A literary fusion of Starcraft, Warhammer 40K, Star Wars, Studio Trigger's Kill La Kill, Gears of War, Insomniac's Resistance, Gearbox's Borderlands series, and Bungie's Destiny and Halo franchises (Plus some shout-outs from fanfic "And so the Soviets Conquered" by Author Vengeful Soldier, Firefly/Serenity, and a character relating to the animations of Tenchi Muyo/Universe). Like the previous chapter, copyright infringement not intended... and be on guard of 'indecent' writing being put here.

Initializing upload of video file #816 on Subject-Z3312817-SKM...

Upload complete

Initializing playback...

The dark color screen soon changes to images of jungle vegetation at night. Based upon the position, movement, and orientation of how this movie under night vision was recorded; something has to be airborne for documenting the visual and audible data (an aerial drone more likely). Shortly afterwards of maneuvering the green jungle, the motion picture then revealed several types of 'animals' amongst the phototrophs. Instantly, the display altered itself with graphics to scientifically scan these creatures.

Lo and behold, they're identified as Zergs in all of every variation that these creatures had absorbed from other species. At the same time, the hyper-evolving beasts look at the 'unknown' recorder hovering in the air. Unexpectedly, they simply shrugged at the documenting apparatus with indifference (Probably by recognizing this thing being unfit to be devoured). All of a sudden, the Zergs acted as if something else has gotten their attention. Soon, the diverse animals move towards the source of their new awareness.

Evidently, the 'footage maker' in flight followed the lifeforms to their destination. A number of miles later, the wild beasts arrive at an eldar/elvish town and continue to move inside. Although the buildings' doors and windows were no obstacles to the zergish intruders, they decided not to enter the humanoids' dwellings and the residents themselves. Instead, thousands of those DNA-stealing creatures in various shapes and sizes converge onto a large, nature-inspired temple within the relatively urbanized area. The ongoing video remain observant to the break-ins by the hyper-evolving organisms for over a minute... until some loud commotions inside the religious structure were detected. A while later of unseen ruckus within the big cathedral, a large serpent-like zerg exited out of the building with collateral damage upon the temple. However, it seemed that this giant monster was likely pushed hard to the outdoor soil by someone powerful enough to display such strength.

As a matter of fact, a brightly colored figure soon appeared at the newly-made 'entrance.' The visual screen immediately refocused itself for a 'closer' look at this luminescent being. Judging by the up-close inspection, the targeted individual has the shape of a woman, a cerulean glow all over the feminine body (hairs rooted in the head included), two 'eyes' showing no recognizable pupils and irises (like mono-colored orbs), and… apparently naked. Speaking of nudity though, the anatomical parts that supposed to elicit... erotic feelings... eh, well... they're not there. As if those explicit components of the body (minus the realistic texture of 'human' skin) did not exist for this womanly figure; the mouth, ear canals, and nails also not being visible. Not that the 'pornographic' aspects actually matter to certain types of audiences watching the film data, when the same semi-faceless bombshell quickly jumped onto the worm-like behemoth and obliterated the toppled zerg into bloody chunks — with one downward punch.

Around the same time, two zerglings instantly attempt to get bites at this sky-blue entity through the openings in that gory retaliation. Only for that 'female' anomaly to instantly intercept the attackers with a backward fist-swing and a shin kick; both amplified by supernatural means and causing fatal damage to the charging beasts. More carnivorous opponents stampede towards the defiant individual from multiple directions. As a counter-move, the glowing figure summoned a ball of light on the palm of its hand. The unidentifiable character then squeezed the spherical energy that led to a cyan blaze shaped like a handheld pole. Immediately, the radiant being horizontally oscillate this energy-made stick in a circular motion. Which easily slashed the incoming attackers into blood-spewing halves. The bystanding zergs were in a pause at the powerful abilities of this cerulean... oddity. It didn't last long when one beastly opponent spewed out a volatile sphere of electricity at the illuminated entity. In response, the womanly person sent that shock-charged ball back to the zergish thrower by hitting it with the same 'sword of light' in its grip. Although the electrified orb contained a very intense amount of energy, the backfire barely hurt the mutant animal that evolved to use electric attacks. Soon, diverse monsters greatly attuned with paranormal forces emerge onto the stage of combat and promptly used their magical attacks of extraordinary intensity (fire blasts, electro-beams, chemical sprays, and even psychic actions) to fully defeat this woman-like thing for their evolutionary appetites.

IIIIIIII

"Can I blurt out my curiosity about this video right now?" A man in a brownish apparel that made him look like a ranger from a medieval era (excluding the handguns in the holsters) wanted to know; taking into account of him being a part of the sitting audience currently analyzing the recording inside a dark room.

Several of his compatriots felt rather displeased with him mouthing off as such; whether they're organic, mechanical, or both. "Sergeant Major Buck... please retain your spirit of inquiry throughout the completion of all relevant footage being played here. Got that?"

The wise-cracker stare at his nearby viewers with some... dissatisfaction. "Rriiiighht... as if I could stay silent about seeing this... um, bland 'babe' beating the absolute crap out of those vicious meat-eaters. So seriously, why the big reservation for not being awe by a stick of light... and death that materialized out of nowhere? Also, had anyone from the research department began to make an energy blade that functions without an actual hilt device? I mean, that would be so shiny to behold!"

Hearing the witticism got a large percentage of the attending two or three dozen military personnel groaning and whining in reference to this recon operative that has a mouth of a jester... or comedian... or whatever best describes his current personalities (while the movie showing the magical fighting continues to roll on, uninterrupted). "For your information, Kaydin... we're just as eager to gain answers about the phenomena relating to Subject-Z3312817-SKM's transformations. But proper protocols had to be followed, for everyone's benefits at the very least. Hence the necessity for you to kindly respect our visual studies in peace. Is that clear?"

"Hmm... okay, I'll allow some tranquility for you guys to enjoy that does not involves my freedoms of expressions. By the way, I do somewhat recall that this featureless dolly in front of us has a real name befitti-" The sergeant major motormouth notices a highly dangerous Zerg getting its sizable head crushed inwards by what looks like a 'Force' grip; releasing bursts of blood everywhere as displayed on screen. "Oooohhh... that definitely gotta be very hurtful for that badass freak. Only if that monstrous bastard mana-"

"Buck, would you please shut your own mouth?!"

The male ranger sigh and remain silent... with a defeated and slightly irritated face.

IIIIIIII

As currently shown on the movie screen, hardly anything from the 'primordial' arsenal of the Zergs (zerglings, hydralisks, roaches, vipers, mutalisks, swarm hosts, ultralisks, tyrannozors, primal ash wurms, Force-sensitive variants, et cetera) was able to destroy or halt the god-like being in feminine form. After a minute and a half on play, the footage discloses the moving images of this 'battle goddess' making another titanic beast… explode into gory bits by punching a supercharged fist of paranormal energy deep into the inside of the creature's large body. Consequently, a solid piece of meat had accidentally collided with the airborne recorder and disrupted the stability of the documented film. Just as the video steadily returned to a desirable level, something suddenly yank the hovering apparatus. Its unexpected movement soon stop at a location, only for the visual screen to be arrange for a close-up view with a luminescent face of a woman (who doesn't seem to have eyelids, eyelashes, or nostrils at all). The indistinguishable anomaly prepared its arm for a possible attack on the camera… when an animalistic roar caught her attention. In very short order, the animated 'mannequin' alternatively toss the surveillance machine at the incoming opponent. A beastly face within a mammoth spherical body was the last images of the whole video, before it violently crash into the stampeding zerg full-on; and displaying static disruptions on the screen — which then changed to a different image that reads: NO SIGNAL.

Quickly, the mundane image switches to another display that shows an uploading process of video number 817 relating to that female-shaped entity.

Or Ryona Koishna Matoi for those meticulously keeping tracks with the subject prior to seeing this series of footage.

Once the upload is done, the next video starts with a bird's-eye view of a forested area again (No indications of the damaged temple and other structures that inadvertently received outdoor devastation however… which stipulated a different locale than the previous file). Where it happens to show that identical, giant ball of zergish monstrosity charging at the signature 'humanoid' of azure radiance; apparently for the second time. But instead of a profound collision between the two combative individuals, the female-shaped anomaly appeared to allow herself to take in a big brunt from the organism's massive weight. Additionally, she managed to grab onto the very tough organic armor with her 'hands and fingers' dug deep inside the harden material. The spherical beast then made multiple attempts to shake off the paranormal freeloader, after it ran for several miles and stop its own unsuccessful rampage. Even so, the woman-like entity maintained a very firm grip on the zerg's thick skin. After a number of minutes hanging on the behemoth, the glowing 'goddess' released one of her hands to reactivate her distinct energy sword. Once that photon-based blade was completely materialized, 'Ryona' thrust the lethal instrument into the zerg's sizable body. It felt the sizzling stab within the wild giant, yet the strike did not deliver the final blow. That all changed when the feminine anomaly substantially amplified her 'light sword' to be much longer and bigger than prior; which left a large hole of burnt flesh inside the screaming beast. Immediately afterwards, the supernatural character swung her super-sized melee weapon upwards to lacerate the opponent's armored head for good. The rest of the massive anatomy bluntly fell onto the dirt, in concurrent to the woman-shaped victor executing a fairly elegant touchdown on the undeveloped ground.

