Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Tenchi Muyo characters or anything of that nature. Tenchi Muyo, all characters and names are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer. AD&D and Phyrexia are properties of TSR and Wizards of the Coast, respectively. I only claim ownership of the characters Kalog Planesmaster, the Beastmaster and the Nameless one. Please don't sue. I have no money whatsoever to protect myself with or to pay out. Anyway, on with the story...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No need for New Realms : Ch.6 Death, Famine, Pestilence, War....Ayeka? A great black mass rose from over one of the nearby hills, casting it's shadow over the group. "Oh damn.." cursed Ryoko, staring at the newcomer. Above them hovered a Phyrexian patrol ship. Not big (only a few hundred feet) but very much a deadly device, as evidenced by the cannons that hung over the rails. "Washu, do something! Fire off some spell that will destroy it or get us out of here!" Ryoko fairly yelled, forming her blazing energy sword. "Hang on, hang on! I don't know every spell, you know!" Washu snapped back, flipping through her spellbook. "I have to find one appropriate for this situation." " But could you hurry, please, Miss Washu. We may not have enough time" Tenchi added. His point was driven home as one of the cannons of the hovering ship glowed a deep, magma colored red. "Oh shit." The blast traveled with lightning speed. The beam struck at the ground, only a few meters in front of them, turning the rock into liquid. "Why can't they leave us alone for a while?" cursed Ryoko, flinging bolts oh her own energy back at the ship. The red beams sliced into the sides and even cut down a few of the beasts on deck, but none seemed to strike anything vital. More energy bolts flared from the ship, tracing a line up to the group. The manifestations of destruction arched with deadly precision, coming together on the ground where the group stood. Almost.. A barrier of lightning shone where the beams struck, washing their energy over and around the four figures behind it. "Whew, just in time." Breathed Washu, wiping her forehead. "That's real nice, but don't you thing a more offensive undertaking be better. That barrier won't last forever" Ryoko said. "Why don't you just insult them, that would be pretty offensive.." Washu mused. "Wassshuuuu.." "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, now lets see." "Look out!" Tenchi's warning came almost too late. Several bolts met in one place, and the lightning barrier began to fade, bits of the hellish energy leaking through. Ryoko flung more energy bolts, and Mihoshi clung to Tenchi in terror. "We're gonna die!" she bawled. "Oh no we aren't!" Washu triumphantly exclaimed as she looked up from her book. "Here goes!" Another bolt seared into the barrier. It cut the path for more, and within seconds, the entire area was a lake of molten rock. Anything that had been in the beam's paths had been incinerated. Except the gang. They hadn't been in the beam's path at the moment of contact. "Wow, that was close." Tenchi gasped. "I'll say." Ryoko added. The gang no longer stood on the now devastated rock of the plane. Now, steel and bone deck plating was under their feet, and the Phyrexian gunners further away were scanning the area where they had been , oblivious to the four figures now on their ship. "Shall we introduce ourselves?" asked Ryoko. "My thoughts exactly." Washu replied, grinning as she quickly read through her book. The Phyrexians only had a second's warning before they realized what was happening. The gunners and gun handlers suddenly slumped to the deck, their glistening blood-oil catching fire. Ryoko wasted no shot. And the others were not idle, either. Phyrexians, alerted to the commotion near the bow, turned to see what was going on, and were immediately cut down by a flurry of magical flames and arrows. Shrieking horribly, they died as blazing infernos. "Ha ha ha! We're really giving it to 'em!" laughed Ryoko, charging up the deck. Tenchi flanked her, cutting down more of the demonic crew with the firey Tenchi-ken. "Yeah, but just don't get too cocky. The last thing we need is for them to get a lucky shot.." he said, twisting his sword out of the carcass of a six-armed monstrosity. "Don't worry, have I ever been too cocky for a situation?" "Just be careful, please?" "Oh fine.." She laughed again, as the last remaining Phyrexian on deck collapsed in flames. "I think that takes care of this part." Washu said as she joined them at the stern of the ship. "So what do we do now?" "Maybe we should clear the lower decks." Tenchi suggested, "just so they don't come up and swarm us." "We could do that, but it would take time." Washu explained, "Plus, we might lose someone in there. No, we better think of something else." "Why not fly this flying metal can to that fortress?" asked Mihoshi. "We could try that, but how do we know what control does what?" asked Ryoko. "We test them and hope none of the ones we