Paid Expedition (Endgame Party)

Science was fucking amazing. Also terrifying. The fact that she could so easily hijack the neural impulses of an organic creature by injecting them with pinpointed electrical shocks on its brain that allowed her to move its limbs and give it direction like a puppet was one of the most exhilarating and horrifying experiments she’d ever performed. Could she do this on a person, she wondered? It was tempting. If she did it on a person that could actually communicate with her then maybe she could learn even more about this process, such as if they were actively aware of what was happening of their bodies but unable to stop it, or if their whole brain just shut down and failed to process anything at all outside of her commands? Could she trigger all biological responses and systems, or only some? Could she teach an organic being to do things otherwise outside their wheelhouse, such as teaching this drake how to speak like a human?

The possibilities were endless, but first she had to deal with the other two drakes still flying around after her. She knew that the beast between her knees was capable of breathing fire, but unfortunately that would do little against its remaining kin that had thick copper scales resistant to the very fires they all breathed. That was fine. She didn’t need the creature’s fire for now. She could save that for other experiments later. Instead, she pulled out Mercy and snapped the weapon into sword mode, the long folded blade unfurling in the blink of an eye. With a pleased grin she kicked her captive forward and sent it hurling toward the two other drakes, both of whom were confused as to why their kin was charging them. Still, they smelled her and knew she was there so they came at her as well. Mercury instructed her mount to fly between the other drakes, turning its body sideways to squeeze between them, allowing her to dodge the claws of one of the other drakes even as she came up beneath it to slice her weapon at the base of its wing, severing it. The fire breathing lizard screeched in fury and plummeted toward the ground where it met its end with a sickening crunch.

The other wheeled around in the air and made for another pass, but this time it paused to hover in midair, its great wing pumping the sky into submission to keep its body aloft. She could see its belly swell as it drew in a deep breath, and didn’t need her internal sensors to tell her that the temperature in the creature’s core was rising and building in pressure -- though the radars were certainly screaming that to her anyway. The drake was making to aim a wave of fire at her, an attack that wouldn’t do much to her captive but would certainly char her to a crisp. That wouldn’t do. Pointing the tip of her sword at the beast, Mercury took a split second to aim and then pulled the trigger on Mercy’s handle. Rather than shooting a bullet, the blade of the sword itself launched off the guard and streaked through the air so quick that it let out a high pitched squeal as it cut through the air. The blade embedded itself right into the drake’s throat, catching the beast’s breath before it could be released and essentially plugging the fire up. With another command on the weapon, it began to secrete oil onto the drake’s body that quickly caught fire from its own fumes.

That would be the end of it. Fire resistant creature or no, there was no way this thing was going to survive flames it couldn’t put out. The blade retched out of the drake and soared back to Mercury, embedding itself right back into Mercy’s hilt. The final beast dropped along with the one before it, shrieking and flailing in the throes of death and agony until it hit the ground and was fully consumed by flame.

“Now, where did Vanny-poo run off to?” she asked herself candidly, referring to him by Sabine’s awful nickname for him. Glancing up, she saw him standing on the bow of the gaudiest looking ship she’d ever seen, covered in gold and other flashy accoutrements meant to draw attention and speak of wealth. It was strange for Vandrad to approach people, let alone someone that so clearly enjoyed flaunting their wealth. Did he know them? Kicking the beast forward, she rocketed up past the ship and above it, the drake roaring in fury as it came to hover over the bow of the ship. Mercury herself leaned lazily forward over the neck of the creature to look down at Vandrad and the other man present with him -- a blond that was wearing an unnecessarily numerous assortment of jewelry and fancy garb.

Interesting. With an impish smirk on her face, she flicked her sunglasses up on top of her head to get a better look. “Heya, Vandaddy. Who’s your shiny friend, here?”