Massive Disaster 4-12

The world was a magical place.

Well, hypothetically, it could be a magical place.

Space magic was the only sort of magic that seemed to exist in this universe, the dark blue range of abilities that predominantly belonged to the blue busty tentacle-haired space elves known as the Asari. And even that seemed more like a set of codified superpowers than the space magic a lot of people on Earth assumed it was.

Granted, the scale of magic to not-magic in the universe had tipped a fraction over about roughly five months ago.

Five long months back, when he was out in the Terminus and working on a lot of other things.

Zedd stood in the center of the arena, hands loose at his sides, shoulders rolling out tension that wasn’t really there. The ring on his index finger caught the overhead lighting, sapphire gleaming blue against silver as he flexed his fingers once, twice. The simulation chamber’s lighting cast sharp shadows across the floor, holographic projectors powered down to leave just raw space and reinforced walls that could probably survive whatever was about to happen.

His fingers flexed once, testing the weight of the silver band on his index finger. Months of practice with the tech had made the motion automatic, code sequences already queued in his brain.

Five enhanced humans spread out across from him in a loose semicircle. Toni’s BASTION armor hummed with power, pink and white plating reflecting the arena’s harsh fluorescents. Madelyn stood with flame dancing between her fingertips like nervous energy given form. Marilyn’s white hair moved in currents that had nothing to do with air circulation, electromagnetic fields responding to her emotional state. The twins flanked the group, Ana’s psionic aura visible around her hands while Mateo vibrated in place, enhanced speed making him look like he was struggling not to blur into motion.

“You sure about this, boss?” Madelyn asked, flames already dancing around her fingertips like pilot lights she’d forgotten to turn off. Her Irish accent carried that particular note of concern that meant she was trying to talk him out of something without directly challenging his authority.

“Little late for second thoughts,” Zedd replied, not bothering to hide his amusement.

“This is insane,” Toni’s voice came filtered through her armor’s speakers, modulated but still carrying that familiar irritated precision. “We’re not actually doing this, right?” Toni’s BASTION armor hummed with contained energy, modular systems cycling through diagnostic checks. “I mean, no offense, but there’s five of us.”

Marilyn stood with that weather-worn authority she carried, white hair catching the arena lights while electricity played between her fingers in controlled arcs.

“Right?” Madelyn continued, her tone carrying the same grounded pragmatism that she often used with Scot. “Maybe we start with something less likely to end in medical intervention?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Zedd asked, stretching his arms behind his back with deliberate casualness. “You worried about me or worried about you?”

“And if we hurt you?” Toni spoke up again.

“You won’t.” The words came out flat, with the kind of blunt casual air of smug that usually helped to piss people off and put them off their game. Judging by the way Mateo’s jaw tightened, it was working.

The cyborg in question shifted his weight. “Yeah, boss man’s been all talk and hype.”

“Hype?” Zedd raised an eyebrow, already planning how he was gonna teach the platinum blond speedster a lesson. “Matty, I rebuilt you. All of you.” He flexed his fingers again, ring catching the light. “Think maybe I might know what I’m doing?”

Ana’s response came in that surgically precise tone that could cut through steel. “When does building a soldier’s weapons make you a soldier, Mr Victors?”

“Fair enough,” Zedd said, genuinely considering the observation. “Guess we’ll find out together.”

He rolled his shoulders one last time, already strategizing what would go down first. Simple enough, right? Toni would anchor, her BASTION armor providing the heaviest firepower and most durable defensive platform. Mateo would harass, his enhanced speed making him perfect for hit-and-run tactics. The twins would coordinate, Ana’s psionics covering Mateo’s approaches while providing ranged support. Marilyn would control the battlefield, her electrokinetics and flight capability giving her the most tactical flexibility.

Smart formation. They’d learned something from their previous failures, which was encouraging even if it wasn’t going to help them much.

“ADAM, you monitoring?” Zedd called out.

“Every sensor we’ve got, boss,” ADAM’s voice came through the arena’s speakers. “Also, got tactical analysis ready if you want real-time feedback.”

“Won’t need it.”

“Confidence is nice and all,” Madelyn said, flames flaring slightly around her hands, “but maybe don’t get ahead of yoursel… boss.”

Zedd’s grin was sharp, predatory. “Let’s get started.”

The opening came fast and coordinated, which was more than he’d expected from their previous performance. Madelyn threw fire in a controlled burst, not trying to incinerate but to force movement. Marilyn followed with a low-voltage arc, lightning crackling across the floor in a spread pattern designed to limit his mobility options. Toni’s shoulder-mounted systems deployed with mechanical precision, firing a low-concussive burst that would disable rather than destroy.

All smart shots. All nonlethal. All perfectly timed to create overlapping fields of suppression that should have left him with nowhere to go.

