The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Chapter 18: A Tactical Upgrade

A few minutes later found Lash back in the galley, the 3D printer stations humming with life. This time he was only joined by Naryan, Narcist, and a curious Fiadh. Truk and Ballan were doing their best to adjust to their new positions, and the other two liliths, trying to deal with all sorts of emotions and sensations with their willingness to connect with Lash without Compulsion in play, had found somewhere to meditate and get their minds in a good place.

"So, you said something about upgrades?" the newly minted Force Recon officer asked.

Lash nodded in confirmation. Before he did anything, though, he spoke just a little louder.

"Still with us, Ford?"

"Yes, boss," Fordricht replied over the comms. "And I've got Galloway with me."

"Good. Because this will be a bit of a weapons and armor brief. Armor you know, Ford, but Galloway needs the full brief. So the both of you, pay close attention."

Lash then held up a data vault he had retrieved from his duffel bag.

"This data vault contains all the psionic tech I've managed to get my hands on and utilize in my efforts to get Fiadh to NachtFeuer. It also has all of the upgrades to that gear I've developed myself, extending its operational capabilities significantly."

Locating a slot to stick the vault into, he did just that. A holographic interface appeared in response just to the side of the printer he was standing in front of. On it were several options, including opening the data vault. A wave of his finger over that option made the Nighthawk's AI come back online.

"Lord Commander," it said. "This unit has scanned the data vault currently inserted into Fabrication access port two. Several upgrades to current armor and weapon designs have been identified. Do you wish to incorporate these upgrades and add them to the Qos Viran database?"

"I do," Lash replied.

"Incorporating. Information has been stored in the Qos Viran central database," the AI reported a few seconds later.

The holographic screen shifted slightly to show a couple of new entries.

"As a species that actively hunts another sapient species as food, we've always focused on keeping our offensive arsenal ahead of both our prey and our competition," Lash said, using the interface to bring up images of several pieces of what appeared to be armor.

"But, as we've recently discovered to our chagrin, our prey has been doing the same thing. And our response has been to froth impotently and bemoan our loss of predatory status."

"Harsh," Naryan said with a wry smile. "But accurate."

"Just so," Lash said with a nod. "Thanks to a gift from an unexpected ally, the psylord Mordecai of the Lone Gunmen, we can change that."

"But you said ... ah, a necessary blurring of the truth to protect an asset." Naryan slowly nodded in appreciation. "Smart."

"As you said, necessary," Lash added.

"Eventually my sisters will know the truth. They are intelligent and driven, after all," Fiadh said with a nod to Lash. "But until we understand the extent of what's transpiring across the entire Dark Edge, Lash thought it prudent to keep information minimal."

Naryan's smile broadened.

"Like I said, not just a pretty face." The smile vanished. "So what are we talking here? Daylight operations? I saw your Ventru operators in Lucerne walk out into the sunlight without day armor on. How did you pull that off?"