Tasha's Thoughts

Five months and two weeks after planetfall. 

It has been a week since Julian stormed the Federation outpost and acquired it as his own. 

A network relay hub could be seen above the HQ Building, establishing the E-CONN in the area. Turrets and automatons could be seen defending the perimeter, their cameras and feeds heavily monitored by Secturus.

Intellus and Unducel were still busy decrypting Doctor Steve's module while Hesab seemed to have closed himself off from the world after the Eagle 1 squad donated a large black scoprion carcass.

Avina walked into Julian's master room, bowing in respect. 

"What is it, Avina?"

"Successor, Tasha has been looking for you."

Julian grinned, finishing off the food prepared by Avina-2. "Oh, is it time already?!"

...

Medical Lab Building. Room A-029.

Tasha comfortably sat in the leather chair with her long and slender legs crossed. Her purplish eyes were glued to the wall opposite her, her thoughts concealed from the outside world. 

The door to her room suddenly opened, revealing the uncaring Julian who put his back to the wall, facing her.

Tasha could feel his immense suppression, almost forcing her head down in subservience. She released a small forcefield around herself to fight it off, relieving the pressure on her mind.

"You called for me? Have you made up your mind?" 

Tasha gritted her teeth, cursing the smugness in Julian's face. "Are you Captain Julian Rogers?"

"Yeah, I am, Tasha. Tell me, why would a Lone Star from Penumbra willingly come over here and meet with me? If I wasn't wrong, you lots are more or less the hermit-type, so why the sudden plan to travel in the outside world?" Julian narrowed his eyes. 

"I was ordered by my master, Umbra Maestro." Tasha stood up, facing him straight ahead. Her mouth opened ever so slightly as her voice drifted through his mind. 

"The Umbra Maestro?!" Julian forewent his usual arrogance and solemnly looked at her. "You've got to be kidding me. Why would that person be so interested in my existence?"

The Umbra Maestro was very enigmatic and had little to no interest in the scuffles of a Type II civilization like them. Julian's so-called 'star graduate' title was nothing in front of the Maestro's eyes. 

Even Julian wouldn't compare himself to a Lone Star like Tasha.

Tasha looked sideways, avoiding his terrifying gaze. "That's my question too. Why would my master be so interested in someone like you?"

Julian felt conflicted inside. Should he feel flattered or insulted by her words?

"The only thing that my master told me was that I had to come by your side, no matter the cost. Doctor Steve gave me the path to you in exchange for his life. He seems to know a lot about you."

"Is that so? He knows a lot about me, huh?" Julian held down his face after hearing Doctor Steve's name. "I see. So, did you visit his grave already?"

Tasha nodded. "I would like to thank you for that."

Julian felt guilty more than ever. However, Tasha's next words dumbfounded him.

"Please do not concern yourself on Doctor Steve's death. He knew what he was risking his life for and now that I am here, we should not let his death be in vain, captain."

"I am not a captain anymore..." Julian dismissed her honoraries. "What do you want to do now?"

"Training... I guess? My powers were severely limited because of the data I stored in my brain. I would like to use your training room if you have one. I want to recover my powers as quickly as possible so that I can accompany you outside."

"Hmm?" Julian suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. "You don't want to meet the sentinel or Captain Rooks?"

Tasha snorted, waving her head with her fingers. "What good will that do? Doctor Steve already gave you a plan for that sentinel and I have nothing else to say to Captain Rooks."

Her purplish eyes were drawn to him. "If I go there, I doubt I would be able to hold myself back. That may hinder whatever plans you have in your mind, captain. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

Julian shook his head in disbelief. It seemed that this woman was more levelheaded than he expected her to be.

"Fine, let's go to the training room then."

...

Seven dummy robots made of strengthened steel alloy all stood blankly in front of Tasha in the Training Room. The last one was the 'Phase Two' dummy robot that Intellus arranged.

"Hey Intellus, are you sure this is going to work?" Julian nudged on Intellus at his side.

"Do not worry, successor. I am also very interested in the Mental Prowess Extremity that this woman possesses."

"Huh? Mental Prowess Extremity?" Julian scratched his head. "What the hell is that? Shouldn't it be things like martial arts, marksmanship, piloting, psionic, and such?"

Intellus' eyes flickered. His gaze became deep and mysterious. "The Ancient Regime has registered four different extremities that a creature may specialize in, successor. They are the Physical, Mental, Heavenly, and Material Prowess Extremity."

"So I am someone under the Physical Extremity?" Julian pointed at himself to which Intellus nodded. "What about the Heavenly and Material Prowess then?"

Intellus turned to look back at the eight, now five dummy robots battling against Tasha. "Heavenly Prowess is very similar to Mental Prowess. It is an extremity measuring the oneness of a creature towards the entire universe. A highly positive relationship will imply that a creature can manipulate the very fabric of the Universe itself and use the Universe for its own needs. As for the Material Prowess Extremity..." 

Intellus pointed at the last standing dummy robot who remained unaffected under Tasha's psionic strikes.

Tasha was surprised, wondering how this dummy robot could be so difficult to deal with.

Julian was even more impressed, thinking that there were now two of them suffering from the uniqueness of this dummy robot.

