It had been weeks in the cell. Bloem had calculated every inch of the room. She had cried, yelled, absolutely lost her shit in this room. She had damaged the walls more than once, and still there were blood streaks that never got fully cleaned up when she had decided that finger painting with blood was in fact the way to pass the time. Her hair had been brushed through well and yet the lack of showers had made it lose a bit of its shine. Bloem in general had lost a bit of her sparkle. The last few days she had been sitting in the corner simply waiting for anyone to come through the door. Preferably of course her Ylajali...
But it wasn’t her Ylajali. It was her Sergeant.
When he walked in she immediately got back on her feet and straightened her back. "I hope you've learned why we have these rules in place blank." Of course Finlay never used her name. "Yes sir…" Finlay looked her up and down and shook his head. “You are depressing. But, there’s work we need you to do. Lexi and Tanner will bring you your uniform. You’ll go by the armory and take whatever you desire as long as you can carry it. Then take the shuttle to testing grounds GQ7 together with the doc. Make sure she's got enough bags for you. You’ll need them.” Bloem looked up to him with a questioning look, only to be greeted with a disgusted snarl before the sergeant left the cell. He left the door open, allowing for a bit of the artificial wind to blow into the cell and into bloems hair. This wasn’t the usual debriefing. In fact it was lackluster information wise. Not that she would object now, she was finally able to leave the cell. If she had to go out and fight some mysterious blank for it, she would. Nobody would get between her and her freedom, now that she could feel it so close.
After she got suited up (awkwardly, with her new wings tucked underneath) and armored herself with her usual swords and guns she was ready, awaiting further orders in the shuttle. Orders that never came. She checked in with her doc, making sure there were enough blood bags for any healing or discipline uses she may have to do. There were enough bags luckily. The odd part was that it was more than she'd consider usual. Which did make her a bit nervous. Though she knew better than to question her sergeant. She kept her head down as the shuttle drove deep underground to the testing grounds.
She hadn’t been to this specific testing ground in many years. In her earlier time working with the coalition and S.A.D. in particular she had been forced to fight captured kindred in these testing chambers. They would study her technique and that of the blank they had forced to battle for life and death. Today however, it was not a typical blank standing in the middle of the room. If it was a blank at all..? When Bloem tried to get a better look with Auspex, they had a tainted glow. It was hot, but not yet burning. However it did not help Bloem ease any tension. What was that. It wasn’t dead. But it didn't seem… alive. It made all the hair stand up straight on her back. For the first time since she got them removed, she wished for her fangs back, feeling vulnerable and naked without them.
While trying to calm down she looked at the other people standing around the… thing. Lab coat types. Checking the thing over. She let her eyes glide over the faces to see if any perhaps were familiar. Most weren't, except for one. Her Major Paola. She was not normally in LA, let alone on the testing grounds. She seemed to be conversing with another lab coat type which she didn’t recognize. But they seemed to have a good conversation while Major looked the thing over.
"BB 10467!" Finlay shouted on the left side of the ground. Bloem quickly made her way over. “Present sir.” She tried to keep her gaze down, but the presence of the thing… as if it was staring in her back. It made her skin crawl. “You will be participating in a demo from Eidolon Paratechnic. All you need to do is- 10467!? Are you even listening?” Finlay snapped his fingers, but Bloem was still entranced by the thing. Enough to make her very aware of the lack of noise from inside her body. Her heart should be beating as if it was running out of time, her blood should be pumping making her entire face flare up but none of that happened. Instead, she and the thing stared at each other. “Hellooooo earth to Bloem? Christs sake, did the cell fry your brain?” She shook her head in response, looking back at Finlay, straightening her back and holding her position, now towering over her sergeant. “Apologies sir… I am listening sir.”
“Yeah yeah you better be. I'm not explaining it twice. You're part of the demo to showcase project ARCHON’s potential. Your task is to take the tango down. You may damage it. you do whatever you wish to it as long as it goes down. No care about anything else, got it? The major is watching. You should not disappoint her.”
“Affirmative sir.” Bloem replied with a nod.
“Try not to turn to dust.” And with that Finlay walked off to meet with Major and the lab coats who in return greeted him and started walking to the safety rooms. Bloem now alone with the thing… or project ARCHON as it was apparently called. She walked up closer to it. Feeling its tainted warmth crawl over her skin. She reached out a hand for it to shake as a greeting but it did not move. It just towered above her. It wasn’t right. She took a few steps back. Taking out her swords.
