Far Future Ch. 5 – So, this is going to be more Tedious...

It was a fundamental change from what I'd been given, but that just meant a different advance schema taking more time.

It had also allowed her to juke the system nicely.

My true Primary Class was Melee, not a Soulblade Psi-Warrior. While PW's were more than competent combatants, it was not their primary function. They killed stuff with Psi, generally focusing it through Weapons, but were perfectly happy to kill at range as well as in close. They had no intrinsic preference, relying on their psionics for what others relied on tech, implants, or bioengineering to accomplish.

I was a Tool-user, and a soulblade was just a tool. Honestly, I was more deadly with Chalice in her Sword form, as opposed to acting as a Focus.

However, showing her true form would probably be a bad idea. Chalice was a QL 55 Full-Tempered Orichalcum Heavy Warsword, and could probably demand a price higher than this Spire. The Mechanists would slobber all over it, the nobles would kill themselves for such an exquisite toy, and the Orders would want to put it in the hands of someone 'more capable'.

Yeah, no, that wasn't going to happen. I could only applaud the level of Crafting that went into it that completely obfuscated how totally awesome she was, or they would never have allowed me to keep her...

There was a second reason, and that was that this universe didn't allow Arsenal or Slaughter effects. Indeed, it was pretty down on Banes as a whole. Chalice's default Slot arrangement was fixed and could not be altered once set.

That was a major loss in combat flexibility. Being able to adjust a Weapon on the fly to fight a specific foe was extremely useful, the equivalent of a major psionic ability, like dimension-hopping or TK.

Chalice was metal, and her Runes weren't allowed to change, this Reality said so.

But a soulblade could!

The Runes of my soulblade were set by whatever ones the psychic energy passed through in its Focus. So, changing a soulblade meant dismissing it and reforming it with a brand-new set of Runes, that was all.

It wouldn't work for a Psion, of course, as their mindblade's characteristics had to be mentally stamped into the weapon to take proper form. They could adjust the properties, but it would take time, as it literally meant changing their minds, and they could only choose from pure psionic properties. Focuses were generally used to provide flat Enhancement bonuses to their mindblades, while they used their flexibility for other special effects...

For a Null Psion, it was the Focus that defined the form. In other words, Chalice was forming my soulblade, I was not. I only decided my soulclaws... but my soulclaws had resonance with Chalice, now that she was Soulbound to me...

Levels, where you accumulated X experience and were awarded Y multiple benefits, didn't happen here, except if something powerful was creating something else. No, all those benefits had to be purchased independently, and were subject to the 1/day limit rules.

This was especially onerous for the Health and Soak advances, as they were both Hit Points. Because I was an ExLite, I had maximum Health and Soak. I literally could not choose to skip such advances, and would have to take them in order to advance a Level in my Racial and Primary Classes.

Well, hardly a bad thing, but it sucked compared to when I could just Level and bam, here's twenty-some Hit Points like, right now.

But fine, fine, I had time...

Mom had abused those rules, as she'd simply purchased most of the MAB advance of the Melee Class for me, straight up!

The entire Melee Class was something like +10 MAB, +7 RAB, +100 Soak, +40 (70) Skill Points, +7/7/3 Saves, and buy a bunch of martial, armor, and weapon Proficiencies, Masteries, and Techniques, each one by one.

It was meant to be accumulated slowly and gradually, as each tier of benefits cost more than the one before, just like Leveling. So, you'd buy all the benefits at one Tier, then buy all the ones at the next, and so forth and so on.

Mom had directly driven me up the pole to +7 MAB and made me a melee machine. It was no wonder I'd been able to fight a bunch of Warped stuff I couldn't remember, if it really happened. By even the standards of a Coronal Knight, I was very good with a blade in my hand.

Profound Sword: The Sword is an extension of the hand. Any Feat, Technique, or Mastery that applies to unarmed combat applies to your Sword. It is treated as a spiritual weapon for purposes of ki. Requires Improved Unarmed Strike and Sword Specialization.

My Soul is My Sword: your soulsword/mindblade is treated as a Sword for all purposes, and vice versa.

Others mindblade users specialized in the mindblade, which was literally a solidified extension of their thoughts. It moved as they willed, it naturally harmonized with them.

Mine was a tool, and that's how I used it. Mankind brought themselves up from monkey-dom by using tools. Science was a thing, and that's how I would approach this.

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"So, did she describe what a Null Psion is?" the older man asked gravely, frowning at the two young men before him. His spine was like steel, his uniform was spotless, his cloak hung perfectly even resting, his graying hair could defy a hurricane, and his blue eyes were like ice. At the side of his desk, a holo was up, and a sharp-faced man, hair dark, face wrinkled, his eyes permanently shadowed, regarded them the same way.

"We did not press the issue overmuch initially, but her basic description was that we are squirt guns, and she is a sealed jar," Sir Dorval replied respectfully.

Duke Honus Parablum, Senior Master of the Knights Coronal of Janus Prime, frowned. "Assuming that psionic power equals water... she cannot spend or release psionic power." He looked at another holo, coming up with the assessment results on her. "She has both a Nimbus and a Corona?" he observed, questioning.

"She described it as hitting someone with the jar."

"Ah. Conversely, a psion would be hitting them with the gun, instead of shooting them. Much less efficient, much less powerful... unless it is quite a large gun, swung very hard."

"That was my understanding, sir," Sir Dorval agreed.

"A mindblade who never spends their Reserve. A very unusual way to operate," the Duke commented. "They would have an extraordinary focus on the acquisition of Nimbus techniques..."