test is a self-destruct control." Washu explained, walking up some stairs to the bridge. "Oh, you're really reassuring." The semi-enclosed bridge of the ship had a hatch leading down, a set of panels with buttons, levers and a large wheel set in the center. "First off, we better seal that hatch." Washu said. "Ryoko, if you would be so kind.." "Yeah, yeah." she grumbled. Laser bolts traced around the edge of the aperture, sealing the black metal pieces together. "Now that that is taken care of, lets try and figure out how this thing works.." Washu turned to walk to the panel, and was greeted by the sight she (or anyone else for that matter) hated seeing: Mihoshi messing around with important equipment. This time, it happens that she is messing with the controls for the ship. "Mihoshi! Stop!" snapped Washu. "Don't do anything el..." She was cut off by the sudden forward lurch of the vessel. Their footing suddenly made unstable by the acceleration, everyone was knocked off their feet. "Why can't you leave anything alone?" grumbled Washu as she shakily got up. "Sorry.." Whined Mihoshi. "I was just trying to help." Washu just glared. "I any case, we better figure this thing out before we wreck or get found out." "The wreck part may come soon enough.." Moaned Tenchi, pointing out the window. A large rock face loomed ahead of them, increasing in size with every second. "Oh shit.." Cursed Washu, rushing to the controls. Nothing was familiar. Gemstones were all over, and various fluid filled tubes were scattered all over. There were a few levers and toggles scattered around, but Washu had no idea what they might do. "Do something!" Ryoko shouted. Washu stabbed down on a brilliant sapphire. A deep rumbling was felt below in the ship, and they began slowing. To either side of the ship, great sails extended, looking like great dragon wings. "That didn't do it, lets try this." She pressed on a onyx. The wings changed their angle and the vessel lifted upwards. But not fast enough for Washu's liking. Franticly, she pulled on a lever, and pressed a ruby. The acceleration and gain of altitude that suddenly came upon them threw the gang backwards and into various painful positions against the bridge fixtures. "Ouch.." "Well, we cleared the rock face." Washu grunted, struggling to rise. "And how is hurling out of control any better?!" Ryoko demanded, untangling her armor from the indents she had made in a control panel. "We're alive to complain about the fact we are out of control, aren't we?" Washu replied. Returning to the panel, Washu tried to make some sense of the myriad of controls. Experimentation brought about imperfect control, but they were moving, and could sort of steer. The vessel swooped towards the great Phyrexian fortress, the Phyrexian fleet circling the column of light ominously. However, as they neared their goal, there came another complication. Another patrol ship, identical to the one they were in, pulled alongside and began signaling, a crude radio on the control panel bursting forth with the screeching speech of the fiends. "What to they want?" Ryoko mused, staring at the other ship from the bridge veiwport. "Could be a ID check. Would make sense." Washu replied, studying their proximity to the fortress. "I don't think our ID is checking out.." Ryoko added, noting a change in the tone of the screeching. "Nope." Washu noted. "Better do something." Twisting on what she had identified as the control wheel, Washu veered their ship away from the other patrol ship. The other one followed, it's guns being cleared and manned. "Here they come!" Ryoko warned. "Come on, Tenchi. Lets see if we can use those guns out there on them!" "Right." Ryoko and Tenchi ran out of the bridge door and down to the main deck. Choosing a weapon on each side (Ryoko on the port, Tenchi on starboard), and sitting on the chairs mounted to the rear of the barrels, they studied the complex apparatuses. Ryoko figured her weapon out first. In a sudden flash, her gun vomited forth brilliant red light. The beam raced towards the horizon, vanishing in seconds. "Hey Tenchi!" she yelled. "It's the pulsing red rubies on the panels!" Taking a moment to locate it, Tenchi tried as well. His gun spat forth similar red brilliance. "Got it, but how do we aim?" "I think these pedals have something to do with that.." Ryoko's gun began pivoting in random directions, swinging left and right, elevating and depressing. Soon, they had the aiming figured out, and they awaited the coming enemy. And the enemy did not disappoint. The Phyrexian patrol ship came from high and behind, diving down, guns blazing. The ship swooped passed them, diving to starboard. Tenchi followed as fast as he could, holding down the rubies. Light erupted out in a machine-gun fashion, stitching down the side of the other ship. The other ship pulled out of it's dive, pulled to port and came around for another pass. Washu swung their ship starboard and down. The two slashed past each other again. The Phyrexian ship pulled away with smoke pouring