Augmented Aspects [Steampunk], [Progression], [Gamelit]

A Little Espionage

"All right, I get the whole idea of needing to gather intelligence. I also get the idea where you gathering intelligence yourself is better than someone else gathering it, and then relaying the parts they think are important back to you, but there is still the one obvious problem with this whole encounter," Raygunnr begins.

We are of course speaking only in Mana Language, which despite adding a bit more magical flashes to our presence, and making us stand out as a flashing Christmas light and not just a permanent mana light, like normal. It is still better for Raygunnr to see what is happening here with me. Yes, there is the whole spending 20 days inside Raygunnr, which after realizing you don't need to eat or drink becomes much more manageable.

Also, I've seen this through Espy-Ulacrum's eyes, but she doesn't have the same height perspective as I do, while living in the modified and multiple times reforged Raygunnr.

Sigh.

I realize that Raygunnr isn't going to complete his thought apparently until I indulge him, which is what I do.

"What problem are you thinking about?" I ask, only after I reply do I realize the fact that I might have opened the door wider than his initial question, as my question implied knowledge of at least two or more problems. Which there are, but I've already accounted for them. Well, Zero and I have accounted for them.

Yes, Zero is in here with me as well, coiled around me like an oversized championship belt designed for someone who was clearly three times my size. But for this type of operation it is all hands on deck.

"Well, I could point out that I can see us glowing brightly, especially with the addition of Zero who glows like a nuclear fusion center within me." There is a slight pause, before Raygunnr backtracks slightly, "no offense Zero."

"None taken," Zero responds, his head twisting up as if trying to lock gazes with Raygunnr from inside his cockpit area.

"But really I think this whole idea is rather stupid, as I don't exactly blend into the surroundings," Raygunnr continues his complaints all using Mana Language.

"Oh come on, that's what Zero and I are here for, you are not a free roaming killer robot on the loose, but rather a cute magical tree," I respond.

"Yeah, about that," Raygunnr begins while holding up his arms out in front of his cockpit area, as if that would make him any easier to see. "Do you even know what a tree looks like?"

"You look exactly like a tree, everything from your leaves to your bark, to even the elastic movements allowed all look like every tree I know." I reply.

"Like every tree you know?"

"Yeah, five of my Simulacrums live in a tree, in case you forgot."

"Yggdraspirit? You based my design off of Yggdraspirit?"

"Hey, you might protest, but all of our magical findings prove that Yggdraspirit can get up and move if they so chose," I respond. Zero is of course there nodding his head in agreement with this scientific fact.

Peaceful silence.

Finally, that logic bomb quiets Raygunnr long enough for me to focus on the task at hand, as we are finally nearing the range where Zero and I can both view the training being performed by the Tier IV and beyond metal monstrosities used by the enemies, so we can see exactly how much further we have to go.

"That's even scarier than just telling me the there is a giant tree that could eventually fall and take out half a city," Raygunnr states, ruining that moment of silence.

"Well, wouldn't you rather know that Yggdraspirit could easily walk away, than be caught totally by surprise when they do?"

Another, slightly shorter moment of silence happens, before Raygunnr just shakes his head slightly. This is perfect as we are finally in that optimal range of viewing where we can see not only the barracks and Mechanoid training facilities, but we are also far enough away to not be so easily noticeable.

"Okay, take a root here," I state as I force Raygunnr to come to a complete stop, a good thirty kilometers away from the area that we are to be spying upon. By now, I can see well over fifty Kilometers in all directions. Which seems like a lot, which it is, but it also still requires me to be within enemy territory.

Knowing that my genetic flaws make me stand out like a brightly lit magical candle to anyone with the sight, I chose to choose a disguise that doubles down on that effect. Instantly Raygunnr seems to let out a sigh of relief as we are finally done moving.

"Whoa," he replies as the makeshift roots we designed to go over his suit begin growing with a little magical encouragement and begin diving deep into the ground.

"Are you going to comment on every step we take here?" I reply as I again take control of his arms and raise them upwards to the sky, fingers spread wide then lock them in place. There is a momentary pause before more Nature magic is poured into the thick exoskeleton Yggdraspirit tree bark and tiny branches that I have masterfully woven together to form quite possibly the perfect Halloween costume. A perfect living replica of Yggdraspirit, complete with growing root systems and towering branches.

"And you've got your tongue out too," Raygunnr mutters to himself, momentarily distracting me from my current task, that of growing a perfect Yggdraspirit outer shell to protect us, should we become noticed. I mean, seeing a giant magical robot is one thing, but seeing a massive magical tree, completely understandable.

"That tongue means magic is afoot," I reply, no longer capable of denying my quirk.

"I again, just want it noted for the record that this is possibly the stupidest disguise I've ever seen."

"Noted," Zero and I reply dryly, well as dryly as Mana Language allows.