"She has Binary Suns and Falling Star, Extra Star, Star Core, and Star Heart. I also believe she has learned Clarity of Focus, and Gather Nimbus, based on how casually and easily she formed and dispelled her Nimbus during demonstrations. Furthermore, she has Solar Eclipse... her mindblade instantly comes up with Nimbus and Corona charged, and she charges them as one."

"I am more impressed by her Claw control," Philius broke in as Dorval finished. "I watched her manifest her Claw, such as it was, on every striking surface of her body, from knees and toes to her forehead. She hammer-headed an inch-deep spiked hole into a steel table in testing. She is definitely not restricted to using them on her hands."

"She's a 6g High-G?" came the deep voice of Duke Rimval, the Eclipsed Master of the Inquisitors of Janus Prime. "It would take some high-grade power armor to be useful to her. That does take care of some early expenditures. Are you certain these combat evaluations are accurate?"

"Are you asking if I allowed her to disarm me three times in a row, Your Grace?" Sir Dorval asked frostily.

"Mmm, no. It is merely a surprising evaluation," the shadowy Duke replied smoothly.

"In my estimation, she did not learn to fight using a mindblade, or even her Claws," Sir Dorval stated with great assurance. "There is a marked difference that any professional can see between a mindblade wielder and, say, a swordsman. The one is relying on their mindblade, and the other is wielding a weapon and relying on themselves. It is subtle, but very obvious in how they address and use the weapon. It may well come from being forced to use a Focus to manifest her blade. A mindblade with that much emphasis on the weapon is something of a fanatic. She probably sees it as just another usable weapon."

"High-G's often have cognitive impairment. I don't see any sign of that on her assessments or scans," the shadowy duke noted.

"She very directly stated that her being a Null Psion basically gives her physiological support on many levels, as her Reserve reinforces her body since it is not in a condition to be expended. Cranial reinforcement would be a natural extension of that. We could see no sign of degradation in her cerebral functions at any level. There did seem to be signs of a subcranial reinforcement network of anchoring fibers within her brain, like a skeleton to provide additional elastic support to her brain tissue against weight or sudden shocks. Psionic reinforcement of such fibers would be a given. It's not at all unlike what some biopsis evolve, or gene-workers try to map into their clients," Philius answered promptly.

"And she just grew it. Convenient for her. You certain you want to recruit this girl, Honus? Given this is Warp-related, she could literally have come from anywhere, although how and why she was brought here is probably going to be unsolvable."

"Her Sword is gold," was the Coronal Duke's only reply.

But it was enough. "That is true." There were ways to mask a mindblade's hue, but all such things were easily dispelled upon close examination, and this girl had been examined right down to her genecode. "The aberrations in her genecode?"

Duke Parablum pursed his lips. "Are you actually describing a genecode that clean in the negative?" He waved his hand. "Whatever. It shows clear signs of genegineering, scraping away so much useless stuff from our base code... but the only things that were patently visible add-ons were the nymphal and High-G genetics. The latter is clearly a combat upgrade, while the latter is basically a social template with a high degree of acceptance."

"You know there are suspicions about the true origins of nymphals," Duke Rimval said darkly.

"There are suspicions about everything. You have the database; what of that brand on her?" Parablum inquired without batting an eye.

"Definitely a Curse, Axiomatic, and extremely powerful," Rimval replied. "Or, to put it another way, it's the residue of a Curse, the remnant left behind by an extremely powerful effect. Given the level of power it represents, I'm surprised she wasn't reduced to protoplasm when it was activated. It doesn't seem to be actively malicious, and it appeared to have little to no real power left... but what was done to her has carved it onto her psyche and soul. The chances of removing it are slim to none. It is curious that it can be temporarily moved about, but it is not truly relevant."

"I regret that it does make her unsuitable for undercover work," Philius spoke up promptly. "There are few doors that a nymphal cannot open..."

"Mmm. What do you make of the psionic circuits in her hair?" Duke Rimval asked of his peer.

Duke Parablum frowned, and shifted quickly through some screens, arriving at the chosen data, and assimilating it in seconds. "Interesting. This is some very advanced psitech. I am guessing by the design that it is cosmetic and mildly kinetic. Inserting a strand of hydrourum a cell wide into every strand of her hair... someone is very detail-oriented. Needlessly complex, a cranial Tattoo could have done the same work. Is there a reason for doing this, other than wasting money?"

"She can interface with electronics with it, sir," Sir Dorval supplied instantly, and the Duke glanced at him sharply.

"This is a working cybernetic implant interface for a psi?" His expression changed.

Cybernetics were taboo for mentalists, rapidly degrading their Reserve and Vertex as they accumulated, even something as minor as an eye with infravision and magscopes having a significant impact. Interfacing with computers directly seemed to have an adverse effect on many mentalists, and even the electro-kineticists and cyberpaths had to spend their Reserves to create an insulation effect for their brains when they hooked into devices. Deckers and jackers who hooked directly into a system basically burned their psionic potential down to next to nothing.

The Mechanist Guild could spew their propaganda on the merging of man and machine all day, but the psionic disciplines embraced a core truth: Never rely on the machine...

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Glossary:

Star Heart: Your Mindblade is aligned (good/evil/law/chaos) and does +d6 dmg per hit. This is the feat that turns a mindblade metallic/crystalline.

Clarity of Focus: Take 10 on all COncentration checks as desired, removing chance from the equation.

Gather the Nimbus: +4 to Concentration Checks to gather Nimbus and Corona, +8 at 10th.

Solar Eclipse: Gather Corona and Nimbus at the same time, instead of as separate actions.

Battle Meditation (not mentioned, but she has it): Raise Concentration check Req by 10, increase the speed by one action when Focusing. Normal is a 15 for a standard action; 25 for a Move Action; 35 for a Swift Action; 45 for a Free Action (1/rd). These stack, and are how you execute multiple Sun Strikes rapidly.