out it's side, and the gang's ship had a torn and burning sail. "Dant.." Washu grumbled, turning to port to get another shot at their aggressor. The high wind speed of the ship fanned the flames, and as the two ships tore past each other again, the sail became a raging inferno. "Come on Tenchi, hit something vital!" Ryoko yelled as she returned Phyrexian fire. "I'm would, if I could aim at it!" he yelled back. "Besides, how do we know what is vital?" "Anything that gives us an advantage!" She replied, "Besides, I'm sure we'll know when we hit something important." Ryoko's fire pierced through the bow of the Phyrexian ship, and a massive ball of fire spilled out. The other ship rolled away from the explosion, loose crew and materials being thrown off. "Something like that..." Ryoko added. The Phyrexian ship came around again, recovering the balance lost because of it's brutal injuries. Tenchi fired his cannon, blasting a line of slag up it's side, and then connecting with the sail assembly. The wing-like sail tore free, sending the other ship into a corkscrew. Which, unfortunately, took it into the path of the gang's ship. "Oh my!" Mihoshi squealed, wrapping her arms around Washu. "Don't...do.that!" Washu gasped, trying to separate herself from Mihoshi while trying to avoid the deadly obstacle before them. But the distance was too short, and the speeds to fast. The dying Phyrexian patrol ship slammed into their bow at a good 600 miles an hour (combined). Tearing apart, chunks of metal scraped along the hull. Tenchi and Ryoko tilted their guns to shield them from the holocaust, hoping not to get nailed by the larger chunks. The largest pieces did the most damage, obviously and unfortunately. What remained of the bow slashed the good sail to shreds, leaving a tatter hanging between the claw-like beams. Holes were punched all over the sides, and the other half ripped the flaming sail off completely. Well, almost completely. A piece of the burning material wrapped around an exhaust vent, and the vent began to torch. "We better get to the bridge, before this gets worse!" yelled Ryoko, over the shriek of tearing metal. "Agreed." Phasing twice (and very quickly), once to Tenchi, once to the bridge, Ryoko managed to get the two of them away from the death trap that had filled the deck. They reappeared on the bridge, but in there, it didn't seem much better than it was outside. Various pieces of machinery were tearing themselves out of the walls and the floor and walls began to split. Momentum carried them through the broken mass of the other ship, and then it stopped. There was an instant of no movement, and then their vessel began it's final death plunge. From the ground, it looked like a meteor, with the flames engulfing the engines and sails. Black, oily smoke billowed away from the stern, and the wind howled through the gaping rents and broken sections of hull. While the danger of death from such a crash as the one the gang was likely to experience was great, the fact that they were plummeting towards the fortress that was their original destination came as a small consolation. The impact was jarring and took an eternity. The flaming hulk slammed into the Phyrexian fortress, it's size and speed pulverizing rock and metal. The ship fell through the layers of the fortress, crushing machinery, Phyrexians, and many different monstrosities that did not belong in the mortal coil. Throughout the whole descent, everyone hung on to something that was a bit more stable than they were, whatever it was. Of course, Mihoshi hadn't let go of Washu, and this made the scientist-turned- spellcaster rather upset, since Mihoshi's grip when she was terrified was not to be laughed at (unless, of course, you aren't affected by it directly). Their screaming and yelling made little difference to their situation. After what seemed like an eternity of shrieking metal and twisting deckplates, the downward movement ceased. The ship continued to groan and creak as more metal broke and rock collapsed onto it. "I think we should really get out of here, guys." Ryoko said, untangling her arm from the remains of the panel she had been holding. "I will...(gasp)..as soon.as..she lets..GO!" Washu snapped, both to the others, and particularly at Mihoshi, who let go rather quickly at that. Getting out was a rather tricky proposition. The ship and the surrounding area of the fortress seemed to be a mass of broken materials and dead bodies. The stench of burning oil from somewhere nearby made the need to leave a bit more urgent. However, since she had the ability to phase, Ryoko made the problem a little easier, searching for any way for the others to get out. As the fire continued to consume the wreckage, she fianally located a passage that the others could reach with less difficulty than the others she had found. "Hey guys, I found a way out!" she cheerfully called to the others, who had moved onto the jagged remains of a drainage pipe, since the flames now engulfed the bridge. "Bout time.." Washu grinned. "Where