"I mean, think about it, who would believe that a giant twenty foot tall tree just randomly appeared in the middle of their yard overnight?" Raygunnr asks, clearly not understanding the idea of keeping radio silence during an operation.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Yet, given that we aren't actually transmitting soundwaves, this is acceptable. Especially, as I expect the Yggdraspirit shell to be able to mask our communications once they are up.

Complete seal.

Then just as I think it, it is done. It didn't hurt that I had these little parts already growing and thriving all around Raygunnr's body.

And like that, my time of complete anonymity to the outside world is complete. As far as the outside world is concerned, Raygunnr and I are in a place of complete darkness, which I guess we are. But really the insides of Yggdraspirit are amazing, as I can almost feel my powers being amplified from inside this structure.

The idea is that we go and create a hollow core inside Yggdraspirit now, one that we can continue to come back to as time goes on.

"I guess this is probably a bad time to mention that I have claustrophobia?" Raygunnr begins.

I just roll my eyes at the completely inappropriate joke.

"You are fine."

"No, I mean it, I do," Raygunnr begins, and I can almost feel the panic in his magical outcry, the slight hiccup in transmissions that all but show he is not lying in his words.

"What exactly is it about being stuck in a completely sealed place that gets you?" I ask, trying to see if there is something we can do to help. I am already contemplating the idea of trying to release magical medical remedies to Raygunnr's system. This would be interesting as I have never tried to create a chemical reaction within a strictly mechanoid race before, the ideas of what can be done. And better still what should be done are astronomically complex.

"It's the fact that I feel like I can't breath while in there," Raygunnr begins, then pauses as fear clearly grips his words as he replies, "wait, why are you suddenly smiling?"

Hearing that I am smiling due to my chance to interact with and provide balancing stimulation to a Teleiotís's unique body structure, I pause and quickly regain my composure, through Acting.

"Nothing," I state as I shake myself back to reality. This is not necessarily false as I will do nothing for the moment, while I try to diagnose the problem, as my constantly snitching on myself pixie curse is met. "But going back to your earlier point about not breathing. You do realize that as a Teleiotís, you don't actually breath right?"

"What? I don't?" Raygunnr asks, confusion evident in his transmissions.

"No, why do you think you can go to space, where there is no atmosphere and battle there?" I begin, then after pausing for a second I continue, "because you can't breathe. Thus, the whole idea of you hyperventilating due to lack of oxygen seems a bit off right?"

Silence.

At this, Raygunnr goes silent for a moment, which is great as it allows me to divert more of my attention away from the hypochondriac Raygunnr and get back to doing what we are here to do. Namely, watch the enemy practice.

For the most part, there is nothing too impressive about the units. They are slow due to excessive layers of protective materials. Materials that all appear to be weighted somehow. The joints have a decreased range of motion, due to the extra layers of protective materials. That and their footwork seems shoddy, going to the same few steps, and always using the right foot as a pivot foot.

I don't know if the right foot as a pivot foot is a pilot specific finding, or if that is a design flaw. It looks like it could be a mixture of both, as the right side seems to be the load bearing leg of these massive devices, primarily due to the way the warriors all wield their oversized weapons in their right hands, which places the majority of the weight on the right leg. Looking at their movements, I can assume that if someone held their weapon in their left hand then they would likely use their left leg as a pivot foot.

"You're seeing this too right Zero?" I ask.

"Sadly," Zero replies.

"What? What are you two seeing?" Raygunnr asks, clearly looking for something to entertain himself.

"These Tier IV mechs are little more than giant walking shields. Lack of movement, lack of speed, and a reliance on the same pivot foot due to lack of proper weight distribution from their weapons." I reply.

"Oh, they have weapons? What type?" Raygunnr asks, his excitement apparently at maximum level. I can't say I blame him, as he is likely bored having nothing to see, and unable to move. Fortunately the Yggdraspirit shell I have created has grown enough to hold Raygunnr up as a mini lounge chair, so we don't even need to lock our arms or legs in place anymore.

"They have traditional broadswords and rifles," I reply giving the highlights of the weapons that have been shown. There are a few deviations, warriors with smaller swords, or ones who use a smaller sword and a shield, but mostly just the same exact fighting options, kind of bland.

"Oh, that sounds so cool. When will you trust me with swords and guns?" Raygunnr asks, excitement clearly creeping into his words.

I just pause and give him the side eye for a moment before responding. "Likely around the time you stop acting like you stop acting like having a new weapon is the same thing as getting a new toy."

"Ahh come on, they can be adult toys." Raygunnr begins, but then pauses, "oh, I apparently got a warning for saying adult garbled."

Another quick pause.

"Yep, second warning. Fine you are right, weapons are not toys," Raygunnr states and then seems to flash his eyes around as if expecting another system notification. Only once nothing happens does he seem to relax a little.

