Chapter XXIII
Captain Nightfall quickly rushed over to where the crowd of ponies were gathered. Even though it was his day off, this was still something he had to take care of. “Out of the way! Official guard business!” he shouted over the throng of ponies.
After what seemed like forever, he finally broke through the ring of chattering, nervous ponies, only to see a ring of soldiers guarding a very large hole in the side of the castle. The hole was circular, the edges looking like they had been melted.
“What happened here?” Nightfall demanded as soon as he had reached the front.
Lieutenant Soft Petal, the guard in charge of trying to break up the crowd, immediately recognized the captain, despite the fact that he wasn’t in uniform. “We’re not sure, Sir. A few ponies heard a strange sound come from this direction and alerted the guard. We’ve started searching the ground floor of the castle, as well as posted guards at every staircase. If something got in, we’d-”
“Sir! We’ve found something!” a shout echoed from within the castle. The two officers gave each other a look, then immediately charged down the hall.
What they found was disquieting to say the least.
“Soldier, I think you may want to expand your search a bit,” Captain Nightfall said dryly.
Inside a broom cupboard, not too far from the first hole, in fact, was a burnt, dead body of a pegasus. Just above the body was a rather large, melted hole in the ceiling.
“Sir, the death…” one of the soldiers said, barely able to keep his lunch down.
“Yeah, I know, Dragonfire. Work in teams of three, level three dragonguard is authorized, and keep your eyes peeled for anything strange,” Nightfall said as he turned and made his way towards the armory. “The thing we’re looking for is going to be tall, has eight limbs, and will be as scary as Tartarus. I want it found, alive if possible, but don’t hesitate to kill it if you have to.”
“Yes sir!”
“And someone head up to our new ‘friend’s’ room, make sure he’s alright. Our intruder is probably here for him,” Nightfall said grimly.
* * *
“Oh, but I do hope that he likes the color I picked out for him.”
“Don’t worry, Rarity, I’m sure he’ll love it,” Spike said as he followed the white unicorn.
“Thank you, Spike, but I still don’t know the first thing about his species’ sense of fashion, or clothes for that matter,” Rarity said quietly. “Do they like hats? How do they feel about shoes? Is a jacket a social faux pa?”
“I think he’ll be glad just to be wearing something. After all, he seems to be pretty attached to those pants of his,” Spike reassured her. “If you remember, he practically squealed when you showed him that concept drawing.”
Rarity flashed him a thankful smile at that, then reached out with her magic to open the door. She was stopped, however, when Spike rushed forward to get the door for her. “Here, let me get that-” he started to say. Just as he laid his claw on the handle of the door, though, the door exploded outward as several green jets of fire vaporized it.
Spike, who was standing right in front of the door, unfortunately got the brunt of the attack.
“Spike!” Rarity screamed in panic. Without even thinking, she dropped everything she was holding and scooped up the crumpled form of the small dragon with her magic. She then turned and bolted in the opposite direction, fully intent to put as much distance between her and whomever was trying to kill them.
Rarity quickly rounded a corner, almost running into the two guards that were stationed down the hallway of the golem research lab. They turned at the sound of her frantic running, their eyes widening when they spotted the still burning form that levitated next to her. “Ma’am, are you-”
“There’s something in the labs!” she screamed as she set the body down next to the wall. “It shot green fire through the door, and… and killed...”
“Green fire?” one of the guards asked, worry in his voice. He then bolted down the corridor, shouting for assistance while his partner took up position outside the lab door.
“I’m fine, Rarity,” a familiar voice said from the flaming bundle on the ground, interrupting Rarity's rapidly declining thought process.
“Spike! Are you…?” Rarity said as she reached out for the small dragon.
Before she could touch him, however, a single, flaming claw reached out, its hand in a distinct ‘wait’ gesture. “Don’t touch me! I’ll be fine, the dragonfire just has to burn itself out first,” he said with a grimace.
“But Spike, it looks like it-”
“I know, but it actually doesn’t hurt that much, just stings a little. It just surprised me is all,” Spike said, trying to calm the freaked out unicorn. “This is actually how we molt: We use our breath to burn off the old, dead, too tight skin. The magic that keeps us fireproof is only in living scales anyway.”
“...You sure?” Rarity asked, still somewhat worried.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” he said as the fire slowly died out. As each patch of flame disappeared, it left behind shiny, raw-looking scales. “I wasn’t quite ready to molt yet, but I was getting there. Things are going to be sensitive for a little bit, but otherwise, I’m okay!”