Zedd flexed the fingers on his right hand, feeling the ring respond to his enhanced nervous system. The sapphire pulsed with blue light as structured code sequences activated, psion particles responding to mathematical commands that existed somewhere between thought and reality.

“Vector Slip,” he said, more for their benefit than his own.

The air around him flexed, space-time geometry adjusting according to carefully calculated parameters, as he jumped right. Flame veered off course as localized gravity distortion bent its trajectory. Lightning snapped sideways, electrical current following the path of least resistance through altered space. The concussive burst hit reinforced tile and punched dust into the air, missing him by meters.

“Okay, what the fuck?” Mateo’s enhanced reflexes had tracked the movement, but his brain was still processing what he’d seen. “That wasn’t a barrier.”

“No, it’s not,” Zedd replied, landing in a controlled crouch that transitioned smoothly into forward motion.

“You’re a biotic?” Madelyn asked, flames dancing higher around her hands.

“Try again.”

It wasn’t biotics, no. Element zero was expensive, politically controlled, and left distinctive electromagnetic signatures that were easy to detect and counter. Useful for heavy lifting and large-scale manipulation, but lacking the precision and subtlety his current situation required.

It wasn’t psionics either, not in the traditional sense. Well, not entirely. Much like the way psionics had to do with measurable brain activity, could be quantified in terms of psions—the event-learning quanta that could only be defined as cognitive-interaction energy units, the vapor-trail of thought under stress—his ring technology operated on similar principles but with technological augmentation rather than pure biological expression.

Huh. Actually, maybe it was closer to psionics than he’d initially thought.

The knowledge that appeared in his head nearly half a year back included psion theory, the underlying physics of how mental energy interacted with physical reality to create observable effects, advancing his knowledge past psionics. His ring was essentially a technological psion amplifier, a CAD—Casting Assistant Device—that converted structured thought patterns into executable code sequences.

“Alright then, fuck it,” Mateo said, his form blurring as he moved fast, clean acceleration pushing him past 240 kilometers per hour as he hugged low to the arena floor, the former terrorist basically a guided missile with attitude and bad judgment.

Zedd raised his hand, ring pulsing brighter as he accessed a different code sequence. “Trip Pulse.”

Localized gravitational distortion targeted Mateo’s lead foot, yanking his trajectory sideways with surgical precision. Physics demanded conservation of momentum, so the speedster stumbled, enhanced reflexes barely letting him catch himself before face-planting into the arena floor.

“Aww, did you twip, widdle gwuy?” Zedd asked, walking forward with deliberate casualness while his brain processed the next phase of their attack pattern.

Despite waking up with memories of another world entirely (and still not entirely sure which life was his original), Zedd had never bought into mysticism much at all. 

Definitely not in the “say a weird name and Harry Potter the universe” type of way, at least. But psionics had changed that perspective, in a small way at least, and this tech had taken that even further. The technology in his ring operated on principles that were scientifically sound but felt like magic, structured reality manipulation through mathematical precision.

“What in the…” Marilyn’s voice carried that controlled confusion that came from professional training encountering something outside established parameters.

“I think that was psionic? Or kinetic? Or both?” Madelyn asked, flames flaring as she tried to process what she’d witnessed.

Again, no, not psionics either. 

But he could see how that mistake would easily be made. Psionics were loud, analytically speaking. They were basically the neurological equivalent of a lightning bolt striking the ground if you were at all sensitive to that sort of thing. Obvious, messy, bleeding energy like a bitch and broadcasting intent across multiple dimensional layers.

His CAD technology was different. Like the difference between a sledgehammer and a scalpel, both capable of cutting but with vastly different applications and efficiency ratings.

The team regrouped faster than he’d expected, which was encouraging from a training perspective and potentially problematic from a personal safety standpoint. Marilyn fired from midair, lightning spreading in a fan burst designed to limit his movement options. Madelyn mirrored the attack with a wide flame cutter, coordinated timing creating overlapping fields of suppression. Toni moved left, her BASTION armor’s targeting systems lining up for another concussive burst.

“Floatstep,” Zedd said, activating another code sequence.

Gravity manipulation lifted him off the arena floor, not true flight but controlled levitation that let him linger in the air. He dropped behind Toni’s position while the BASTION suit was still rotating to track his movement, enhanced reflexes and technological assistance letting him move faster than her mechanical systems could compensate.

His palm began to glow as he thrust it toward her back, channeling energy into a focused projection of spinning psion particles. The code sequence was elegant in its simplicity:

→ emit: psion_sphere(radius: 0.08m, spin: 950RPM)

→ bind: to_palm

→ on_hit: impulse(30kN), collapse

“Grindcore.”

