Chapter 56

Termination 1

-:-

4 Months Later

A certain cargo ship

An ocean east of the continent of Alkebulan

Theo and his Technomancery + Midas Alchemy abilities was similar to giving a 5 year old kid a highly advanced tank.

He had no idea what his power was truly capable off due to the lack of role models.

At least until he met Jabir ibn Hayyan.

To the layman, Jabir ibn Hayyan was no one of importance.

But to anyone with any form of alchemy as their power would revere Jabir like a saint.

In the history books, Jabir was an alchemist of unparalleled skill who created 2 things that no modern day alchemist have ever replicated perfectly: the Elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone.

However, the history books clearly didn't know that Jabir was a Midas Alchemist + Technomancer (Artificer), thus considered him a being that came once in a thousand years.

However, once Theo knew that Jabir was the same as him, a lot of things began making sense.

But more importantly, Theo was witnessing first hand what a Midas Alchemist + Technomancer could actually do.

Within the bowels of a fairly cargo ship was a hollow area that was delegated as Theo’s workshop.

In this area were the following:

FIRST: A newly made fabricator that churned out his guns, bullets, drones and other disposable items.

SECOND: Mobius One. Theo’s jet black highly modified F22A Raptor armed with a few low yield tactical nukes.

THIRD: A fully functional Terminator Armor.

It was more or less what Theo had during his Norsca escapade.

However, unlike his time in Norsca, Theo was not as swamped with work.

While Theo was doing some visual inspection on the Terminator, a large number of individuals were taking the guns made from the fabricators into a makeshift armory, loading the bullets into the magazines and the drones, and even performing system checks with the software Theo provided them.

These individuals varied in height, weight, age and gender. Some were as young as their early teens while others as old as their late 40s.

They did have a few things in common though.

Their skin was deep brown in color with purple shaded hair and gray eyes. All of them were handsome or beautiful and most importantly, all of them have a fancy tattoo of a jaguar printed on their back.

These people were the Hassan-i Sabbah, Jabir ibn Hayyan’s personal military force and his army of clones.

The Hassan-i Sabbah was once influential shadow organization that fought for what was right. Unfortunately, the modern day version of it, the Assassins, were too drunk on the concept of ‘peace through freedom’ to understand that ideals that cannot be enforced was worthless.

The Templars, the Assassin’s arch enemy, has outplayed the freedom hugging hippies at every turn and has driven them to the point of extinction.

Where did Jabir fit in all of this?

Jabir was once a supporter of the Hassan-i Sabbah when they had the guts and the balls to do whatever was necessary for the goal of world peace.

When they castrated themselves and became more passive, Jabir became bored of the order and left.

Those who didn't approve of this shift in policies left the Assassins and joined Jabir in hopes of resurrecting the Hassan-i Sabbah to its former glory.

This kind of backfired on them.

After a few hundred years later, Jabir became disinterested in the happenings of the world and began focusing on his own research.

Those who joined him died off over the years and were replaced by his imperfect yet loyal clones.

Fast forward to modern times, Hassan-i Sabbah was nothing more than Jabir’s personal bodyguards and servants.

A sad end to a once prestigious organization.

Fast forward into the present, Jabir ibn Hayyan observed his clones worked on the Terminator.

“Lorne, why is the left arm larger and heavier armored than the right?” asked Jabir

“There’s three main reasons for that. First: to protect the minigun housed inside. When I went up against Nosferatu, he disabled any unprotected weapon just by squeezing it hard enough. I wont make the same mistake again.” replied Theo.

“I see. Good point. What’s the second reason?”

“The second reason is to act as a counter weight for the Kin Slayer”

“Indeed…. That oversized broadsword must be murder on the balance.”

“Correct. Now for the third reason: Since the Terminator Armor is strong enough to swing the Kin Slayer with one hand, I decided to weaponized the left arm. On top of the minigun, the fingers were converted into high durability HF blades that can cut through steel like a hot knife through butter.” replied Theo

“Fire claws… I’m surprised how a man’s taste for fancy pointy objects change so little over the centuries.” said Jabir as he chuckled.

“What can I say, there is nothing more attractive than a thick piece of metal on fire.” said Theo

“Reasonable enough. Allow me to ask one more question.” said Jabir “Why is your Terminator Armor so… Extravagant?”

The external design for the Terminator Armor could be described in one word: GAUDY

Most of the surfaces was painted in gold with finely crafted engravings all over.

It had a skull for a head with piercing red eyes that added more menace to an already menacing armor.

Red jewel-like stones could be spotted all over the armor.

Did these overly fancy designs serve any function?

Nope.

Aside from being fancy, they were absolutely useless.

“Ah that… I’m going to be completely honest here. I’m not a fan of the basic black. Black is too mainstream. Pretty much every hero and villain in the book wears black. As such, I prefer white and gold simply because they’re eyecatchers” replied Theo as he puffed his chest with pride.

“Then why are your power armors, weapons, and fighter jet black?” asked Jabir

“That's for practical reasons. Black is harder to spot in the dark. I would never prioritize my preference over efficiency. If it wasn't for that, I would have painted my armors white.” said Theo

“I-I see.... I guess I'm really behind the times. Who knew the young generations had such peculiar tastes.”

As Theo and Jabir continued chatting, one of Jabir's clones approached Theo with smart pad on hand.

