Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 41B2 - : Acidic Artillery and Island Implosion
Dee glanced down at her Cosmic Power symbol. The bright, green Nebula swirled and bubbled on her chitinous shell’s hand, and she grinned with delight as she felt the call of the power at her fingertips.
The trio had emerged inside an enormous storage facility on the water. A place where boats could be stored indoors. There was a large door that went down below the surface of the water, but the trio were able to easily infiltrate nonetheless.
Greg pulled his breath mask off as they emerged on the surface. He kept his voice low, to a whisper. “We need to get a boat and get it ready to leave.”
Dee shook her head, “You two do that. I need to get some payback. Plus, it’ll be a good distraction!”
Greg glanced at Priam, and the Oslia pulled off his mask. “That’s dangerous. You sure you’ll be okay? You don’t have any gear or equipment.”
Dee giggled, “I’ll be fine! Plorps are one of the few species that is considered higher than Tier 0 just due to our physiology.” She left the two and swam over to a ladder, ascending rapidly as she silently slinked across the docks.
Her Wayfinder Miku’s voice shifted from its usual shy, bashful tone. “This is Xera. What are you doing?”
“Getting payback,” Dee replied.
“That’s not the mission-”
“Hey, they need to steal the boat. That will trigger alarms, and then people will show up. I’m just going to get their attention somewhere else.” Dee kept walking until she reached a door, and opening it, she found a hallway.
“Very well, since I can do nothing to stop you. Just be aware, I have granted you enough Stardust to level up and be equivalent to the rest of the group.”
“How many levels?”
“Thirty.”
Dee stopped in her tracks, “They were in their 80’s?”
“Jace: the one dealing with the servers, is level 85. The rest are 83, just as you will be when you level up.”
Dee giggled, “Wow, you treat your people well.”
“Don’t push my goodwill,” Xera replied. “Just do your distraction, and do not die. I have need of your offensive Skills.”
The Wayfinder’s eyes flashed back to their bird-like yellow, and Miku looked over at her. “S-sorry about that…”
“Don’t be! Let’s level up! More blasting power!”
“R-right!”
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Name: Deasyl ‘Dee’ Luna (Aspirant, Tier 4)
Power [Class Level]: Nebula [Blaster <Artillerist> 83]
Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Nebula Blast (Rank 20), Nebula Explosion (Rank 20), Nebula Beam (Rank 20), Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 5).
Stardust: 1,600
Equipment: None
Boons: None
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Nebula Blast (Rank 1) - The user creates a blast of Cosmic Energy that strikes a target within 50 feet.
Nebula Blast (Rank 20) - As Rank 1, increase range to 525 feet, and increase damage.
Nebula Explosion (Rank 1): The user creates an explosion of Cosmic Energy, originating in a location within 30 feet of the user, and harms all within a 10 foot radius of the origin point.
Nebula Explosion (Rank 20): As Rank 1, but increase origin range to 220 feet of the user, increase the radius of the explosion to 105 feet, and increase the damage inflicted.
Nebula Beam (Rank 1): The user creates a circular beam of Cosmic Energy with a 1 foot diameter, that damages everything in a line 50 feet long. If damage is insufficient to break through an object, the beam stops before reaching its full length.
Nebula Beam (Rank 20): As Rank 1, but increase beam width to 20 feet wide, length of the beam to 240 feet long, and it deals increased damage.
Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 1): The user’s ranged Skills are exceptionally accurate, enabling them to be arced to strike targets behind cover. All Ranged Skills may be fired in an upward arc, even when the Skill would not normally allow this.
Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 2): As Rank 1, but the ranged Skills may be fired in a sideways arc as well.
Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 3): As Rank 2, and the ranged Skills deal x2 damage, increasing to x4 based on distance traveled.
Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 4): As Rank 3, but the ranged Skills may be fired at a target as long as (A) there is an unobstructed path to the target, (B) the user has line-of-sight, and (C) the target is within range.
Artillerist’s Acumen (Rank 5): As Rank 4, and the ranged Skills deal x4 damage, increasing to up to x8 based on distance traveled.
