, "I should simply rip you apart, slaveling, for daring to speak to your superior like that. But if you are what you say you are... Then that demands investigation! But of course I think we still need to correct one thing... Let's make the dynamic here nice and clear."

Tulana snapped a finger, and from behind Kuuso a set of glowing-blue chains suddenly flew out and wrapped themselves around him. She had been moving them quietly the whole time, and Kuuso could feel that these chains had suppressing power as they wrapped themselves around his arms and legs. It wasn't a total suppression of his abilities, and he could feel he still had access to his powers, but it did make it certain that overpowering the Psioness wouldn't be an option.

Now more confident, Tulana flew closer and smirked, "Much better! A slave belongs in chains, wouldn't you agree? Also I do believe this fits the definition of 'shackled', so I win! Ha-ha!" Extremely petty victory aside, she lifted Kuuso up now psionically, carrying him closer. Then she pointed him in the direction of her now-ruined lab, "Take a good look at what you've done to my workspace, slave! Look at it and feel very bad, because this is going to set me back a long time! Two whole weeks!"

Despite the indignation in her voice, the actual scope of the damage Kuuso had done with the Baneling trick in fact looked a lot worse than what she was describing. For a normal individual, the fact that he had laid waste to nearly the entire lab would've been far more devastating. Most of the containment tubes were shattered, either by the Baneling acid or the shrapnel it had caused, and much of the equipment was similarly damaged. It didn't look like basic equipment either, many of the large machines here seemed to be complex creations only found in top-tier biological research facilities, not to mention all the various computers that had been lost, likely with whatever data was on them. In truth, this looked more like he had destroyed her whole project, with all that was left being some now brain-dead Zerg specimens within the few remaining stasis chambers, and the control console that managed the doors. Restoring this looked more like something somebody did in months at best, not weeks.

However, Tulana just sighed like she had dropped a cup, "Now I shall have to make the Slavelings buy the parts again, rebuild my machines, reconstitute all the biomass, backup all the data again... Ugh, and I had just gone through this last month too. This is your fault, slave! Here I was, thinking maybe you Zerg types would be grateful that I would contribute my knowledge and powers to expanding the potential of your kind, but clearly Slaves can't appreciate science. Alright, sit over there..."

She then flung the psionically suspended Kuuso into a corner, although at least fortunately there was a chair in the landing zone. In the meanwhile, the Psioness seemed to get to work on cleaning up the lab, channeling her power and beginning to collect all the glass and debris thrown about the room, as well as reforming much of the biomass still around the room into this strange green goo. This included Kuuso's mini-mutalisks, who were also added to the great goo as it was being put into storage.

Yet as she worked on cleaning up the labspace, she continued to talk in his direction, "So tell me, Slave, are you new on the farm? Did your boss fail to inform you of how things work here? Because if this happens a third time, I'm going to annihilate them! But..." Tulana's voice now took one of curiosity, "Since my machines are broken and I can't dissect you just yet, what's this about a 'genesis seed'? That's not a term I've plucked out of anybody else's head so far."

- - -

Tamour looked around at the R&D level as they arrived, glancing about. After getting a good look he seemed impressed, "This reminds me quite a bit of the labs on Inshamari. Similarly clean and sterile, similarly advanced, and similarly secure. That's not a bad thing, I should say. The Enshandim would likely be impressed. Now I have to wonder what's going on in some of these other sections, in order to prompt such a degree of security." He said that last statement as he passed one hidden turret that he happened to spot.

In any case he moved along as prompted towards the test hanger. Passing through the lab, Tamour nodded, "Naturally a lot of planning goes into making a ship. Though people sometimes disparage the theoretical part of design, the practical part can't come into existence without it. And I see the Patrol Ship. Looks like a compact craft, nothing fancy but I suppose that's a bonus when it comes to ships which will need to spread about." He thought for a moment, "An orbital construction facility will take some time to build. Such docks are after all quite expensive, not to mention they take a great deal of expertise and technical knowhow. If you want to get more practical tests done earlier, perhaps you could look into contracting some of the private dockyards above Proscore, Avalantus, or Javalus. The Proscore Avionics Corporation would be a good choice, as Proscore has the greatest orbital industrial capacity in the Nebula. I am sure you can find a shipyard willing to create some prototypes."

In the hanger, Tamour looked over at the VTOL. He could tell he wouldn't fit inside it, so he supposed he couldn't test how comfortable it would be. Shame. But it was inspection time from the visual angle first. Tamour decided to make use of the fact this was a nice, open hanger, and suddenly decided to fly up. He slowly flew in two circular routes around the VTOL, to give himself a proper look at it from multiple angles.