The luminescent figure stare at the freshly-made corpse for a small period, until she moved her head up and allegedly spotted the unspecified object that was recording the footage on this screen. Suddenly… several glowing projectiles flown into the 'deity' with lightning speed, and they ended their flight as large explosions on target. Instantly followed by additional barrages of heavy ordnance on the same location. The captured film then zoom out in search of where those artillery shells came from. A minute of scanning later, one of multiple sources related to the bombardments had been found: two siege-designed platoons consisting of giant 4-legged artillery machines called Goliaths, and large Brumak zergs with two long-range cannons strapped on their backs. The bombarding war assets below the airborne 'camcorder' were represented as clues that military forces of the aptly named Zerukhai were situated in the vast area. Eventually, the spying equipment in the sky identified a battalion of 'zerg-infested' humanoids approaching the battered position (in addition to three dozens of AI-driven Stalker walkers and a number of 'tamed' zergs that provided heavier support). When the armed troops were very near the edges of the heavily shelled location, the artillery assaults halted themselves from potential friendly fire.

From the aerial viewpoint, the video screen saw clouds of smoke and ashes bellowing from the bombarded zone. Nothing seemed to survive the intense attacks, as the mutated 'elves' kept their aim at the target while moving closer to it.

Until a beam of light came out of the collection of dusty particles… and apparently destroyed the airborne drone that provided the video to the audience inside the room.

IIIIIIII

"Um… is seeing our unmanned spying aircraft getting blown to smithereens going to be a thing during this briefing?" The nonchalant operative asked again while watching the fuzzy screen once more (followed by the 'no signal' display as expected).

"That's irrelevant, Kaydin. Also, be quiet will you?!"

IIIIIIII

In due course, the next video file is selected to be played. It begins with the first images that shown plant life being bypassed… and continual sounds of gunfire and cannon discharges from somewhere. Conspicuously, the drone that was recording the footage investigated the source of the combat rackets. Soon enough, the visual screen revealed the status of the environmental origin: elven combatants with zerg-like armor 'mutations,' warbeasts, and military fighting vehicles locked in armed conflict with the supernatural character. Plasma bolts, solid slugs, animal claws, vicious teeth, and guided warheads being unleashed towards the cerulean glowing 'goddess.' Even so, the many lethal attempts from the Zerukhai forces failed to put dents on the tenacious 'deity' — in contrast to the zerg-mutated warriors getting themselves badly beaten up by the paranormal super-powers from yours truly (fist blows hard enough to puncture through stalker drone armor; finger tears shredding apart such high-density materials; psychic energy blasting away or crushing hostiles inbound; 'photon blade' effortlessly slicing through her opposition; et cetera). A certain amount of casualties later, reinforcement by dropships belonging to the divergent 'Eldar' arrived. Exiting the cargo sections were specialized groups on the attack like the elven Steelheads with Auger energy rifles, Theron elites holding their high-powered torque bows, armored Kantus capable of 'healing' their organic allies, and paradoxically Wraithguards.

IIIIIIII

"It's probably very clear to everyone here that this footage, and the ones before, are not to be confused with some 'pornographic' film gone haywired… or a kind of documentary that had involved too much torture and stuff."

"Can you constrain yourself from speaking out inappropriately, Sergeant Major Buck?"

"Yeah… point taken on being unmoved by the sheer quantities of blood that weren't making a big stain on the… uh, 'nudity' being observed. If any at all."

"Ugh… here's a reminder to listen, sir. The topic of feminine 'exposure' is not utterly relevant on this orientation that relates to the experiment running loose."

"...You're sure that make sense to my own head, pal? 'Cause I'm not seeing a single tit on her fluorescent boobs from today's presentations, as well as no clear signs of an actual hole in the nether regions for an elongated 'toy' to squeeze inside."

"Kaydin, please manage your use of 'indirect obscenity' that relates to organic bodies laying bare… if you don't want to be on the bad side of any particular group having less tolerance on your annoying witticisms. Would you?"

"Um… hold on a few seconds. Did my words really bother you badasses today?"

"Yes!" Half of the audience spoken out.

"You guys aren't kidding, right? I mean… the buck-naked, rampaging teenager from my current perspective doesn't looked so smutty by certain standards; when compared to those slimy abominations with their nasty tentacles being stuck inside containment cells belonging to a secluded, experimental facility that I snooped across long ago."

A 'moderate' number of listeners gaze at the quibbling covert soldier with various quantities of irritation. "Sergeant Major… we don't frequently appreciate your repetitive prompting on the cautionary tale regarding those manipulations upon unstable 'substances' by the nano-scale."

"Hmmm… you know what? I agreed with that statement about sex hormones and synthesized goo with cancerous properties being ill-advisably mixed together! Alongside a touch of magical energy to boot. Especially on the remembrance of how much we're all horrified by those multi-limbed aberrations and their rapid assimilation upon the many two-legged victims; who unknowingly were grown in the labs to served as experimental resources by the way."

"Just be glad that your wife was dead; long before having a glimpse of how grotesque were the gory violations imposed on the numerous test subjects from all ages and races."

The normally, witty commentator immediately felt some bitterness with the latest remark. Still… he responds with his usual manner. "Oh sure… if my beloved lady was alive to see such orgies of rape, death, parasitic sabotages, and other life-stealing horrors performed by those greasy mutants of 'orgasmic' shit-piles; then her shock on the grisly barbarity that happened to humans and humanoids alike would clearly justify the ethics on how much all of us shouldn't play like 'gods.' Then again, who am I to judge the biohazard fiasco that we thankfully incinerated in time; when compared to the near death experience that my only daugh-"

The sight and sounds of several firearms taking aim at the chatty man himself have put a pause on his persistent utterances. So does the film now frozen on its current image of the combat situation. The annoyed 'lecturer' stated, "Kaydin, can you please dial down your nonrestrictive behavior to a state that resembles your former persona? A percentage of us wishes that you should never cemented a long-term relationship with that inquisitive humorist of… a witch preoccupied with teleportation. Thereby the suggestion for you to stay as quiet as your conscripted progenies in the military services, unless you prefer taking another big risk of getting riddled with plasma bolts at this time. Is that clear, sergeant?!"

Buck reluctantly replies with a nod or two.

"Good… now remain silent for the duration of reviewing the recorded footage. With your own life at stake, of course."

IIIIIIII

Returning to the resumed video file anyhow, the 'god-like' advantages displayed by the hyper-powered entity didn't appeared to diminish from the much rugged hostiles and their onslaughts so far. Atomic-condensed darts from the Auger firearms were observed to be quite effective against 'divine' flesh (where a few timely shots implanted themselves inside some anatomical areas of the supernatural figure… and instantly amputated those affected patches by detonations); but the stubborn 'demigoddess' has proven herself to be very tenacious in combat and regenerative capacities. Apart from telekinetically reattaching or completely regrowing her dismembered segments within many seconds, she also was able to capture those incoming energy projectiles by utilizing the interior properties of the 'beam sword' for blocking and absorbing the particle-concentrated bolts. Which immediately led up to throwing away the intensified light material at the luminescent individual's opponents, a great deal of whom got caught in a violent explosions… and more after — taking into consideration of how many times the paranormal character kept summoning the lethal blade of light.

Likewise, the sturdier elites hardly fared any better than their 'lower-rank' colleagues that were previously attacking before. Explosive arrows not affecting the feminine anomaly's hyper-healing, hardened armor from the Kantus and robotic combatants proved to be no barriers to the glowing 'avatar,' and whatnot. After the latest patches of opponents were entirely 'neutralized,' the paranormal being swiftly goes for the artillery units to do the same thing. Sure enough, the walking siege behemoths (despite their intimidating weapons and protective systems installed) gotten themselves heavily clobbered/wrecked by the faceless 'Ryona' person.

Just as she proceeds again to the last group of active battery assets for full termination, her whole body suddenly stop moving midway towards the next targets; while also mystifyingly stuck in the air for some time. Very shortly however, the trapped entity then got pulled immediately in an unknown direction… somewhere. The surveillance drone recording the video obviously plotted a course towards where that 'goddess' was paranormally dragged to. In a short time of traveling a few distances though, the same hovering machine had unexpectedly get yanked out from the air — through the apparent use of psychic powers by someone else. Once the telekinetic tug on the small automatic camcorder finally stopped, its mechanical lens captured a red-yellow-eyed figure in dark clothing at very close range and for a moment. The last recorded pictures in motion were that of the cloaked person summoning a red blade of 'light' out from an 'empty' hilt; who then apparently stabbed the energy sword into the optical component of the spying robot.

