Chapter 207: Help Me Help You (1/2)
After pulling out hundreds of terminals, the Overseer had a fuck it moment.
”This is far more than I am able and willing to analyze. I will contact a reserve guild under Schema's care to compartmentalize and uncover this data.”
The Overseer messed with his status before reaching out a hand while clasping his fingertips together. As he spread his fingers apart, a rift in spacetime wrenched out of nothing. Using the wormhole magic, a group of high-level Speakers moved all the terminals into some kind of stronghold.
These weren't weak members by any means either. Nearly all of them were capped, many of them wearing exotic power armors or the spoils of eldritch. Sharpened teeth, spiny furs, and metallic scales, the Speakers kept all kinds of reminders of what they fought for and against. They kept their faces serious as well, focusing in on the task at hand.
The Overseer didn't waste any time watching them work. He parsed through the contents of one of the terminals. It didn't take long for him to find incriminating evidence against Tohtella.
”Screenshots of her forming illegal contracts...Data logs of conversations detailing forbidden knowledge...Collaboration to create hostile entities...You weren't lying. In fact, perhaps you downplayed the truth of the matter. I'm releasing an S-tier bounty on her name immediately.”
I raised an eyebrow, ”Higher than Yawm's?”
”Much higher. S tier bounties scale exponentially. There exist only a few S+ tier bounties, and they would reward nigh unlimited experience and prestige for those that claim them. In this instance, an S- bounty dictates planetary threats. An S Tier bounty shows a solar system scale of conflict-”
”And an S+ means galactic level, right?” I said.
”Yes. I'm surprised you didn't mention more of her undertakings as evidence.”
”I figured I'd just state the worst parts of the project.”
”There is much here that is worse than what you mentioned,” the Overseer stated. ”We'll be updating our security parameters after this mission.”
”That's what I was wondering,” I said while pointing at the portal to the base. ”The last time we trusted someone in 'the system,' they were behind the entire criminal operation. You sure you can trust these guys?”
A pair of Speakers gave me a heated glare before the Overseer put a hand between us, ”This is a central group of Speakers and Breakers that have served Schema loyally for hundreds of years. They can be trusted, more than you even...Even more than me.”
”Well damn,” I raised my palms to the two speakers, ”My bad.”
One of the blue aliens rolled his eyes while the other just took a deep breath. They hefted the terminal along, each of them sweating at the effort. A ball of fur rolled up to a terminal before generating several keratinous spines from its body. These spines locked in just the right places so the thing could lift a terminal.
As it rolled along with the spines staying stagnant on its frame, the sheer variety in the races shocked me. Their skills were just as varied, some carrying terminals with telekinesis while others floated them along with constructs of mana. A few even wielded gravity, though their magic was pretty damn crude to me. Eh, maybe I was a critic.
Despite my fault-finding outlook on some of the magicians, I offered to help. The group refused, mentioning my knowledge of the base's existence as 'a security threat.' After half an hour of sweating Speakers passing by, a muscled Breaker helped assist with the task. He doubled the speed of the project, but they still had time to gawk. At what exactly? Well, the gialgathens, the forest full of terminals, and the gray giant that was taller than an Overseer.
I didn't mind. I expected as much. This was a pretty strange scenario even for their line of work after all. Probably. As the Speaker faction finished the task, the Overseer walked into the Breaker's haven, the portal disappearing. Minutes later, he walked out with three Breakers. Covered in hydraulic exoskeletons and facemasks, the mobile strike force gave me a passing glance. I returned their look, trying to analyze them. I couldn't as they listened to the Overseer's instruction.
”We've discovered a breach in galactic security. Tohtella Adair along with the Adair family of remnants has been compromised. You are authorized to use killing tactics against her and any members you discover associated with her. Leave nothing behind. Understood?”
They replied in unison.
”Understood.”
The tallest of the bunch, a full foot shorter than the Overseer, pointed at me, ”May I ask who this is?”
”Dimension C-138, better known as the Harbinger of Cataclysm. His team killed Yawm of Flesh and revealed this subterfuge along with a group of rogue remnants. Treat him with due respect.”