Rarity breathed out a sigh of relief at that. “Come on, Spike, we have to help the guards. You send a letter to Princess Celestia, while I go get the others.”
“You got it!” Spike said as the two took off in opposite directions.
* * *
“Shul… I have to hurry,” Ilisk said as he quickly holstered his plasma pistol. With but a thought, he brought back up the diagnosis screen for Thirty-eight. “So, that’s what went wrong. A traitor turned administrative privileges over to the residual conscious. Well, this ‘Master’ may be long dead, but whoever he was working for may still be out there.”
Ilisk then stood up and inputted a command to the satellite network in the sky above. Luckily, the fools aboard The Bastion hadn’t found the virus he had left in the satellites themselves, or the one he had left in the sensor array’s secondary computer. Sure, the ship no longer obeyed his commands since they had already removed the main computer, but he didn’t need it to. He began uploading the entire packet of data he had collected from Thirty-eight, while at the same time he changed the administrative privileges of Thirty-eight’s control mechanism.
As he did all of this, he made his way over to the hole he had melted into the floor. Next to it was a broken pile of molten scrap, the remains of some kind of metal animal robot thing. It had been the only thing left standing when Ilisk had pushed in the gas grenade, but had proved extremely protective of the two creatures inside.
So Ilisk had shot it.
The thing still twitched oddly, which was a bit disconcerting. Ilisk ignored it, though, in favor of making his way over to the window and throwing it open, hoping to clear out the incapacitating agent he had filled the room with. Most toxins would have been useless on a piece of tech as advanced as Thirty-eight, what with its implanted rebreather and toxin filtration system. Normally, such a tactic would have bought Ilisk a minute at most.
However, as he had quickly melted the floor and rushed the weapon, he had found that the strange, pony-like aliens had altered Thirty-eight. It was a similar process to what those filthy snake-witches did to The Jelak’s most promising bioweapons, but it looked far more primitive.
For instance, they had only removed some of the implants, such as the rebreather and toxin filtration system.
The wetware interface system in the head, however, was completely untouched. As was Thirty-eight’s hand-to-hand assault system.
Ilisk glanced briefly at the only other occupant of the room. It was a small, purple equine with a spiral horn sticking out of its head, and was currently unconscious from the gas that had flooded the room earlier. He briefly considered grabbing it as he made his getaway, but thought better of it. If his support got the message, they would already be working on a new plan.
One that, hopefully, involved these garishly colored creatures instead of the incredibly difficult to capture Quzin.
“Subject-38, as a command to activate as soon as you reboot, you are to create a distraction as soon as you are operational: Tear through this place, and kill anything that gets in your way. Do not follow a westward course, as I will be heading in that direction. Now, reboot,” Ilisk thought as he turned back towards the nearby window, trusting his heightened senses to alert him if someone was coming. As he watched the alien city below, he received a flashing light from Thirty-eight, letting him know that it had finished its reset phase. “Good, now acknowledge my orders.”
There was a slight pause, which Ilisk chalked up to the wetware system still working with a partially shut down brain, until finally it responded. “Response: Are you a slave?”
This stopped Ilisk in his tracks. “Am I a…” What salk is this? Is it still malfunctioning?
However, before he was able to send another command to the still prone Thirty-eight, another message began playing across his screen. “Because you’re about to get owned.”
Suddenly, everything went black for Ilisk. There were several flashes across his screen, as well as a number of completely random noises, but otherwise, the world had disappeared.
He couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel, he couldn’t even tell if he was breathing, much less tell what was happening in the world around him.
All that he could perceive was the metallic voice of the computer in his head.
“Let me see here, what a whole lot of shiny buttons you have in your head! So much fun... probably the same amount of fun you had with me when you and your buddies kidnapped me and had me murder people, am I right?” the computer said, its voice completely emotionless.
“Who… who are you?”
“Don’t you remember? You just ordered me to kill the only people to show me any kindness in the past half-year. Oh, look, I can make contact with your satellites from here!”
Even though he couldn’t perceive the outside world, Ilisk still knew that he could interact with it, since this sort of thing had happened to cyborgs in the past. That was why agents not only could no longer be remotely controlled, but also had a sensor reroute and computer kill switch located on the backs of their necks. Sure, he wouldn’t have any of the advantages of computer assisted senses, but at least he wouldn’t be completely helpless.