is it?" "Up there, about fifty feet from here.." she indicated, pointing. "Farther that I would like, but we can't be choosy, now can we?" the red haired wizard sighed. "Now, lets get up there before the heat gets to be too much.." So, for the next fifteen minutes, they picked their way up, with Ryoko carrying them over the more unstable sections, until they came to the spot Ryoko indicated. "Hey, there's nothing here except more rubble!" Mihoshi exclaimed, looking at the tangle of wires and rock in a questioning manner. "Well, duh!" Ryoko snapped. "I still have to clear it." Ryoko pointed the flat of her palm to the wreckage, and just as Washu yelled for her to stop, a crimson bolt flashed out, blasting the junk away and revealing a dark passageway that twisted into the depths of the fortress. "You know better than that!" Washu scolded. "You could have brought all that other stuff down on top of us!" "Well, it hasn't fallen, so I think it worked." she replied in an offhanded manner as she walked into the haze formed by the energy bolt. The others followed, but Washu was still annoyed at the rash action of her daughter. "Ryoko, it may not have fallen, but you could have attracted something nasty. This isn't the place to be calling attention to ourselves." "Oh, they'll probably think it was an explosion from the ship." She shot back. "I don' t think they'll investigate that." "Wait a minute.." Tenchi cut in. "Could that ship still explode?" "Hmmm." Washu thought for a moment. "I think it still could. I don't know enough about them to know for su...." Of course, we all saw this coming. The flames, which had been greedily devouring the wreckage, had found the holds that contained the Phyrexian explosive weapons, which were meant for tearing holes in mountains and digging deep craters in opposing lines. The immediate area around the ship shook as the bombs went off in firecracker fashion, building on each other. "Run!" The flames of the explosion, have limited space to go, were snaking down the tunnels around it, melting rock and steel. The gang took off running, the vicious flames advancing on them from behind. "I don't think we're gonna make it!" Mihoshi whined, tears streaming. "Shut up, you whiner!" Ryoko snarled. "It hasn't got us yet!" At the next curve, the tunnel took a sharp downward turn, and became more of a slide than a passageway. The gang slid down at a sharp angle, the flames blasting through the walls, unable to make the sudden changes of direction quickly. The slope ended in a large, dark room. The gang landed hard, coming down on top of a pair of green, warty beasts, which pulped beneath the force of their impact. "Ouch.." Mihoshi groan, picking herself up from the mess. "Geez, that was close." Ryoko commented, brushing dust and bits of blood from her armor. "Good thing these..." Washu paused, "Uhhh.things were here to break our fall." "Looks more like we broke them." Ryoko observed, "Bet they were hostile anyway." "Where do you think we are?" Mihoshi asked, looking around. All around them, there were shelves and large cylindrical objects that were dimly backlit by reddish light that emanated from the walls behind them. Various pieces and disturbingly shaped objects rested on the shelves, and the nature of some of them were somewhat disquieting. "Offhand, I would say we were in Washu's lab.." Ryoko mused, "But this has a less oppressive atmosphere." "Very funny." Washu growled. "But it does look like a lab of some sort. I wonder what they do here." Washu walked over to a shelf and studied the grotesque objects that rested on it. Bones and flesh, in various states of decay and disassembly rested in small vats or inside of oddly made pieces of equipment. Small, intricate blades lay all over the shelf, some pierced into the flesh matter, and others just strewn about, the evidence of their use still on their uncleaned sides. On other shelves, there were larger blades, all of them in the same state of uncleaned preparedness, yet all seemed to be made for the task of dissection and minute cutting. More horribly, there were some of the creatures like the ones they had encountered earlier, yet the ones resting on the shelves were in pieces. And each piece shuddered in pain and sought to kill anything near them. A scream broke Washu's concentration on the contents of the shelves. Everyone looked over to where Mihoshi was standing (she was the one who had screamed). Something had frightened her terribly, since she was shivering violently, and starting to babble and whine. "Mihoshi, what is?" Tenchi asked, rushing over to catch her before she collapsed from fright. "Mihoshi! Mihoshi, are you alright?" He asked, trying to shake her awake. Washu was there seconds later, trying to get her awake. After a few minutes, she started to come around. Then the questions came. "Mihoshi, what was that all about?" Washu asked, worry slightly evident in her voice. "I.I..saw..a.a- oh, God it was horrible.." She sobbed. "What? What was it?" Washu asked, eager to know what was so