Ranger
Chapter 245: Lesser
By Wanderer D
From the secure niche she had rappelled to, Sonata watched as Fugue flew forth and up, reaching the highest point, and then seemed to explode into a red cloud that expanded the whole of the Warlock's secret base.
It then started raining blood. And not just a little; a veritable storm creating a haze across the whole field which even she couldn't see through with Darklance, which was a first. She grinned fiercely—but still crouched back against the corner, just at the very edge of the cloud to avoid any possible damage. She knew what was coming, just not what shape it would take.
The various MECs, Sectopods, Specters and the split codex seemed unable to understand just how screwed they were. From her position, she could see over a dozen more robots, but no sign of Fugue herself.
Then, in the middle of the room, once the blood puddles had grown into what amounted to a small lake, she slowly emerged. Immediately all of the mechanical enemies targeted her. But she smiled and snapped her fingers.
The only reason Sonata saw what had happened, was because her extended senses allowed her a clear view, almost as if she was standing right there. The blood covering the sectopods and MECs; the specters and codexes… suddenly hardened and pierced through them like thin lances that went straight through their armor as if it was made of tissue paper, then the blood flattened into long blades that spun outwards.
Their enemies didn't even have a chance to shoot again before they were cut to shreds. Immediately, as if in response to this, portals opened and berserkers, ADVENT and mutons rushed out, armed and already shooting on top of the raised platforms.
Fugue simply dodged or raised blood barriers to stave off the fire, while the berserkers and lancers foolishly charged her. The moment their feet touched the blood lake however, it seemed to boil around their feet and the attackers soon found themselves screeching and convulsing in place, their limbs twisting and spasming seemingly out of control.
Thick veins became thicker and bubbled up as one of the berserkers fell to its knees, its already abused and modified body rippling as it thrashed, roaring in pain. The other tried to stomp down the bubbles crawling up its legs and arms, even going as far as ripping its own skin in an attempt to stop it. The ADVENT soldiers twisted and screamed, standing like puppets held up by invisible strings.
One of them simply exploded.
The mutons that had stayed on the platforms paused to gape for a moment. But Fugue didn't waste time. With a dismissive gesture of her hand, the accumulated lake of blood moved as if pushed by invisible winds, creating a wave that split into giant scythes. The mutons tried firing at them, but their shots did nothing to the magical constructs, and they barely had time to scream as they were sliced apart, weapons and all.
"What will you do now, Tirek?" Sonata asked, her gaze going to the giant phylactery. Her smile turned into a frown as the alien device shuddered, cracks appearing on its golden surface and spidering from corner to corner. "What th—"
She flinched as the phylactery exploded and Tirek formed in front of it. But this wasn't the usual Warlock she had learned to really hate. He was made of pure, concentrated psychic energy, with the only exception being Adagio's gem, which floated as if embedded into his ethereal forehead.
"Crap," Sonata muttered. "You finally figured how to use the gem."
If Fugue was surprised or impressed by Tirek's stunt, she didn't show it, instead, the pond of blood slowly swirled around her as she was elevated from the surface to the air, her wings expanded, blood-red, and her claws were as long as her arms now. She kept going up in that blood-whirpool until she was at eye-level with her opponent.
"That can't be effective."
But Sonata kept her thoughts to herself. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Tirek was more powerful than her. But her new sister, Fugue… that was another story. In all her centuries of life, Sonata had never heard of a more powerful bloodmage. By now, all those that had even approached the level of control Fugue had at the moment of transformation were lost in their madness; creatures of death and destruction with no capacity for higher thought.
But something had changed. Something kept holding Fugue back from ripping this world apart and then going out into space to continue her work. Sonata knew, because before—thousands of years ago—she had died bringing down such a beast. Tonameyotl. The name still sometimes invoked within her the simpler life of an earth pony with an obsession with carving decorations out of different stones and crystals to give away to her friends and family.
Another life, generations away—and yet whenever she thought about him, she remembered what it was to be mortal, and to know you were about to die, but you would bring down this being with you. During her time as a Siren in Equestria she had heard of Sombra and thought of her old foe, but the upstart king was nothing but the shadow of a shadow of Tonameyotl's power.
Thousands of years ago, Tonameyotl's power had been second only to Camazotz, the blood king. And here, after thousands of years, she was witnessing a power that far outstripped his—and it was contained. Fugue's power wasn't the mindless, instinct-driven destruction that had befallen every bloodmage before her. Something had worked differently this time around.
But then again, never had a true siren been the catalyst for the blood mage's transformation.
"You have pushed me to the edge, siren," Tyrek said, his voice a mixture of his deep cadance, and the howling background noise similar to the banshee-like screeches of the codexes. "But thanks to you I have achieved more than I could have ever imagined! I have the power now to rival the Elders!"