“Now, I wonder what would happen if I-” the voice started to say, but was interrupted as Ilisk willed his hand to reach up, reach into the crevice between his chitin, and press the small button located inside as he was trained to. Instantly, the world came back in a nauseating explosion of sight, sound and feeling. It was so overpowering, in fact, that he couldn’t stop himself as he doubled over and emptied his stomach.
With a groan, the sick krin slowly got to his feet, faintly aware of similar groans coming from the other side of the room. He looked up, only to see Subject-38 back on its feet, its large, black, soulless eyes staring at him. As soon as their eyes met, Thirty-eight’s face twisted into a snarl of hatred, its combat systems coming to the ready as foot long claws sprang from the ends of its fingers.
As quick as lightning, Ilisk grabbed his plasma pistol, pointed it at the snarling, out of control bioweapon, and opened fire. Green trails of plasma streaked towards the creature, their path certain to leave Thirty-eight as nothing more than a black smear on the floor.
That is, it would have left it as a black smear on the floor, if it hadn’t vanished from Ilisk’s sight.
“What? Where did it-GHAH!” the krin screamed as several long, sharp objects entered his chest cavity. With a shaking grip, he raised his pistol, trying to point it at the fuzzy, indistinct, glowing form in front of him, but it was quickly slapped out of his hand. “What… what are you?” he asked weakly
The creature answered, its accent strange, but the language coming from its mouth unmistakably krin.
“To you and yours? I am death.”
Then, without another word, the creature pushed, causing its claws to slip out of Ilisk’s body as he tumbled backwards out of the window. He was faintly aware that he should be doing something to stop his rapid descent, but found that he just couldn’t muster the energy as the ground rushed up to meet him.
* * *
I looked out the window, my breathing heavy as I watched the bug fall to his death. I didn’t stop until I had seen it hit the ground, its limbs splayed out as it made a thump I could hear from here.
With a bit of a shake, I turned and made my way over to where the scum had entered, the hole still smoldering a bit from the intense heat of the bug’s weapon. Next to it was the silvery remains of Robert, still twitching as the cat tried to right itself. I kneeled down and lightly placed a hand on one of the few places that wasn’t still smoldering, feeling as if I had lost him a second time.
I’m okay, Robert’s voice rang through my head the moment I touched him. My hand darted back a little, but I replaced it almost immediately after. I just got damaged, but my insides are fine.
Good. Sit tight, I’ll have another body ready for you soon, I thought back, uncertain if he could hear me.
No problem, I’ll be here when you get back, I heard Bob’s voice say back.
I stood up again, just as I heard Evening groan from the other side of the room. “My head… what happening is?” she asked blearily.
“Nothing, just an exercise in stupid is all,” I said as I slowly made my way over to her.
Her eyes widened, however, as she not only took in the grey blood on my hands and body, but more importantly, the collar that I was wearing. “Alex, you…?”
“Hmm? Oh, sorry, forgot about this thing,” I said as I reached up and casually ripped the metal collar apart with my bare hands. “Just a gift from Mr. Stupid, I just hope he doesn’t mind I don’t accept it.”
“Alex, you okay?” she asked me.
I just smiled at her, but did not answer. In fact, I barely even heard her. “We’ll want to get back to work, now,” I said, completely nonchalant.
“Alex, please-” she started to say, but I ignored her, sitting back down on the chair in front of my notes. Even as an armed contingent of soldiers burst into the room, I barely even acknowledged them as my hands went to work, moving on their own as I started to draw.
As I worked, my eyes seemed to cloud over, yet my hands remained oddly steady, as if they already knew what to do. Which was good, since I had lost that feeling a long time ago. Just keep working, don’t even think about it.
Voices were shouting around me, I heard the stampede of hooves, yet I remained where I was, dead to the world at large, only aware of what lay in front of me.
Kill Them.
My fingers danced across the paper, filling it with line after line of code. The pages in front of me were glowing with a faint red light, but I ignored it.
They won’t ever let you go.
Soon I had a stack of finished work next to me, but I still continued. I ran out of ink, so I called out for more. It came, supported in nothing more than a halo of red.
The people around you were hurt because They were trying to get to you.
I ran out of paper, so I called for more. It came as well, and I continued to write. Page after page of schematics, code, designs, all of it focusing me, keeping me from thinking, keeping me from remembering.
This freedom will not last, not as long as They still live.
