Finally done with this and pretty pleased. Though will be redesigning that wolf/Encarciconian form in the future. Need to mash some other alien aspects into it to work in how many different species he’s absorbed over the years.
EDIT: Now with proper story blurb below!
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Jane was barely able to pick herself off the ground, her entrails she was grasping were slowly pulling themselves back into her chest, once that Cryros stepped in. An Independent Cryros. She thought that was made up, just something coined for when she had her stint as one of them as the “Rogue Cyros”, but no. Those things were a reality and one was standing before her. One that nearly killed her… but stopped for some strange reason. Now he was covered from head to toe in her blood, blood of her allies, and… blood of its own.
“They really are wildcards.” She mumbled under her strained breathing, eyes focusing on the Synapses Cords, those glowing blue memory banks, laying on the ground, underneath the man. She still couldn’t believe he slaughtered the entourage he was meant to guard. They had her and her friends on the ropes once he joined in, but for some strange reason he ordered them to leave and not kill them. The Cryros weren’t too pleased by that and continued the fight. Wanting blood and new biomass to join the horde. He in turn attacked them, ripping out their spines, those Synapses Chords, and assimilating the fallen.
“YOU INDEPENDENTS ARE ALL THE SAME!” She remembered the dying cries of one of his comrades he consumed when they tried to behead her.
Hearing a snicker like a hyena mixed with a wolf made her ears twitch and eyes flash open. Her eyes darted around and saw nothing, until a few drops of blood suddenly materialized mid-air. Still nothing was there. Then there were more snickers followed by the sound of the sands shifting like something was being raked through it. Then she saw it. Shadows forming under foot and on the man. Just being the him, parts of a wolf-like creature flickered into existence. They were unnaturally massive and parts of its form was twisted with that Cryros metal. An eye, with sharp pupil, was intensely focused on her as it raised is blood soaked hand, soaked with the blood of its supposed allies, and licked it off its fur.
“Right… He has some poor Encarciconian in him.” She mumbled with a growl, showing some of her canines. One of her kind assimilated and twisted by that mad race. She hated them with a burning passion for all they had done to so many in the universe. To what they had done to her home town.
“Jane Audron…” The Independent Cryros finally spoke after the massacre came to an end. There was a slight “southern” drawl to his voice. “Tch.” He chuckled as he rubbed his chin, smearing more blood on his beard. “Jaaaane Auuuudroooon…” He repeated her name again, letting it linger and roll off his tongue.
She narrowed her eyes at him. He laughed at that.
“You’ve got some fightn’ spirit, girl.” Vibrant green eyes lit up as he grinned. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a Styke’s stinger. He stuck it in his mouth, lit it, and took a long drag. “Some fightn’ spirit. I like that. Most don’t last long with me, but you did. Then again… I was holding back.”
Jane let out a low snarl. Parts of her hands shifted to her real form as her nails, now claws, dug into the ground. She wanted to pounce on the man, tear at him and rescue that imprisoned Encarciconian — and anyone else — in those Synapses Chords, but she held back that anger. She didn’t have access to half her abilities at the moment due to recent events and then she had her AI’s doing maintenance so access to her arsenal was limited. Attacking him now would surely get her killed… even if that was usually a temporary setback for her.
“Jane Audron.” The man repeated her name again, tapping the stinger against his chest, leaving burn marks that quickly healed, before laughing. “I see why so many fear you and them Queens do too. Why they want you in the fold. That ain’t happening. Don’t need to be happening. Need some capable folk that can eventually cull their madness.”
And he could make that happen right here and right now. But, he was letting her live.
“But there’s something…” He paused as his eyes focused on her. Focused on her face and her features. “There’s something about you girl makes me… nostalgic… Got old memories surfacing. Heh heh.” That grinned grew more. “I’ll let you live, you are an interesting one. Here.”
He raised his other hand to the back of his neck. His face twisted into a grimace as he grunted. The sounds of flesh tearing and metal twisting and breaking could be heard. The metal on his skin rippled, twisted, and spiked violently as the ripping sounds continued. Following a loud snap, she saw why. He pulled out his own Synapses Chord. Two of them. The bulbous spine twitched as it swung in the air and blood dripped from it. The next second, he tossed it and they landed right in front of her. “A little parting gift. Absorb those first before any of the others.” He glanced down at the ones at his feet. He then looked back at her. That death glare was now one of pure confusion. That made him and the wolf laugh. “Hope to meet you again.”
With a quick swipe of its claws, the Wolf tore open a rift in space and the two quickly made their leave. Once both pass through, it closed behind them.
Jane’s eyes looked down at the Chords he tossed to her. They looked slightly different from the rest. Those glowing bulbs, the memory banks, were numerous, armored, and were neatly packed together compared to the jumble mess from other Cryros. They continued to twitch and wiggled towards her, searching for a new host. She looked back towards where the man once was, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“What the hell…” But she couldn’t. And she couldn’t help shake the feeling, a sickening pit forming in her stomach, that there was something familiar about that man’s face.
