Hey guys! Here is your latest dose! Let me know what you think in the comments below! Enjoy XD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10

The Akkadian

Bullets peppered all sides of the Humvee as the convoy screeched to a halt. A multitude of weapons fire responded out from the convoy, catching the spare targets out in the open within the confines of the surrounding buildings. To the right is a glass like skyscraper that had a stairway leading up to the door and on the left is a diner with an apartment complex directly above it. On both sides of these buildings, skyscrapers, shops, diners, and all sorts of galore littered the block as the attacking forces fired at them from the upper levels of the buildings.

The ongoing bystanders that had been frequenting the streets and walkways scattered like rats in the ensuing bullet storm. Meanwhile, Clive’s crumpled vehicle caught fire and started to disintegrate from within.

“-ALL SQUADS RETURN FIRE!! PULL THE WOUNDED INTO AN EMPTY VEHICLE AND DESTROY THESE BLASTED IDIOTS WHO DECIDED TO PICK A FIGHT WITH THE MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS! AM. I. CLEAR?!?!-” the Taenor’s voice blares from the radio inside Bazz’s Humvee.

“-OORAH!!-” A multitude of voice’s reply.

While this is going on, the reporters inside Bazz’s Humvee start freaking out at the situation that they now are in. Almost all of them scared out of their minds and ready to go back to the base, all except Clarence.

Clarence was in a state of shock from having witnessed the Humvee in front of them crumple like a scrap of paper. She didn’t know what to think of her current situation. As she slowly comes back into herself, she looks over at their hired bodyguard.

“Mr. Totec? Are you alright?” She asks loudly over the panicking reporters.

The hail of bullets kept peppering the Humvee, slightly rocking the vehicle to the side. Bazz, however, couldn’t hear her. He couldn’t hear anything for that matter. His brain had frozen in shock at what had happened. As he slowly came to terms with all that was happening, the first thing that sprung into his mind was, ‘Protect the Family’.

As soon as this thought had been uttered, instincts honed in the wilderness took over. All of his senses and thought processes looked for the quickest way to end the situation, formulating tactics and calculating possible attack patterns. Listening to the sounds of the gunfire being shot at them, he notices something peculiar. The attacking forces are using modified weapons, not the sort of weapons that the rebels or soldiers of the Chief General would be found using. These were from something only obtained on the black market. Continuing to think on this point, he remembered the job he performed the previous month on assassinating a leader of the Russian Mafia.

As soon as he connected the current situation with the memory of what he did, a profound sense of regret washes over him.

~This entire situation is my fault! ~

As he thinks this, a loud bang rings from outside the Humvee. All of the heads inside the vehicle turn to look at the disturbance.

While the rest of the Marines clamped down on the amount of fire they were taking, the driver’s side door of Clive’s Humvee is violently forced open. Following that, two battered bodies come tumbling out followed by a rifle barrel that immediately starts returning fire to the upper sections of the diner on the opposite side of the street.

As Bazz watched, he noticed immediately who the rifle belonged too and promptly grabbed the radio.

“-I NEED A MEDIC IMMEDIATELY TO RAMSEY’S HUMVEE!! TWO MARINES ARE DOWN AND UNCONSIOUS AND RAMSEY IS LOOKING WORSE THAN EITHER OF THEM!-”

Taenor immediately responds,

“-SGT. MAJ. KYLESSA, GET YOUR ASS OVER THERE AND TAKE CHARLIE SQUAD WITH YOU. I WANT THAT AREA SECURE WHILE THE MEDICS DO THEIR JOB!-”

“-OORAH!-” a female voice responds.

“-TAENOR, I’M GONNA GET CREATIVE AND TAKE OUT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BUILDINGS. DON’T BOTHER GIVING ME COVERING FIRE BECAUSE I WON’T NEED IT. JUST MAKE SURE THAT MY BROTHER DOESN’T DIE.-” Bazz states into the radio hurriedly.

Clarence and the rest of the reporters finally comprehend what is happening and look towards the open door to the crumpled vehicle in front of them. The rifle that was steadily aiming through the window and returning fire, was clutched by a single blood slick left hand. The reporters’ eyes followed the bloodied hand back to the entire body of Clive Ramsey.

Leaning against the crumpled vehicle, Clive stood on his left leg. His right is currently missing from the knee down with shredded muscles hanging out and is leaking arterial fluid everywhere. A piece of his femur bone can be seen sticking out between the shredded musculature, with cracks and splits all along the end of the shaft. His body armor is in the same state as his leg, left in tatters and only various bits and pieces of it still holding together at the seams. The metallic sheen normally seen with body armor is replaced with thick ichor and oil as it dully chinks together from the recoil of the gun. Fragments of bone and glass are sticking out of the right side of the armor, a small testament to what happened to his right arm. From the right shoulder down, arterial fluid flows freely down the side of his body.

The reporters’ eyes finally look at Clive’s grim face as he continues to return fire, noting the determined coldness in his eyes and the various cuts along his face due to his broken helmet. The right side of his face and head are heavily burned and blood slicked with fragments of the broken helmet having embedded into his cranium. A pained expression contorts his face despite his determined eyes as they quickly look for the targets that are attacking him.

Bazz revs the engine of the Humvee, garnering the attention of the horrified reporters sitting with him.

“This needs to end.” He says quietly with a murderous glint in his eyes.

As he says this, he turns and quickly accelerates the Humvee…straight up the steps into the glass covered skyscraper on the right side. The reporters were screaming all the way there, and just as the vehicle hit the entrance way, a big sloppy feeling started attacking Bazz’s face.

--------------------

Bazz woke up to a dark room on a stiff bed. Fenris lays on top of him sloppily licking his face as if trying to wake him up. Looking around the room, he notices that it is relatively small in size, but the ceiling is quite tall. A desk with a chair face against the opposite side of the wall and another stiff looking bed sits parallel to him. The walls are an unremarkable dull grey, having no posters or extra adornments to decorate them. The bed he is laying on sits with the head rest against the wall perpendicular to the door on his left. A full body mirror stands planted to the wall right next to the door.