Which again left the indoor observers with the same fuzzy, static noises on screen. Our familiar 'ranger' raises his hand up for permission to speak; but the high-ranking orator's verbal response is to once more stay noiseless 'til the presented records were gone thru.

What came next is more or less a holographic display for the upcoming file, as the flat TV-style screen retreats into the concealment of the interior walls (followed by the hologram projectors emerging out of both the floor and ceiling). After the reorganization inside, the 3D-display equipment digitally produce a sizable landscape model of a tropical forest… containing the melee combat situation between a multitude of dark-robed individuals wielding identical 'beam sabers' in red color and the god-like woman in detail. Superficially, it's a holographic reconstruction from recordings that exclude the direct approach of visual recon — though it seems that the three-dimensional setting at present remains stuck in a sort of pause mode. Immediately, the presentation speaker gave a short introduction of the battle-data exemplified in the digital illustration. Once the simulated scene began to play, the overall crowd instantly saw the tremendous ferocities manifested from the two oppositions.

Multiple reddish energy blades parried off by the cerulean 'lightsaber' of the outnumbered deity… with insane frequencies. Swordsmanship skills belonging to these sinister-looking challengers in almost equal terms with her own. Equally so were the many supernatural powers from the blackish-cloaked contenders that have more nerve-racking associations with the 'darker aspects' of the Force: red lightning bolts from empowered hands, all-encompassing 'force-shields' in vermilion color that protects the clandestine psychic-users' bodies, the expanded sizes of the signature blood-colored blades by the menacing Force-wielders' willpower, etc.

Initially, 'Ryona' stood very strong against these athletic killers; as her god-like powers permanently ended a life or two at a time. As this brutal hostility progressed for many hours on the other hand, vulnerabilities on the supposedly immortal body slowly but surely started to appear. Judging from the software analyzing this particular scene, her divine cracks were caused by prolonged exposure to the 'insidious' aura emanated from — and applied by the dark-oriented warriors. To be frank, this growing accumulation and dispersion of red energy has also affected the vast forests surrounding the warzone… to such an extent that the biology within the trees and shrubs began to deteriorate into husky, burnt fragments of different sizes. Despite the unfavorable circumstances, the piecemeal-rotting 'demigoddess' persisted in a life-or-death struggle upon her 'light-sword' wielding enemies that numbered by a few dozens; at the current point of watching the simulation.

Like the rest of the audience, Sergeant Major Buck watches the simulated savagery with some… unease on the dark arts. Yet the cause for his particular apprehension was rooted on the last time he encountered a menacing equivalent of the Force's destructive side; one where it'd cost the life of a lovable sorceress (his late spouse with helpful 'insights' on inter-dimensional travel, mind you) in secretly testing out homegrown teleportation gadgets on Falmaria/Falmarius — again. Henceforth his private unhappiness with recalling a sickly forest that he, his magical sweetheart, and then 5-year-old daughter were teleported; gradually followed by an unexpected meeting with a bloodthirsty 'apostle' who had abominable knowledge of the alien magic (whose name started with a letter C and ended with a letter N, as well as being a moniker that Kaydin himself or anyone else will never dare to speak out) and its heartless group of homunculi made from 'divine' flesh belonging to the same, homicidal demigod; and of course… the fiendish entity's decision - based upon a sadistic whim — to kill the 'human' family. By that time on the landmass in medieval stasis, the displaced couple did have a handful of powerful firearms and explosives that could easily pierce through Saderan-made armour (Kaydin's original set of pistols and an energy rifle that were with him before and after the first dimensional relocation to Pandora; hand grenades; and several guns taken during the pair's intertwined journey across the lawless continent for many years)... along with portable defense gears to protect them from physical harm. Nonetheless, the superhuman qualities of the attacking homunculi were extra-difficult for the ranger's and mage's combat abilities to extinguish them — for good. Pitifully, the transportable teleporter received serious damage from the callous humanoids and little time to conduct repairs.

As for killing/escaping the madden demigod filled with the Dark Side of the Force?

Insanely dangerous and near-impossible to achieve: thanks to this immortal's multi-decade, self-taught experience on the black magic that came from both readings on marginalized scrolls holding scant info about this alien superpower; and hidden observations on the almighty Force-sensitive couple that once walked on Falmarian lands(in addition to the god-like capabilities from their 'half-breed' progeny… and her life partner's destructive madness that the divine psychopath found it so irresistible to crave for). With such a monstrous imbalance of magical strength favoring the corrupt apostle, its Force-enhanced defenses comfortably tolerated the magic spell attacks and lethal gunshots from the love-bonded twosome. In terms of 'satanic' offensives… well, let's say that one fatal demonstration on Buck's dearest sorceress was very… heavily gruesome to watch. Overall, the bloodthirsty demigod was in track of total elimination on the misplaced family (despite some big surprises in the manifestations of explosive psychic rebounds/reprisals by Kaydin's little girl who already witnessed her mother's violent death; which the dark-willed deity then adapted as usual — plus the draining requirement that the child uses for those formidable strikes).

The ranger's survival against that dreadful odd was made possible, because someone else intervened just in time to obstruct the crazy immortal's plan of killing on that past… by utilizing a telekinetic might to push the divine screwball many miles away. The facial identity of that gatecrasher was initially obscured underneath a brown veil and black glasses hiding the eyes, contrasting the green robe and attire of 'elvish' design. What's more, the savior's body frame gave clues that a woman brought the necessary interval for the two survivors to make for a safer distance from the impending duel. Enough time to secure a less risky spot and notice the sinister demigod with a large scythe charging awfully fast at the approaching cloaked rescuer. That hostile attack speed was soon matched with the interloper's strong deflecting reflex using one of her instantly-lit, green energy-swords. She returned a light-blade slash at the dumbstruck opponent, which did not slice open the insane deity due to its hardened Force-membrane being influenced by darker powers. Before long, the one-on-one combat changes into many series of death-defying acts as the two adversaries fought hard in taking one of them out permanently: sword blocks, Force-imbued actions and counters, evasive maneuvers, etc.

While this intense confrontation dragged on after the first hour, the male observer historically remembered that strange transformation of the lady's blades of light… where the defining green color changed to yellow. Nothing significant seemed to transpire on the female fighter, anatomy-wise; plus visual appearances remained the same. Still, the brawn behind her sword-wielding talents gave the impression of being amplified to a certain extent.

Regardless of that perceptible modification of lambent color, the dark apostle continued to ferociously battle the 'elvish' warrior as before. Another hour forward, the energy swords belonging to the audacious heroine transformed again by their Force-user: orange coloration of light at that point. When those photon transmutations happened though, aurae of similar hues to the 'plasma' blade concurrently materialized on the lady's body outlines (a thin, bright reddish-yellow layer of 'radiation' covering her womanly shape). Additionally… the dame's outdoor clothing progressively became darker in color; along with orange-shaded discharges of electricity that randomly surfaced on the outer boundaries of her apparel. Afterwards, the physical might of the female champion in the Force was stronger than the previous circumstances.

Sounded like good news to a semi-incapacitated Buck in the unlucky past, who held his small daughter onto one of his arms — while maintaining a range out of harm's way.

Were it not for Kaydin's psychic hunch sensing that the savior's 'soul' had started to be… less delicate than desirable.

During that 'disturbing' phase of the supernatural duel, a few medivac dropships conveniently arrived at the periphery of this combat zone. One landed close to the two survivors for pickup; whereas another medivac settled in proximity to the mage's remains for recovery (the location of which was hazardously near the melee mayhem). The aircraft staying in the air are recording the battle below them in video files and lengthy descriptions of data. Altogether, the retrieval vehicles' crew-members completed their assignments on the living and dead in time to start withdrawing; prior to the psychotic apostle's next attack that materialized in the form of powerful Force-lightning strikes from 'his' hands. Those electric bolts found their mark and sent the heroine flying in a straight line for a third kilometer on the eve of crashing back to land; not to mention the red-colored electrocutions wreaking havoc on her figure. The unstable demigod reveled a 'successful' move in due subsequence of being royally furious at her tenacious defiance against the deity's dark will. Not long, the homicidal entity advanced towards the downed opponent for an up-close finale.

