Yue

 24th January

20:51 GMT

Since he's in full power armour I can't actually tell whether that did anything or not, but I fire off another barrage anyway. Cold gun beams… Hit home, actually, but there aren't any outwardly visible signs that they're doing anything. Next come crumbler rounds and a somewhat hopeful mageslayer. The crumblers cause a very slight discolouration on the outer surface of the armour and the mageslayer does nothing at all.

"Who the fuck-"

Mr van Wyck takes a shot as well, to… No effect.

"-is thi-"

Accelerate.

"-ssssssss-"

Options. Fight or disengage? Destroying the station should remove the interdiction field. But Devlos already rebuilt this place once, and I suspect that the teleporter he used is either built into his armour or can at least be remotely activated. Which means that it wouldn't strand him here and we would no longer know his location.

"-ssssssss-"

I switch the crumblers out for x-ionised needle-tipped rounds and reach out towards the plant life in his body in an attempt to make it grow.

"-ssssssss-"

So killing him here is infinitely preferable. However, at the moment I'm down to my own exotics, the one magic attack I can perform on my own and… What? He's demonstrated that he can't affect the force field around the armour fragment. Touching the observable outer edge of the force field doesn't appear to do anything. Can I teleport him into it?

"-ssssssss-"

I doubt it, but just bringing him into contact with it should be a bit easier. I don’t think that my impact constructs were really driving him anywhere he didn't want to be. What does that leave?

"-ssssssss-"

Huh. Yes, that's…

"-guy?"

The x-ionised needle-tipped rounds spark as they strike his armour, but I don't see any penetrating. I'm getting a vague feeling from the plant life in his body, but I wouldn't want to swear that it's doing what I want. There are all sorts of ways to suppress that sort of technique, not least of which is to be so heavily cyberised that you don't have any plant life anywhere vital.

"Effigy, your FTL is telekinetic, yes?"

"Huh? Yeah?" He raises his right hand to the tear across his face. "Fuck this hurts."

"rAGH!" Another flash of purple and Devlos faces us once more. "Is that it, Lantern? Have you no more tricks to try?"

"Can you move objects other than yourself?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"His attacks destroy-"

Devlos darts upwards and fires another curved barrage. I pull back, throwing up both solid and ablative construct barriers as well as actual armour plates. His attacks burst through them, but his line of sight is blocked for long enough that Mr van Wyck can evade his shots without having them home in on him.

"-everything except the force field. I'm hoping it can nullify his weapon."

"'Hoping'?"

"I wasn't planning on meeting him either. Can you do it?"

"Not with him shooting like that. I need to build up to it."

Alright then. Still backing away from Devlos-

"You'll run out of power before I do, Lantern!"

-I generate new beam singularity projectors. The station has more than a few holes in it, but the armoured superstructure means that it's not in any real danger of falling apart.

Yet.

I fire, beams sweeping across the walls, neatly cutting the station in two. Immediately lights flicker as half the station loses its connection to the main reactor. Which is the one thing I don't want to destroy. Backing up further I get a clear shot at the upper part of the station-

"I’ll rebuild, Lantern. Wanton destruction is the natural state of all things!"

-and fire again. Disconnected parts of the station would be clanging against one another if there was any air to convey the sound. Ring, is FTL available yet?

Space warping is still unavailable. Transition is available.

Great.

So. Can orange power rings feed on Bleed-based attacks, the manifestations of energies entirely novel to this universe?

"I'll distract him, you slam him into it."

"What if it doesn't work?"

"We try something else. Ready?"

Flames coat his arms, and the ones rising from his head billow and waver. "Yes."

Let's find out.

Transition and FEED!

BaBUM

Devlos is firing shots towards where I was as I reappear behind him, orange light shining over him and… Yes, the colour of his armour's external surface is fading. Don't know if it's doing anything to the inside or to the man himself-.

He turns and I jink to avoid his first wild shot. I try directing the FEED effect towards it. Don't.. notice any difference, but I'm not going to tank a shot to check.

Warning: power reserves at 50%.

FEED ME!

Tiny tiny flakes of the outer surface of his armour fall away from the main mass, floating in the near-vacuum as the artificial gravity gives up the ghost.

I want that armour.

FEED ME!

I jink around two more shots, my area effect ability remaining active even as I transition out of the way, my mental acceleration giving me just enough time to evade. Still on a clock as I hit 45%. Any time, van Wyck-.

Devlos gestures and a purple-.

Space twists, flames materialising around Devlos as he's suddenly right in front of me and miles away. Space snaps back a moment later and the force field appears to undulate as Devlos slams into it. He freezes in surprise and his purple shield vanishes.

Not dying? Alright.

"FEED ME!"

His armour shines orange for a second.

"NYYYAAAAAAAGH!"

And I get a brief vision of the man inside as he evaporates