Inside the cargo bay section of the Meras, a line of Harriers were working around the clock to utilize a new device that would be pivotal to their data collecting efforts. While others were helping their wounded make their way to the medical bay, this new device was working constantly to crack the code of the enemy, and bring light to their no doubt nefarious plans for Torsca and the Elfari Empire at large.

  “We got one complete here, how many more of those DNA locks do we need to crack?”

  “We recovered about six hundred different types all with different locks, High General.”

  The General directed them to place it near the DNA reading device, allowing its modular design to continue its code cracking.

  It was only a shame that the ‘cracker’ in question had an opinion on her current treatment.

  “I know I should be happy that we finally have a shot at some kind of lead, but this feels demeaning.”

  Chimera was sitting in the middle of the cargo bay surrounded by broken tech, placing them back together and using her various tendrils to collect the DNA of the locks on said devices.

  “You’re doing a great job Captain, keep up the work. We’re all counting on you.” The High General spoke.

  Chimera with her eyes half-lided, stared at the General as she responded, “I’d feel it better if your voice wasn’t a monotone Highest of Generals.”

  “What do you want, a marble statue?”

  Chimera nodded, “it should be in my likeness and to scale. I also want it placed in the imperial garden next to the Empress’ own statue.”

  Despite her cool demeanor, Chimera could have sword she saw a vein pumping harder on Lysandra’s forehead.

  Satisfied with annoying her, she returned to her work, grabbing, cracking the DNA code and placing it on a rack that was carted away by scientists and data processors. These were the espionage and cyberwarfare members of the vessel, usually only brought out whenever a piece of enemy tech was recovered.

  Chimera didn’t envy them, as this was likely to keep them busy for at least a week.

  She still couldn’y help being bored though as the latest crate of junk tech and locked items made their way to her.

  She sighed heavily.

  …

  In the cyberwarefare suite of the Meras a team of scientists and hackers was working on a treasure trove of enemy intelligence, each person typing and scrolling through their various scrying tablets to make sense of the alien enemy.

  While most of it was over their head, thanks to a device they had just recently received, they were able to utilize it’s unique nature to analyze and decode the messages on the data, as well as translate it to Elfari for data collection.

  It was a shame that this device was being held against its will.

  “Damn that Lysandra, why the hell am I stuck here?! I’m a medical specialist, not a damn translator!”

  Thanks to a tip off from their ‘code cracker’ the High General was able to utilize this specific tech to begin the data collection and bring their intelligence to a hopefully useful level.

  Though many would see this as a gross use of resources, one Bayleaf Bristlebranch.

  I don’t know how, but I know its that damn blob’s fault I’m here! She can understand the language as well, so why am I the one stuck here?!

  Tech floated towards her, and after touching her body, Bay absorbed the data within, reading the contents and separating the important data while discarding the rest in a file labled non-military data.

  Being a Teras-emon as her creator had put it, she now had access to DNA gathering and catologueing that her progenitor possessed. She also had a selection of powers that Chimera also possessed, and unlike before with the worry that the DNA she kept from Asta breaking down and deteriorating, Bay simply received it via osmosis from her.

  No data lost, and almost instant information transference. If the rest of her race were like herself, there would be almost no need for computation devices to store data.

  Everyone would be their own servers, translators, and collectors.

  She shivered at the thought.

  Despite the efficiency, It would feel like our race was overtaken, not enhanced.

  Losing their own autonomy and embracing a new species as the new Elfari…

  Bayleaf didn’t want to think about it, especially after her own proclivities placed her in this predicament already.

  Knowing made her into a new alien monster… no, not a monster per say.

  But she was definitely different, new, and a bit scary.

  Yet that was becoming the furthest thing from her mind as she absorbed a few more tech scraps and began the translation sequence.

  Argh! I hate this, I hate all of this, damn you Mera!

  Forced into data processing, Bayleaf raged inside her head even as she diligently worked to help her fellow Elfari piece together the Verdant Hood’s machinations.

  …

  In an underground bunker-like facility, a group of alien warriors sent from their planet were working around the clock in enemy territory to find a fabled being that could help them win their war against the race they had come to conquer.