Live footages of this ominous part were relayed to Buck's vehicular transport from the lingering medivacs equipped with data-taking instruments. From the ongoing video, the father saw the sinister immortal reached its 'prey' and about to act upon a 'final' blow with the scythe. The supposedly fatal swing unexpectedly stopped midway… by a Force-Hold coming from an outward arm of the apparently conscious female on the ground. Fumingly perplexed, the demigod incessantly exert its dark powers harder and harder on the melee weapon… without success. Whereas the clothed woman was able to stand up effortlessly and reactivated her energy sword: in a vibrant, red color (plus the addition length and width of the blazing blade). Quickly followed by the slow yet 'menacing' curls of her fingers and thumb on her seemingly empty hand that was sporadically engulfed in reddish sparks; in conjunction to the implosion that steadily broke apart the supposedly-terrifying scythe at the exact rate into smaller pieces.

The whole tool of death, apparently.

With that dark instrument completely useless and gone forever, the incensed apostle immediately let loose another full-scale storm of Force-related voltages at the defiant lady. The highly amplified shock currents struck her with extreme ferocity… and yet failed to push even a foot on the resistant being; except for the disintegration of her head-covering fabrics that gave away the individual's facial features. In the initial exposure of the female's head, her eyes stayed shut throughout the electro-assaults while using that unoccupied arm to somewhat guard her 'human' face. Hair color was a dark shade of brown and the woman's skin had a solid… white color (No, seriously. Her external dermal organ was as absolutely chalky as untouched printing papers or geisha skin cosmetics). Even so, the malice-charged demigod kept his lightning attacks ongoing with 'expectations' that she would ultimately be defeated into a bloody pulp. On the contrary, the size of the brunette's energy blade expanded profoundly in reaching capacity and the sadistic 'disciple' of the polytheistic gods failed to see that in its blinding fury. In effect, her horizontal swing with the enlarged sword had gone unopposed as it sliced across the dark entity's humanoid torso… or rather that most of the abdomen were incinerated into ashy nothingness. To all intents and purposes, heavy use of the Dark Side for too long had inadvertently undermined both the anatomical and psychological integrity that made up the incapacitated deity being cut in half and laying on the ground.

Half a minute later, the sizable red blade of light gradually shrunk to the length of a dagger weapon; even though the dumbfounded apostle was still alive. Anyway, the disconnected divine villain (who only controlled the functional half) crawled using its upper limbs toward the 'immovable' disrupter ━ while also having a psychological conundrum on the devastating setback and how to avenge such affront upon its 'godliness.' During that pitiful attempt, the very pale-skinned figure slowly opened her optical organs… which revealed a pair of red irises and two yellow pupils that were as eerily baleful as the ring-shaped membranes within the demigod's eyes. The presumably sinister deity suddenly paused at seeing the menacing, yet beautiful face (as if the disabled entity had recognized her before in one way or another). Within that hesitation however, she oriented her light-based weapon pointing down to terra firma with her hands ━ and immediately elongated the blade to 'sunk' firmly deep into the layer of soil. The 'insertion' of her saber was not closer to directly kill off the handicapped immortal, whose head was at least a few feet away from the focal point of the implanted energy blade. Supernaturally on the other hand… what manifested into reality next was a massive amount of electrostatic energy that viciously jolted the feminal victor's circumference of 10 yards in radius.

Accompanied with the red color emanated by the electric sparks spewing in that affected area.

For probably the first time in the life of this injured apostle, it painfully screamed without restraint by the massive electrocutions. The duration of this zapping torture on the unfortunate bloke continued for a quarter of an hour; whereas the not-very-friendly lady stood stationary and coldly unfazed like a marble statue of a knight (a dark-art anti-heroine was more like it; whose face was instantly covered in branching fractal patterns… of vivid red color). When the shocking torment ceased, the many trees and shrubs within the affected large space were excruciatingly nothing more than carbonized 'sculptures' that crumbled at a slow rate. In contrast, the wounded demigod was prominently alive on the befouled ground — but it's also within an insufferable struggle for having its operable body parts to stay 'intact'. Additionally, the deity's skin and nearby tissues had steadily rot away and failed to properly heal because of that disturbing strike. In the meantime of such 'immortal' agony, this divine being once more took a view at the feminine violator… whose frown expression was disquietly minute to the downed villain.

Sadistic smiles? Maniacal laughter? Any other emotions that should've shown enjoyment upon the defeated foe?

Nooooo…

All 'he' forever got was an unemotional stare displayed from the womanly-'tattooed' front part; that has nonexistent interests to express mortal sensations in victory. More akin to a forbidden golem (or an anachronistic robot built for only war) peering at its… victim; albeit with capabilities much more powerful and volatile than what the Falmarian pantheon could tolerate. Also highly greater than the powers that the fallen apostle had previously achieved. Three minutes of uncomfortable silence later, a cold sentence was spoken from the victor's mouth — in a foreign language relatively mysterious to the Falmarian immortal. The content in that verbal statement would remain secretive for the next few days. When it eventually did get deciphered, those words were translated as: "Sensed much fear in you, I have."

Anyways… the winning warrior imbued with that dreadful aura renewed the Force-related torture, shortly after saying the ominous declaration. Unlike the previous move, this high-voltage treatment was larger by another 10 yards to the reappeared circle; astronomically more savage in energy potential; and lasted for three hours. Furthermore, a discoloration of the same foreboding color glowed vividly around her neck and took into a shape of a hand grip; as if someone tried to choke the brunette to death many years ago. Nearly halfway though, the unstable particles charged by the Dark Side (and leaking out of the detrimentally affected area) wreaked havoc on the recording devices installed within the observing dropships — which were lucky enough to remain airborne for their own escape. Therefore, Kaydin and his young traumatized daughter was denied to witness the final phase of such… cataclysmic punishment.

Very comparable to the increasing distortions currently presented by the violence-filled hologram. To be frank, that electronic warping was exactly what the reconstructed fight displayed from the amalgamation of collected real-life data concerning this subject. The scrambling fog of war ultimately clouded the end-game of that 'apocalyptic' battle; prior to the ending of this 3-D simulation.

In all honesty, not a single word came out of the entire audience (Sergeant Major Buck included).

"Alright, let us put our next attention to the studied observations concerning the anchored chrysalis that had enveloped Subject-Z3312817-SKM within the evolutionary spawning pool." The speaker announces while the television projectors change again.

Which relates back to this unknown place in pitch-black darkness at an unknown point of time….

Where the gold-haired girl was now 'dress-less' and stuck in a floating, fetal position — although not by choice as a free person. Rather, her body previously moved without any regard to the many thoughts from the blonde's "cerebrum." Quite astonishing to think that she understood the complexity of both anatomy and physiology (let alone being imprinted with a vast range of high-quality knowledge in many academic disciplines) from these mysterious visions, in contrast to her medieval life before. Then again… the female adolescent felt incredibly mixed on whether to comprehend more or outright avoid her latest images of unknown terror that she endured: blurry figures of animalistic monsters trying to take vicious bites at her; unidentified human-like entities firing their bizarre yet dangerous weapons in her direction, alongside indiscernible beasts fighting with their masters; and lastly… those sinister beings that showed powerful dark arts of this alien magic called the 'Force.' Not to mention the awful pain she frequently got and barely tolerated from their more successful hits on her own 'organic' framework.

Still, those blurred adversaries were effectively defeated by this womanly defiant voice — which mysteriously controlled/hijacked her teenage body to fight off and even kill the undefined fiends (despite the severity caused by the athletic sorcerers in particular; and the following loss of consciousness caused by those assaults while within an area that felt… and smelled quite nauseating and dirty). Anyway, she honestly remained clueless as to why the lass kept receiving these realistic dreams or nightmares. So do the questions in her brain concerning the mysterious source of such visions, any deeper understanding of these foreign 'hallucinations,' how the dreaming process works, how she has received unthinkable torment from the combat visions, and more. They remain unanswered for an unknown amount of time, alongside her recognizable body staying frozen like a marble statue in that fetus-comparable position (apart from her eyes).

Until a small spark slowly appears out of nowhere and very close to the blonde's chest. When that tiny brightness goes away, a shiny gem-like object is clearly defined: rosy in color and an acorn-sized metal lump within the light-crimson stone. Its materialization upfront without justification mystifies, yet also intrigues, the anatomically contracted adolescent. Her stare at the unknown 'jewel' lasted for a while... but long enough to notice intricate lines of light presenting on the inner core. The organized angles and patterns of these luminous marks infer to something much more… artificial?

Before contemplating further on that strange term though, a fast flash blinds the teenager's eyes and then dissipates at the same speed. Still, that doesn't ease down her confusion of seeing a darkened place now crammed with so many radiant lines zigzagging rather 'chaotically' around her — plus the luminescent orbs suspending in countless numbers at variable elevations; within the same area. Or how she unexpectedly could move her own body independently again in this bizarre realm. Such importance is paused when the blond lass reaches her right arm upon one small sphere, and successfully seized it with her sole bare hand. In an instant, a rather large 'sheet' of information transpires in front of the fair-haired person apparently out of 'thin air'.