With a snap, the quill I was using broke, forcing me to stop. I called for another one, but none came. Desperate, I dipped my finger into the ink bottle and used it to keep going. Suddenly, I felt something hard touch my shoulder, causing me to look up into a pair of crystal clear, turquoise eyes.
“Alex, please come back to us,” Moon said. I didn’t answer at first, choosing instead to look back at what I was doing. The paper was a mess, blotched ink everywhere, streaks of water where my tears had fallen, and grey streaks where the blood of the bug I had killed had stained the paper.
I took a slow, steady breath, before finally looking back up at her. “Why can’t They just leave me alone? Why…” at that point, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and broke down as Moon wrapped her hooves and wings around me. I’m not sure what happened next, since the sweet embrace of a dreamless sleep claimed me not long after.
meh
Kinda interesting how he hulked out right before killing Ilisk.
I'll be honest. That felt kind of anti-climactic.
6544950 I'm sorry. I tried, fretted and worked over this thing, but this is the best I had. I'm sorry.
Wasn't aware he still had the claws...
"An exercise in stupidity" indeed. And to think I was worried.
That could've been fun if ilisk hadn't cut the connection before alex could assume direct control
I'm going to be honest. Up to this point, I've been liking this story less and less. It's seemed less and less of a pony fic as things went on, and more of a story of the Krin and Quzin and just happened to contain ponies, and seemed to have a rather disturbing "Humans are Inferior" undertone. While the prequel to this story is in my Favorites list, I foresaw this story getting a thumb down from me.
This chapter's made me not so sure about that. It still feels like a story where the ponies are only indirectly related, but we finally have Alex doing something other than question what's going on and feeling sorry for himself, and he stops a threat that the ponies aren't able to handle.
You say you're worried that you ruined this scene? I say the opposite - this scene may very well salvage this story as far as I'm concerned.
Sudden power has been acquired. A writer should avoid suddenly changing the capability of their main character, if it is necessary and cannot be avoided then it is highly important to have a good explanation to back up the sudden change. You can have build up where you slowly show the power that a character holds and then pull it all together at one point to give a full gauge of their powers, what you did feels half right and half wrong. You had some build up where you were showing off his new powers, but at the same time you were barely explaining them. The fight was just so sudden and ended just as quickly while your character had such a huge shift in personality that it just feels wrong.
I must admit I can't really get excited about this chapter. Considering for how long the three-way First Contact between the species has been brewing and how much of a monumental importance it carries (the direction of the story itself feels like it largely rests on the results of the meeting between Quzin and Ponies), and all the issues and juicy bit that comes with several cultures colliding that it promised, I've been feeling "hyped"(for lack of a better term) about it for a while now.
And last chapter ended right on the cusp of an open dialog, so I was all excited about the talks hitting the ground. A cliffhanger of the diplomatic kind, almost. I couldn't wait to see things pick up where they left off and the parties sitting down at the proverbial discussion table.
And then this chapter comes ... and we have none of that. Instead we have a short-lived adventure of Ilisk running around and ultimately getting killed. Yes, it might be an important development in its own way, but at the moment I can't bring myself to care like I know I probably should, simply because of the timing. Instead of thinking about what happened in this chapter, all I can seem to do is lament the things that didn't happen, things that I was looking towards far more than an 'action'chapter.
6545014 Actually, no new powers were shown, and every power he used, has already been shown and explained before. I'm not entirely sure what you meant by 'sudden power.'
Nice chapter. I think the ending is a little tighter than before, with Alex showing his remorse while covering it up poorly. Likewise, I like how he was reluctant and somewhat disbelieving about having magic when told in a previous chapter, but grabs it with both hands when threatened...
So you were sitting on this and thinking about disappointing someone?
Shame on you!
Don't listen to 6545026 , you play good old Sheherezade very well here.
Didn't see that coming lol, now i am wondering what kind of Armageddon he is planning for then?
Nice work
Good chapter. Hope Alex will be alright. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Hey I was tight! The bad guy DID fall from a high place. Now to see how the good aliens will explain themselves.
Another excellent chapter, as usual.:D
Hehe, someone has been channeling their inner HK-47!
Hah! Didn't see that coming, did you, Ilisk?
Whoa, wait, he speaks krin? Left over from the implants maybe?
Also, phew, I was worried about soulcat.
Nice chapter! And nice pun btw.