Once he was satisfied, he came back over and landed near Melyphis and Seffa,  giving his thoughts, "It's suitable to be modified, given its layout and set up. I could see it naturally work best as a transport for both troops and cargo, but if we size it up to where it can fit a Dragon, it could certainly also fit some armored vehicles. I could see immense value in quickly deploying a group of light tanks as part of a rapid reaction force, or even as a recon group. I suppose this VTOL could be armed as well, however with the size and set up I would say the transport role remains the best fit. Perhaps a heavy gunship if one really wants to make such a modular design work. But I see the most value here in a modular transport able to carry a variety of equipment and troops. After all, with everything from heavy infantry, to tanks, to artillery, to Dragons, and so on, we have a lot of very different troops who need to get around."

"Of course those are just my first thoughts from the purely visual angle. Naturally I'd love to see it on display in action, and I can see a test is already being set up. I suppose we shall wait for Kreea to return before we can see that in action?" Tamour inquired, glancing about the hanger.

He talked a big game, and it paid off… Zakhet was basically home free. He hoped that she could get to the rest of her team and they could free him later down the line. For now he’ll have to play the captive role well and keep proving his value if he hopes to survive long enough to see that rescue… Thankfully it would appear that his Psioness captor is easily swayed by taunts and tricks. How else can he manipulate his way through this trying situation? He’ll have to think more carefully about that. She was certainly more powerful than him, and finessing control out from under her will only work so many times before she finds out how he does it.

Though he did underestimate her capacity for cunning… That was not typical Run behaviour. He had to ponder that too while he felt the bizarre chains wrap around his body and weaken him. These chains couldn’t fully suppress him, but he certainly wasn’t going to be able to brute force his way through her command over biomatter without figuring out how to adapt to these chains. Kuuso lacked the means of resisting the chains… He didn’t know how they worked, so messing with his own DNA to create a resistance will be fruitless. Though now that he was bound, he could more easily see just how easily swept up in petty victories, he really must have touched a nerve. Perhaps a tad too far with his comments and taunts… Oh well. He can’t change that now. They were made in the moment.

When he was told to look at the destroyed lab that he damaged, he doesn’t know if she’s overestimating her own abilities to restore this lab, or underestimating just how much damage he did. Still… With all the acid, broken glass and biomass, nevermind the damaged specialised equipment caught in the blast, this was at least several months worth of damage to fix. “Mm, yes mistress, I feel absolutely terrible about your unethical treatment of my children.” He did his best to keep his expression neutral or at least pained, no need to earn more of her ire.

‘Depending on who her Father is, hopefully not a high ranking Run, she could replace that equipment more easily than I suspect.’ Kuuso thought to himself. She seemed… Annoyed… What? He destroyed A-LOT of equipment and she didn’t seem as angry as when he insulted her. Wait. Did she say last month?? She… She really can replace these things in weeks. But this also implied that her experiments cost her just as much as his distraction.

Though a nerve was severely tugged on when Tulana insinuated that her ‘experiments’ were anything that deserved to be appreciated. He held his tongue even as she threw him across the room and landed in a chair that was fortunately in the way, doing so with a pained grunt as this numbness caused by the chains continued to be an annoyance. He wanted to tell her how much he despised that so-called ‘Expanded Potential’ she spoke of. But he must keep his temper. Since she keeps insisting on calling him a ‘slaveling’ she may punish him for speaking out of turn or something equally contrived.

But then questions came… He thought they would. He baited his hook with the greatest information he had available to ensure his companions escape. Hopefully his little Fruitling was safely away… These chains were keeping him from an active connection with him. But it was there still, he could feel the little Fruitling but he couldn’t command it outside of being calm.

“I am not a new hire on this not so secret retreat of yours,” He couldn’t lie, the Brayr that owns the Homestead saw him with the team so it was only a matter of time until Tulana will know of his identity and the existence of Zakhet and her team. He just hopes she doesn’t decide to run offworld… If she does, he hopes it was towards Castameer, the Firstborn could help him escape. “My name amongst the Zemour is Kuuso Brak, I am one of the Elected Councillors of our Parliament.”

When she asked about the Genesis seed and how it was not a word that came up in her ‘investigations’ so far, Kuuso answered. After all, why shouldn’t he? It was a chance to engage with someone else who sparked his creative ability. Though Tulana was a tad too arrogant for his taste in intellectual company. Zakhet was more his style. “It is not a term you will find amongst the Children. Even if you plucked information from the minds of Broodmothers or Zerglings, I left no trace of my plans to reconstitute amongst my children so no one would impede my chances of returning. Surely a Run Psion can appreciate my designs of revival. Even one as young as You.” He spoke with no malice or insulting tone as before.

“It is simple, yet ingenious. The Genesis Seed is a means to revive myself, my knowledge, my memories, my personality, all without the shackles placed upon me by my previous master, whose name will be lost on you and this entire Galaxy. It is a genetic imprint meant to outlast my own demise. It isn’t perfect, but it ensures that as long as at least one Zerg bioform remains, I will revive… So killing me is pointless. But it is still effective in silencing me. Who knows when or where I will revive again.” Some would say it would be foolish to reveal this kind of flaw. And he would totally agree with them. But right now he had no other means of staving off whatever she could do to experiment on him.