  The forces consisted of their High Commander, their Religious envoy, and several hundred military forces, ready to give their lives for their leader and religious figure.

  It was just a shame that the two leaders, the Commander and the Inqusitor could not agree on their path to finding this Elemental.

  “Our forces cannot hope to fight against two ships and an entire city’s worth of enemies, especially when they can be resupplied. We need to search carefully and cautiously.”

  This came from the Commander of their military forces, a crocodilian snake man by the name of Lesrack. A protector, warrior and leader, Lesrack would gladly place himself in harm's way for his people, and commit whatever atrocities would see them safe.

  “Fool! The longer we wait to sift through the dirt, the more time our enemies have to entrench themselves. Our goal is beyond here, we need only push forth and find the one who can lead us to it. That requires bold actions, not scurrying in the dark!”

  This woman was the High Inquisitor, a lofty position given to one of the Verdant Church’s greatest warrior women. Her lithe form and two legs separated her from the rest of her brethren who only had tails for their lower halves.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Her name was Zala’taz, and her fervor for her Verdant Goddess was second to none save the Prophet of her religion. For her she would burn worlds, kill her alliies and send whatever forces were necessary to bring assured victory.

  …

  The vision faded, and with it the young girl opened her eyes to the sky above, night coaxing a display of beautiful lights and hues.

  She had been having these strange dreams ever since that ship arrived, the one that carried her kin from the homeworld. With it, she had also begun to peer into the veil and see those that pursued her.

  It was how the moon spoke to her, how Torsca conveyed its worry and its willingness to help her, as the one who was tied to her by ancient covenants.

  Standing at a height of three feet, she looked no larger than a child reaching her developing years, yet one would only need to look at her eyes to see the years of wisdom behind them.

  Stretching her body, the girl moved the earth with but a thought, bringing forth platforms for her to float by, watching over her vigil, the Temple of the Earth.

  “It would seem that the hunters will be coming soon. The time of future turmoil will be soon.”

  Yet, despite knowing what must transpire… the being in the shape of a girl felt a tug towards something that rested even now aboard a vessel of strange make. The girl who was not a girl, much like herself.

  Would my fate even allow such hope?

  Sitting in a chair made of glimmering rock, the girl feared for her future.

  Her name was Iaos, and she was The Elementalist.

  …

  Chimera was meditating in her quarters, a place she rarely ever went to as there was simply too much for her to focus on. Whether it was refitting more of her crew, fixing things with Meras after the explosion of the fallen destroyer, or bickering with Bayleaf and Lysandra about next actions, she barely had any time to rest in her own room that she helped build!

  So for a few minutes of time, she separated herself from the hustle and bustle of her duties on this, her favorite rocket ship.

  With the ancient song whistling through her head, she felt calm and collected for the first time in a while.

  “Flying through the sky…” she hummed along as the lyrics faded from her memories.

  Or rather, her ‘mother’s’ memories, as Chimera never really experienced these things, only Sarah could claim that.

  Thus the thoughts of her kinda sorta mother brought the pain and aches of homesickness, allowing Chimera to sift through her emotions and remind herself.

  Remind herself that they would soon know she was alive.

  The package she sent into space would take a while, since it didn’t have the luxury of space flight and only had the one direction and minor course corrections she built into the device, but it would hopefully reach her loved ones on Asta.

  That hope helped center her, and brought her back into problem solving.

  Baddies are on Torsca, but the defense grids up and running. With enough MACs in orbit, we can punch swiss cheese holes into whatever comes our way and delay enough until reinforcements arrive.

  Chimera laid back, allowing her head to face the ceiling. The wooden lines reminded her of the park where she first dove into the smorgasbord of DNA that gave her a newish identity.

  That was around the time she decided to call herself Chimera, teen hero-in-training, while she searched for Dr. Pox and his experimental children.

  The wood was just like the trees in the park, and her mind wandered for solutions once more.

  But who knows if they’ll arrive on time to help, and what if that Motherdome shows up? A capital ship versus our cannons might not be enough power to dissuade them from just ramming into our defenses. We need a solution.

  Still, there's also that damn croc and whoever else is with him. If I can’t figure out how to hurt him, he’ll wipe the floor with me like last time. I need to figure out this ‘aura’ stuff, but I can’t go hunting without leaving my crew vulnerable.