Huh. You know, I was certain that the bug was going to stick around and be a general pain in the ass for longer. It's the most fitting end he could've gotten, of course, I'm just a bit surprised at the anticlimax. Personally, I prefer it this way, though. Keeping him around for much longer would've just been pointless dwelling. He's served his purpose to the plot, as it were, so no point in wasting screentime on the least likeable character in the story just because.
6544955
Don't be. Some people are unpleasable, and others just want to get your goat, knowing that you didn't feel 100% with this chapter.
It really is a great chapter. The threat Illisk has posed was present for enough time to create tension without overdoing it, and the climax was satisfying. A part of me wishes Alex had managed assume direct control, but the parts of me that know what a good story looks like and what would be sensible say that you did the right thing.
Oh, and by the way, the general population agrees. You've been featured again.
6545249
Evil Overlord List rule #13.
Sure, this appeals to evil overlords specifically, but it's good advice for anyone, really.
6545318
Luckily, being a villain, Ilisk doesn't get a heroic "only mostly dead" get out of death free card.
Seriously, though, just to repeat it: sometimes an anticlimax is a good thing. A short fight and an ignoble death as the end to one of the villains responsible for so much suffering can be a powerful statement for a story to make all in itself.
6545026
More Action? Wut? What were you expecting? Ilisk conquering half of Equestria, bringing up an armies and finally get blasted by elements of harmony?Then I must disappoint you Ilisk even he was kind of strong character he still was just a pawn and his only job was to secure subject 38's data, which he kind of did.His death was also well written. He was following the most logical path he could, (un)fortunately universe flipped him a bird when Alex long ago got his power to have ultimate control over his "wetware system".For Ilisk Alex was no more than his plasma gun, yet this "plasma gun" said "Fuck you!" turned around and shoot him to the face. Ilisk couldn't planed this as he was planing everything else.But don't worry I'm sure you will get your dose of action when Ilisk's support arrives.Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Kind of my point there. Ilisk was a second-stringer. Not some kind of epic threat, not a grand villain, just a petty little goon. Ultimately, he's only important because of who he represents, not of who he is. A vicious, cruel nobody, but still a nobody. The anticlimactic end he got was only surprising to me because I'm not used to authors here having this much restraint, instead of just playing to all the bad writing clichés. It puts his role in the story and the general grand scheme of things into perspective and that's a good thing.
6545416
Err, you might want to check that again, because nowhere in my post did I say that I wanted more action. I would have preferred less of it - less as in, none.
I was expecting and wanted to see politics. Suspicion. Pitfalls of two new cultures interacting. Translation spell shenanigans. Akitesh trying to convince Celestia/Luna of her good intentions and having to work through the well founded paranoia of the ponies. You know, first contact stuff that the previous chapter set up and stopped at the cusp of.
Important as it was to deal with at some point in the immediate future, what I didn't care for was Ilisk's adventure, mercifully short-lived as it might have been, stealing the limelight.
I enjoyed this direction, I don't see why others complained. Many of the things they expected are background stuff, and may still happen even after this event. After all, from the Equestrian's perspectives, the 'first contact' was quite an excellent diversion for the attempt on Alex, which succeeded. The data has been stolen and passed along, and there is only one reason to steal the data: To gain information on Equestrians to use against them in the future (and Alex has been at the heart of their efforts for awhile!), and to continue the horrific projects and experimentation that Alex was part of. This isn't over by a long-shot, instead part two is now in motion.
Claims that the fight was anti-climatic? Of course it was. There was only one of three ways that could have resolved, and I'm almost positive no one here wanted to read a section where Alex was mind controlled, again, to do horrible things, nor was any kind of fight between Alex and the agent believable that ended differently. Recall what Alex was, after all: A highly advanced killing machine, now boosted by magic, none of which wasn't shown before.
That said, there is still plenty of reason for 'first contact' to fail now, since almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Any kind of deal involving Alex will be a non-starter as far as the Equestrians are concerned. They simply won't tolerate any more interference in their affairs. These aliens have not painted a good picture of themselves.
6545439
In the end, this is a character-driven story, not a political story. Alex is who and what it is about. This is pretty much one of the major plot climaxes of his personal character arc. In terms of actual importance to the story, this really tops any amount of first contact politicking, no matter how much you'd rather have seen more of that.
Nice chapter. Sure it was a little short, but it was still good.
I was looking forward to the continuation of last chapter and those conversations, but I can see how this could tie into later stages of those like they were going on at the same time.