More specifically, the vast amount of details relating to a so-called larval Zerg and its parasitic properties on large multicellular animals — under the familiar language associated with Eldar society that she mysteriously comprehend. Out of her own inquisitive volition, the golden-haired human meticulously reads and observes both the extensive inscriptions and realistic pictures of how this creature's biology work and previous encounters with such a 'terrifying' lifeform from various explorers. In doing so, she diligently informs herself the inner workings of its genetic powers to mutate the organism's own evolutionary pathway. Which basically summarizes that this Zerg larva can transform its body into many different shapes and sizes…

By either devouring preys straightaway with unique physical and biological characteristics; or seizing control of an unlucky host's spinal cord to 'barbarically' obtain those genetic essences from other organisms — while the parasite itself permanently fuses its entire form inside the victim's nervous system. In both cases, the blonde felt moderately disturbed by the small creature's barbaric behaviors toward its living meals and hope that other people and herself would not encounter such little monsters on the Falmartian landmass.

Almost by 'coincidence' however, something rectangular has suddenly appears in front of her face again. This manifestation displays a white, sterile room… with a dangerous-looking beast moving around the interior space a lot. But then, a segment of the bland wall opened downwards out of the blue without visible door hinges. Just as fast was a person being pushed into the enclosure — a human woman carrying a wooden orb-staff in fact. Immediately afterwards, the opening closed itself and left the fear-filled magician to confront this menacing animal that instantly noticed her presence. The trapped lady spoke through an incantation to prepare a magical response in the form of an accumulating fireball floating in the air. Strangely enough, the dragon-like beast took a pause at the developing energy sphere; prior to inevitably pounce upon the feminine wizard. With impeccable timing however, the would-be prey launched her fiery attack at the incoming predator that hit its face. A big puff of smoke followed the fireball response and eventually dissipated itself to reveal that burnt-face creature laying its belly on the white floor. The female mage relaxed herself under the presumption that the fierce monster is now dead and then began to figure out an exit for this colorless confinement. A modest handful of minutes moving on though, not one outlet of departure transpired for the caged woman to discover. With no luck and feeling quite disappointed, she reoriented her attention to the monster-looking body on the enclosure's lower surface. Being as curious as a cat — or cat-like humanoid alternatively, the magic-adept gal went closer to the point of kneeling down at the 'corpse' within centimeters apart. Under her visual inspection, a scorched layer covered the entire head of this organism. Then she decided to touch the charred skin of this animal with her dominant hand. As the human wizard made a firm grasp at the burnt material, she unexpectedly pulled apart a blackened chunk of it with relative ease. Underneath that removed piece of scarred dermis was the eye-catching red and pink colors of blood and tissues; the somewhat same conditions noticeable on the bottom side of the taken portion on her hand.

Unforeseeably at a rapid pace, though… the woman's arm holding the magical staff experienced a very painful clamp and multiple piercings on the humeral section of her whole upper limb; in addition to having a heavy pressure on the lady's bosom to the floor (in the form of a beastly paw). The main culprit: the same beast that was thought to be killed by the fireball spell. The now female victim screamed in complete horror and shock, while the predator ruthlessly ripped open the feminal arm socket by its mouth. In a short amount of time, it devoured the disconnected limb through chewing, tearing, and swallowing. Soon, the dominant creature laid its eyes on the beautiful head of the injured and struggling hominin — quickly followed by sending its open jaws directly at her skull. Once the monster's mouth has a firm grip on the terrified mage's head, it mercilessly torn away that entire brain-case from her body. The winning animal then applied heavy pressure upon the decapitated cranium several times to crush the poor thing for easier accessibility thru its esophagus.

The yellow-haired observer feels as if her blood ran very cold as she saw the macabre eating habits from a... a Zerg? Yeah... that peculiar name doesn't appear from the blond lass's mind, though. In actuality, there were some 'written' sentences below the displayed video that she just spotted recently. Quite simply, they are about the predator-prey interactions between the captured mage and the encaged beast — in addition to this 'genetic' transformation after devouring its victim. For about seven minutes of observation, the ethereal teenager basically watches this creature consuming almost every body parts of the deceased wizard (minus the removed clothes of magic, obviously). All of a sudden afterwards, its overall physical appearance begun to change: as in several spiky protrusions materialized along its spinal cord, on the shoulders, forearms, and tail. Once fully solidified in form, these spikes then glowed in orange light; followed rather immediately by the roar of this newly-evolved creature toward the presumable ceiling. When that loud vocalization eventually dies down however, the transformed animal noticed something... as if staring directly at the viewing blonde herself thru the screen. Consequently, it slowly took a breath with its new pointy additions on the organism's physique radiating more brightness at the same speed — and soon spewed a fiery stream toward the said direction. What came next was a blurry image of statics and fuzziness.

Under that regard, the gold-haired viewer is left with disturbed feelings about the 'voyeur' horror. Which evidently leads to her dwelling thoughts of how any human, or beastmen for that matter, would survive a dreadful encounter; let alone the question of whose idea was it to send a person to her death like that. Such contemplation unexpectedly gets cut short by the appearances of two video files (both on play mode right at the start).

One footage shows a female dark elf... being unbelievably tied up on a flat table through metal bindings upon the wrists, ankles, middle joints in all four limbs, and head of her stretched anatomy; completely naked; and expressing the humanoid's fright from her beautiful face. The other displays a band of men (all homo sapiens in this case) being very edgy and irritated of why they're inside a white room — where the only door to go in and out was stubbornly locked. As time progresses in each video, uncomfortable events manifested to the adolescent's alarm.

The human males in the enclosure were suddenly engulfed within red gas clouds coming from below (via the four holes inside the floor). For the trapped demi-human meanwhile, it was the arrival of... uh, tentacle-like appendages fitted with sharp blades and pointy hooks on their tips. Along with overlaps of bordering 'light lines' superimposed on their living bodies afterwards via the visual-feeds.

The fear from the completely imprisoned she-elf obviously intensified as the dangerous instruments on the fabric-covered, elongated limbs' extremities gotten uncomfortably close to the lady's dark-colored skin across her body. In almost an instant later, a few of those scalpel-armed tendrils made their shallow incisions on elvish flesh — although in a meticulous manner over a couple small areas of the torso; and yet horrendously inconsequential to the repeated begging and screaming from the dark-colored woman. When the surgical cuts were done, some flat pieces and hooks of metal tools collaboratively then lifted the sliced layers upward for exposure of reddish tissues. Simultaneously, scientific words like epidermis, reticular dermis, and subcutis 'magically' showed up to emphasize the uncovered parts of the epithelial structure (so does the highlighted nerve fibers firing like crazy in conjunction to the dark elf's reaction to pain throughout her nervous system).

As the blond witness gets disturbingly confused by this torturous scene of further dissections, she then heard maddening screams from the men being viewed in the other footage. The ghost-like teenager immediately turns to that audible source and... sees the human males beating, biting, and tearing apart each other in a very rampant frenzy. It becomes apparent — via the 'ethereal' chemical readings superimposed on the angry lads in red luminescence — that their testosterone levels were excessively high; which affected the men's brains to be stuck in an uncontrollable state of rage toward anything and everyone in the sealed room. Thru her recently-acquired deductive intuition and the ironic clues from those holograms, she surmises that the vermilion cloud (designated as G-26 Petro-Irator Hydrochlorate: being breathed inside the human body in excessive amount) was the main culprit for unleashing the poor fellows'... detrimental savagery.

So what were the motivations for these inhumane actions on visual record? Answers to such violations seems to get postponed again, when dozens more 'visions' pop-up in front of the gold-haired lass. The various contents within these videos include tissue samplings of dead humans and demi-humans laying on several battlefields by tiny metallic arms of the 'scavengers' themselves; surveillance of captive people in glass 'cages' suffering terrible diseases for very long periods of time; men, women, and even children of different anthropomorphic races expressing whole ranges of emotions — while being bodily restrained onto X-shaped metal beams by chains and having unnatural wires inserted at the back of their heads; drug injections via gas, liquid, or solid into hominids and humanoids alike (followed by side effects of such deeds); fetal development concerning bipedal babies of diverse species and mix-blood inside transparent spheres... or within the many wombs that remained intact within female bodies or biologically functional outside — after surgical removal from the feminine beings; weapon experimentation upon assorted groups of panicking test subjects; recorded observations of substantial... sexuality and somewhat uncomfortable fornication between 'partners' of the same human-like species or different anthropoid specimens (regardless of any real consent among 'lovers' or how 'unintentional' the molesting results were); and more dissections on organically active bodies of conscious 'pseudo-humans', needless to say.