“Report: System check of Terminator 01 complete. No abnormalities found. Request: Quick look at summary” said the clone

The clone was female about the height of Theo's chest. She was a bespectacled beauty with a slim build, sleepy looking eyes, bob styled hair and a red dot on her forehead.

And if you added her out of place lab coat, it wouldn't be a stretch if people would mistake her for adorable mad scientist cosplayer.

Her official name was Assistant Clone No. 58912213

Theo named her Pani for the locally made candy that she often ate.

“Nice work Pani. Let's see what we got here.” said Theo as hugged Pani from behind and rested his head on her shoulders.

Pani lightly blushed but kept her face stoic as she dutifully shifted through the report for Theo.

You're probably wondering what's the relation between Theo and Pani.

About 1 month after the Sanctuary Incident, Theo met Jabir and the Hassan-i Sabbah

And as you'd expect from a couple of people who possessed an extremely rare capability, they took to a liking to each other quite quickly.

To Theo, this was the first time he finally was able to see what he could become in the future.

For Jabir, Theo was the first Midas Alchemist + Technomancer to specialize in front line combat. Pretty much everyone in the past relied on hired (or personally created) guards and allies powered by their creations to wage war.

Such was expected of the wielders of a power that shackled them to human limits.

Their mutual curiosity resulted in a deal between them.

Theo was to drastically upgrade the Hassan-i Sabbah's tech, weapons, tanks and armor in return for a monetary reward and, most importantly, manpower to aid in his quest to find the 2nd of the Sway twins.

While in the processes of upgrading the Hassan-i Sabbah's computers, a clone displayed a decent level of controlling Theo’s combat and surveillance drones with nothing but a simple terminal.

This was Pani.

As such, Jabir had Theo ‘upgrade’ Pani with a cybernetic spine.

Her capabilities were significantly inferior to Theo, but that’s to be expected of clones.

Despite Jabir’s mastery over the alchemic arts, there was no way to make a perfect clone. For some reason, none can even reach 1% of the original’s capabilities.

As such, Pani inherited next to none of Jabir’s mental capabilities or midas alchemy.

Nevertheless, she proved that her drone manipulation chops were at an acceptable level on top of her decent skill in boring office work. She lived up to her ‘Assistant Clone’ designation.

As per Jabir’s request, Theo was to show Pani the ropes.

Normally that would be fine, but the lack of battlefields to sate his blood lust and the lack of ‘alone time’ to play with his joystick has made Theo a bit sexually frustrated and Pani was the target of his lust.

Despite his situation, Theo always had high levels of self control.

He went to Jabir and asked for the right to unleash his lust on Pani.

Surprisingly, Jabir agreed….. On one condition: Pani must agree to sleep with Theo out of her own free will.

From that point onward, Theo used every trick in the book to get into Pani’s pants.

Surprisingly, the most effective strategy was what Juno used on Theo.

Pani wasn't allowed to hurt Theo similar to how Theo had no effective means to dissuade Juno.

As such, Pani could only surrender and let Theo do whatever he wanted.

Theo wasn't as extreme as Juno’s blatant sexual harassment, but the effect was very much the same.

Though Theo will never admit it, he has developed a soft spot for Juno

Unlike the tsundere Theo, Pani was a bit more honest.

However, she didn't refused to cross the final line with Theo.

Theo could only endure and carry on.

While Theo and Pani cuddled/ reviewed the Terminator’s status, Jabir spoke.

“Lorne. I assume this Terminator Armor is an upgrade of the one Nosferatu tore apart. Am I right?”

“Yup. I placed enough improvements to make Nosferatu break a sweat” replied Theo.

“Me? Break a Sweat? Brave words you have there young Lorne!” said a booming voice that echoed through the ship

Out of nowhere, a storm of dark mist gathered upon an area like a tornado.

A few seconds later, Nosferatu and his retinue of young Grave Guards stood where the mist dispersed.

Theo couldn't help but groan

“Let me guess…. You were waiting exactly for that moment to reveal yourself. Weren't you?”

“Vampires and dramatic entrances go hand in hand” said Jabir jokingly.

“What the Nosferatu bloodline lack in looks, we make up for it in shock value!” boasted Nosferatu. “But enough about Vampire vanity. It seems that your Terminator Armor is ready for some field testing!”

“ You just want to fight, dont you?.... *sigh*.... If you promise not to turn it into dust, I’ll agree.” replied Theo

“I swear on my name that your Terminator Armor will be in one piece.”

“Fine. Let’s do this.”

As Theo was about to head to his Terminator, Pani uncharacteristically hugged Theo in the chest.

“Warning: Foe is too strong. Defeat is inevitable. Risk of Injury: High. Suggestion: Refuse battle” said Pani in her usual robotic voice.

“Worried about me? How cute. Dont worry though. Nosferatu wont trash me too badly” replied Theo as he carressed Pani’s cheek.

“Insisting Suggestion: Refuse Battle. Defeat is inevi-MMMHHNN!!!”

Pani was unable to finish her sentence as Theo frenched kissed her till her knees gave out.

“I suggest you think of more important matters. Like what underwear you should be wearing when you inevitably agree to having sex with me” said Theo as he walked passed the dazzed Pani

In reality, Theo wasn't going to allow anyone to deny him this battle.

Win or lose, his bloodlust must be sated