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“T-that’s powerful,” Miku said.
“Yeah, I thought that Artillerist Class was a fluke. But that Skill is awesome! Let’s try it out!” Dee ran forward and raised her hand, “Nebula Blast (Rank 1).” The globule of green, acidic nebula cloud surged out in a sphere, splashing against the metal door before her, and melting through it immediately. The slagged metal bubbled on the floor, and Dee ran right through it: not affected by anything acidic in the slightest.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Looking around, she saw nothing but empty streets. “Miku, where’s the closest Enduralife person? I want to get some payback!”
“Um, there is someone wanting to talk to you. S-someone named Quinn? Works with your new F-faction leader.”
“Patch them through.”
Miku nodded, and a small map appeared in the corner of Dee’s vision. Along with a message.
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[This is Quinn.]
[I’m the group’s information Broker and intelligence person.]
[I read your whole entire list of recent upgrades. And your chat logs with your Wayfinder.]
[Want to make an impact? Fire at these coordinates.]
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The small map in Dee’s vision showed her location, and also a range and set of coordinates for various targets. “Tell her thanks!” Dee pointed her hand up. Okay, this Artillerist’s Acumen thing should be automatic. So that, at Rank 1, and then: Nebula Explosion (Rank 20)!
She felt tired as the sphere of green acid shot skyward before beginning an arc down back to the ground. An enormous kaboom echoed through the streets as a cloud of acidic-green fog billowed upward. Dee giggled, “That’s so cool!”
Shifting her aim, she looked at the map again. This is what being a Blaster is all about! Just sitting back and shooting stuff! Nebula Explosion (Rank 20)! Again, a wave of lethargy. And again, another globule of green that went sailing off before exploding in the distance.
Dee let out a near-manic laugh. “Take that! That’s what you get for locking me up and stealing my goop!”
The commander of Enduralife Enterprise’s security forces was floored. The Aspirants that were assigned to their island facility were dead. Their security forces were scattered chasing multiple hostiles. And he had just seen some type of artillery strike hit several key armories and mech maintenance facilities around the Southern docks.
His sliverscreen lit up. The CEO? He answered. “Hello?”
“Sink the island.”
“Sor-”
“You heard me.”
“Authorization code?”
“N48T3-UVL Theta.”
“That’s the one with no warning countdown-”
“You heard me.”
The commander nodded, “Confirmed.” He slid his card into the console before him and began tapping in the commands. He looked over at the command center’s few other security officers. “Let’s go. This place is going to sink in less than a minute.”
Priam glanced up from his spot on the back of the boat. Greg was clearing the vessel’s interior, and he was on lookout duty. But he saw something quite odd: the roof began moving closer. What is going on? He thought.
Dee came running into the room, “The island is sinking! Get the boat out before you’re trapped!”
Greg ran out from below decks, “They’re sinking it?”
Dee nodded and hopped onto the ship. “Let’s go!”
“What about Jace?” Priam asked.
Greg ran up to the pilot’s cabin and his spider-Wayfinder tapped the panel, enabling Quinn to interface and hijack the controls. Greg took hold of the wheel and the accelerator, “Dee? Can you blow open the sea-door?”
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“On it!” Dee ran to the front of the boat, Priam just a step behind, and she held up both of her palms, “Nebula Blast (Rank 20)!” Her excited, barely-contained energetic tone was infectious and Priam couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.
A torrent of green, acidic slime coalesced in her palms before shooting out and splashing along the sea-doors, melting a sizeable hole. She repeated the process, and Priam observed her chitin become less and less lustrous with each repeated Skill use. “Getting tired?” Priam asked.
She nodded, and her hand dropped next to her body as she slumped down onto the deck. “Yes…very sleepy…”
“Hang on!” Greg shouted as he accelerated the boat. The powerful engine shook the deck below Priam’s feet as the boat accelerated, clearing the water-gate just in time to avoid the slowly-descending roof. Priam looked back, gripping the rail as he leaned over the side of the boat, watching the island slowly collapse.
Quinn’s voice crackled over the radio, “Get about a half-mile out. I’ll send Jace your coordinates.”