As an unidentifiable quantity of time progresses, the young lady utilized her newly-gifted abilities of intellect to examine clues within these blatantly squirmy sights for identifying the main basis of such grim activities. The conclusion: Knowledge. More specifically, the accumulative-reinforcing evidences for explanations of what controls anger; how pain functions with a person's anatomy; inner workings of 'erotic' behaviors; various manners of death (including the rape part and ecstatic exhaustion anomalies, notwithstanding); what could neutralize the powers of any wizards; drug potency inside organisms; and other controversial questions that frequently pushed aside the prisoners' desires for clemency.

A word manifests in her troubled mind: why? Importantly, how come the heavy repetitions of these lab tests were necessary... when the desirable answers were already obtained long ago prior to such experimental actions? Why the intentional suffering for these fully-known information of science?

On cue though, her mental concentration is suddenly bombarded by hundreds more of various video recordings on the alien screen. Several of them were similar to the prior procedures of contentious horror (for instance: mortal bodies 'melting' into hazardous mush by incredible concentration of radiation; different types of organs and bones being artificially grown in separate glass tanks; ossification trials that mutated living sapients into lifeless statues of bone; and ruptured uteri occurring in anthropomorphic females and feminal hominids whose pregnancies lasted a lot longer than their normal incubation periods). For much of the rest in contrast, they're apparently surveillance details over urban routines in Eldar cities; roaming wildlife on a continent called Pandora; elegant elvish ships sailing in the dark vacuum of the solar system; vicious battles that often involved those green-skinned monsters and their terrifying weapons; worshipers making prayers within a Falmartian temple belonging to the familiar god of light and order; horrendous bandit raids on helpless villages (human, humanoid, whatever); destruction of well-defended castles caused by infamous Flame Dragons; and other real-time topics that were extraordinarily diverse on a much grander scale. In fact, there is a file that shown an awestruck coronation ceremony of a man being crowned as the first emperor over the 'newly-established' Empire of Sadera — before a huge crowd of humans in front of him! Almost similar in response to the previous visionary surprise anyhow, the blond teenager's brain processes these transpired footages and their accompanied notes... albeit at a faster rate and having to contend with incoming reports of various subjects by the hundreds.

As she continues her studies on the 'nonstop' deluging information for an unknown length of time, the adolescent's mind randomly goes back to the slightly familiar question of how she mysteriously comprehend these complex understandings that span across many centuries of recorded history with relative immediacy. That inquiry remained open; while going thru at least a thousand of fully informative files from somewhere. (Further examples containing observant motion pictures of elvish refugees from former lab experiments that had undergone integrations/assimilation into the primary Eldar societies on the two continents neighboring the medieval 'world'; the once Great Library of Rondel being torched into oblivion by the rather short-lived monotheistic faction during a war; encaged human populaces inside classified research complexes whose pain receptors were physiologically unable to react towards external abuses against their tampered bodies; documented spying upon the rare wanderers of Falmart/Falmarius who practiced the signature power of the Force; the very few individuals that took a more sinister pathway with this mysterious energy; and attempts by the native demigods to subdue such dangerous 'freaks'.)

Until one peculiar cluster related to a Subject-Z3312817-SKM has caught the blonde's attention. Starting with a footage that had shown a growing embryo inside an artificial womb, alongside the description that this biological 'blob' was gene-spliced together with deoxyribonucleic acids of Human, Eldar, ...and Zerg. Although the first film lasted for about five minutes without any sign of change, the next video displayed this same 'creature' developing small buds that would eventually become arms and legs of a person at the age of six months. By year one being presented from a third visual record, it solidified itself as a fetus — the slow morphological changes continued however. What's more, a bundle of transparent micro-tubes were installed onto the fetal organism (where they injected unidentifiable particles and molecules inside this growing life-form). An additional half a year later on the fourth footage, the unborn entity had took in the physical configuration of a sleeping... human baby. Kinda think about it concurrently, the gold-haired viewer does remember the archived information relating to the Eldar population affected by zergish mutations for many centuries of having diets with hunted meat from those evolving beasts; despite how much efforts were put in to fully-cook them under higher standards of food safety in Zerus. Getting back on track though, the unborn infant in amniotic fluids looked fairly 'adorable' through the eyes of the ghost-like adolescent. Still, the observation video continues playing for a couple minutes — until the visual screen switches 'colors' to reveal the inner anatomy of this anthropoid offspring. Its carbon-based composition having great similarities with organ systems belonging to the human race from previous... bodily presentations. What set Subject-Z3312817-SKM as an exception though, were the microscopic mesh wires of unknown metal that enclosed its brain by both lining on the thinking organ and the interior of the cranial cavity; along with nano-scaled red fibers underneath the skin layers that seems to have been stitched/fused together all over its body; and modified tissues relating to psychic energy inside the brain. Like last time, this video reaches the endpoint after four minutes; but superseded immediately by the appearance an image that reveals some sort of meeting between elves and... 'robotic' lifeforms.

A while later, it apparently turns out that the footage displayed a hotly debate about the fate and purpose of Subject-Z3312817-SKM. More significantly, the argument centering around strong opinions from an elvish woman in a white coat — whose hair color was split vertically into black and yellow halves — that ethically opposed the baby's sole role as a formidable mind-control countermeasure to the violent tendencies from both the Zergs and their altered kins just recently being called Zerukhai (in addition to the deliberate prohibition of this infant to have a normal childhood; which would certainly leave the growing 'specimen' with only heavy militaristic regimens when this small person comes to life). Others effectively stated the continuous necessity to bring those aggressive beings at home under control; some on the Terran side were mostly curious with how a zerg-spliced chimera will turn out after its artificial delivery for potential replications. As the talks of morality drags on, the blond lass gradually notices a familiarity with that elf-lady...

"...Mom?" Echoed the recognizable voice of Ryona. A person that the 'incorporeal' teenager tries to look around for — but detects nothing human-shaped.

In the end however, the recorded conversations concluded themselves with the collective decision by majority vote to stay on course with this chimera project (civilian upbringing not included, whatsoever). Quite predictably, a new video appears and unveils an environment of computers, metal construction, and the transparent apparatus containing the hybridized baby. By far, no changes/movement has occurred on the optical recording for one hour... of staring and ethical contemplation.

Out of the blue however, the visual screen abruptly substituted to fizzles and chaotic dots in black and white. Several seconds later, it altered again for... a red crustacean with two armored claws and six legs? In actuality, it's a somewhat 'exaggerated' drawing of an aquatic 'cancer' amidst a pitch-black background. Yet it won't be lonely for long as two hairy balls in red color materialized near the two corners of the screen. Immediately surprising was those spheres transforming to human-like... dolls?

"Kon'nichiwa, himitsu no kagaku-sha-tachi!" The 'toy' at the left-bottom corner greeted.

Followed by an identical one at the other corner of the changed video. "Soshite, disupurei ni tojikome rareta morumotto ni yoi hi!"

"Chōjikan no kanshi kyūkei no tame no tokubetsuna purezentēshon ga arimasu!"

"Kore wa kihontekini, anata no jinkō-tekina shison ni inochi o fukikomu no ni yakudatta, Fortemrian Republic no rekishi no nagaredesu!"

Initially, the 'celestial' blonde was clueless to the unknown language spoken by the red-colored pair. Even so, her mind in time miraculously deciphers the speech of 'Nihon' and gradually comprehend most of the historical facts being broadcasted. Such as the multicultural integrity of this Fortemria due to many generations of interacting with different ethnicities and religious interpretations on its continent of birth — all human no less; distribution of political power through three branches of government as a representative democracy; its people's meticulous progress in the fields of science and technology (thru both themselves and international cooperation with various immigrants and guests from all around this world called "Earth" or "Terra", respectfully); and the Fortemrian nation's diplomatic abilities to bring peace to multiple lands on that world... as a global superpower. It's also helpful that relevant pictures and artworks of this planet's cultural and political histories accommodate the rather interrupting lecture.

"Not bad for your human creators to convince their diverse neighbors to stop making massacres and getting along peacefully with each other." The primary puppet complimented (as the blonde in 'spirit form' understood).

"Excluding the bygone ultra-nationalists and war-craved fanatics of Eurasia and the rest of planet Earth that were very infuriated with either their empires' demise by the fruitless First World War or getting dreams of world domination thwarted a lot because of both wise negotiations and clandestine interventions through special warfare operatives, on the contrary. Unless anti-poaching missions inside Colonial Africa and Asia many years prior to the wasteful showdown of empires counts." The secondary commentator supplemented.

"Which was historically throughout that ancient era of peace a somewhat minuscule problem to be kept in check, anyhow."

"Until the widespread utility of artificial intelligence and genetic-engineered organisms had gotten plenty of people to be tremendously paranoid in supporting volatile forces of ethnocentrism."

"Possibly more so for your hominin makers from both the Fortemrian Republic and Soviet Federation to grant civil rights upon a growing number of socially complex 'robots' that self-attained human-like sapience."