He notices Marneus’ bag sitting next to the chair and a small open book sitting on the desk. He puts his hand on Fenris’ head in an attempt to stave off the slobbering tongue, only to find that his arm is heavily bandaged all over… and is also larger than he remembers it to be.

~What…exactly happened…while I was out? I don’t remember Fenris’ head being this small. Was it always this tiny? ~

He tries to extend his head to look down at the rest of his body. The rest of his body is bandaged the same as his arm, making him look like he is in an overly large full body cast. He moves Fenris off his chest and swings his legs off the side of the bed.

Crrrreeeeeeaaaakkk…

As soon as he tried to stand up, his full weight pressing into the wood flooring, a loud creaking sound echoed in the room. Looking down, the floor slightly dips from his weight.

~…Must’ve been something I ate… Hold on a sec, why is the ground so far away? And why is my body so large? ~

He waddles over to the mirror next to the door, slowly taking off the bandages along the way. The more he took off the bandages, the more he noticed something was wrong. The amount of strength he was using to lightly take off the dressings was actually tearing the bandages. He wasn’t aiming to tear them in the slightest, only to neatly unravel them from his body.

He also noticed that his body seemed to be more…firm. As if most of the overlaying fat had been squeezed from his body.

This raised numerous questions but as he continued to take off the bandages, he noticed that there was a page icon blinking in the lower left hand corner of his vision. Using his right hand that was now free of the bandages, he pointed to it and stated clearly,

“Expand”

The page lights up and expands to become directly within his view.

You have 4 new messages! Pick at your discretion!

{Pick individually} or {See all}

His head tilts quizzically as he wonders what they could be and motions for the {See all} option and 4 new pages open up in front of him.

You have taken H.C.M.T.E.I., H.C.C.O.I., and H.C.I.T.I.! Because of these injections, total body weight has increased by 130%!

Because you have taken H.C.M.T.E.I., H.C.C.O.I., and H.C.I.T.I., the following effects are given:

• Increased Physical Resistance overall.

• Increased Health and Stamina regeneration.

• Adds Natural Defense.

• Strength, Agility, and Vitality are now doubled.

• Increased Natural Size

o Height increased by 3’4” ( 1 meter)

o Muscle mass and weight increased by 50% = 121.5 lb. (approximately 55.1 kg)

o Skeletal mass and weight increased by 50% = 121.5 lb. (approximately 55.1 kg)

o Skin mass and weight increased by 30% = 72.9 lb. ( approximately 33.1 kg)

Quest has been Completed!

Human Evolution has completed! Please push here for rewards.

His eyes read everything that the pages offer and then returns back to the one sentence that he was not expecting.

“Strength, Agility, and Vitality are now DOUBLED?!” He remarks dumbfounded.

Disbelief wracks his brain as he tries to comprehend all that happened. The last thing he remembers is being on the deck of the base and then keeling over with a panic attack due to PTSD. Then he wakes up from his memory to find that his physical traits have doubled.

Remembering that he had completed his quest, he pushed the slot that would take him to his rewards. The pages fade quickly and are replaced by two new pages.

• Base for Unlocked Race has become available. You are the first to unlock a new species in Neos. Therefore, you now have access to determine how this new species will integrate into the game and 2,000 Fame points are added.

• Your choice of Unique Skill

• Title: The Founding Father

Please choose the origin type of the unique skill: Physical, Mental, Racial, Hybrid of two types, or Combination

Curious on what could possibly be a combination of all the types, he pushes for the Combination option.

Please choose secondary type: Active, Passive, Static, Sustained

~Hmmm, I don’t want too many skills so I guess this will do~

He points to Active and the page changes.

Please choose the tertiary type: Area of Effect, Single Target, Self

He points to Area of Effect and the page changes.

Please choose the quaternary type: Heal Over Time, Massive Single Heal, Damage Over Time, Massive Damage Shot, Buff Over Time, Massive Single Buff

“Hmmm, can I pick more than one?” he decides to ask the page.

A small page pops up underneath in response to his question.

You may choose more than one but be warned that choosing more than one will increase the chance of you having a negative type effect placed on you

Bazz ponders for a moment.

“Hmmm, let’s take a risk.” He says and pushes, Buff Over Time, Massive Single Buff, and Heal Over Time.

The page changes.

Please choose Attribute(s) that the skill will be tied to: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Luck, Presence

He looks at the list and thinks for a moment not knowing what to do. He remembers the conversation with Director M that he had a couple weeks previous about how the Attributes and Skills worked.

“Does having more than one Attribute attached to the skill influence the inherent power associated with the skill?” He decides to ask.

A small window pops up below.

The more Attributes that are utilized in the creation of the skill influences how the skill will be made. The amount of inherent power associated with the skill all depends on how the skill is utilized and nothing to do with the fact of the Attributes being associated with

After reading the small pop-up, he decides to point to two different Attributes: Vitality and Intelligence. The page fades and for a few minutes nothing happens. Bazz starts looking around the room to see if he had missed something.

DING!!!

Your Unique Skill has been created in accordance to your new race!

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Blessing of the FirstBeginner10%Not many have the chance to create a skill so close to after they created their own race. For being the first, you can impart your life force and energy to other team members within a certain distance from you, leaving them with a massive increase to health, stamina, and psi regeneration during combat.

• +500% regen rate overall to team members within 25 meters

• Automatically regenerates lost limbs, cures ailments, and releases mental fatigue

• -1,000 Health, Stamina, and Psi

• Lasts for 10 minutes

• Can only be used once a month in

• {Active, Buff}

His eyes nearly pop out of their sockets at this unique skill that he was just given. The only time he could think that this skill would be useful is if he was out hunting or something with a group of people.

~I can’t even use this yet! Why the hell did the system give me something I can’t even use?!~

Another page popped up underneath the skill.

