Pain was the first thing that brought him back to consciousness. A dull, deep pain in his thigh, a stinging reminder of his struggle at the nest. Then came the muscular stiffness, a general soreness that made him groan as he tried to move.
He remembered the Stim-Pack, the superhuman rage followed by a complete collapse. He must have passed out here, against this cold wall, amidst xeno corpses.
"Fuck..." he groaned, forcing himself to sit up.
That's when he noticed.
It wasn't just the fatigue. Something had changed.
He looked at his hands. They were no longer those slightly chubby, engineer's fingers. The knuckles were more prominent, the veins more defined under the skin covered in dirt and dried blood. He brought a hand to his face. The cheeks were more hollow, the jaw more square. He felt his shoulders, his arms. Under the shreds of his torn coat, the muscles were firm, prominent. It wasn't the swollen body of a bodybuilder, but the lean, dense one of an athlete, a warrior. The fat that weighed down his belly had disappeared, leaving behind the beginnings of abdominal muscles.
"What the... ?"
He stood up, despite the pain in his leg. The movement was different. Lighter, more powerful. Even injured, he stood straighter, more stable. He felt... efficient.
< Host physiological analysis.>
< Lung Optimization allowed for optimal blood oxygenation. The extreme effort coupled with the Stim-Pack catalyzed a rapid body recomposition, burning lipid reserves and defining existing muscle mass. The Host has reached a peak of basic physical condition.>
Julius's eyes widened. He had looked at his reflection in his weapon just a few hours ago. He was unrecognizable. He had the silhouette of those Greek statues he admired in history books, a functional and raw perfection. The metamorphosis was miraculous.
A laugh, a bit hysterical, escaped him.
"Damn... The 'run for your life' diet and the 'xeno combat cocktail' work better than all the diets on Earth."
His euphoria was tempered by a growl from the shadows. The nest wasn't empty. Other creatures must be prowling, attracted by the smell of blood.
His energy counter blinked: 85/100. His Gauss, left to rest, had recovered a few units, and the creatures he had killed in his stim-fueled delirium had done the rest.
He picked up the Necron weapon. It suddenly felt lighter, better balanced in his new hand. He was stronger. But he was also intelligent. Fighting these things hand-to-hand was idiocy. He needed power. A lot of power.
"System, show me heavy weapons. Something to clean up."
The menu scrolled. And he saw it. A terrifying beauty.
[M-55 Rocket Launcher - Starship Troopers]
Cost: 80 energy units.
Description: A portable rocket launcher used by Mobile Infantry marines.
Ammunition: It uses tactical nuclear munitions the size of a grenade. (1 rocket supplied, reloads cost 20 units each)
Target: Designed to destroy large targets like 'Plasma Bugs' or insect nests.
Tactical nuclear munitions. The size of a grenade. Julius felt a shiver of excitement mixed with horror. It was madness. It was perfect.
"Buy it," he ordered.
< Acquisition of [M-55 Rocket Launcher]. Consumption of 80 energy units.>
< Remaining energy: 5/100.>
With a flash of light and a metallic clang that echoed in the silence, the weapon appeared at his feet. It was a massive, angular tube, military gray. Heavy, deadly. He picked up the rocket launcher, hefting it. Even with his new muscles, it was an imposing mass.
He loaded the single rocket, an innocent cylinder containing a miniature sun.
Then, he turned towards the nest. The black, spongy matter pulsed weakly. He could hear scratching, whispers. The place of his near-death.
A cold smile spread across his transformed face.
"Clear the view, boys," he murmured. "It's cleanup time."
He shouldered the M-55, aiming at the heart of the nest. There was no specific target. Just the enemy.
He pulled the trigger.
The WHOOSH was deafening, a thunderclap in the confined space of the courtyard. The recoil was violent, wrenching a grunt from him, but his new muscles absorbed the shock much better than his old body would have.
The rocket shot straight and impacted the black matter at the center.
There was no conventional explosion.
A blinding FLASH, silent for a microsecond, then a wave of pure heat, followed by a NOISE that seemed to tear reality itself. A miniature sun was born in the center of the nest, instantly vaporizing the organic matter, the eggs, the bones. The biomechanical walls around liquefied, warped under the intense heat before disintegrating. The blast threw Julius backward, hammering his eardrums.
When the light dimmed and the radioactive dust began to settle, there was no more nest. No more courtyard. Just a smoking, vitrified crater at its center, radiating infernal heat.
Julius got up, stunned, his ears ringing. He looked at the carnage, the empty rocket launcher smoking in his hands.
< Threat eradicated. +150 energy units.>
< Total energy: 155/100.>
He had cleaned up.
He stood at the edge of the crater, his Greek hero's body covered in soot and blood, a weapon of mass destruction in his hand. He was no longer the lost engineer. He had become a force of nature in this brutal world. And he had just announced his arrival with a nuclear detonation.
"Next time, it'll be the barracks," he said to the burning air. "But first, a few reloads for this toy."