"Plus the other debatable developments of science and tech that unbelievably fired up so much xenophobes to desire an entire world solely for their so-called 'superior beings of Mankind.'"

"As well as a genocidal global war to wipe out anyone being condemned as 'blasphemous eggheads' and 'cultural undesirables.'"

"Which will be discussed quite considerably at a later time of intervention, after this summary nonetheless."

"Perhaps the democratic history of Soviet "Russia" will be presented to you independent synthetics the next time, instead. With further ado, it is sayonara boys!"

"Adios; and au revoir!"

Instantaneously, the screen of those crab-hairy dolls fizzles out of existence by a static image and noisy background. Seconds later, the surveillance film on the lab room containing Subject-Z3312817-SKM returns...

Except the tank-bred infant was gone missing. Very soon, armed guards of technological nature move inside to thoroughly search for the absent chimera or any clue on how this disappearing act occurred. Neither had been found after a while — which is how the latest video ended.

Correspondingly, the gold-haired lass has wondering thoughts of where that baby magically went to. In a moment's notice though, a new visual screen occurs suddenly at the forefront. In it was a ground-level sight of a town... an eerily recognizable settlement of elvish design, to be exact.

Apparently, someone was wearing a concealed recorder as the viewpoint grew closer to this village. At some point, a few of the pointy-eared residents came upfront and greeted this visitor — in a rather friendly manner.

"Hello, Marodar. What's brought you back home on this day?" Said one male elf.

"A small family visit to my twin sister, sir."

"Uncle... Ben?" Another reverberation of Matoi's audible signature has happened.

"Ah... a bit earlier for you to arrive here. Our biology expert is still at work around this hour. So you may need to wait longer for seeing her again."

"Not a problem for me, Pete," replied the unseen person. "I'll use the extra time to get reacquainted with my neighbors of this town, today."

"Do as you wish, Benavo! I'm sure the children will appreciate hearing your adventures outside of this down-to-earth settlement; let alone Zerus itself."

"Heh... no doubt about it. Have a good day then, sir."

In the time-span of hours after that humble dialogue, the following images captured the sights and sounds of this village of elves. Aspects of their daily activities include shopping inside a grocery store, weapon maintenance at a local armory, reading current stories near 'news-stands' or tea-brewing shops, and humanoid children enjoying an outdoor playground (places all too familiar to the yellow-haired spectator; back when she saw visions of the Matoi girl in her environments). Some of the locals of different ages held conversations with the documenting person himself for a while that included his disclosed activities as a ranger exploring different parts of the world, the settlement's economic interests, and worries relating to the zerg wildlife in proximity to their location. Still, the sightseeing part appeared to be put aside once this man arrived approximately five yards in front of the town's jungle-isolated temple of covenant — which had marked the beginning of these visionary series.

"Hmm... I wonder how well Denico is doing with future maintenance for this religious structure? Or is she still allowing her grief for those followers to form an ill-advised decision? Not that their horrible fate wasn't something to be ridiculed, on the other hand," this "Ben" person said while apparently looking at the nature-inspired building. Soon, he walked closer for the monastery's front doors. Once a couple feet between him and the big barriers, the man unexpectedly stood still. "Huh? Now... who's presence could be behind these doors?" A few moments later, he reached for one of the door knockers and accordingly made noises by using it. Afterwards, there's apparently a waiting period for some minutes; prior to the eventual opening of the entry panels.

In front of him at that point was a small girl with a fairly bemused look toward the witness: light skin, violet eyes, estimated height of three feet, raven hair for her head with the exceptions of two reddish hair fila-... Hold on, those physical features seemed very familiar to the adolescent blonde when put together — as if looking at Ryona herself as a young child. "Oh... hello, mister."

In fact, both of them presumably stared at each under a curious sort of confusion. It last a quiet while, until the male individual decided to speak as he knelt down close to her height. "Ahem... so, how are you little lady?"

"Little... lady?"

"Huh... well, it's usually a formal word to politely address girls for good behaviors and deeds with others."

"Really? Different from Aunt Denico calling me sweetie or niece?"

"Denico... as an aunt?"

"Oh, you really know her?"

"Absolutely, child. Deni's my older sister and we have known each other for many years. As a younger brother of her family apparently, you can consider me your uncle."

The girl tilted her head to one side. "So, Uncle... who?"

"Benavo is my first name. Or Ben for short. What about your name, if you kindly do so?"

"Well... my mom called me Ryona. Ryona Krishna Matoi, mister."

"Actually... it would be very nice for you young lady to simply call me Uncle Ben from now on. About your mother though, does she happened to be given the name Ethika: my twin sister likewise?"

"Her name... is Ethika?"

Right before given a chance to affirm, his camcorder lens caught an adult elf-woman in nun-like clothing that came out from an interior doorway near the altar (female humanoid and architecture very familiar to the ethereal witness, by the way). Presumably, the unseen man visually detected her material presence from across the religious aisle of this building.

So does Denico. "Oh dear me... I would appreciate an advanced notice of you coming here today, Benavo."

"Heh... sorry, old sis. But it's quite a habit that I'm fond to do."

Paradoxically... the humanoid nun smirked back. "Indeed so; for the last few centuries it seems."

The young girl shifted her attention back-and-forth from Denico to undisclosed face of this lad. "So... is he really family, Auntie?"

"That's correct, my dearest niece." The female adult then stared at the male visitor apparently, "Anyway young brother, how many tales of adventures do you have available here for sharing?"

"Well, that depends on how soon Ethika will arrive here Deni. Especially in consideration on the amount of time allotted to me for confidential stories of experiencing Pandora."

"Hmm... you're sure about telling those accounts from that chaotic landmass?" wondered the elf-nun whose smile fade away.

"I believe an opinion from my newly-met niece should settle the matter."

The video screen is then refocused on the little girl who asked, "So... what is Pandora, Uncle Ben?"

A short pause afterward, he solemnly answered. "Pandora is a very big place where plenty of bad things occurred and less decent people to stop them."

"Oh... how bad?"

Although the elf-man's face was outside the visual periphery of this recording, the spirit-esque blonde listens attentively to Benavo's details from his precarious adventures on Pandora: voracious animals called skags whose appetites include other beasts, people, trinkets, and even themselves if given the chance; how very territorial the arachnid-like spiderants or simian bullymongs were whenever a reckless outsider approached them; great rowdy mobs of green-colored orkoids willing to launch battles at foreign opponents or each other just for violent enjoyment; different stages of metamorphosis that the insectoid varkids had undergone when being attacked; prevalent insanity within bandit clans of people living in different (as well as tumultuous) locales of the Pandoran borderlands; and other hazards he had observed and encountered during his time exploring such a chaotic continent.

To be quite frank, the gold-haired adolescent un-conventionally remembers this dialogue from her visions. Stranger still, thru sudden intuition, was the complete absence of terms like "human" and "zerg."

Anyway, he had said a lot relating to Pandora... when a different feminine sound was detected from behind.

"Brother Benavo?" The video soon changed orientation and locked on a modestly dressed elf-lady who has the same pair of hair color as the person in the previous discussion of ethics. Also, her fairly surprised face was identical to the scientist — perhaps in realization for the blond lass that this female individual was part of this family.

"Well, well... a bit earlier than anticipated, Ethika."

"Hmph... you could say that," replied the new arrival whose facial expression shortly transitioned to a more neutral state. "Although I do question your decision to reveal your narratives of Pandoran horrors in front of my daughter, Ben."

"Heh... Perhaps it's not wise to potentially scare youngsters, sister. Then again, refraining myself in doing so would deny me of getting a good reading on how diverse are Ryona's interests towards the future." The visual screen then redirected its focus on the now-procrastinating child. "So, my little niece, what do you think about Pandora?"

Any answer from this recently-cautious yet thoughtful girl does not verbally manifested, however. All thanks to the temple's singular caretaker intervening at a responsive manner — through words respectfully. "How about we put this discussion on hold for today, sweetie? Your mother has just arrived for picking you back home."

"What, over already?" Said the young Matoi in confusion and slight dismay. "But I am still thinking on what help I could give to those people living there?"

"Don't be alarmed, niece. You got plenty of time to imagine both the benefits and risks of whichever help maybe apply to Pandora."

"Uh... benefits and risks?"

"Simply put: all the good and bad that could happen if you do try to help."

"Ehh... why would helping people be wrong, Auntie?"

Denico sighed at that question, "...Well, that answer from me will have to wait." She then seemingly looks at her female sibling. "Ethika dear, how about you taking the chance in explaining your daughter on unintentional consequences?"

Despite not in physical view of the screen at that point, the mother's rather reluctant voice can be heard. "I'll see what can be told when we come back home. Speaking of which Ryona, it is time to go."

