Chapter 92: The Trans-Dimensional Transit
With all augmentations complete, Maine's crew spent three standard days in the open lot of the Badlands bastion, conducting intensive adaptive-training.
Everyone needed to master their new wargear, their new capabilities, and their new roles within the cohort.
Rebecca's Heavy Bolter roared, the sound deafening, the recoil enough to throw a normal man from his feet. But with her newly reinforced skeleton and muscle, she stood firm, the muzzle-flash illuminating her ecstatic face as a derelict car-hulk was torn into twisted metal fragments by the bolt-shells.
Pilar, meanwhile, was testing his Flamer. He depressed the trigger, and a thick, viscous torrent of burning Promethium-gel roared out, enveloping a pile of scrap tires in a column of fire. The heat was so intense it warped the air and vitrified the sand beneath.
"Now this is art!" he cackled. "Way better than some flashy neon lights!"
Sasha and Kiwi were testing their joint E-War protocols. Working in concert, they projected an invisible electronic-warfare bubble. Inside the field, all non-sanctioned devices—including several training drones and old terminals—instantly black-screened, their systems flatlined. Sasha focused on maintaining the field's stability, while Kiwi practiced weaving a secure, encrypted comms-net within the bubble.
Falco was pushing his new neural-links to their limit. He threw the Goodwood through a complex obstacle course, executing impossible drifts and high-speed J-turns, the vehicle responding as if it were an extension of his own body. His augmented dynamic-vision allowed him to predict the path, his reflexes flawless.
Dorio and Moiré engaged in a more... restrained... combat-drill. Dorio tested the limits of her new bio-resilience, using her forearms to parry the lightning-fast strikes from Moiré's un-activated Transonic Razors, the impacts ringing like dull, metallic thuds. Moiré, in turn, remained a cold, efficient blur, her movements impossible to track, her strikes perfectly placed at Dorio's weakest points, her power held in perfect check.
Maine watched his crew, his heart filled with both pride and a heavy, new-found weight. The crew's combat-power had just taken a quantum leap. But he knew that possessing such power meant the challenges they would face would be on an entirely different level.
During a break, Rebecca polished the barrel of her Bolter. "Hey, string-bean," she said to Pilar, "I'm thinking we could actually take on Arasaka Tower now!"
Pilar, checking his Flamer's fuel line, shot back, "Get real, short-stack. The Boss never said nothin' about hitting the Tower. But... next time we see a corpo-mech, my baby here is gonna turn it into a puddle of slag!"
Falco parked the car, wiping his shades. "Don't get cocky. The corps aren't going to ignore this level of new hardware."
Dorio walked over, her breathing steady. "Falco's right. We need to be smarter, master these gifts, and not make trouble for the Boss."
Sasha and Kiwi finished their test. "The sync is good," Sasha noted. "Barrier-strength and duration exceeded projections." Kiwi merely nodded, but her eyes held a new, grudging respect for the teamwork.
Maine gathered them. "You all feel it. We've been... reforged. But this is just the beginning. We need to know this new gear like we know our own hands. The next mission won't be easy. The Boss will expect us to prove we were worth this investment."
After three days, the training-cycle ended. A new, powerful sense of cohesion, of shared strength, had settled over the crew.
Just as they were planning their next move, the summons came. The servo-skull, Test Subject 1, floated into their bastion, its electronic voice clear and cold.
++[All cohort members. The Creator, Joric, summons you. Proceed to the main manufactorum. Immediately.]++
The crew geared up. Rebecca hefted her Heavy Bolter. Pilar strapped on his Flamer. Sasha and Kiwi checked their data-rigs. Dorio and Falco ran a final weapons-check. Maine oversaw it all. Moiré was already standing by the door, a silent, drawn blade.
They entered the sanctum. The interior had changed again. The Dimensional Transporter was in a state of high-activation. The focal-point at its center was a blinding, twisting, ethereal-blue light, pulsing with a destructive power that made their teeth ache and their hearts hammer in their chests. The air was thick with ozone and the strange, tearing sensation of warped-space.
Joric's tall, crimson form stood with his back to them, several mechadendrites plugged directly into the main control-altar. He did not turn. His cold, synthesized voice cut through the thrumming.
"The adaptation-cycle is complete. The experiment-phase is initiated. Your objective: to transit the stabilized fissure and arrive at the designated coordinates in the destination-reality."
He paused, the data-cascade on his holo-display accelerating.
"Your primary directive is to survive. Your death is an inefficient, unacceptable waste of resources. That is your highest priority. Survive for three standard days. After three days, I will re-open the conduit and retrieve you."
"Your secondary directive is to liaise with my assets on the other side. A servo-skull will accompany you. Upon arrival, you will obey its directives without question."
His voice was flat, like a technical manual, but carried an absolute, divine authority.
"Move to the designated position." A mechadendrite gestured to a glowing, sigil-marked circle on the transporter's base.
Maine took a deep breath, looked at his crew, and then, with firm, steady steps, walked into the circle. Dorio was right behind him. Moiré flanked him. Rebecca and Pilar exchanged a nervous, excited glance and followed. Falco, Sasha, and Kiwi took the rear.
Joric's crimson optics remained locked on the surging data-streams. His metallic fingers entered the final command-runes.
++[Final Energy-Infusion Sequence: Initiated. Gellar Field output to maximum.]++ the servo-skull reported.
The auxiliary lights in the manufactorum snapped off, plunging the room into darkness, lit only by the blinding, impossible, pulsing blue heart of the open portal.
(End of Chapter)