  The Metal Beast showed as much. Even with Chimera’s biomantic upgrades, the beast had nearly killed two of her crew and mangled so many others.

  With the explosion from the destroyer, the body of the beast was also vaporized so Chimera couldn’t even do some technomancy to figure out how the thing functioned, not beyond knowing it used magic of course.

  Almost like it was planned that way…

  The guards being controlled by the pheromone concoction essentially pointed it towards being a trap.

  Bayleaf is sifting through their thoughts, but if it's like our own prisoners, we won’t be able to find shit until whatever cocktail of pheromones is done coursing through their minds and bodies. Argh! This is so stupidly complicated!

  Chimera tried to center herself again, laying her head against a cushy pillow in the form of a blob. Meras made it as a joke, filling it with gel that was oddly comfortable.

  ‘Her own blob to ponder blobby things on,’ she called it.

  She had to admit it was helping her, massaging her head with its unique design as her thoughts connected once more.

  Priorities are thus:

  Stop the reptiles from doing whatever they are attempting on Torsca.

  Prepare for the Motherdome.

  Find out when reinforcements are arriving.

  Hold out.

  She nodded to herself as Chimera rolled her head back and forth to get a bit more gel massage before she rolled up and on her feet.

  “Okay! Got a plan now, time to execute.”

  She willed herself into the Meras’ tree core, connecting to the ship as Meras took notice of her.

  “Finally get your head straight?” The cheeky tree was on a ball that seemed to be composed of space oak, rolling it with her atop it.

  “More or less, I just needed to get my thoughts in order after all that filing and sorting.”

  “Intelligence gathering is important, but a superhero like yourself probably left that to the brainiacs back home, yeah?” Meras stuck her tongue out at her, still rolling with impeccable balance.

  “I break bad guys, it was Meghan that messed with that stuff.” Chimera said, the image of her friend flashing in her head.

  “I can only imagine the headache she had with you.”

  Chimera pointed at the smug tree in defiance, “I’ll have you know that I helped design a lot of the stuff she used to become a cyborg! If anyone was a headache, it was her wanting so many different things!”

  “So touchy, I only meant that having a brawler like you probably messed up some plans, am I right?”

  Chimera was starting to get suspicious, and just as she was about to ask how or why…

  “Bay told me everything.”

  “That bitch!” Chimera flipped a table in the strange space, watching it fall to the ground, only to realign and fix itself.

  She flipped it again for good measure.

  Meras giggled when she spoke a thoughtful expression lighting her face up, “it's fine Chimera, you can leave the heavy thinking to me. Trust me, I got the memory space for it. Bay’s got the healing covered, and you can go be all smashy and dashy. It’s what teams do yeah? Cover weaknesses and turn them into strengths, isn't it?”

  Feeling fruitless in the face of arguing with the ship mind, Chimera shook her head and agreed, “yup, even if those teammates are insufferable sometimes.”

  Chimera heard the ball rolling towards her as she attempted to dodge, saw the ball shift reality and place her underneath it as Meras ran her over.

  It didn’t hurt, but the action did flatten her, making it hard to get back up.

  To which her friend and tormentor parked her space oak ball atop her.

  “Teammates help each other, especially when their mates need to unwind. We got the fort Chimera, go and figure your shit out.”

  “B-But what if-,”

  “We have it in hand, so go.”

  She tried to protest more, but Meras simply kicked her out of the core, causing Chimera to land in her chair in a heap.

  The bridge crew didn’t respond at all, too busy with their work to realize that she was there.

  Okay, I get it…

  Chimera willed herself out of the ship, freefalling into Anvilage with a twist of her wings. They let her glide along the air currents that bellowed from the forges below, magical silver fixtures and doodads lining shelves and being stuffed into boxes.

  Chimera pondered the use of such material.

  If I had enough of it, could I make a magical artifact? Maybe something to enhance and control my spells and mana organ? My terramancy might even work on it!

  Since she needed to learn about aura anyway, Chimera decided it would kill two birds with one stone to visit Kass the chief, and pilfer her silver while she was at it.

  Hehe, time to collect a finders fee!

  …