frightening. "Th-th-that.." She shakily pointed. Washu,Tenchi and Ryoko turned to look at what she was pointing at. Behind them was a large cylinder, filled with a viscous, black substance. "I don't see anything." Ryoko stated. "You must be imagining things." The oil stirred, and Mihoshi began to grow apprehensive. "Lets get out of here. That thing is horrible." Tenchi helped Mihoshi to her feet, shaky as she was. The fluid began to swirl much more visibly inside the cylinder. Vague hints of something large and unearthly would disrupt the flow of the black fluid in places, and sharp projections were clawing at the sides, making deep cuts in the inner side. Whatever was inside the cylinder was not natural and did not belong in the realm of the living. "Damn, there is something in there.." Ryoko growled, forming her energy sword. "No, really?" Washu snapped back, pulling out her spellbook. Oil began to slosh over the top as the thing inside began to try and climb out. Tenchi pulled Mihoshi away, for she was starting to get frantic. She screamed again as several sets of oily claws gripped the sides of the cylinder. Washu was quick on the spell, firing a binding spell at the thing coming out. The claws were frozen in place, and the oily liquid began to boil as the thing thrashed inside. "Come on, lets go!" Washu snapped, hurrying away from the now shaking cylinder. "One thing, before we go.." Ryoko grinned, turning back. She flung her sword at the top of the tank. The blazing energy slammed into the wall, and rained molten metal and rock into the cylinder. The fluid ignited, and a terrible screaming noise came from the tank. "Alright, now we can go." Ryoko said as she caught up with the others. As they located the door to the room of abominations, the sound of breaking glass echoed through the chamber. A screeching roar came seconds later. "Damn, it's loose." Ryoko breathed. "And I don't wanna be around to see it." Washu added, shoving the door open. The black metal door opened into a dimly lit hallway. It looked like the one they had gone through earlier, but this one was wider and had some torches here and there. The sound of movement in the distance make them a bit hesitant to enter the hallway, but the sound of a very angry beast behind them made the choice for them. Yanking the door shut behind them, they ran down the hallway. Out on the stony plane, Tsunami was doing her best to get her power back online. The very ground seemed to sap her energy. She was making progress, as now a couple Light Hawk blades hovered protectively over the passenger area of the ship. But the fact that she couldn't lift off was making her nervous. Sasami wandered around the bridge area, studying the intricate glowing lines in the floor and admiring the beauty that Tsunami possessed in her ship. But as she looked over the ship, she shuddered to think what the others might be going through. She had understood, from what Tsunami had said, that where they were going was a dangerous and terrible place, maybe more so than Kagato's Soja had been. And Ayeka was in that place. "Tsunami?" "Yes, Sasami?" "Do you think the others are alright?" "I am sure they are doing ok. Tenchi has a great amount of power, and so does Ryoko. They will be fine." "Do you think Ayeka is alright?" "I.don't know that for sure, but her key is still broadcasting it's location to me just fine, so I am sure that she is ok." Tsunami reassured her. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Tsunami's alarms. Her sensors detected movement outside. The rock all around them was suddenly alive and moving. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The gang got almost half a thousand feet from the door before their presence was discovered. As they came to an intersection in the halls, they ran into a patrol of humanoids. Some were the foul looking machine creatures, but some were men in armor. Both sets of humanoids seemed hostile. And Ryoko showed them what she thought of hostiles. The energy bolts incinerated most of the patrol, but two ran away, screeching in fright and alarm. "Damn. They'll bring reinforcements." Ryoko cursed. "Yeah, but where exactly can we go? We have no idea about the layout of this place." Tenchi noted. "Have any brilliant ideas, Washu?" "All of my ideas are brilliant.." The red haired scientist reminded Ryoko, as she flipped through her spellbook. "Maybe this.. Tenchi, could you please hold your sword out for me?" Tenchi obeyed, hoping that whatever Washu has planned would get them out of the gradually worsening situation. Holding her hands over the sword's hilt (but taking care not to touch it), she began to chant the cryptic words of magic. Tendrils of light caressed the part of the sword that was still the Tenchi-ken and began to pulse with energy. Near Washu's head, a glowing sphere of energy began to form, glowing a soft tan color. Tendrils of light, near perfect matches for the ones that extended from Washu's fingers, hung down from it. Washu finished chanting and the small tendrils