The group of Breakers looked at me differently after that, my level no longer dictating their response. They kept professional, however, receiving a data log from the Overseer before leaving at a breakneck pace. As I watched them disappear over the treetops, the Overseer turned to me,
”We'll handle her elimination. Focus on ridding the unknown status for the rest of your group and terminating your bounties. I will keep an eye on this situation if it devolves further. You may also reveal your identity if you wish. I imagine it must be annoying by now.”
I shook my head, ”I don't think I will reveal who I am just yet. There is too much bullshit associated with the Gray Giant that I don't want people mixing up with my name. Until I can change the reputation Thisbey built for this persona, I'll keep it separate.”
”Perhaps that is wise. Time will tell. The glassing time frame will be extended another thirty days considering the nature of the situation. It isn't as if the knowledge of this hybrid project is exclusive to Giess. That said, this planet is still a hazard for all the planets nearby, including your home planet. Produce results, and you may save this planet.”
I gave him a salute that was more a flick of my hand than a signal of respect,
”Aye, aye captain.”
He rolled his eyes but said, ”Keep up the good work. Schema knows this sector of the galaxy needs it.”
With those last words, he opened a portal in the dimensional fabric and stepped through the resulting wormhole. Behind me, Krog snored while Chrona kept her tail over her eyes for a better nap. They slept through all that commotion without even struggling. As I stared at them, it gave me a good idea.
I paced up to them and unlatched their armors. With more than it of finagling with gravity, I wormed their plate mails. Somehow, I did it without waking either of them up. With the platemails in hand, I skulked down into our base, preparing some more scrying portals with water.
After a few hours of practice, I gained enough experience with the portals to add them to my enchanting repertoire. It wasn't that large a leap considering how fluid my knowledge of the runes was. With that in mind, I added a few attachments to the gialgathens armors.
My idea was on how to form the portals of communication. Before enacting the concept, I created two sets of gauntlets for the gialgathens. After tearing off strips of my black armor, I melted and shaped the molten metal. I created claw reinforcers, giving the gialgathens added slashing power.
Adding to the gauntlets, I took two opals I found in Springfield. I planted the gemstones into the palms of the handwear. I carved runes into the finished gauntlets with utmost precision, searing them in place with pinpoints of heat and telekinesis. It took a few tries before I got the exact runic inscription correct, but it wasn't hard to reset the carving. A smattering of heat and the indentations were gone.
As the next day came to pass, I created the first working models of two-way communication. Just as I feared, there was a bit of a mana cost associated with forming the portal. It didn't take any finesse, however, meaning anyone with a brain and mana could use it. As I finished the adjustments to the finished gauntlets, I added a few augments to them.
The first involved adding hearing to the scrying orbs tools. So far, sight was the only tool I could use as of yet. That wasn't useless, but sound was more valuable for my intended purposes. With that in mind, I read through some more of Torix's tutorials. I ended up using one of his ingenious workarounds.
Torix would create an aura around the scrying pool. If vibrations passed through the air of this aura, then the portal would ripple as well, mimicking the wobbles. The portal on the other end of this scrying chain would then create the same wobbling. It was simple to extend this wobbling onto an aura, creating the transfer of sound by magical means.
As simple as it sounds, this saved me weeks of experimenting. It was much, much easier to use this method than the standard practice for this kind of thing. It was more mana efficient as well. As I finished my models, I paced back up to the gialgathens above with the armor floating behind me.
I found Kessiah recreating one wing of Krog as he still snored. They already slept for thirteen hours plus, but I didn't want to wake them early. They needed the rest. After this, neither of them would be resting as much as before.
So I let them live it up as Kessiah strained to handle the complex bone reconstitution. As I walked up to her, she gasped for air, her eyes closed and pointed at the forest canopy. I set the armor down beside the gialgathens while Kessiah groaned,
”Fuck this is so hard. I never thought remaking a pair of wings would be this difficult.”
I glanced at the skeleton of two wings nearly made already, ”Honestly, it looks like you're doing this pretty fast.”