Training Day 1

At 0300 hours Lucas was woken up by the alarm on his communicator. He surprisingly felt good waking up. The room wasn't as good as the room in his Lair, but the food he the night before really helped him. He quickly did his morning routine and left his room. The rest of the group was already up and waiting for him.

"Look. Who. Finally. Decided. To. Get. Up" Xylon said with his body jiggling like he was laughing. 

"Come on sunshine. We have to get going or we'll be late" Zyra spoke in annoyed tone before turning her back and leaving. 

"Don't mind her" Kaelon slug his arm over Lucas's shoulders. "She just gets antsy before a training from the Generals. She'll be fine once we know our training mission and are in the sub-space."

He just nodded and followed the rest of the group. It was still dark out when they left the living quarters. Even though it was still very early in the morning there were still many soldiers of the CIA fighting. The Xeomorphs would randomly send waves of hive beings to attack the CIA encampment and the CIA would send squads out to eliminate prime targets. 

As they walked they would see solider going to the front line, some being brought back on stretchers and others being carried in caskets. The lose of life didn't bother Lucas as much as would have thought. It wasn't that he was unfeeling, but after his ordeal with the Vampire and hordes of undead. Death didn't affect him as much anymore. 

The group walked for a couple minutes before arriving to their destination. Before them stood Agent Astronova, Sohia and Grigni. In front of them were 4 large backpacks while one of them had a large staff placed over it.

"Welcome Disciples" Agent Astronova spoke in a commanding voice. "You have all made your own preparations and have had them sent here. Lucas. Grigni here has brought some things for you personally." She was curious to what Grigni had brought. For when she asked she was told that it was for Lucas. Simple as that. 

"Aye lad I've brought you the things you've asked. I also heard you got my apprentice Astra to help you out as well. Cheeky b@st@rd." He said that last part under his breath. "I haven't had time to make everything you've asked for, but I do got this for ya'." Grigni bent down and picked up the staff. 

The staff was exquisitely crafted. It was made from a solid white wood for the shaft, had a long spear like blade on the bottom and on top was a green orb. The top part of the staff looked like a hand made from wood clenching the green orb. "This is a Battle Magi staff. The orb atop it represents the realm limit of this staff. Green representing the Liquifying realm. You just need to allow your mana to flow into the staff to attune to it. Once doing so this staff will act like a battery for your mana pool. This orb can hold up to 10,000 mana." 

Everyone, including Agent Astronova were surprised by that remark! The staff is supposed to be given to someone of the same realm to provide a buff, but for those under that realm it's an incredible power-up! "I've heard some rumors and that you have a small mana pool compared to the others. So I've grabbed this from storage. Given the short time frame, you're only getting a set of medium armor. It's not a Set, but it'll keep you safe for the most part. Once you're back you'll get the your full custom Set."

If everyone was surprised to hear that Lucas was getting such a valuable staff they were over the moon hearing this! A complete Set and it being fully custom! Those cost millions of Merits and even more if it was a custom job. 

"What the hell did you do to warrant that" Kaelon said in a low voice towards Lucas.

"Those new Rune engraved items. I'm the one that supplied the Runes" he said with a smile adorned his face. Obviously proud of himself. 

"Ahem" Agent Astronova cleared her throat drawing attention back to her. "Now that Lucas has been given the rest of his gear I'd advice you all to get ready as I continue to brief you all on your week long excursion into the sub-space training room." The 4 listened to her and began to adorn their respective armors. Each wore similar armor to the soldiers of the CIA. Expect theirs had Faulds that were the color representing that they were Disciples. 

"For your mission you will have to not only survive for a week, but hunt down a Core Formation Realm Xeomorph Queen. The lay out will be a copy of a hive we have recently destroyed on another planet. Once you slay the Queen you will all be returned here. If one of you should perish in there you will be removed from the training exercise."

She looked at the four with cold eyes. "Do not think if you return her early you will still be given your reward. You will instead be punished and deducted 1,000 Merits for each day you missed in the training room."

