130 130. Beyond Human

Miles swiftly dodged thirty-five green plasma bolts, his force field not up to the task to hold further trauma of such magnitude. His focus grew, and he deafened unimportant and stray thoughts to nothingness.

It was an easy task for him, thanks to both his training and modular brain structure that gave him significant control over his mind.

Only what mattered was to be accounted for; if he did any less, the scenario his Father had spoken would inevitably unfold. But that wasn't so much the fear of death but the fear of failing, of disappointing the most important person in his life. The man who had raised him made him greater and trusted him. He would not betray this trust by being inadequate in any way.

However, these two points did little to reduce the excitement and the hammering of his heart inside his ribcage. Simulations in the Nexus, no matter how real they may feel, were only exceptionally crafted illusions that tricked both senses and mind into thinking otherwise.

It was a marvel of technology and ingenuity, but, in the end, it was all but a realm of virtuality. For the moment, that is. Miles had seen technology from his Father that broke all senses of logic, one related to this very subject; it had for purposes to shift matter into data and data into matter.

He had even seen it in action, but for the moment, it was on a small scale and a specific piece of technology requiring unorthodox methods to function. From what he heard and what he saw as an example of a mindless clone of him when it malfunctioned, it was not pretty. But one day, it will change that much, he knew.

And when it does, it would make reality fictional and the fictional reality, to a degree, of course, and it would be grandiose. He knew Liam's capabilities went beyond what was usual, but he was not an all-powerful being.

'Let's go.' Miles thought, dodging salvo after salvo of those identical green energy spheres, the many systems in the armory granting him senses and perception of the world, making those acts beyond human capabilities appear trivial.

His shield turned to its highest level, the force field hugging his body, turning visible to the naked eyes as he became a blur of blue light. His speed reached nearly five percent that of light as he used the lack of friction to his advantage.

As he reached his target, the area where the turret had self-destructed, his speed became close to null in an instant. From his inventory, he brought a two-handed weapon the size of an average man, reminiscent of a launched grenade because it was precisely this.

A Tek Grenade Launcher, a straightforward weapon that, as its name indicated, was made to shoot grenades, but it would be more accurate to call it a versatile portable rapid-firing mortar. This was a personalized weapon, retrofitted specifically for him with various modifications to his tastes.

With this in his hands, a thin smile formed; the rain of death had stopped due to where he was from the massive cannons to be now replaced by another one from Attackers.

Relatively small spaceships resembling manta and in size comparable to a Great Leonopteryx, and they were in the thousands spinning around him like a cyclone while ceaselessly firing meter-long green energy beams from every angle. Many he dodged, but many more he could not or barely.

The damage on the weakened force field piled up. Slowly but surely, it was getting chipped, damaged further and further soon to shatter, and his Tek Armor to be bare to any external threat.

Miles retaliated in kind, body twisting and weapon muzzle moving erratically. He shot metallic grenades glowing blue one after the other, his Tek Grenade Launcher possessing seemingly endless ammo and magazine.

It was, after all, the case. His inventory was connected to pocket spaces with tens of thousands of grenades of all kinds, in this case, Tek Gravitational Grenade. And the magazine was self-replenishing; why waste time reloading when you can teleport the ammo in the magazine? It was only possible since he was in the range of Mars trifecta of Obelisks.

It made the weapon far more fragile, that was a fact, but it wasn't for durability in time and through use. But that was not a problem. Like his Father always said, always borough spare parts for the spare parts' own spare parts.

This was why if he were to die, it would be extremely shameful, and he did have more than one set of Tek Armor. He could change mid-fight with a single thought.

Still, he liked challenges and detested not using his tools until they broke down to absolute obsolescence. But what he preferred was the absolute destructive beldam he was generously bringing upon the Harvesters.

Hundreds of gravitational singularities came into existence by the immediate detonation of those upon impact, and that spectacle that was unfolding before his eyes was glorious. Infinitely black spheres with marine blue crowns folding time and space in their presence and all that was in close proximity.

The Attackers' shielding technology was ineffective against the sudden apparition of those powerful yet unstable black holes that crushed all before exploding into miniature supernovae, causing further destruction of untold magnitude.

It was magnificent, a tapestry of panic and growing disorganization in the swarm as all and any formation born out of centuries of experience and millions of years of warlike culture turned to incoherence as none of those two would have prepared against a hail of black holes.

But while Miles battered the drone caste of the Harvester, he had been continually shooting below but with different grenades and in a particular pattern for both rational and aesthetic reasons. They did not explode; they only dug within and poured samples of the Argent Sea, creating a complex series of smaller explosives.

However, it was not the Argent Sea the All-Father was using; the whys and the hows this silver liquid was so strong in the Homo Deus' hands was from his ability to give an infinite amount of energy until it passed a certain threshold, which remained unknown to Miles. It wasn't the case here, so the Argent Sea was greatly limited in its capabilities, but it didn't change that the substance had limitless versatility.

"Aw fuck, that was my favorite," Miles swore his force field had broken apart for good in a shower of light shards; his graceful movement violently halted as now each hit destabilized him in his flight path. His movement patterns changing for any damage to certain parts of the armor will send him flying out of control.

Still…

"I was made for that!" he hollered with a hearty laugh, seemingly taking the situation far too lightly as his aim remained steady, and he never stopped striking true. However, he had a mission, and he was not here to have fun exploding distasteful aliens into bits, all the while doing it guilt-free.

Well, it was why he was here, but not to waste time doing what he was doing right now. Destroying a few hundred spaceships of a virtually endless swarm and messing with their formation was the height of pointlessness and counterproductiveness.

And so he needed to go inside. And it was the time to do so as he finished shooting the last few dozen grenades below. As the projectiles reached their target and lodged themselves deeply where they belonged, he mentally commanded every Element-fueled matter-antimatter to bring explosives inside the Harvester Mothership hull by the silvery liquid to work their magic.