“Roger!” Greg shouted over the loud growling of the motor.
Priam spotted other boats fleeing the island: and a few began to turn towards them. “We’ve got incoming!”
Jace made it to the elevator room and felt the entire building shake. Xera’s voice popped into his earpiece, “They’re sinking the island. Your allies are on a boat and are about to be attacked. You have to deal with the server, ASAP.”
“Right, I’m on it. The Aspirants are gone: get Ollie back here.”
There was a pop and Ollie reappeared. He had a look of relief on his face, “Thank the System you survived! Good to know that some Aspirants and Ascendants can see me-”
Xera interrupted. “Hurry up and give me local access.”
Ollie nodded and flew over to the small panel, tapping it as the screen turned a deep red. Quinn’s voice came over the earpiece, this time. “The systems are all in lockdown. The elevator is at the bottom of the tube.”
Jace nodded and slashed horizontally across the clear, plasteel tube that contained the elevator shaft. Looking down, he saw the long, deep blue and black exterior that descended into the depths. Right. I can deal with pressure and breathe underwater. I’ve got this. He jumped down and went into a freefall.
Ollie flew right next to him, giving callouts for distance as they fell. As soon as he hit five-hundred feet to the bottom, Jace activated a Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1) on himself, detonated it, and then pushed off the tube with his legs to keep going down.
Landing atop the elevator, he cut down and pushed himself in. Slicing through the doors, he entered a deep red, heavily reinforced chamber. Quinn’s voice came over the comms, “The Enduralife servers being hidden on the ocean floor. Genius. Hooked right into the old internet cables to access the Webnet. Access port should be somewhere on the front of the central unit.”
Jace walked over to the rectangle object and scanned it for a slot. There! He slid the memory stick into the slot, and Xera’s voice came over the comms, “Tech-plague uploaded. Quinn, I’m leaving this operation in your hands. I’ve got a shit show unfolding System-side. Nebula Alliance is trying to gain access. I’ll be out of contact for a bit.”
Quinn’s voice came back, “Got it. Jace, cut your way out. Your Leviathan Skin should enable you to survive the pressure, and your gills mean getting up to the boat shouldn’t be an issue.”
“What about my swimming speed?” Jace asked as he walked over to the wall.
“Flippers?”
Jace chuckled, “Right. Ollie? Common (Equipment) Boon for some flippers.”
“Yup! On it now!”
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[Using Boon: Common (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
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A pair of flippers appeared on Jace’s feet. “Right. Now to get out of here.” He unleashed a flurry of three slashes. Each one let a bit of water in, and the metal began to groan. Jace stepped to the side as the metal exploded inward and water rushed into the room. He felt the bludgeoning force, and it drained his energy slightly, making him feel a little sleepy.
Soon enough the room was full, and he swam out of the cube. His eyes adjusted to their purple dark vision mode, and he looked around to get his bearings. No light filtered down from above, and except for the ocean floor, the elevator, and the box nearby: he had no type of landmarks. Kicking his feet, he rocketed up alongside the elevator tube.
But an enormous mass began to descend. Oh crap. The island! I need speed. Wrath’s Embrace (Rank 10). His vision tinged a slight red as his physical traits enhanced by x6, and he willed Cosmic Infusion to come back online at its full (Rank 10) as well.
The result was a once fast swimmer becoming as fast as a torpedo, as Jace dashed sideways through the water, carving a path that defied all logic. The salt water flowing over his gills felt odd compared to the pure waters of the swimming cube back home, and he felt little particles getting stuck that he coughed up.
Ollie turned to the side as Jace swam, “Uh-oh! Incoming!”
Jace turned to where Ollie was looking and saw the island descend into the depths behind and to his left. The enormous mass entering the water caused a suction, and if not augmented, Jace would have most likely been pulled in by the sudden gap left by the object sinking, rapidly displacing water that then flowed back in from above.
Turning back to the front, he angled up. His map showed the ship that Greg, Priam, and this new Signer were on. As he got closer, he could make out several other vessel’s shapes. I’m coming!