New Race has been added to Neos database. Please set requirement(s) that will determine how this race will effect the game, saying the requirement(s) aloud will suffice.

“Hmmmm, Requirement 1: Must be at least part-human and go through the same process I did. Requirement 2: Only Spacers can be part of the new Race. Requirement 3: Pain level must be set to 100%.” He says after thinking for a little bit.

~I don’t know of any people other than me that will be crazy enough to have the level for pain set to maximum~

Please set restriction(s) that you want put in place

Bazz becomes puzzled at this and thinks for a moment.

“Height gained from the last set of implantation is set at 2 feet or less. I don’t want to have to look up at people who decide to go through the process of this.”

DING!!...

The pages fade and a new page appears.

Do you wish for this race to be available to Hardcore Mode players?

“Huh? What the hell does Hardcore Mode mean?”

Hardcore Mode makes the player treat the game with more realism in association with how life in the real world is. The player’s inventory becomes restricted to what they can physically carry and gives a slight increase to the Luck Attribute.

If a player dies while using the Hardcore Mode, they lose all accumulated: stats, fame, items, and relationships made. This makes them have a hard restart when they die.

Bazz thinks for a couple minutes before saying,

“Let the race be available to everyone, Hardcore players included.”

What is the name of the new race:_________

~Hmmm, what should I say…I don’t want it to be something lame or weird. How about this…~

“Race name is Akkadian”

Do you wish for your name to be known from unlocking this new species?

He blinks for a moment at the new page. He knew the pros and cons of anonymity as well as the pros and cons of being famous. More than one heavy grudge left behind by a job had come back to haunt him in ways he didn’t think possible.

“No, leave my name out of it.”

The page fades.

DING!!

A player has introduced the new race called the Akkadians into the system! For those interested, please look forward to the info provided in the help screen in the “Races of the Galaxy” section

Bazz looks at the new page and wonders aloud, “We had a help screen? Where the hell is it?”

------------------------------

Meanwhile up in orbit…

“Get that bulkhead sealed in the aft A-324 corridor!! NOW!!!” Janus yells into his command console. “Magus65?! Where are you and your fighter squadron!?”

Flashing consoles bleed up into his face as he looks through the crew roster to find out the situation with the fighter squadron.

BOOOM!!! BOOOM!!! KABOOM!!!

The entire ship shakes from a range of attacks. Looking out through the side windows of the bridge, he sees three oversized suits fly past through the void as they charge back towards their ships in the distance. Each suit looked sleek in origin and held a surprising number of weapons on each arm. Various multitudes of fighters fly through the void kilometers in the distance, each one trying to fight off the oversized suits that seemed to be cutting through them like wet paper. As he looks over the bridge with scurrying adjutants’ and officers milling about, he wonders if this was really a game or a massive new reality meant to screw with people’s minds.

“Shields at 15% Captain!” someone yells out followed by, “Main gun batteries are still charging!”

“Comms, I want Magus65 patched into my command console. I need to know what is going on with his squadron!”

“-Sorry for the wait Captain! Had some issues with a couple manifoils on the rear ends of the fighters after that last run. Had to do a patchwork job in order to get the ships working to a minimum.-” a voice pipes up from his command console. “-These Dames are tearing us to shreds out there!-”

“I know that Magus65 hence the reason that I need you and your fighter squadron in position for another attack run. We can’t let them tear up the ship with their mechanized suits. The Shakurians certainly have no room for mercy when it comes to us and the thought of them landing on the station makes even me shudder at the implications of what would happen for the rest of the planet.”

“-Aye Captain, preparing to make the run now!-” Magus65 says enthusiastically.

“Captain we are receiving an urgent hail from Yordam Station!” a comms officer yells out to him.

“Patch it though.” Janus says and stands up to stretch his legs.

“-This is Yordam Station transceiver redirecting you to the Planetary Defense Tower of Aranov Base.-” An automated voice states from the speakers throughout the bridge.

“-Captain, I appreciate what you are doing for your comrades but you are going about it entirely the wrong way.-” A deep gruff voice cuts through. “-Going in to try and stave off the impending attacks will only agitate more and then you would be sucked into the void. I can’t allow that.-”

“You can’t allow it?! And why not?! I believe I am in control of this ship not you!” Janus shouts back angrily.

Some of the crewmembers on the bridge freeze at this when they realize who they are in contact with.

“-Because I have the authority to make sure you can never dock with any Alliance station or set foot on any Alliance world without my say-so.-” The gruff voice says coldly. “-You need to move your ship back behind the 1st fleet. We have enough Spacers trying to staunch the flow. It is a cruel fact but it needs to be known Captain.-”

Janus looks down at the floor and grips his hands tightly. Both of his hands are shaking as he tries not to ignore the order that had been iterated to him.

“No I reall--”

“Captain this is Commander Yordam…” an officer interrupts softly.

Janus stares at the officer for a moment, connecting the dots inside his head, before he visibly relaxes.

“Fine, I’ll do as you order Commander. I don’t enjoy the fact of leaving these people to die.”

“-Neither do I Captain, neither do I. But someone has to make the sacrifice, otherwise how will we prepare for a counterattack?-” the gruff voice asks and promptly cuts out leaving them in silence.

All the officers on the bridge look towards their Captain, Magus65 still sitting on the line on the command lectern being silent the entire time. Their Captain looked visibly defeated, the mental strain almost overbearing as he watched good people go into the chaos that was being fought out hundreds of kilometers away in the void.

“Prepare for what exactly?” he asks himself. “Prepare Warp Jump Drive, get us to the far side of Ti--”

DING!!

A player has introduced a new race called the Akkadians into the system! For those interested, please look forward to the info provided in the help screen in the “Races of the Galaxy” section

Janus looks at the page that had popped up in front of him while he was speaking, not quite comprehending what was happening. The same could be said of numerous other player officers on the bridge.

“Pull up ‘Races of the Galaxy: Akkadians’”

------------------------------

“Clear pages and show status.” Bazz says clearing the page about the new race introduction.