"Turning yourself into psychic energy doesn't mean you have the upper hand, Warlock," Fugue replied, sneering. "It just means you're less of a man you ever were."
Tirek roared and a blast of psychic power pushed her back, crackling whenever it came in contact with the magical energy of her blood magic. A lesser being would have been fried instantly by that—ADVENT Priests or other psionic-wielding aliens—besides the Elders—would have suffered a magic-induced feedback that would have utterly destroyed them. But Tirek had somehow figured out how to use the psionics to fight Fugue in even ground.
And it was thanks to Adagio's gem.
The power behind the blast pushed back Fuge, ripping her from her blood tide and sending her crashing onto one of the platforms. Without missing a beat, he used more power to disperse the sea of blood around them and clear the area around his opponent.
Fugue, embedded on the floor, simply melted into more blood and re-emerged, completely healed and already on her way towards him from another little puddle of the substance. She slashed at his arm with her long claws, cutting through the energy with little to no effort, and although it healed again immediately, Tirek howled with pain, stepping back.
Sonata watched as their dance continued, with Fugue moving faster and faster, dodging most of Tirek's attacks and even dispersing his energy blasts with her magic.
For all his newfound power, he had little control over it to reflect a real improvement. So even as she watched, the hulking figure made of psionic energy was slashed by Fugue's direct attacks. She wasn't even trying, despite the fact that Tirek got a couple of good hits, mostly in the form of attacks that covered a large area.
Every time Fugue slashed into him, his size diminished until he was back to his normal, almost human size. Finally, the siren decided to end it.
Glancing down at Fugue's claws embedded in his chest, Tirek laughed. It didn't have much mirth into it. It wasn't cheerful or even amused. It was a deep, low, menacing growl of a laugh. "You cannot win, Fugue, even if you were to strike me down, my vengeance shall be complete."
Fugue sneered. "You keep thinking that, Tirek. But whatever happens, you won't be here to see it happen." With that, she tore her hand free, then stabbed forth again, this time on his forehead, her claws tearing through his ethereal head without any resistance. She closed her fist around Adagio's gem, and ripped out of his forehead.
By the time the "body" hit the floor it was little more than wisps of energy, dissipating into the air.
Sonata grinned and rappelled down to Fugue, who stumbled back a little. "It seems this battle drew more out of me than I thought it would."
"It doesn't matter," Sonata said, "He's dead! And we have Dagi's gem!" She grinned. "Come on, let's go meet with Chimera. We have a world to take over."
"How fares Project Avatar?"
"It goes well. The Commander's attack on our Network Facility and releasing Adagio was not anticipated, but the actual damage to the project is negligible."
"The Warlock is dead."
"He and the Assassin will be mourned. Hailed as heroes in our memory."
"What about the traitor?"
"She is lost to us. We are unable to find her."
"We are without Chosen, and the wild creations of Chimera and Vahlen roam outside of our control."
"The Commander is stolen."
"The rejects gather to act against us."
"Traitors and defects join them."
"Unknown powers are at play."
"We don't have much time. Avatar must be completed."
"Avatar must be powerful enough to not be destroyed by these new beings. These... sirens."
"Before his death, the Warlock provided us with information. We have much to study about this being, "Fugue" and her powers."
"The Assassin and the Hunter are also sirens, yet nothing unusual showed in their scans before they were exalted."
"It matters not. With the information we are still receiving from the Warlock's plan, we can make Avatar much more powerful."
"Powerful enough to bring the Commander back to the fold."
"Powerful enough to bring the fight back to the homeworld."
"Powerful enough to destroy XCOM and the sirens."
"We will rule again."
o.0.o End Chapter 245 o.0.o
Awesome fight blood magic is truly horrifying and a powerful. I love how this updated the moment I decided to reread lol. Is fugue a full on planetary threat now. As is she could destroy the whole planet or just wipe out all life on the planet. That seems to be what sonata is implying and I love it. I wonder if this means she rivals Celestia and Luna now.
9886548
The problem with blood magic is that it gets more powerful as it is used.
Exponentially.
Usually this is offset by the creeping madness. they'd be little more than animals long before they got to this point, vulnerable to assassination or even a trap baited with some staked-out pig carcasses.
But Fugue's lust for domination has apparently protected her mind from degradation in some way. Very unusual, very difficult.
At least she hasn't moved beyond blood, there are always worse places to go...
9886548
wouldn't that mean that she has ascended as an alicorn of... what blood
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"
Seriously tho, this was an interesting chapter. and I do hope we find out just what took the Elders home planet in this story.
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I think your all geting it wrong; THIS IS HER MADNESS.
She is willing to do anything to proteckt those she love even from herself.
An Avatar powerful enough to rival Fugue would be night unbeatable, except perhaps to soul rending bullets.