And an explosion of a scale rarely seen in human history happened in power, scale, and surgical precision.

Across twenty kilometers (12 mi) in diameter and five hundred and seventy-six (358 mi) deep in the shape of a cone, it disappeared in a firework of blue and purple light. The hull's internal and external structure the next thousands of kilometers shook violently with strength akin to the most powerful earthquake as the shockwaves traveled through, causing a general malfunction on all cannons near the epicenter

Yet it still appeared insignificant compared to the massive alien spaceship, to which only a thirteenth was affected to any meaningful degree. Nonetheless, it didn't reduce the beauty of the explosion in Miles's eyes and the joy of being able to destroy to his heart's content.

'How much do I love this.' Miles thought the passion for the ephemeral art was passed down to him by his Father at the sight, but he couldn't waste time appreciating it.

"Goodbye, you have been pleasant, if brief, company, my friend. But I fear we must part ways. Now go into the prettiest of fireworks." Miles said to the wearied high-tech grenade launcher, both with reluctantly and excited anticipation

Dodging a laser and getting hit in the head by another, resulting in his body spinning erratically in the void, did not stop him from liberally letting go of countless Tek Grenades, both regular and gravitational. Simultaneously, he pushed his weapon into overdrive and put everything on a countdown.

Then he departed from his weapon and, with a big grin, became a blur of blue cracking light again as he flew through the hole he made at breakneck speed. As he was halfway through the tunnel, he felt gravity try to drag him backward and crush him while an image from cameras behind his Tek Helmet showed him the devastation he caused.

'He seems to be having fun.' Liam, from his position, noted as he shifted his hands around, controlling every particle of the Argent Sea with masterful grace. Everyone below could see the flowing silvery tapestry with how significant the action was, and even without this, hundreds of far-sighted devices existed and were being used freely.

-Not that you are not enjoying yourself either, hubby. We can feel it, see it, and We do share it in equal proportion.- the soft voice of his mate delicately reached his mind, and he couldn't but chuckle and smile at her remark.

-Indeed, I do. Indeed, I do, but I mustn't let my guard down, and my hubris rules my decision in ways that I stray too far from rationality.- he answered with a fraction of his mind paying attention to their son with a mix of emotion that should for no sane creature be together.

Pride, amusement, worry, disappointment, disapproval, joy, interest, and beyond. Their minds were alien to all that lived in the Milky Way but one another.

As such, they observed through Liam's nigh omniscient gaze as Miles entered the Harvester Mothership to be ambushed immediately by its resident.

In his left hand appeared a shield in shape that was typically seen in the 14th European battle, a kite-like shield, but that was where the similarities ended with its modest cousin. It was of Tek and hard light, reflecting all by using an energy field that inverted the vector of anything entering it as long as the object reflected possessed a direction and magnitude and was not above the field energy limit.

This was a Tek Shield. In his remaining hand appeared an energy sword, a Tek Sword. The broad two-edged blade was more than half of Miles' height and had two iridescent blue sides that quite literally cut air molecules that passed by in its vicinity. There was no esoteric technology aside that it paired with the Tek Armor's ability to use its own kinetic energy to increase its potential to level beyond such a word.

The battle that ensued if it could be called exceptionally violent. Miles forced himself with his shield, sending all projectile shots at him back to their allies and senders as he danced upon the alien's bizarre organic-like structure with a careful balance of footwork, aerial maneuver, and swift precision.

His blade cut through alien alloy, green energy shield, hard bio-armor, grey flesh, pale green blood, and orange bones as if they were all but air. This way, he advanced at speed above that of the sound of the expansive spaceship that could be more accurately said to be a planet by itself in size and life; entire forests were razed by passage and oceans held by immensely his high walls pouring without end as he moved toward the center cutting and reflecting all on his way.

However, there was simply too much, the distance was too vast, and the Harvester adapted too quickly. Miles could not keep up with it all but stubbornly went deeper and deeper and began to pay the price. But he was too deep to back down.

More and more shots began to hit him, and in places that were weak to such repeated trauma, he realized their precision was far superior than before; it was as if his every move had become predictable and easy to read.

The expression began to build, and he made a mistake, or more accurately, was tricked into making two hyper-concentrated self-contained beams of green plasma explode against his left shoulder.

"FUCK! MY ARM!" Miles screamed in both white hot pain and surprise as all feeling on his left arm disappeared.

-Excellent performance on his part, but mistakes are evident, presence of hesitation, and underestimation of foes with a sense of security mixed with arrogance. We hope this will be a learning experience for his growth.- Eywa noted dutifully, dissecting Miles' every action, and her mate nodded impassively, his fiery gaze of silver cold as he observed the man he had cared for since toddlerhood lose one of his limbs.

-Nothing less is acceptable, my love. He chose this path and will face the consequences of such choices, whether pleasant or not.- Liam agreed, and what was said couldn't be more accurate at this very instant.

If it was Miles from before, the human one, and he was this exact age and in this same situation, Liam would have reacted far differently. His love for his son did not disappear. It merely changed and took another shape, one appropriate to Miles' new state of existence.

It was far more intense and authentic. As much as he had said before, there is a distinct difference between adoption and tie of blood. Relations are not directly built on it, that is true, but to say it does not play any roles would be a lie, and making Miles both his and Eywa's son changed everything.

Miles was not treated as a human by either, for he was not one any longer, and what they desired from him was excellence for this very same reason.

They have built him in body, mind, and soul; it was his choice for it to happen, and taking this step meant accepting to achieve greatness by their standard. But most importantly, his, and they were even higher. He just needed guidance and support.

Guidance and support no matter its shape or form.