A status circle appears in front of him.

Status WindowName:BazzAlignment:NeutralLevel:1Class:??Race:AkkadianGender:MaleTitlesFounding FatherFame:5,650Infamy:750-Health:2,250/ 2,250Health Regen:15 / SecStamina:2,250 / 2,250Stamina Regen:15 / SecPsi:900 / 900Psi Regen:1 / SecSatiety:87 /100-Strength:300(450)Agility:300(450)Vitality:350(525)Dexterity:101(151.5)Intelligence:70Presence:50Luck:18Wisdom:90-Attack:60-64Defense:50Physical ResistancesSlashing:15 %Piercing:15%Crushing:15%Damage Reduction20%Elemental ResistancesFire:0Water:0Wind:0Earth:0Internal ResistancesPoison:65%Disease:65%Mental:0

There it was plain as day. He continued to stand there in the mirror looking at the page that had confirmed the previous page.

~I’m practically a cross between the old Captain America and the Hulk ~

Continuing to look into the mirror at his body, his face has thickened and grown a bit larger, almost bulky looking. His cheekbones and jaw became more firm, almost noble looking in their overly large way. All of his muscles were heavily accentuated and almost devoid of fat.

He resumes what he was previously doing before this and starts wondering what the injections were. Along the lines of the wondering, he starts forming questions in his mind that he would ask Marneus when he next met him. While thinking, he remembers the book lying open on top of the desk.

~I didn’t take Marneus for a reader. I wonder what it is~

Walking over, he finishes undressing the top half of the bandages and picks up the small book in the middle of the desk. Curiosity getting the better of him, he flips to the front of the book and starts walking back to the bed, thinking that it would be a nice little story to pass the time while he waited for Marneus.

Reaching the starting page, in big bold words in curving script state,

Property of Marneus Augustus Juvald Yordam, Personal Diary and Collection of Thoughts before and after the Unification War.

He didn’t know whether he should pry into something that wasn’t his but decided to risk it. He didn’t know that much about his benefactor and seeing as this was an opportunity, better to ask for forgiveness than permission right? Fenris jumps up on the bed next to him and lays his head on Bazz’s lap in boredom.

Flipping through the diary, he read about the vast amounts of battles that he had gotten into and the eventual rise to power through his strategic genius. He ended the Unification War of Humanity by making all of the noble clans sign a treaty to hold up their race in the face of the growing cosmic games. The reason they deigned to sign the treaty in the first place was because they were scared to death of what he could do if given enough time to consolidate his power as a genius general and commander of men.

Bazz continued reading for the better part of an hour before he stumbled upon something that he understood the basics of. Human Evolution.

Star date: 12. 35. 34, 989

Humanity has finally gotten a place within the Centanus Synedrion, I don’t know about the details of this but it is a giant step when it comes to the influence humankind can be considered within the ‘civilized’ parts of the galaxy.

This also means that all of our actions will start to be heavily judged the same as with the rest of the council races. Each race has their own speciality and seem to have a good program to find the best within their race. If only we can do something that can equal this, it might help show that we aren’t that far behind the rest of them.

I talked to Morias about this and he seems to agree with my thoughts. We need something to show that we can progress within the open galaxy.

Bazz flips a couple more pages, all of them having to do with the consolidation of the Alliance within the Centanus Synedrion, before coming to a stop on what some might consider the beginning.

Star date: 28. 34. 34,990

One of our expeditions into the Belt proved fruitful. They went in to the Belt closest to our position in the galaxy and managed to find something that no one has managed to find.

A mummified Anunnaki. Gods this thing is massive. 4 meters tall, 2 meters wide, and close to being a human in all physical aspects. When Doc examined him (I’m assuming it is a him considering his physical features), she didn’t even take into account the arm span of the giant.

Hopefully this is the start we have been waiting for.

Star date: 4. 20. 34,991

I managed to convince my ‘wife’ to research into forcibly making an evolution within the Human genome. She didn’t seem all too pleased at first while I was trying to convince her but as soon as I said that we had a mummified Anunnaki, she practically begged me to become a part of it.

She said, “It might be fun!”… That isn’t something that I had expected to hear coming from her considering all of the research that she has gotten into within the last couple years. She wants to start with trying to reverse-engineer the genetic make-up of the Anunnaki with the intention of trying to bond its gene strands to a humans. She does consider how much variance is within the Human genome to begin with and thinks it is a challenge.

Sounds kind of weird to me but I’ll take her word for it. She seems to have a knack for finding new ways to break and bend new things.

I spoke to Doc about this issue and she got excited as well considering the fact that she didn’t have anything to experiment on. She got started on genetic bio-engineering as soon as Morias and I left. She wanted to start on trees considering she didn’t want to start with a human being as a test subject.

All in all, I have dubbed this issue as the ‘Nacirema Project’.

Let’s see where it goes.

Star date: 5. 02. 34, 993

Doc had a break-through with the bio-engineering and has started getting funding by the noble clans. They seem to be under the impression that she is researching this for the sole purpose of improving the way of life on Terra. Millions of credits are going her way and she made the Principae as a direct result of their funding.

Apparently that was a side project considering the fact that she is using the bulk of the funds under the pretext of ‘Global Energy Conservation’ as a way to find ‘volunteers’ to experiment on.

She needs ‘live, testable, products’ in order to make any headway into the genetic structuring of the human genus. “If you figure out a way in order to manipulate the individual gene strands, you can bet on the fact that there will be consequences. To some people, this would be akin to spitting in the Gods faces and messing with the natural order of the cosmos. But seeing as a certain Monarchy within the galaxy has issued that bonding of genetic codes could induce new species, I stopped believing in the powers of ‘God’.”

In any event, she managed to finish a prototype serum for enhancing muscle tissue and skeletal sturdiness based off of the physical aspects of the Anunnaki. She submitted the serum to one Captain Solide Dulim Ka Sterling with the intention of finding ‘volunteers’ to try and test the serum.