The rotating sphere of shearing psions slammed into Toni’s BASTION armor with precisely calculated force. Metal whined and groaned under the impact as she skidded six meters back, the entire mech frame tumbling head over heels before stabilizers kicked in.

“….ugh, that was sick,” Toni’s voice came from her prone position, helmet’s HUD lighting up with diagnostic readings.

Sick was definitely the term for it. He’d said pretty much the same thing when the tech and information had first appeared in his workshop and mind, deep in the Terminus during his Shatterpoint development phase. Kai Leng had been asleep during one of his rare rest periods and hadn’t witnessed the arrival, but Zedd doubted he would have noticed anyway.

No one ever seemed to notice any of the weird shit that appeared around him. Well, except ADAM.

And even when ADAM did, the digital intelligence didn’t even seem to question the reality-bending nature of them. Like the fact that his basement was still bigger than it should be with that addition to his garage.

“Can you just fucking hit him already?” Madelyn yelled, her Irish accent thickening with frustration as flames danced higher around her hands.

“I am doing my best!” Mateo shot back, circling at enhanced speed while trying to find an angle of approach that wouldn’t leave him vulnerable to another gravitational adjustment.

Zedd exhaled slowly, accessing a more complex code sequence. “Ghostlance.”

→ emit: psion_blade(0.6m), tunnel(15m)

→ dash: +30m/s

→ on_hit: disrupt + collapse_all

He burst forward, his body hyper-accelerated in a nigh-instant as the world in a straight line seemed to tunnel around him. His body screamed as he moved through the effect, teeth chattering and skin straining. His arm shook as he held tight to the energy crackling at the end of his wrist, but enhanced healing and reinforced genetics let him push through the discomfort.

In the blink of an eye, he shot past Mateo’s position. The speedster’s eyes went wide, enhanced reflexes completely overwhelmed by something moving at least equivalent to his burst speed. A glowing slash line darted across Mateo’s chest, slicing his jumpsuit open and drawing blood from a shallow cut.

“You moved better last time,” Zedd said without pause, pretending his body wasn’t protesting the abuse he’d just put it through.

“HE CUT ME?” Mateo’s voice cracked with disbelief, enhanced speed carrying him away from Zedd’s position while he processed the impossible fact that someone had actually tagged him.

They were finally syncing, which was good, exactly what he’d hoped to see from months of individual training finally translating into group tactics. Marilyn dropped lower, electricity forming something resembling a containment net. Madelyn slung flame wide, heat distortion creating visual barriers while threatening to overwhelm his enhanced metabolism’s temperature regulation. Toni fired twin snares from her recovered position, mechanical precision compensating for biological limitations.

It wouldn’t be enough, though, not as he accessed another code sequence, this one drawing moisture from the arena’s air conditioning system. 

→ condense: h2o(0.6m³)

→ emit: projectile(sphere)

→ on_contact: detonate(overpressure), collapse

“Hydroburst,” he said, hurling the water sphere toward Marilyn’s electrical net.

Flash-steam detonation disrupted the lightning pattern, superheated vapor creating a localized pressure wave that scattered their coordinated attack. He turned toward Madelyn, sidestepping her flame cutter with enhanced reflexes and technological assistance.

“Yours had more edge,” he commented, activating another sequence.

Emit a psion flash at 430 nanometers wavelength in a 60-degree cone, disable visual systems for 1.2 seconds. “Blind Arc.”

Blue light flashed across the arena, overwhelming their visual cortexes long enough for their coordinated attack to collapse into chaos. Snare lines whipped wild through empty air, enhanced reflexes useless without proper targeting data.

“Okay, what the hell,” Toni’s voice carried genuine curiosity rather than frustration. “What are you running?”

Zedd headed back toward the arena’s center, moving with casual confidence while his enhanced senses tracked their recovery patterns. His ring technology was operating exactly as designed, psion manipulation through structured code sequences proving far more versatile than traditional biotic or psionic approaches.

“I hate that he’s quiet,” Marilyn said to no one in particular, her professional training recognizing the tactical implications of an opponent who wasn’t broadcasting intent or emotional state. “That’s the part freaking me out.”

“HOW DID HE CUT ME?” Mateo was still processing the fact that his enhanced speed hadn’t been sufficient defense against whatever technique Zedd had used.

“Would you shut up?” Madelyn snapped, flames flaring with her irritation.

Zedd grinned slightly, accessing another combat sequence. “Volt Spire.”

Seven crackling bolts scattered through the air, each one precisely targeted to force movement rather than cause serious injury. Marilyn’s leg jolted as electricity earthed through her enhanced nervous system. Madelyn flinched away from the crackling energy. Mateo barely outran the projectiles as they struck the wall behind his previous position.