Silence again.

With that, the deluge of questions ends for a bit longer, allowing Zero and I to continue watching. We watch everything. We watch the battles that are happening in the wide open, and the special sparring matches that are happening deep underground.

While watching multiple things at once is tough, it becomes easier when I can just direct my attention towards a particular area, which is basically what I end up doing in this case. Only taking a few trained moments every few minutes to check that we are clear, before going back to my scanning.

Giant Sword Slash.

RUMBLE!

In one of the underground bunkers, a Tier IV mech lashes out and provides a devastating strike that ends up causing a minor tremor even out here.

"Was that a Qi strike?" Zero asks.

"Yes, quite impressive as they were able to channel the Qi through their weapon before having it land." I reply, then mentally I take a mental snapshot of that mech pilot's energy signature, knowing that they will be tough when time comes. Especially if they are my opponent during a qualifier.

I still think we can take them, but only if we treat them as a true enemy. Honestly, with how tough their outer shell is, it might take a bit for me to get any good strikes in on them. Which could leave me open to one of those power strikes if I am not careful.

"Seems that they can only use the one Qi type," Zero notes.

I hear that, and I kind of shrug. "They have only shown the one type, but that doesn't mean much. Always assume they can use more than one type," I reply.

Never underestimate your enemy, that is my goal with this, and I am glad I did take a moment to watch their practice. Well, to watch their real practices. With the qualifying competitions coming up so soon, every shred of information helps. Also, I figured this would be the perfect time to spy on the main competitors, as they would have to train in normal conditions. I don't know what realm they got the components for their mech suits from, but I assume it would have different atmospheric conditions than here, which would mean they would need at least a two week period to adjust to the rules and conditions of the mortal realm, before the competition, meaning this would be our one chance to see them in action.

I am so deep in my notation processes, that I almost miss the growing level of annoyance that Raygunnr is now exhibiting. Almost.

"Sigh."

Hearing him huff, I take a deep breath and calm myself. This is partly my fault as I asked him to come here with me so we could both finish our 20-day challenge. A quest that I am getting closer and closer to wanting to cancel myself. But experience is experience and there has been an increased sharing of skills and joint skill growth that has been very beneficial to me, and will ultimately make our survival as a team that much more possible. As such I take the noise for what it is, the noise of a rookie spy who has not yet learned the importance of patience.

While I am able to dismiss the noise slightly easily, it is clear that Zero is not able to let it go quite so easily as he seems to scowl at Raygunnr. Or Zero's impersonation of scowling, which is just him pointing his head towards an object and not blinking. Normally effective, but only when the person he is scowling at can see his gesture. Seeing as we are inside his stomach area, I am not certain exactly how impactful this stare is, but it's his life he can do what he wants with it, I suppose.

"Is this what spying actually is?" Raygunnr asks.

"Mostly," I reply, knowing that if we didn't at least reply then he would likely escalate his passive aggressive movements as this went on.

"I honestly thought spy work would be much more entertaining, you know running around on rooftops, stealing precious items unnoticed—" Raygunnr trails off as he just seems to lose a little bit of his faith in the world, apparently.

"Sorry, going to say that rooftops are lousy places to run. Too high up and easy to be seen by others. Also stealing is fine, but often information is more important than items." I reply, stating a few facts that I have learned from my years of being a Thieves Guild Member.

"Also, if you are running, then you have likely messed up badly somewhere," Zero adds. I nod in agreement at his comment.

With the sudden conversation going on, I decide to take a moment to do a quick scan of the area around us. Only then do I realize that we might have let our guards down a bit too early with our hiding spot.

"Uh-oh," I state, my words enough to get Zero to stop his intense focus on our mission objective and focus on the encroaching threat.

"What is it?"

"We've been spotted," I respond.

There is a pause as everyone watches the incoming group of enemies coming straight towards their new hiding spot. A spot that would stand out like a giant tree that randomly appeared in the middle of a previously vacant field.

Silence.

Zero and I watch on as the gaggle of quickly moving enemies get closer and closer.

"What is it? A detachment of mechanoid units? Soldiers coming for patrol?" Raygunnr finally asks, the nervous tension getting to him.

Only then do I realize that he can't see anything. Worse, with the way the tree grew around him, he can't even turn his head to try to look in the direction of the oncoming enemy forces. That's when I decide to tell him the truth.

"Worse."

"Worse? Worse than soldiers and mechanoid units?"

"Yes, a lot worse…"

"Well what are they?"

That's when I give the one-word response that should send a shiver down anyone's spine.

"They are a group of kids," I respond.

"Kids? How bad can a group of kids be?" Raygunnr asked, and as soon as he asked that question, I could all but see the twisted threads of karma coming to life, ready to make Raygunnr pay for those words.