Chapter 439 (1/2)

471 had always been considerate of others. Trained as an Operational Power Armor Maintenance Engineer, he had been educated on Wrathful Mercury and Hateful Mars. His parents had been green freebirthers, had grown up with brothers and sisters, all of whom had gone on to successful careers on the civilian side of technology.

471 had loved power armor since he had seen documentaries on Anthill in school.

During training he had learned he would have access to the innermost secrets of any power armor pilot who's armor he did live-fire service for. From brain waves to pulse to sweat. Everything about them was part of his job to monitor.

Because of this, he had always tried to be considerate and not pry, even though he was naturally curious about things. His curiosity had led him to volunteering to assist a Telkan Marine, which had resulted in him being paired up with Vuxten and from there see the most amazing sights and take part in the most incredible things.

One of which had been seeing Daxin the Liberator and Bellona the Grave Bound Beauty in action.

Now he, along with a dozen of his fellow greenie OPAM techs were hiding in a vent, watching silently. They knew that they were violating the being's privacy as they watched him, but there was nothing that could tear them away.

Inside the room was a large human.

The greenies had been alerted when 908 had been trying to run a diagnostic on a nanoforge that had suddenly dropped out of the network. They'd tracked it to the occupant of the room fabbing up a piece of equipment. He had inspected it four times, each time making alterations to the nanoforge template before feeding it into the reclaimer and running off another copy.

They'd followed through the air ducts to watch as the human had left the cargo bay and went to a nearby living quarters room.

They watched as the human stripped completely naked.

**could build good cybereye** 553 said.

**never use** 112 answered.

**shhh** 818 told them.

They watched as the human opened a ditty bag and withdrew a razor. They all knew it was a female Terran leg razor, used to remove hair from their legs and other sensitive areas.

**why** 650 started. He couldn't understand why a male Terran would be using a female Terran depilatory device.

**shhh** 818 said.

They watched as the big Terran used small scissors to cut away all of his hair, then the razor to shave himself bald.

**old interface plug** 112 noted.

**upgraded look at molycircs 432a34.5 and 49281.1 not standard** 818 said. **warsteel casing not chromium locking ring different**

All them nodded, watching carefully.

The human rinsed his head in water, then rubbed it until it shone with a towel. Afterwards he used a laser depilatory device to remove the hair from his face, except the tufts of hair above his eyes, then under his arms, his chest, his legs, his groin. His body was covered in scars, including a thick surgical scar down the middle of his chest, between his pectorals, with a serial number tattooed on each side.

**naked ape** 553 joked.

**eat fuck smash** 112 added.

They all looked over the musculature of the Terran, admiring the way a Terran was built. Strong muscles, unidirectional flex, heavy ligament and tendon anchors, high endurance and strength, rapid fatigue recovery.

The Terran stood under the fresher for a long moment, rubbing himself with a slightly abrasive cloth, then stepped out.

They watched as he took off a single piece of jewelry.

**copper and silver impurities in gold for color** 112 said. **why why why**

**black hills gold** 471 answered. **special to terrans**

They watched as the Terran got down on one knee, holding the jewelry in his fist, the chain over his hand, the fist pressed to his forehead. They watched as he spoke silently to himself, his lips moving.

**what do** 112 asked.

**pray** 471 answered.

**not digital omnimessiah** 112 said.

**digital omnimessiah not as old** 471 answered. **shhh**

The Terran stood up, moving over to the one piece suit he had fabricated up. He disconnected the chain from the jewelry and put the chain into a small pocket of kinetic gel, then the jewelry on top before fixing a thick layer of kinetic gel over the top.

**why** 112 asked.

**so hard hit not drive into chest** 553 answered.

The Terran put on the suit slowly. One foot, a prayer. Another foot, a prayer. Pull it up to one knee, another prayer. It was slow, steady.

The green mantids watched it eagerly, passing around a big piece of shrimp to nibble on as they watched.

Finally the Terran was wearing the suit, which covered him up to the base of the skull. He moved around a bit, then went through some quick stiff katas.

**power armor combat form** 818 said. **old old old method weight+power+grav boost**

All of them eagerly leaned forward and watched. They could sense the suit slowly going live as the embedded piezoelectric crystals powered it just from the Terran's movement.

471 noted that after a moment the suit suddenly vanished from his senses.

**stealth test** 471 said.

**never see suit do that** 650 said.

**removed function** 818 answered. **after mar-gite war**

They all watched as the Terran made some slight adjustments to how it sat, then sat down with a complex multitool. They could all feel him making alterations, although some weren't sure what they were.

**tactile why why** 112 asked.

**no longer used** 818 said. **shhh**

The Terran knelt down again on one knee and prayed. When he looked up the gathered mantids froze.

The Terran's eye and empty socket blazed with red fire.

He lowered his head again and continued to pray. The little green mantids felt the pressure, the rage, the hatred, the anger recede. When he raised his head again his eye was normal and the eye socket empty.

The Terran went to the door and the green mantids turned and rushed through the environmental ducts. They knew where he was going and couldn't wait to see what happened next.

**command know** 650 asked.