I like how Spike was uninjured. I mean he can swim in lava, and spit it out of his mouth like a water fountain, so it makes sense.
6545439
Oh... uh.. I see it now! I little misunderstand your comment. Then I deeply apologize.
6545068 Maybe he is designing the Orbital Friendship Cannon
well, loks like your worries were unfounded. pretty epic chapter, even if a bit short.
... and you were afraid that this chapter wouldn't deliver to the hype? Well, Breeze, lemme tell you one thing: you yourself are your own worst critic.
Ilisk had that coming and faaar more. Having the power stripped away from him, the intelligence he held violated and taken note of, and his body mangled and defenestrated like a sack of trash was immensely satisfying. Especially after we saw what the son of a roach did to our canon favorites, and only didn't roast Rarity because Spike is a gentlecolt.
I'm not happy that it was Alex that did the deed, though. This was not good for the poor soul's emotional integrity, and with this demonstration of butchery, there's no damn way that they should let him anywhere near Hazalk.
That Grade A-hole got what he deserved. As much as I would enjoy Ilisk getting a slow, painful death, it was better to end him quickly to be honest, less chance of him escaping and causing more damage later on.
This chapter was good, so don't you dare fret over the outcome and readers aftermath, your not some rookie writer that would write any old jibberish just for up votes and views, it's obvious you put consideration and thought into your work and you can only do the best you can. Also, no matter what others say, you are your own worst critic, if you beat him, you'll beat all the neigh-Sayers
faux pas (the s is silent.)
6545089 The Princesses already know of Ilisk the traitor from Akitesh and Hazalk. Seems to me they're unlikely to irrationally put both in the same category and act as such. At most, they'll have their reservations and may question heavily every step taken from now.
6545026 Your opinion has been noted and politely disagreed with.
For the record, I don't want this to become some political intrigue drama. If I want that, I'll read a Tom Clancy novel instead of a sci-fi fic that never toted itself as being anywhere near that genre.
6544955 I thought it was a good chapter. Your chapters tend to feel a bit short, but that's not always a bad thing. I'm still looking forward to more.
6544955 it ain't as bad as some commenters are trying to make it look. Sure, I was way more huped about Quzin and ponies first contract, but this is some development, too.
needs to be about ten pages longer
It's not what you made me think it was. Which i am extremely glad for
6545318 Evil Overlord Rule #13--Corollary B: When you have claws like Logan or Lady Deathstrike, and after a fierce battle, are about to throw your opponent off a high cliff, be sure to USE those claws to first dismember, decapitate, and disembowel your opponent BEFORE letting him drop--it saves on the cost of ammunition and fuel oil you may need for later operations.
I can see that, in many ways, this chapter was somewhat divisive in terms of whether or not people liked it. I gotta admit, I'm one of the people that did like. I liked it a lot.
That moment with Spike and the transition to it was perfectly executed, the fight with Illisk and Alex was, again, perfectly done, and even the aftermath was well handled. A lot of it was unexpected, but certainly not bad.
Rather than becoming Michael Bay and just throwing explosions around, you've given yourself a perfect set up for some really deep characterization and emotional connections between the various characters in your story. I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to seeing the aftermath of what happened here, because you've given yourself a LOT to work with.
I kinda wanted to see some more of his reaction to being mind controlled, I wanted to see him become depressed at his state, then die.
but he still died, so no problems with this chapter, loved it, keep up the good work.
Ilisk got what he deserved. Sure it was a curb-stomp battle, but I wanted someone to deal with him quickly after he escaped. Hazalk and the other Krin didn't do it, so it was fitting to see that Alex killed that bastard.
So Alex has alot of cyborg stuff still in him. Figured that was going to be the case to be honest. Man I hope that he had managed to recall all the data Ilisk sent out. Kinda cool how the figured out that dragons are now their ultimate defense against these aliens. That should seriously reconfigure society to include dragons more for these things in the future. Oh the possibilities there. Can't wait to see Alex's response to the little convoy to collect the ass he just killed. Also I feel really bad that Alex's work keeps getting wrecked by ink. I mean sure his work was probably shoddy given that he was rushing it trying to cover up his freak out about what just happened. Kinda want to know what all happened here because it was all kind of frantic. All in all next chapter has a lot to explain and it is gonna be sweet.
I really enjoyed the punchline "Are you a slave? Because you're about to get owned."
Please let Alex harvest Illisk's computer!