The group of Disciples slightly agitated hearing this. No one wanted to be punished like that. Merits were hard to come by and everything was already expensive. Seeing the reaction of her words Agent Astronova was pleased to see them now going to focus on the training. Not that she thought they would be slackers, they wouldn't be Disciples if they were, but it never hurt to give them another motivation. She grinned. 

Once the Disciples were ready; armor , Spatial Rings and backpacks on, they were ready to leave. They all stood shoulder to shoulder before the door to the actual sub-space training room. "Get ready" Agent Astronova said. "Keep your stomachs down and try not to puke upon entry. Now get in there."

The doors opened reveling that the training room was nothing more than a box with a portal in it. The sub-space portal distorted space around it. If Lucas was asked to describe it he would see it looked like space itself was shattered and bend in a circular formation. 

"This'll be fun!" Kaelon cheered before jumping into the sub-space portal. His body was sucked into it and quickly disappeared. 

"Hold. On. To. Your. Butts" Xylon bubbled before following his friend.

Zyra remained silent as she jumped into the sub-space portal. 

'Guess it's my turn' Lucas said nervously to himself. He swallowed his nerves, held onto his staff in his right arm and clenched the fist of his left arm weapon and took a step into the sub-space portal. He felt an intense gravity pulling him in. It was like he was a toy being man handled. Part of him was being pulled one way as another was being pulled in the opposite direction. 

Once he was fully in the portal it only got worse! Part of his body felt like they were spinning around yet still connected to him. His vision was filled with dazzling color. He had to close his eyes not to get sick from the motion of the world around him. He did his best not to bring back breakfast, or dinner at this point. After a few seconds hat felt like minutes he everything was brought to a complete halt!

Lucas found himself on the hard ground. The air was dry and still. A putrid smell lingered in the air. He got up to his feet and could sense people around him.

"Are we all here" Zyra asked.

"I'm here, carapaces is intact too."

"I. Am. Also. Here."

"Same. Although this smell is disgusting.' Lucas held the staff in his arm as h used his right hand to pinch his nose. 

"Kaelon, can you see anything or got some light? Even I can't see in this darkness" Zyra said slightly bewildered. Normally she could see in darkness. It was second nature to her. The only reason she couldn't is if something was creating a magical darkness or was a technique from another Darkness cultivator. She could use a skill to see through it, but it required a lot of mana and she was trying to save as much as possible. 

"Got it. I eat some Flame Geckos just in case." Kaelon tilted his head upwards as he began to channel the power of the Flame Gecko from his stomach. His stomach began to bulge like he was overstuff before the energy moved from his stomach and out of his mouth. His mouth dislocated like a snake's before a large volleyball sized fireball flew up into the air!

POP

The fireball exploded like a flare revealing the room they were in. They were in a large underground room. The ground beneath them were a grayish orange color while the walls were completely back. There were a series of tunnel exits all around them. As the group examined the walls from where they were Zyra was the first to notice. Her eyes widened and pupils shrank. 

"XYLON! BUBBLE SHIELD NOW!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed through the tunnels, but only stirred those in the room. Without another world Xylon listened to Zyra's command. He waved his arm erecting a water bubble dome around the group. It was large enough to encircle the group and give them some breathing room.

As soon as the water bubble shield went up hundreds of quill like spines imbedded themselves in the water. More and more spines landed in the bubble before being stopped. Everyone finally noticed the situation they were in. They were already underground and surrounded by Spikers! Hundreds of thousands of them surrounded the group. Looking at the wall Lucas noticed it almost looked as though the walls were liquid, but it was the Spikers. 

They were pitch black creatures. They had elongated heads and 6 legs coming off of their heads. That's it. They were nothing more than disposable ranged infantry to the Xeomorph hive. Their elongated heads held large powerful air sacks that would shoot out regenerating 6 inch spines from their mouth. 

The group had found themselves deep within the Xeomorph hive and in a room filled with Spikers. They all knew it would be a hard fight.