“Ready 10467?” the voice of her major rang through the intercoms. “Affirmative!” she responded, bracing herself.
“Neutralize the target.” This voice was not one she recognized but she did not have the time to think about it as the thing came into motion, trying to grab her. She blinked out of the way behind it and turned invisible. Clearly. They had started.
The moment she turned invisible the thing waited. Bloem on the other hand circled it. just out of reach enough before making an attempt to cut its arm. The moment she got close enough the thing turned around, trying to grab her face with its big hands. All he managed to do however was hit her sword out of her hand before Bloem blinked away again. Her obfuscate broken. Clearly this thing could see through her obf-
She couldn’t finish the thought as the thing kneed her in the abdomen, sending her flying. She just managed to magically land on her feet like a cat before she went running, coughing up blood.
That… that wasn’t normal. She touched the wound and found the skin burned, even though there was no fire used. Close combat was not going to be preferable. She dropped the other sword back in its holster, took out her sniper rifle and jumped away from the thing, aiming for its head. It was a hit. But… it didn't slow down at all. it now just had a bullet lodged in its odd looking helmet-vizor. By the time Bloem realized it was gonna take more than that, it had already closed the distance. Grabbing her leg as her fingers elongated into claws trying to rip and tear into the bits that looked like they could be weak spots. She left marks in its armor, but not enough to make it stop as it smacked her onto the ground like a ragdoll. It tried to stomp on her spine when she tried to get up, and only missed by a nanosecond as she blinked out of the way. Rolling as far away as possible from the crater that would’ve been her. This wasn’t normal.
Bloem at this point started to feel the beast panicking inside her as she tried to keep moving. Her nose and ribs were broken and her ankle twisted, but she did not yet give up. She could do better than this. From her belt she took a few knives, managing to throw them right into the things arms and back while dodging. But even that did nothing. She hissed, baring her non-existent fangs. But dreadful gaze didn’t stop it. It already grabbed her hair and kicked her leg, pulverizing the bone and making her scream. She clawed at its face trying to dig as far as possible to the skull under the flesh. She kicked it with her one good leg, making it at least let good of her hair as it had to find its balance. But with her leg out of order she could not get away. Instead she jumped on top of it, trying to slice off its head with her claws, snarling like an animal as the beast was getting to her and her hunger. She was burning through her blood like crazy and the thing didn’t even seem to be slowing down.
While she was still on it, it punched her face, leaving it burned. Bloem fell to the ground seeing stars, but the thing was merciless. Stepping onto her stomach pinning her down. Grabbing one of her hands that was trying to scratch it again, only to twist her arm, rip it clean off and throw it away.
This…. Wasn't normal… Fear had fallen over her completely as she tried to kick free and crawl away. But the thing grabbed her face and lifted her up. She clawed at its hand, removing layers upon layers but it just wouldn’t stop. It dragged her to a wall where it slammed her head first into the concrete, leaving cracks and blood behind. But bloem did not yet go limp, trying to use her one arm to try and get to its face plate. By the time she managed to swipe at it her skull was bashed into the wall again. And again. And again. Eventually it let her go, letting her fall against the now broken wall. She tried to stand up, despite the hole in the back of her head, which eventually made her vision go dark.
Perhaps that was for the better.
The thing punched her in the chest, going straight through it, only just missing her heart. There were no screams from bloem anymore. It was dead silent as Project ARCHON grabbed her shoulder and neck ready to pull it apart before the strange voice filled the intercoms once more.
“Enough.”
It dropped Bloem and walked back to the middle of the room where it stood at the start. Now however completely devilled with viscera and blood, as well as deep scratch wounds that seemed to already start fixing themselves.
Bloem on the other hand was laying dead still on the ground. Finlay and the doc came running towards her from the safe rooms while the Major and the lab coat were busy talking and shaking each other’s hands.
“Jezus Christus. Will it be okay?” Finlay asked, having fetched the torn arm. The doctor looked at him with uncertainty but nodded. “All it needs is… blood.. and it should heal back up again as normal?”
“That was… brutal…” Finlay hissed as he helped the doctor get Bloem back to the med bay. “Major can't be serious about this…”