21st April
14:27 GMT -5
No!
Praexis Demons swarm out of the rings as I push myself up, relying more on the armour's synthetic muscles than on my own strength or -for once- the rings themselves. Kon blasts past me in a curving arc that should terminate with him slamming directly into Ma'alefa'ak, outpacing the Demons. Was he less affected because he was further away, or has he
really been focusing on his telepathic resistance training while I haven't been looking?
**GahaAAAAAAHH!**
Ma'alefa'ak's left hand has grown into some sort of mass of tentacles, completely enveloping K'hym's head. The remaining Hyperclan member… Fluxus, has his right hand up guiding his telekinesis in holding my enraged Construct-Cat in place.
**
Let her go, now.**
**Or you'll
what? With another twenty or thirty years' experience you might actually be a threat to me, M'gann.** Railgun, mageslayers. **But
AS THINGS STAND-**
G-guh…
**-you just don't have what it takes.**
My railgun construct is gone, and Kon's leap turns into a tumble as he loses control in mid air. Fluxus takes the opportunity to hurl Teekl at him.
**Ma'alefa'ak, if you want to torture her so much then bring her with you. The patrol ship will be here-.**
**Yes, it will. I look forward to it. I used to crew one. You'd be surprised how often the crew scrimp on their telepathic skills, thinking unification and augmentation technology will protect them. Fortunately, little
K'hymie knows everything about their systems. She was thinking of applying to join.** He shakes her around a little. **If you like, I'll let you wat-.** He blinks, his right hand going to his forehead. **-
ch. What are you looking for, M'gann? Your doting Uncle Ma'al? Shunned by all for crimes he couldn't remember committing? I'm afraid he's not home any longer.**
Okay,
complete block. Psi-baffle constructs. Dismiss the rest, they're clearly not using brute physical force. And
up.
Railgun. Ma'alefa'ak has floated a little closer to M'gann and I can only assume that there's some sort of telepathic fight going on. Fluxus uses another telekinetic shove to knock Kon back while shooting his arms at the incoming wave of Praexis Demons. They're elastic but incredibly strong. When M'gann tries that she loses most of her strength. Presumably improved physical abilities is
his enhancement.
Mageslayer.
Teekl makes another run at Fluxus. He makes eye contact with her, then takes a step back as she keeps coming anyway. Agh, should have told her that phasing dodges telekinesis, I don't think it's come up before. Another step back and his skin sprouts hundreds of razor sharp spines which gleam faintly in the Martian sunlight. Telekinetically enhanced? Could be.
I point the railgun at his centre of mass and fire.
I feel the hum through the armour more than I hear it. The sheer disgust at the situation unfolding in front of me propels the round far faster than usual, and pressed from all sides as he is Fluxus doesn't get any time to react. It hits him in what would be the left side of his ribs if he were Human, though I'm not sure what role it serves with his current body set up. Spines fracture and fall away as he's knocked into the air, flying in slow motion away from the point of impact.
The other grey spines are
staying, so either the magic is extremely strong or it had an effect on him but has since dissipated. Hopefully that means that he can't retreat in a cloud of arcane smoke any longer. Keeping him alive would be ideal but he can afford to lose a little mass. Kon's back into the fight, grabbing and shoving Praexis Demons back to both propel himself forwards and change his angle of attack.
Crumbler round. Fire.
I think the shot caught a spike before it could hit his main body of mass. It still manages to trigger, carving out a hemisphere in the front of his armour. He's seeping some sort of fluid… Can't really tell what, doesn't look like M'gann's blood. Then Kon hits him like a rocket, knife… Wait, an x-ionised metal knife? Guess he really..
has been paying attention. Another set of spines are sliced from Fluxus' body, then Kon goes for a grapple.
Tricky proposition with Martians, but if he can't focus well enough to shapeshift out of it then it shouldn't be too hard to choke him in air this thin.
M'gann and Ma'alefa'ak
both look staggered. K'hym's being dragged along for the ride as Ma'alefa'ak appears to lose confidence in his telepathic powers and lunges forwards before being brought to a sudden halt. M'gann's outline twists and melts as she adopts her Star Conqueror form and his eyes widen.
Okay. Railgun, crumbler. His secondary personality may still be salvageable so I'd
rather not kill him. Target the tentacle arm and f-.
His head twists in my direction and the sand between us ripples as some sort of energy wave heads in my direction. I recreate my orange overshield and send crampons down into the Martian soil, bracing myself for
g-gruh! It's like I'm.. being shaken apart, even through the construct barrier! Ring, focus on fixing the damage-.
Ma'alefa'ak freezes in place, his eyes widening. The tentacles around K'hym's face unwind and she drops to the ground. Okay, good, M'gann's got that. Ring, how am I doing?
Physical damage repaired to pre-fight level. Mental damage repaired.
Mental damage?
Telepathic attacks by Ma'alefa'ak caused minor damage to schematic patterns. These have been restored in accordance with pre-fight scans.
Okay. Thank you.
Oh, shoot, K'hym's suffocating. I fire a filament at her and extend my environmental shield around her. Physically, I can't see anything wrong with her. Patrol boat should have a medic, shouldn't it? Hope so. Ring, check armour?
Armour repaired.
I push myself up, then activate the armour's flight system and head towards M'gann. She's still in Star Conqueror mode while Ma'alefa'ak's fallen to the ground in a foetal position. Kon is hauling the recumbent Fluxus over towards her… Right. I accelerate, then throw up an airtight dome construct around us. Normally I'd repair the building, but I'm really not sure how Martian techno-organic buildings would respond to that sort of treatment.
Kon's eyes flick to the dome as it appears, then he focuses his attention on M'gann. "M'gann? Are you okay?"
"Nguh… Ah… Ah…"
Star M'gann remains floating in the air above her uncle for a moment, then shifts back into her humanoid form.
"Oh, Uncle Ma'al."
"M'gann?"
"I don't know, Conner." She looks miserable. "Uncle Ma'al…"
His head suddenly jerks up, hands clutching his head.
"Get it out! Get it out of my heaaaad!"
M'gann raises her right hand. "Sleep."
Ma'alefa'ak collapses again, motionless.
"What exactly happened?" Kon checks Fluxus over once more before dropping him on the ground. I generate a construct bier for K'hym and place her upon it. "One minute we were just having breakfast, and then… He just went crazy."
"I don't know yet." M'gann's eyes glow as she holds her right hand over Fluxus' forehead. "He's a member of the Hyperclan. He… His mind has been altered. He thinks his name is Fluxus Z'orr."
"First name doesn't sound very Martian."
"It's not." Her eyes stop glowing and she straightens up. "Either that, or it's very old. But Z'orr isn't a family name. It's…
Z'onn Z'orr is a place, a mythical place. He thinks he's the child of a myth."
"Is this one of those myths that's actually a myth, or one that's actually
true?
" I think for a moment.
"And is someone called 'Karmang' associated with this myth?
"
"I hope it's not true. Because if it is… Mars is in a lot of trouble."