Let’s hope that this works because I don’t think that the Centanus Synedrion will condone this sort of research and neither will the Agora Council. Morias has started taking countermeasures just in case something happens, and consequently has started calling himself by his first initial to make sure no one knows who he is.

Bazz continues flipping through the pages one after another as he reads about how the start of the Evolution of Humanity was created. After a couple pages turned, he freezes on one page.

Star Date: 6. 36. 34, 996

The serum for the muscular and skeletal enhancement is simply disastrous. Out of the 10 million ‘volunteers’ that we had, only around 3 million survived the process. Out of those 3 million, only a couple hundred actually had some semblance of intelligence. All of the ‘volunteers’ ended up with some form of gigantism and bulky appearances. With the gigantism set into them because of the serum there was also mass degeneration of the mental faculties. They were literally being turned into giants with a ton of strength, but had no brains to accommodate the oversized body. There would have been so much potential with the recruits had we not decided to turn them into giant brutes.

The hundred or so volunteers have started acting as sort of leaders for the hulking monstrosities. Giving them some semblance of order in their muscle brained lives. My ‘wife’ wishes to experiment with these volunteers but I flatly stated no seeing as we have overstepped our bounds with this. M says that we can’t let the Synedrion members find out about this or humanity may be stripped of its status and fall from the ensuing war from the other council races.

We have enough problems on our hands considering the fact that the noble clans have started to hear about how their money is being squandered by Doc.

I’m also hearing rumors about a group of Travelers in our quadrant of the galaxy, which subsequently gives me some reason to start fearing for our experimentation. They aren’t known to be forgiving towards those who decide to go outside the rules of the Centanus Synedrion. We as a species have only just gained a position in the cosmic arena and this group of Travelers could potentially derail that position and possibly start a war within the galaxy. I can only hope that Solitaire can be convinced of leaving us be.

Star date: 9. 13. 34, 996

Doc has been working on another set of organs instead of the serum for increased systemic use. She seems to be under the impression that all of the systems in the body should be fully increased, not just the muscles and skeleton. This way it at least starts to become fully balanced. There’s only one problem.

The implants that she is developing are only geared towards those with the Psi trait. When I asked why, she said that people with the Psi trait in their genes seem to be able to acclimatize the implants better and the implants are likewise easier to be accepted by the host.

This does not bode well with the rest of the project. If we can’t find a way to make the implants and serum work in conjunction while at the same time not have the host have a Psi trait, this severely limits the options that we have of forcibly causing an evolution within the human genome.

Hopefully my ‘wife’ will be able to figure out the genetic code taken from mummified Anunnaki into something that can be transmitted and bonded to a complete host, otherwise…all of this experimentation has been a colossal waste of time and resources.

Star Date: 28. 30. 34, 998

My ‘wife’ has finished her mapping of the genetic code for the mummified Anunnaki. She had nothing short of amazement at how complex their genetic structure was compared to ours. Something about tetra helix gene sequence, that’s just what she said at any rate.

She wants to see if she can bond the human genetic structure with the Anunnaki genetic structure in some sort of helix coupling. That means that she wants to not only play an active role in forcing a human evolution, but also to take it one step further. I have no idea what that means but I sure hope we have a stable host in order to do that. Apparently we need someone with abnormally stable and malleable genes in order to produce the bonding effect. So far however, we haven’t had much luck.

She informed me that it will affect the body the same way a Psi AMP works with Psi tuning. Although it will only be the tuning portion that I should expect to happen, nothing cosmetic. I hope she is right, I shudder to think what will happen if we actually manage to bond the genetic structure to the base of the new human and end up introducing a monster to the galaxy.

Star date: 1. 34. 34, 999

My ‘wife’ managed to convert the serum to something that can be safely utilized by those with the Psi trait and managed to find a way to lessen the effects for general use in normal humans. Apparently having the Psi trait allows for better integration of the serum within the body. The fact that we can have another lesser serum because of the refinement the two doctors did, allows the marines to be better equipped for high gravity worlds when it comes to an exploring or rescue mission.

I unfortunately had to meet with the group of Travelers and Solitaire was also with them. The last time I saw Solitaire was when humanity was admitted into the Centanus Synedrion. This time however, it felt like I was being judged by them. Travelers are a finicky sort, you never know what they are thinking behind those masks of theirs and it always feels like they are looking at you.

When I met Solitaire and the Traveler band, they were only in our neighborhood to look into the Belt. Something about a chamber within some ruins that had something to do with the Anunnaki. It’s a good thing they aren’t here about what we’re doing because I don’t think I can handle this much stress.

M has recommended that we move the ‘volunteers’ to a different planet in order to show that we have no connection whatsoever. I’m inclined to agree, we can’t let the other races from Synedrion find out about what we have been doing.

We also got a report from the Synedrion that people from another dimension will start making an appearance at the turn of the millennium. We, and the Synedrion members, have agreed to call them Spacers. Because of this, I will reiterate my previous comment, we move the ‘volunteers’ to a different planet in order to show that we have no connection whatsoever.

Bazz clutches the book tightly as he continues to read. Anger starts clouding his eyes the more that he reads. Fenris lifts his head up from Bazz’s lap and looks at him, seemingly sensing the tension that is building in his master.

“Marneus, you have a lot to answer for.” Bazz says with a murderous look showing across his face.

DING! …

The Predecessor’s SecretsDifficulty: ???Description:Requirement(s):You found evidence of what happened to your predecessors. Millions have died in the course of the Human experiment for forced evolution and only a few million remain.

• Find evidence on where the experimented ‘volunteers’ went.

Must have completed the quest Human Evolution

Quest Rewards:

???

------------------------------

Two people in grey walk down a brightly lit hallway, seeming to make small talk about the ongoings of the day. One a woman, the other a dark-skinned youth that has the same build as their captain if a little shorter. The woman was carrying a stack of papers to her chest while the youth had a completely relaxed posture with his hands in his pockets and a toothpick hanging out of the left side of his mouth.