Intellus' voice turned solemn as he added. "Material Prowess is the ability to synthesize and create products from the materials provided by the Universe. Someone who possesses this ability to a high level will be as powerful as those who have fully integrated with the Universe itself. Their creations are divine, and their grandeur can be felt throughout the Universe. Given the same materials, an expert in this field could generate twice as many, if not more, products of superior quality. This, however, requires a sufficient level of intelligence and focus."

Meanwhile, the dummy robot shrugged off Tasha's invisible waves as it ran towards her at great speed.

Tasha narrowed her eyes, using the invisible waves to move herself around.

She condensed a large amount of invisible waves in her left hand, releasing its might upon the dummy robot. The latter's eyes turned red, jumping away just in time to evade her strike once again.

"Tsk!" Tasha reorganized her thoughts, now planning to bombard the area in front of her. Before she could do so, the dummy robot jumped and kicked her stomach, sending her back to the floor.

She flew like a rag doll, hitting the wall after rolling several times. The dummy robot stopped giving chase, blankly standing in the center of the training room.

Upon the sight of this, Intellus turned around and walked out of the training room. 

Julian stared at his departing figure. "Was it good?"

"That will be plenty of research data to analyze, successor. I will go now."

"Intellus, wait!" 

"What is it, successor?" Intellus turned around.

"The research, is it not done yet?" 

It has already been more than three months since he started the Resource Gatherer Upgrade I project. Intellus never gave him an update so he reckoned that now might be a good time.

"There were several obstructions to the research progress, successor. I can only advance now if the materials are provided to me. If we force through, my analysis may not be applicable for practical use. It is better to use the existing material, if possible."

"Is that so?" Julian rubbed his chin. "What about the rest? Which choice is the better one?"

"I believe that the Energy Manipulation I or the Ballistic or Energy Ammunition I projects may suffice the successor's current needs. Energy Manipulation I can provide insight into increasing our energy output and storage efficiency in all forms. Ballistic or Energy Ammunition projects can provide the successor more firepower that can be useful for your expansion needs."

Julian checked his VNI and noticed that the Energy Manipulation I research was a pre-requisite to some heaven-defying projects like Matter Manipulation and Material Production Efficiency. 

"Let's focus on the Energy Manipulation I research first."

Intellus bowed. "Is there any more that the successor need of me?"

"No, you may go now."

Julian turned to Tasha who vomited blood on the floor. She gritted her teeth and cursed wildly. "Damn it, can't your dummy robots be a little soft?!"

"Sorry about that. My robots are very practical, as you have experienced." Julian shook his head after seeing her condition. "They would simulate battles at a very high degree of accuracy." 

Only those who fought against this horrific dummy robot could understand such a feeling of powerlessness. 

"But don't worry." Julian flicked his middle finger and thumb, cueing for the green proto insects to come and heal the injured Tasha. 

"Wh-what's this?!" Tasha identified them as very small insects, the type that she didn't like at all.

"Now, now, miss Lone Star. Don't be choosy, my little insects will heal all your injuries in the blink of an eye."

The green proto insects looked at her in delight. Finally, they could interact on flesh again. It had been a long time since their successor was severely injured by the Phase Two dummy robot.

His improvement seemed to be a hindrance to their work.

Tasha shivered uncontrollably, feeling the intent of their gaze. Were these insects going inside her just for that?!

The thought alone almost made her lose consciousness. 

She wanted to resist but found herself incapable of exerting strength. "You-!"

Tasha fixed her gaze on Julian, who had purposefully increased the amount of suppression he was emitting. She could only curse in despair as the green proto insects invaded her body.

"No- no!!!"

...

"Did you hear that?" Tiger 1-1 stopped, looking at the HQ building with interest.

"I didn't, Tiger 1-1. You should not have heard that too." Tiger 1-2 chuckled. 

"Don't blame me, Tiger 1-2." 

The Tiger 1 squad was currently patrolling the perimeter of the Base Complex Facility under Intellus' orders.

The latter said that it was a form of security training, something he wanted to implement for the next generations of military and security automatons.

As the two made their way around the buildings, their communicator suddenly beeped. All Tiger 1 members stopped in place and listened to the message.

"This is Fox 1-1 reporting! The outpost is under attack! I repeat, the outpost is under attack!"

"Under attack? Should we move?!" Tiger 1-2 asked.

"Let me contact Intellus first." Tiger 1-1 established a connection. "Intellus, Fox 1-1 reported in. The Federation is under attack."

"Continue your patrols. The successor and his subordinate will deal with it." Intellus ordered before terminating the call.

The two Tigers were at a loss and continued on their patrols.

Meanwhile, Julian changed into his PCS-MD-102 and walked out of the Mecha Hangar Bay using the PMS-MD-103.

Tasha waited for him above, floating in the air using her psionic powers. He could hear the intensity of the waves she emitted from afar.

"Are you sure you want to get yourself involved in this?"

Tasha rolled her eyes. "It's not fun being beaten around by the dummy robot, 'successor'."

"Don't tell me that thing is going over your brain now too?" Julian was annoyed by her mentioning the 'successor' part. "I think you should rest for a few more. It's bad for your health."

"Well, I was ordered to accompany you, 'successor'. I think I should be doing what I am supposed to do." Tasha teased.

Julian ignored her cheeky remarks. "Just don't get in my way later. Let's go." 

Both of them tore through the air, flying in the direction of the Federation outpost.