Also it'd likely get batshit insane if it has even a sliver of blood magic and no equestrian factors to keep it in church
"pushed back Fuge, ripping"
"pushed back Fugue, ripping"?
"and ripped out of his forehead"
"and ripped it out of his forehead"?
Nice to see this story back.
Tirek finally perish, though with a more decent fight than I expected of him.
Interesting teed-bit of backstory for Sonata, apparently she's from Mayan society. I look about the name Tonameyotl, but I only come up with the name meaning "sun beam".
As for Camazotz, I'm well aware who the old bat is. He has become a regular in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
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Well to be fair, a completed Avatar is always a instant lose condition in XCOM 2. The only ones we face in game are the incomplete ones and they can wipe a squad out alone. A completed avatar or even an incomplete one with magical powers added would be worse then the chosen!
Well... That plan didn't to accordingly. Time for modifications!
9886903
Fair enough, hadn't thought about that. But I still think Fugue's way worse than an Avatar could ever be.
Oh....that was interesting.
You know when you think about it sunsets blood magic is way more powerful than the 40k version. She’s killed a few thousand people and now she’s a full blown I’m gonna destroy your planet and move onto the next. If she’s become this powerful with just a few thousand bodies what happens when she starts killing off the billions of other humans, and the countless animals.
I wonder if he is really actually dead. Seeing a psychic body die doesn't really feel like the same thing as seeing a flesh-and-blood body die.
Fascinating glimpse of Sonata's past. I have to wonder of she'd recognize Ahuizotl. Or vice versa.
In any case, Tirek's final revenge may be in the form of gathered intel... assuming he's truly dead. Everything's coming to a head, and given the travel times involved, the Algae Photis doesn't look like a viable anti-Fugue option. Though I could certainly be wrong there. Looking forward to more.
Where the heck is Blade when you need him right now... tell him to bring the "explodes-vampire-heads" anticoagulant!
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The closest we ever see to the full Avatar power is the one you body jack in the last mission.
Sonata's backstory brings up all kinds of questions. Was she and her sisters turned into Siren's by the blood magic, as a reward for killing a blood mage in the first place, or are they a Universal Soldier type deal that only then killed the blood mage after being brought back as Sirens?
Beyond that, is Fugue's madness her need to beat Advent, protect XCOM or is the only thing allowing her to hold on the bits of Sunset still in the soul gem? If it is Sunset's soul, did Tirek just screw that up, at least in the short run?
9886846 More Aztec, since her name is in Nahuatl.
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A bit relevant if you want to look a bit back, in Chapter 220: Fallen Daring Do talks a little about the origins of the Sirens.
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oh, right... wow it's been so long I had forgotten that part completely. Need to go back and start from the beginning again, me thinks.
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True enough. She's definitely the level of threat where her simple presence in the theater in reason enough to abort mission. That said unlike avatar she's an independent actor and seems to be more focused on ADVENT then XCOM. In fact I don't think XCOM has even crossed paths with her since her awakening?
So it looks like Tirek did something to Adagio's gem before fighting Fugue. Seems like it's providing live information to the... Elders, if that's whom that final conversation is among. Not enough for them to know where Sonata is, interestingly, so I wonder what information it is giving. And whether that's related to what he told Sunset he was doing, tinkering with Fugue's gem to help Sunset grow stronger over time.
Meanwhile the Elders believe that the completed+upgraded Avatar project will both bring Chrysalis back, and let them fight to win back their own homeworld. Eeenteresting indeed.
Great to see the story continue!
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Even that was an unfinished Avatar.
There's a reason finishing the Avatar project means an instant lose condition, and it isn't just because the Elders got what they wanted.
My impression was that the finished Avatar would be about the power of what Sunset is now. And that was just my impressions when I played the game, not anything regarding what the plot needs the Elders to adapt the Avatar to.
I finally caught up, I'm loving the story insofar., I can't wait for the next chapters, hope sunset can be saved but from what I'm getting it's implied., Only took me 3 days, gg author.
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So the Sirens are fallen heroes like Sunset?
Getting some strong Alucard (Hellsing) vibes from Fugue. That's not new really but... certainly on full display here, including how amusingly anticlimactic the finale of this fight was. As she said, even if he has the last laugh (and he might), he won't be around to enjoy it.
So how DID he confuse her blood sight there? Eh, maybe it'll come up later.
Control freaks losing it is quite delightful to read.
Tirek is gone but his revenge is slowly growing.
I wonder who the Eternal Elderd enemy in space is. Probably a race they fail to enslave.
Almost at the end and than being at the dreaded 'to be continued' a fate all known to Fimfiction readers eventually
Homeworld... I wonder who the Elder started as?
I guess they invaded Equestria and regret it ever since.