“I wonder what he’s like Jaina. I didn’t get to see him seeing as he was currently on the gurney being rolled to the Commander’s room about three days ago. With all that’s going on in orbit, I hope he is the capable sort.” A dark-skinned youth says playfully to his companion.

“From what I can understand, he seems to be very protective of those close to him and he is always serious. Other than that I can’t say. His dog is quite cute though…” the woman replies nervously as they round a corner.

“I just don’t understand why Dad wanted us to see if he had awakened yet. I mean, none of the others have seen him since the day he arrived and went into the surgeon’s room four days ago. And cute? A dog that size is cute?! We have Shakurian ships and their Dames battling the 1st fleet and a dog being cute is your main train of thought?! Even if the Spacers are trying to help, they aren’t doing a good enough job of it!”

“Well he is! I can’t help it! How do you expect me to cope with this amount of stress Diam?!”

“Well I don’t know, however girls cope with stress I guess. I don’t know what women think and certainly not for one such as you.”

“What do you mean not for one such as me?! I’m a perfectly normal, albeit overly smart, woman!”

Diam stops in his tracks in the middle of the hallway a couple meters away from the Commander’s room and looks over at Jaina.

“Define norm—”

BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!

The door to the commander’s room bursts forward and slams to the wall taking the hinges and pieces of the frame with it. Dust particles and a chilling wind rush out of the open room, completely complementing the nearly shattered door. The two standing in the hallway stand stock still, not knowing what to do in this situation.

Looking towards the now empty doorway, a massive figure dips its head in order to avoid the top of the doorframe. Their eyes continuously widen at the sight of this figure, a figure the both of them could only describe as a bronze giant that was standing before them dressed only from the waist down in a patched black survival suit.

Perfectly sculpted muscles and a slightly veiny exterior could be seen by the slight dip of the giant’s body. As the giant got into the hallway and stood up, its horrendous scars started shifting slightly due to the muscular ripples underneath the skin. His torso looked more like slabs of granite that had been colored over with a deep bronze colored coating, than a normal human’s musculature. Each individual ab looked closer to a brick along with each oblique forming a sort of connected tree root being raveled into the other muscles.

The large head attached to the body shifted slightly to the left, making the noble looking face looking down at the two seem a little comical despite the murderous gaze that was reflecting through his cold piercing eyes.

A marvel of human architecture standing before them, his waist was at the same height as their heads, if not slightly higher. He was almost as wide as the two of them put side by side and taller than both of them by at least a meter, tall enough for his head to nearly skim the ceiling. Diam and Jaina stood there in the hallway, arching their heads up in order to meet the bronze giants gaze. Neither of them moving within the confines of the hallway.

“You…” the bronze giant starts in a deep voice.

------------------------------

Bazz stood there looking down at the two people staring up at him. One was a dark skinned youth whom he would probably put at around 17 years of age. His build was similar to a certain Captain that he had seen previously and started comparing the two’s faces to see if they were indeed similar. He switches his gaze over to the woman standing next to the youth, noting her thin and frail appearance, not quite filling out the grey jumpsuit she was wearing.

She looked familiar to him.

“You…” He starts but then thinks better of it.

The two standing there have no idea what to make of him considering his stature completely filling the hallway. Their mouths agape at him while he starts leaning down to grab his bag that was on the ground. Fenris comes out of the room behind him and sits on his haunches, waiting to know where he will go next.

“A-are you…” the woman starts asking.

“I am.” Bazz states looking at her intently, “I remember you well, young miss.”

She cringes slightly at his confirmation. She hadn’t forgotten the time she had met him on the dock. It had been a slightly… harmful introduction.

“Where am I exactly, and where is Marneus?” He continues looking over at the dark-skinned youth.

The youth looks up at him, mouth slightly agape.

“You are at the Planetary Defense Tower of Aranov Base and the Commander is currently strategizing and organizing the current defenses of the planet from the top of the tower.” The woman says making Bazz’s gaze turn back over to her.

“Take me to him. We have much… to discuss.” He says sternly while looking deep into her eyes.

The two look at each other for a moment before turning around as told and start walking in the direction they were previously coming from. They didn’t want to argue with a bronze giant that could easily squash them flat.

“You never told me your name young miss, same for you young sir.” Bazz says as he walks with a hand holding his bag.

The two in front of him slightly stiffen, not anticipating this. The sound of the three booted feet and a set of four padded paws echoed inside the interior of the metallic hallway.

“I am Jaina Shanina, first chair of the Tactics and Strategy Division of Aranov Academy. The guy next to me is Diamtu Dulim Ka Sterling, first chair among the Ranged and Close Assault Division of Aranov Academy.” the woman pipes up.

“Or in other words, the Alliance’s clumsiest girl of the Tactics and Strategy Division and the Alliance’s best recruit fighter in the Academy. Everyone just calls me Diam for short.” Diamtu says nonchalantly.

“Confident are you?” Bazz asks looking over at the youth.

A smile graces Diam’s face as he looks over his shoulder at him.

“I have to be considering my lineage. The Ka family have been known to be one of the best when it comes to introducing some of the best fighters into the Alliance Marines.”

Bazz takes that answer at face value and continues to walk in silence. Diam and Jaina start becoming unnerved because of his silence and start fidgeting throughout the trip down the hallway.

The passing of several adjacent hallways and corridors over the passing minutes leaves something to be desired for Bazz. The more he walks, the more he comes to notice that his presence in the area is…tenuous at best. Every so often the group would pass by a couple recruits and their expressions of him was usually of fear. Sometimes there would be one or two who would look at him with awe, but most of the time it was fear.

A whisper from Elena Indie has been initiated

Elena asks.

Surprised to be hearing from his contact, he decides to start the interrogation.

He becomes quiet for a moment.

He asks after carefully thinking about his word choices.

She says trying to shift the attention.

The group in the hallway turns towards a doorway leading to a lift.

He asks with a puzzled face.

