Chương 76: LOG-072.

"On your feet, Citrines." The barrier came down with a simple tap at the containment cell's control panel. Foolish? Perhaps. But if things were going to go the way I anticipated, this would simply be more efficient in the long run. After all, there was an order to things I needed to follow if I was going to pacify the Retaliator's entire crew in any semblance of a short timeframe. Top to bottom, starting with the highest ranked Gems all the way to the lowest.

Thankfully, the captain of the vessel was already on my side, which meant converting her immediate subordinates. The thought almost prompted an amused smirk, even as I focused on the pair of soldiers in front of me. Citrines weren't technically officers. Not in the way Agates were.

But they were considered elite warriors for a reason, and that reason manifested itself as the two yellow Gems all but blurred from their previously relaxed positions, both taking on readied combat stances as they took in my visage with wide eyes.

"7XA. 7XB. Good to see you're both doing well, even if the circumstances aren't exactly the finest at the moment." Ah, and there was the expected horror at my mutant lightform. There'd been a hint of hesitation there, when they'd glanced over my gemstones.

Unfortunately, Homeworld was rather thorough in its education of what was right and wrong (not unexpected, taking into account my own experience), considering the duo were allowing their engrained responses to overshadow any hint of real thought, instead relying on programming fueled by fear to see them through.

"M-monster!" I almost wanted to frown, but in fairness I'd also been just like that a short time ago, before I'd managed to get my more hesitant half to reconcile my existence with everything she'd been taught.

"Out of our way you freak! We're busting out of here!" It was interesting, how my components' senses and perspectives melded together to create something altogether new, represented by me. While I was no Sapphire, I almost felt... enhanced, when it came to my immediate awareness. Every twitch of the two tense lightforms in front of me was glaring. Every subtle (and yet so very obvious) motion telling a short story if I just cared to simply pay attention. It was all right there.

All for me to observe and judge entire seconds before the actions behind them would even mean anything. And in a fight, seconds could mean everything. I could actually make out the sound of my previous conversation partners warily waiting just down the hall, ready to intervene but presumably eager to see how my promised attempt (at conversion? Deprogramming? Something like that) would turn out, just as easily as I could percieve the way 7XA's fist was clenching in the pattern indicating her preparation for a swing.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Two flashes of light lit up the doorway of the cell, one the colour of gold and the other a fine green, heralding her rush towards me, the short but wide gladius held in her grip streaking directly towards my torso. She'd try to trick me into believing she was aiming for my lower half, feinting downwards only to redirect her momentum at the last second in order to plunge the sword directly through my chest and neck.

A clean but violent discorporation. It was a favourite move of hers during some of the more intense sparring sessions that she'd cared to join in on whenever the Quartzes all got bored. The Jaspers always loved it. Click!

"H-huh?" The Citrine continued to push forward against my unmoving frame, confused for an instant as to just why I wasn't being skewered, only to finally notice the fact that her weapon had been caught between the pair of one sided blades jutting out from my armoured fist. The instrument was a makeshift blade catcher, and half of me confirmed that it was a courtesy of Viridian and Emerald's summoned weapons melding and fusing in a fashion similar to what they had done with their own lightforms.

I hadn't even known of the catcher's existence until this very moment, and yet it felt so very right, as if I'd used it my entire life... not that I'd led a very long life just yet, unless I wanted to count my components' existences, but that was getting into tangent territory. Though I did idly note, if one squinted, that it almost looked like I had a miniature Retaliator attached to my wrist! Or at least the front half of the vessel. How very coincidental.

Still, it proved such a very fascinating combination between swords and gauntlets. Easy to use with the strength and flexibility afforded to me by my two halves. And they offered more than a few distinctly convenient methods in countering more traditional weaponry.

Pleased at the discovery, I gave the Quartz a singular second to comprehend her mistake, before forcibly twisting my (and by extension her) arm to the side, ripping the gladius from her grip before kicking forward, all but planting my foot against her chest and sending her flying backwards to impact against the wall with an echoing clang of hardened lightform meeting metal.

"Not quite monster. Intercaste fusion is more polite. Green Onyx, to be specific. Now-" With a second flash, I brought forth the aspect of my more martial component, the long blade gliding through the air to neatly parry and promptly punish 7XB's surprise attack, sending the other Citrine's summoned handaxe clattering against the ground, its owner letting out a quiet grunt of pain as I allowed the tip of the sword to just barely penetrate her lightform, leaving a small hole that closed quicker than one could blink.

There was a lesson I could teach here, before I got into the nitty gritty of shattering their already crumbling beliefs and rebuilding them. But it was ultimately up to them to see whether they'd figure out that caution was sometimes the better part of valour.

"-if we're quite done, perhaps we can have a civil discussion? We'll all be laughing about this soon enough, I would think. Or would you rather I establish who the strongest is first? I'm sure I can pull off a half decent Agate, if you really want me to." In response to my blunt offer, the two elite guards glanced at each other once, right before resummoning their weapons, hefting the melee implements and preparing for a second, more unified charge. Well... it seemed class was in session.

The smirk I'd been holding back finally escaped, quirking my lips ever so slightly upwards even as I discarded Emerald's sword in favour of a second blade catcher, spreading my upper arms wide in a beckoning gesture. At the very least, I was quickly realising that fusion between different castes had more benefits than just those related to communication. Stars, I felt like a warmachine!

With a thought, a second flash of light manifested Viridian's usual claws, the wickedly sharp talons flexing once from their position attached to my lower limbs before pulling backwards, ready and waiting for a solid opportunity to capitalise on any mistakes. To their credit, 7XA and 7XB didn't let my posture intimidate them, nor did they allow even a second to pass in silence, bursting through the air with twin roars flowing out from their mouths.

The smirk finally transitioned into an outright grin, even as I barrelled forward to meet the pair of Citrines in the middle of the cell, mirroring their assault with my own. Good soldiers, the both of them. It would be great to have them on board once I metaphorically (and somewhat literally) beat the panic out of them. At least up until they started thinking rationally enough to stand down and talk.