"Okay, Mom!" The child then look at her 'uncle,' "Bye, bye, Uncle Ben!"

"The same goes to you, little lady." The male elf reciprocally returned the farewell and received a small smile from his niece. As the young Matoi evidently move for her elven mother, the footage in progress allegedly indicated that Ben walked inside the temple's interior space. When positioned at the middle, sounds of big doors being closed could be heard behind the visitor. Regardless, he found a bench out of dozens and proceeded to sit on the wooden furniture. Once that action was done, all the video could only display was the inner architecture of this chamber without people. After a while, the nun's upright figure came into the visual frame of the recording (as well as her face apparently staring at him).

"With courtesy put aside at this moment, how has your government contracts been going?" Denico somewhat humorlessly asked.

"Oh you know, the frequent routines for intelligence operations in both foreign and domestic theaters were more or less the same."

"So I heard..." His older sister noticed. "Then I presume that your superiors had again denied your requests for something more challenging, yes?"

"Actually, I've had a few government agents making secretive petitions on me for the last several months."

"Huh, quite odd on them to do so. Any hint of what these assignments were about?"

"A very big one, evidently."

"...How big?"

"Wellp, it's big enough to describe a special designation: Subject-Z3312817-SKM."

"Okay... what does that supposedly means?"

"In short order, an experiment created in collaboration between our Eldar scientists and their Terran counterparts for a grand 'antidote' against those Zergs and the infected population. Transparently, it went missing under their laboratory noses and they want my help in locating this specimen."

"I'm getting a feeling that more clues were granted to you for something this serious, correct?"

"A pretty good guess, my old Sis. The data already lent to me included the physical features of two ruby-colored follicles among her black hairs, human-like ear lobes, and violet irises: greatly similar to the recent observations on my newfound 'niece' back there."

"Yeah... superstitiously indeed. What else has informed you, then?"

"Heh, hardly a surprise there with you remaining an apostle for that 'god' of Covenants. Back on track nonetheless, I also got intel of this subject's synthetic biology. For instance: a protective matrix of synthetic nano-fibers covering the child's entire body, alongside their extreme resistance to heavy kinetic and energy damage. So how often does Ryona gets herself badly hurt as of today?"

"Extremely rare for that to occur, brother. Me and our little sister made certain for little Matoi to avoid as much hazardous situations as possible. Besides... she's not at the right age to be properly prepared for the harsher side of reality, when it does finally come."

"Hmm... do you mean the Zergs and their resiliency to your divine abilities; or could it be a new scheme of yours that involves a controversial 'sacrifice'?"

"Isn't this conversation being a bit nosy for you towards your oldest sibling?"

"Well, it can be interpreted like that. Then again, I would have an exhausting time mind-reading your head to the fullest — not as great as the extraordinary telepathy projected by my fully-grown descendants."

"Only as long as your hybridized offsprings respect my mental privacy; whenever we visit each other of course. I still have some reservations of your kids peeking into sensible memories of mine."

"Now that you mentioned psychic protrusions, has our dear girl demonstrated such paranormal abilities at this time?"

"...To be blunt for once, no telepathic or telekinetic powers has yet to arisen from Ryona. Additionally, she's too young for any extrasensory perception experts to quickly judge her future worthiness."

"True enough, Deni. Although... the extents of young Matoi's connect to the mystical Force will depend on how well-built that handicap inside her skull is."

The elf-lady slightly narrowed her eyes in response. "Handicap... What's this handicap, you say?"

"Right... the synthetic enclosure of nano-enhanced metal-composite alloys entombing her brain from inter-transmittable telepathy. I'm guessing that a rogue scientist had already told you about Ryona's metaphysical restraints long ago, yes?"

"Is this why you're truly here: bringing back their 'science experiment' for perpetual studies and to warn me and our younger sister of additional repercussions if we repeat another similar crime hereafter?"

"Basically so by unofficial standards, Deni... Except that the rogue genius being said before was supposedly a long-lived human with unbelievable powers of intellect, who goes by the name of Washu. As far as the intel shared to my superiors could tell, this reputed self-enhanced hominid was allegedly shadowing every clandestine activity in this star cluster; and evidently continues to do so. Do you remember making contact with this individual when you 'found' Subject-Z3312817-SKM?"

Denico's serious face relaxed a bit. "Hmm... that's hard to tell. I didn't actually got this person's identity due to the concealment of her clothing and sunglasses she wore."

"A female character?"

"Quite likely, her voice appeared feminine enough as I recalled. Anyway... the little girl is now declared off-limits from such experimentation; and under my care and Ethika's responsibility. Will you send this disappointing message to your higher authorities in government?"

"Heh... Well that's the funny thing: they finalized the incredible decision of allowing Ryona to experience the civilian life here; prior to the start of this dialogue we're having. Thus, both of you don't have to worry about kidnapping attempts on the child."

After being briefly surprised, the elf 'apostle' said, "Hmm... still, what is the flip-side of this 'generous' news?"

"Essentially, a constant alertness over the unknowns that could manifest one day during her puberty and when becoming an adult. Like how Matoi's phenotypes will materialize in consideration to her genetic combination woven from Zerg, Human, Eldar, and other foreign DNA."

"Acceptable. We shall take heed the precautions over my niece's monstrous potentials."

"You too, 'apostle' of Covenants, for not getting so power-hungry over our 'divine' coffin as she grows up."

"...Oh," the elf-nun expressed her curiosity. "So there is another objective to Ryona's creation, aside from being just a Zergish countermeasure then?"

"It shouldn't be a surprise if this Washu outlaw visited your presence many times. Nevertheless... haa... let me turn off this recorder for a private dialogue relating to your sense of 'mercy', Old Sis."

Almost instantaneously, the video turns black — which left the blond witness pondering the chimeric revelations of Ryona Koishna Matoi's disclosed nature and other declarations made by this girl's adoptive aunt and uncle. Both forearms of the gold-haired teenager unconsciously crosses each other in the meantime... where she unexpectedly touches multiple 'bumps' on her upper limbs. The 'ethereal' adolescent moderately adjusts her sight downward; and bafflingly sees small yellowish scales covering her arms and outer surfaces of her two hands (palms appeared normal when moved around, though). She has no clue on how these fairly tiny plates materialized without some notifications of pain.

Just as the teenage girl began to pro-...

"I-I... I don't understand..." The recognizable, yet unease voice of a 'human' chimera interferes the blonde's contemplation. "Me... not born at all?"

In a timely snap, four document pages digitally appear in front of our ghostly teenager. She meticulously reads the full details of this report in a grid-pattern view. Simply put: it's about a Captain Marodar describing his encounter with Subject-Z3312817-SKM and dialogues with her caretakers (respectively, his adoptive niece and biological siblings in fact). Which comprised of the small child's apparent innocence, how much knowledge the apostle-nun actually had about Ryona Koishna Matoi, ...and a debatable 'project' concocted by the demigoddess herself that uses the mystical energy of the Force to completely possess the girl's physical vessel — despite knowing the genuine risk of getting sealed inside until potential death upon both body and soul no less. Still, the overall findings retained the conclusion of allowing this human-like chimera to live a 'normal' life within Eldar society unless otherwise.

Immediately later, the typed debriefing disappears and give way to three rectangle-shaped videos in a linear arrangement. Each footage displays hours of separate activities that the young Matoi had done without being absolutely aware (for this case: within a school, on the town's streets, and deep inside a forested area). As the yellow-haired watcher kept her eyes on these innocent-looking surveillance records, those mini-scales on her arms imperceptibly and slowly grow bigger. Such unruly development also occurs on virtually every surface of the adolescent's skin, in addition to many zerg-like follicles sprouting out of her scalp, in gradual silence... up till she noticeably feels the whole lemon-colored encrustation being very adhesive to her largest organ — with genuine alarm patently.

"My people... h-have been watching me all my life?"

Simultaneously, several more visual screens pop up in front and expose different kinds of adventures that signified Ryona's intellect, social abilities, and sometimes her varied reactions to multiple stimulus of either kindness... or aggressive nature from elvish children who undergone diverse mood swings in educational institutions (in contrast to the physiological growth rate of this raven-haired lass): accompanied by lengthy descriptions to clarify those files' purposes. Even so... they don't seem to stop the sluggish buildup of bony structures covering the young blonde's fair skin; much to her own anxieties.

Nor anything else to abstain the unseen vocalizations of a familiar female 'experiment' with growing agitations when countless visual revelations keep on arriving.

"W-What the goddamn fuck is the meaning of this?!"

Feedback:

To OnePunchPlayer: Wow... my apologies to your dismay; for not having 'concrete' characters/devices from the Destiny universe to be in the last story. Then again, I have to be sure that enough time is available for me exploring the lore of the Destiny game series when writing a new story. No guarantees, anyhow.