Jaina presses a button on a console on the side of the lift that seems to be for the top of the Tower. The feeling of gravity pushing down on them ensues as the lift vibrates going up through the Tower.

He says with some excitement.

She asks with a sort of quizzical tone.

The lift doors slide open showing a large room surrounded by holographic screens. A large circular object stands in the middle of the room with varying holographic images being processed above it. Marneus leans over it with a heavy gloom showing on his face and Solide stands next to him watching the holograms. Officers are walking to and from various holograms discreetly speaking into their earpieces all around the room.

He says to her with some finality.

Chat has ended

~Oh well, just like usual~

The group starts walking into the room and before anyone knows it, a creeping cold seeps into the surroundings garnering the attention of everyone within the room. All eyes flew up to the murderous gaze of the bronze giant standing in their midst. Marneus, noticing the familiar pressure, gazed up at Bazz with a questioning look and becomes startled at the killing intent being exuded towards him.

“Marneus. What the hell did I just read?” Bazz asks flatly holding out the leather bound journal.

Marneus’ face drains of color as he sees what book is in the man’s hand. Solide, noticing what was happening, draws a gun similar in appearance to the ones used by the guards of the Operations HQ, and points it towards Bazz. As soon as the officers see his actions, they all whip out their weapons and point it directly at him.

Bazz looks over at the Captain and tilts his head slightly.

“Is that really the wisest course of action Captain?” he asks softly activating the pressure option of his Aura.

Sweat starts beading on Solide’s forehead and ever so slightly the gun wavers. The surrounding officers start sweating profusely and struggle to maintain their grip on their weapons.

“Bazz, what did you re—” Marneus asks carefully.

“Centanus Synedrion, Nacirema Project, Travelers, ‘wife’… is there anything I should know about this, Commander?” Bazz interrupts coldly.

Marneus cringes slightly at the terms being asked of him. He almost had the look of a boy who had been caught doing a bad thing and was being reprimanded.

“Explain to me the reason why you started this.” Bazz says flatly.

Marneus stands there, unable to divert the attention of everyone in the room.

“Humanity is seen in the galaxy as upstarts. We only have around 4 trillion people spread out across our colonies among the Arctus, Cygnas, and Sol system. We are also considered the youngest when it comes to the other races of the Centanus Synedrion. That being said, every race within the Synedrion has at least one speciality that they are known for.” Marneus starts saying softly.

“I’m guessing that I am the amalgamation of your research into making a speciality for the human race?” Bazz asks softly, slowly easing up on his Aura.

“…Yes. Above all, the Clan Families have been pushing for having something that can stand as a symbol for the Human race. We currently have nothing to show for our efforts. The only thing that I feel that we have done is waste the talent of millions of people and have nothing to show for it. You are the only thing that we currently have.” Marneus says with a defeated sigh. “Did you read my diary all the way to the end, boy?”

Bazz looks at the journal in his hand and remembered that he had only finished up to three quarters of the entire diary. Captain Solide and the officers slowly lower their weapons seeing as the threat had been diverted.

Opening the diary, he turns to the page he had stopped at and continues reading.

Star date: 1. 1. 35,000

Spacers have started inhabiting my station and they are a sorry looking bunch. Just looking at them gives me some sort of feeling that I may be replaced within the Alliance judging by all of their confident faces. Most of them come up to the commissioned officers asking for advice on how things in this universe worked and the officers have been obliging for the moment. One tried to ask me one of those questions while I was trying to have lunch one day and I almost threw him across the room because of the way he addressed me. “You there, NPC” he said, “Where can I go to get a mining tug?”

I struggled to not shoot him on the spot for him thinking that I was this NPC thing. What is an NPC anyway? Oh well, no use fretting over it now.

I received a call a couple hours later from M. He said he had met a very interesting Spacer going by the name of Bazz and was already mucking up the underground mafia with his antics. I hadn’t heard of any of the Spacers going down to Terra and this piqued my interest.

He may be worth looking into, possibly worth seeing him as experimental material for the Project.

Star date: 1. 22. 35,000

This Bazz is impressing me every step of the way. Ever since he agreed to be a ‘volunteer’ for the Project, he seems to be integrating the implants into his system far better than any other.

I’m wondering if the Spacers themselves hold the key to making this project work. If they do, then… no matter. I’ll just try and see this brat through the rest of the process.

However, this Bazz is starting to rub off on me a bit. Am I going soft in my old age?

Star date: 1. 30. 35,000

Got to Aranov Base and the Academy is in full swing. There is only two problems.

1. A detachment from the Shakurian Empire has decided to attack us for some reason unbeknownst to us.

And

2. Bazz had another panic attack that left him unconscious.

The second one helps a bit because we can get the last set of the process done and over with. The first one leaves me questioning why the Shakurian Empire is in the Sol system in the first place.

The Shakurian Empire is known to be very proud and takes slights against them very seriously. They also have a history of being primarily a matriarchy and take dames as their military force. The only time they will allow a male Shakurian to be in the military or rule is when they have no other option. This leaves them to primarily uplift and teach only the female caste within their monarchic structured society. The main thing that they teach to their girls/ women is how to use their Celim, or mechanized suits. They heavily accentuate on the use of personal and ranged combat within space so they leave their world for a specialized school that gravitates around their homeworld.

I’ve sent the 1st Fleet to try to stave them off for the time being but I can’t expect either the 2nd or 3rd fleets to get here to help push them out of our system. We had some excess ships in the ship yards of Titan and on Mars but we didn’t have the manpower to run them. Luckily we had the Spacers who are willing to learn how to pilot them so we had some extra forces on hand. The main problem is that some of the Spacers that are captains of the Cruiser class ships tend to not want to listen to my orders while I am strategizing with everything going on. They don’t seem to understand the importance of strategy and tactics that well.

The only thing that I can hope for is that nothing disastrous happens while the Spacers are fighting the Dames.