- - - - - - - - - -

Councillor Seffa took in Tamour’s note of the advanced security measures and his own curiosity of what goes on in the other sections that they have not seen yet. She saw no reason not to tell him about what they were missing, though perhaps she will have a chance to show them later. “This R&D level is mostly gauged towards weapons and vehicle developments. Each Lab, besides the one we just passed who deal with concept work, are working on different weapons and pods to be used on the modular vehicles. One we’re currently working on is a ‘Riot Jammer’ which is a fancy way of saying we’re designing our own Anti-magic and Anti-Psionic barrier curtain. That pod deploys and creates a curtain of Anti-Magic/Psionic energy that envelopes a large area. Only to be used in cases of riots, to aid in detaining dangerous suspects who use those forces, and to other such situations… Such technology and developments are worth the extra security I should think.”

Melyphis understood the necessity for such a device, considering the frequency of magic and psionics that was used in the Civil War, it was easy to explain away why such devices needed to be readily available. And it was a safe bet to create devices like this in the event of riots. The Zemour had advanced potential now, so having ways to stop powerful Psionic combatants without casualties was a good idea.

As they came to talk about the Patrol Ship and the eventual construction of an orbital dock and construction yard did get an answer out of Seffa. “You’d be correct about it being costly. There is a site in orbit, awaiting workers to begin making it. But without expert help it will take another year before construction can begin. At least without the help that you’re already going to put us in contact with. Though Proscore Avionics isn’t a bad idea. And we’d be able to test the prototypes on a much tighter schedule than the one we currently have.” Seffa liked the sound of it, though she will have to talk with Councillor Kuuso or Meyna since this will involve them. The patrol ships would be part of their defence fleets.

Once they were at the hanger and Tamour started to get a better view of the VTOL from above and other angles, Melyphis and Seffa and the Testing Crew members watched him do so before he landed once more and started to give his opinion on the craft from purely an assessment from his view.

Seffa spoke after his assessments, she too wondered where Kreea had gone but she was likely not far. “Good thing this is a prototype then. Such insights will or have been considered… Though perhaps there will be several sized variants of this same design. A heavy Gunship-”

“A heavy gunship is already in its design phase~” Announced a voice as the VTOL cockpit opened up, revealing their missing Council member. “She stands up and steps out of it once the roof pitches up out of her way. “Minister Tamour. A pleasure. I was just making sure everything was perfect. Unfortunately I won’t be flying this myself, we’ve prepared a remote link for that.”

“Were you in the cockpit this entire time?” Melyphis asked.

“Of course! I aim to give any ship I prototype a personal look over. I wouldn’t want to produce something for our troops, anything I wouldn’t fly myself.” The Morxan council member says proudly as she steps down from the landing pad to a remote set up a slight distance away. It was a VR flight set up. Something that will allow Kreea to fly the vessel herself from safety.

Seffa didn’t like to be cut off, but considering this was where Kreea thrived, she’ll overlook it. Besides, she wanted to see the test flight. “Well then, while you’re getting ready, what did you think of the Minister’s insights?”

As Kreea got down and began to get herself ready in the SIM chair with the help of her assistants, she gave it some thought. “They were good, his suggestion of a transport capable of deploying a small armoured group in rapid succession was one of the ideas I had for the Kingfisher.”

“King… What?” Melyphis asked, not being familiar with the name.

“It’s a type of large avian that, as the name suggests, fishes in ponds and rivers. Humans came up with the name. I liked it, so I intend to use it for larger Transport variants.” Kreea says as she gets into the flight chair, and places a helmet on herself. She takes hold of the flight controls and starts by moving the thrusters around, testing the movements for any latency. Thankfully there wasn’t any. “Okay, good. Initiating test burn!” She says to her team as they monitor some equipment nearby. The thrusts spark but do ot lift the craft just yet. Several other tests are done as well to make sure the VTOL is all ready to go. Including a very successful test of the craft's mag-tethers that latch the dummy module and pick it up and lock it against the vessel once it was off the ground.

The test was a resounding success. There were some issues with the thrusters' strength once the pod was attached but it wasn’t anything fatal. Or anything that can’t be improved upon. And Kreea and her team seem very ecstatic about this. “Okay! Everything was successful. We’ll be able to run a thorough test flight once we look over the data and assess the craft. We’ll need time to sort out the issue with the thrusters' strength, but this is good.”

“I’m glad you had a decent test. Are any of the other crafts of yours ready?” Asked Seffa, she knows Kreea has been quite the busy bee as of late.

“Hmmm… Oh! The Dragonfly Interceptor Prototype is still being built in Bay 7. And the Weavil Artillery Prototype is being built in Bay 9.” Answered Kreea as she stood up from the SIM chair. “I’m especially happy with the Weavil. It possesses a unique thruster and drive system so it can move through the air and plant anchoring stakes into odd inclined surfaces. I have yet to test the strength of these stakes in different composite materials to test if the stakes will be able to keep the full weight of the Artillery on inclines greater than 45 degrees.”