faded, but the sphere stayed, pulsing with it's own power. "There, this should help us." Washu beamed. "What is it?" Ryoko asked. "Basically, it is a search unit. It took the basic energy and structural patterns of the Tenchi-ken and it will now be drawn to anything with similar energy and structure." Washu explained. "Oh, so that means it will look for Juraian space keys?" Mihoshi asked, looking closely at the sphere. "Yup, that's the idea." "So, then lets get moving.." Ryoko said as she made a fist of triumph in the air. With a gesture from Washu, the sphere went into searching mode. Instead of hovering in once place, it began to make circular motions in the air and went through several color changes. Then, with no warning, it pulsed rapidly, turned blood red and sped down the hall. Eager, and worried about losing their possible link to Ayeka, they ran after the sphere. The sphere flashed past several Phyrexian guards, who turned to see what the strange phenomenon was. This turned out to be the perfect distraction, as the guards couldn't see the four running figures coming in their direction, and their only clue as to any intrusion was an energy blade through the head. This went on for nearly a mile (this fortress is a BIG place, mind you), and the group was becoming quite weary (save Ryoko, who was hovering, as usual). Thankfully, the sphere seemed to be slowing. It stopped before a large arched doorway at the end of the tunnel. When they caught up, the sphere hit against the black door several times before it blinked out of existence. "I guess this is it." Washu observed, looking at the massive doors. The others nodded. It was time to free Ayeka from the machine beasts. The door exploded in a shower of sparks and molten metal as Ryoko opened it in her own way. Behind the door was a lab-type room similar to the one that they had left earlier. The sameness of the room made them uneasy, but the need to find Ayeka overrode any doubt that they might have had. Inside, the room was dark. Not as dark as the other room or the halls, since there were several light sources clustered together in many locations. And farther away, down several rows of the evil equipment, there was a great commotion of light and sound. Caution was exercised now, since there seemed to be several of the Phyrexian fiends near the light. Sneaking as best as they could through the aisles of machine death, the group searched for Ayeka, hoping that they could find her soon, since the creatures near the light source seemed to be of the most disgusting sort. But as Washu tiptoed through a gap in the aisles, she caught a glimpse of what the beasts were so interested in. Lying on one of the black metal tables , was Ayeka. A very different Ayeka. Ryoko saw Washu just standing there, at the end of the aisle. Floating up to her, she tried to tell her that she had better keep moving, but then she saw Ayeka. Revulsion and sadness tore at her, and she turned her head. It was Ayeka all right, of that she could be sure. But she was no longer anything that could be called human. The Phyrexians had worked their horrible craft upon her, and she was now one of their terrible abominations. She lay naked upon the table, but there was little humanity left to be seen. A set of metal spider legs, looking like so many sword blades, extended down from an assembly of gears and joints that made up her hips. She was devoid of flesh in many places, with a black metal mesh covering her inner workings, and the various projections from rents in the mesh said that her innards were as machine as her outside. She had two more arms than she had previously, the new ones mounted on a metal rod that ran through her shoulders. All of her arms were covered in a ghastly array of blades and hooks, her hands being no more than an articulate set of knives. And her head. It was the ultimate mockery of what she had been. The Phyrexians had replaced her elegant hair with a writhing mass of cable and tentacles, her two long strands of hair now clawed whips. Yet they had left her face alone, as if to further enhance the horrid condition of her body. As they watched, the group of Phyrexian beasts sewed up the remaining tears and bolted the last of the loose metal together. Tenchi and Mihoshi found the Habuki women transfixed, and when they saw the sight, it took all of their willpower not to cry out or scream. The fiends that had been clustered around her moved away their work completed, and Ayeka's eyes opened. They were no longer the vibrant purple that they had once been. They were dull and lifeless, yet the conveyed a sense of pure hatred and malice. She lifted herself to her four metal feet and gazed around at the beasts that had attended her. As she tested the new limbs that she now possessed, she laughed in evil joy. She looked around, regarding her surroundings, and her eyes landed on the group. In a voice that labored to speak in understandable tones through the great steel fangs that filled her jaws, she told her family to join her in glory.