On another note, I’ve started growing fond of Bazz. He isn’t like all the other people that I have known. He seems to be anywhere to be cautious to outright protective when it comes to the issues being thrown at him. The incident at the Agora Council chambers proved to me that he has a certain fearlessness about him that I haven’t seen in a while. It looked almost as if he had been a raging animal with his instincts flaring up while in that hall.

I think Bazz can be the symbol that humanity needs right now. Not just for the Alliance as a whole to see, but maybe for the rest of the Synedrion as well.

This being said, it’s time to go back to strategizing.

Bazz looks up from finishing this last page and gazes at Marneus.

“No.” he says stone-faced.

Marneus looks at him with a quizzical expression. The same expression can be seen on the faces of everyone else within the room.

“What do you mean no?” Marneus asks.

“I refuse to be put on display. The last time I was the center of attention… I got most of my friends and family killed.” Bazz states heavily. The jagged scar on his chest aches for a moment, as if a small testament to his words rings out in his body.

Marneus stares at him for a moment, not knowing how to respond. A couple minutes pass by in silence as the room doesn’t move with any activity. Marneus continues to look into the face the giant and sees the underlying sadness of his words and begins to understand the meaning behind his words.

“*sigh*…We have more important things to worry about at this moment. Bazz, I’m having a problem with the current skirmish up in space. A detachment from the Shakurian Empire has invaded deep into the Sol system and is currently fighting the combined might of the 1st fleet and the Spacer conglomerate.

Right now, everything is in shambles and Yordam station might become a battlefield or even worse, destroyed with all of its inhabitants if this isn’t resolved. Do you know of any way to get through this?” Marneus asks turning back to the massive holographic image floating in the middle of the room.

Bazz looks at the holographic image and notices the positions of the fleets along a diagram of the solar system. What looked like sleek, dagger-like ships were sitting around the edge of Saturn’s discs with a little pathway made to where the bulk of where the 1st fleet was battling something around halfway between Mars and Jupiter. This left a wide space open before an object onscreen was designated as Yordam station.

“I need data on each of the fleets in question before I can give you any sort of distinct answer.” Bazz says as he looks up at the hologram.

Surprised looks grace the faces of everyone in the room and they all start hurling information at him. After about 30 minutes of gathering all the necessary proponents, he immediately thinks of a time in his past of when he was staging a mock skirmish with his fellow practitioners.

“What are the nearest solar systems closest to the Sol system?” Bazz asks Marneus.

“They would be the Alpha Centauri and Beutlae systems. Why do you ask?” Marneus replies immediately.

Bazz leans down on the circular object in the middle of the room starts saying slowly,

“Split the 1st fleet in two and have each half leave the system heading towards those systems. Pull the Spacer conglomerate back to Yordam station and start having them mount a solid wall of defenses.”

“Wouldn’t that leave us open for attack?” Marneus asks flabbergasted.

“It would at first, but let them consider the fact that half of our current forces have now left the playing field and they don’t know when they will return and from which direction they will come from. That will undoubtedly bring some caution to them and make them shift their attention on what could happen. This gives the Spacers all the fighting they want and gets most of the Humans out of the way for the time being. The 1st fleet can take their remaining time while in transit to the system to make emergency repairs to their ships and gets them better prepared for what comes afterward.” Bazz says standing back up.

As he finishes saying this, he feels his feet leave the floor.

“And what will happen if they decide to charge instead of wondering where our forces went?” a female voice calls out from behind him with a crisp British accent.

Marneus looks over at the woman and smiles wryly.

“Then we will have the 1st fleet come back in and flank them from behind. It’s a simple tactic but it can be used to win given the circumstances. I’m betting they will eventually charge, but the fact that they are here means that they came with an agenda. What that agenda is I have no idea.” Bazz explains trying to turn his head around to speak to the female voice.

“Hmmm, simple yet effective. I like it. But someone will need to be the bait in case they decide to hold back for too long.” The female voice says.

Bazz feels his floating body turning around in the air as the female voice says this and he gets a good look at her coming from the lift door.

Grayed bobbed hair with a smooth and silky look to it shone in the light. Slight wrinkles and dimples on her cheeks signifying her age and piercing blue eyes showing a fighters resolve. She was a curvy woman with a pure white lab coat and a hand raised up slightly towards him emitting some kind of light bluish energy.

“Judging by your stature I am assuming that you are the Spacer that Marneus told me about.” She says with her eyes twinkling.

Bazz looks at her with a confused expression and thinks back to the numerous comments in Marneus’ diary.

“You are… Marneus’ wife?” He asks.

“Hahahaha, I’m surprised he still has the gall to call me that after the amount of frolicking he does with women half his age. I am the Centanus Synedrion ambassador for the human race and the best genetics researcher the galaxy has ever seen! You may call me Dr. Cleo.” She says with a predatory smile.

“Ummm, maybe now isn’t the best time?” Marneus pipes up weakly.

“Shut it. I have enough problems considering the kinds of ethical feedback you have given me over the years. So boy, I trust you have read about the part where I want to see if I can bond the helix to your own?” Cleo asks clearly.

“I did, although I have no idea if it will even work.” Bazz states with a smile.

“Well neither do I, let’s find out shall we?” she says with finality.

------------------------------

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the Sol system…

“-Solitaire, my senses are picking up a bright small flame coming from within the Aethelion. This… flame is coming from the direction of Terra.-” A small dual tone voice pipes up from Solitaire’s command chair on the bridge.

The bridge is empty except for one person sitting in the middle of the room.

A white mask with the face of a grinning rictus under bright glowing golden eyes looks over at where the voice had come from. Pushing down on a highlighted button, Solitaire replies softly,

“That’s odd. My own senses haven’t picked up anything yet. Are you certain of this Pysol?”

“-I’m certain. Amidst the masses of Terra and its fleets, only one blots out the others. It is a new flame in regards to the few old crumbling ones I can feel over there. I would very much like to see what this new flame is.-” The dual toned voice replies in earnest.

“Very well, but first I would like to see the outcome of this little war between the Shakurians and the Humans. Which do you think will win?”