Yue

 

23rd October

21:41 GMT +2

And shield, because-

Two beams of pale green lance through the air and impact on the construct plate protecting me as the Ghostwolf firing them dodges aside in a wild momentum defying leap to evade my shots.

-they can do that. Ghostwolves are cyborgs, so it came as an unpleasant surprise to everyone that their ocular weapons are actually technomantic rather than plasma or laser based. My construct shield withers and dies, so I let it fade before replacing it with another. Unless they've upgraded, there should be a short delay before that Ghostwolf can fire again.

A flash of pale green to my left shows me that the other Ghostwolf has tried the same thing with Jade. Firing at me would have been a better choice, but if these two haven't had cogitation upgrades they might not have the perfect synchronicity some of their kind possess-.

I dodge left as a glowing knife flies past me, the Ghostwolf who threw it tumbling between rows of shipping containers in a way that would throw off shots from conventional weapons. Hm, if it's just the two I can take a risk…

Ring, evasive flight pattern.

Compliance.

Laser. Track, predict, and fire when the target is in phase.

Compliance.

A small turret appears on my right forearm. The wraith form of the Ghostwolves makes them extremely frustrating to fight. A single Ghostwolf can fight an unlimited number of conventional soldiers armed with nothing more than a phase sword, entirely proof against their weapons and still capable of inflicting damage themselves. Phase disruptor weapons can make them phase in… If the insane agility the mist form grants them doesn't stop you hitting them. But they're very clumsy fliers and the sword only works within arm's reach, which means that against fliers-.

The Ghostwolf I'm pursuing flips, throws a pair of daggers and then goes to turn for their landing. Unfortunately for them, my ring predicted the throw based on their movements immediately prior and fires my laser construct. The beam of ruby red light strikes them during the instant they're completely in phase for the throw, causing their robes to flare with flame where it passes. It also -yes!- hits the external circuitry of their armour. The ghostly green glow being emitted by it flickers and the Ghostwolf tumbles as their weight suddenly increases. They're well trained though, and turn the tumble into a roll as they hit the concrete. They're on their feet a moment later, sword in hand to parry the two orange bolts I throw at them. Another laser shot to the face, but this time the air around them shimmers as the beam is split and diffused over their face and upper torso. Their robes start burning in earnest, before being tossed aside as the Ghostwolf adopts a guard pose.

I stay a safe distance away, dismissing my laser construct and creating an amplifier. "Ghostwolf. The war is over. Khyber is dead. Surrender and you will live."

"Still your tongue, dead man. The master will live again. She will herald his rebirth."

"A fanatic, t-" There's an explosion of emerald green off to my right, and I smile. "-hen. I don't think there's a single piece of Khyber bigger than a raisin left whole and Lord Fate warded the entire planet against the possibility of his soul returning in a new body. He's gone."

The Ghostwolf crouches slightly, a faint glow around their lower legs giving me all of the notice I need to yank myself aside just in time to dodge their sword stroke as they shoot into the air! That's an upgrade! I evade again as they try to press the attack, then generate a coilgun construct and take a couple of shots. Their armour trembles but holds and I'm shield!

The twin green beams from the Ghostwolf's eyes strike my shield as they surge forward again, sword outstretched! The rushed shield construct rots and my environmental shield bgruuuh. Heal and catch!

A construct arm grabs the Ghostwolf's right forearm and tugs it aside, pulling their charge off target as the ring gets on with healing my necrotising flesh. Next, I generate a pneumatic ram construct above them and slam it down with all possible force.

They twist in the air and punch it, the circuitry on their arm glowing as the construct breaks and fades.

Another upgrade. Irritating.

I generate another pneumatic ram and slam it into their side, armour cracking and flaking as they go sailing out to sea. Not the most efficient sort of strike, but now the sea can absorb any excess force.

Coilgun. Dial it up.

Compliance.

I can hear the hum as the coils charge, and the projectile leaves a blue trail in its wake as it flies through the air and strikes the Ghostwolf in the back. Their force diffusion field activates again, but all that does is cause all of the armour facing me to explode rather than just what was covering the point of impact. I drop the coilgun and accelerate towards what's left of the corpse, gripping what's left of it with a construct crate. Just in case their usually anaemic self destruct systems have been upgraded as well I keep it a little way away from me as I turn and head back towards the quayside. Can't.. see any green glows…

"Jade, are you finished as well?"

There's a green blur and then she's next to me. "Yes. And I managed it without getting shot." She sighs. "You asked yours to surrender, didn't you?"

"Yes."

She shakes her head disappointedly. "You need to try learning sonic constructs again. And stop being so nice to the people trying to commit genocide."

'Nice'. I had thought that my willingness to kill sufficiently bad people would mark me out as unusual amongst superheroes. And it might have done, but super functionaries are ISA or military and they were quite surprised that I thought that taking the target in alive was the objective.

"Yours..?"

She holds up her still-glowing ring. "My EMP grenade shut down something vital." And hence no automatic ring shut down for killing, as she was trying something she genuinely thought would disable them. "Did yours say anything useful?"

"They seemed to believe that Khyber would return."

"Pfw." She looks down at the docks for a moment. "We both saw what was left of his body. He isn't coming back from that."

"Cloning, maybe?"

"Even if they had a tissue sample somewhere, that wouldn't be Khyber." She drifts back down towards the dock and I follow on behind her. "It would just be some unfortunate boy. He wouldn't have the knowledge they require."

"A mental download?"

"It-. Possible, but we didn't recover any records of them having anything like that technology. Usually, these 'immortal overlord' types get to a certain age and assume that nothing is going to kill them."

Yes. Reading what one of Jong Li's earlier heirs did to Vandal Savage when he tried taking over China did make me smile. I can only wonder at the malice it must have taken to fly to the sun without an AI, and the self control it must have taken to maintain the focus on will and not hate.

Still…

"I.. think I'm going to talk to Kassam. Find out if one of his seers has picked up anything."

She halts in the air as a support team of base personnel fan out across the dock.

"It can't hurt. When do you plan on us going?"