“That’s not tech,” Mateo said, enhanced speed letting him process the attack pattern in real-time. “That’s not psionics either. What the fuck are you using?”

Toni stepped forward again, not hostile but curious, her BASTION armor’s repulsors flaring as she prepared for another approach. Marilyn flicked lightning in his direction, controlled voltage designed to disable rather than kill.

“Anchorlock,” Zedd said, activating a gravitational manipulation sequence.

Localized force increase targeted Marilyn’s position, multiplying downward pressure on her feet until her legs buckled under the artificial weight. She dropped heavy, flight capability temporarily neutralized by physics.

Madelyn hurled flame to cover her teammate’s vulnerable position, heat distortion creating visual barriers while threatening anyone who tried to capitalize on Marilyn’s temporary disability.

“Rising Spike,” Zedd replied, accessing terrain manipulation protocols.

A jagged projection slammed up from the arena floor, precise timing and positioning knocking Madelyn off balance and disrupting her flame projection. She yelped as she hit the ground, more surprised than injured.

“You’re all strong,” Zedd said, walking past their scattered positions with deliberate casualness. “You’re just not syncing.”

The team regrouped quietly, all of his enhanced operatives still in the arena clustering together while they tried to process what they’d witnessed. Marilyn caught Madelyn’s arm, helping her teammate recover while analyzing Zedd’s attack patterns. Toni remained in position, her BASTION suit’s systems running continuous diagnostic checks.

“Okay, but seriously,” Mateo said, half-grinning despite the cut across his chest, “could the boss always do this, or did I miss a memo?”

“No power lines,” Ana said with characteristic flatness, eyes glowing purple. “No feedback noise.”

“Then why does his finger look like that?” Madelyn asked, pointing toward Zedd’s right hand.

“His ring,” Marilyn said with sharp recognition. “That’s the output.”

“Which ring?” Zedd asked without turning around. “Airfracture,” Zedd said, activating an ultrasonic shockwave sequence.

The technique was pure physics applied through technological precision: ultrasonic pressure wave in a five-meter arc, designed to destabilize inner ear function and disrupt footing without causing permanent damage.

A ripple punched through the air, invisible but devastating. 

No light, no wind, just pressure and sound applied with mathematical precision. Marilyn staggered and Madelyn grabbed her ribs, flame control wavering under physiological stress. Ana choked on breath, psionic focus shattered as Mateo skidded out mid-sprint, enhanced speed useless when his inner ear couldn’t provide stable reference points.

Toni fired high, warning shots rather than lethal intent, her BASTION armor’s systems automatically compensating for the pressure wave’s effects. Zedd pivoted, tapping his ring to access another sequence.

“Gale Cannon,” he said, unleashing a kinetic force that mimicked an air blast in a frontal cone.

The pressure wave flattened the engagement zone, kinetic force applied with enough precision to neutralize without killing. Toni’s mech frame was grounded, stabilizers overwhelmed by physics. Marilyn’s electrical charge fizzled as her concentration was broken by the impact.

“No!” Yet, even as she stumbled down, she fired one last arc, desperation overriding tactical consideration as electricity lanced toward his position with uncontrolled voltage.

“Vector Slip,” Zedd hissed as he jerked to the side.

Madelyn pushed herself up from the arena floor, heat visible in her veins in a faint inner even as Zedd moved forward, closing distance before she could fully recover. His hand touched her shoulder, brain already moving through a code formula.

“Snapshock.”

She seized up, not from pain but from temporary neural lockout, enhanced physiology overwhelmed by technological precision. She dropped back to the arena floor, conscious but temporarily incapacitated.

“Sir,” Toni said from her prone position, BASTION systems slowly coming back online, “no offense, but what the hell?”

Zedd turned toward her, ring pulse fading as he exhaled slowly. Enhanced metabolism was processing the accumulated stress of extended combat, but his enhanced healing factor was already addressing the minor tissue damage from repeated technological augmentation.

“They wanted a demo,” he said quietly, honestly.

The arena fell silent except for the hum of damaged systems and the sound of enhanced humans catching their breath. They were all standing, more or less, but none of them were stable. His demonstration had achieved its intended objective: Do. Not. Bite. My. Hand.

Marilyn watched his hand, attention focused on the ring while Toni’s BASTION suit optics remained locked onto the same, diagnostic systems probably running continuous analysis. Ana hadn’t moved from her position, purple energy still misting around her fingers but no longer directed at any particular target. 

“This guy’s a fucking cheater,” Mateo muttered, enhanced speed finally returning to normal levels as his inner ear recovered from the ultrasonic disruption.

“Training’s over,” Zedd said without turning around, already walking backwards toward the arena exit.

“And next time?” He pointed at Mateo, Madelyn, and Marilyn with lazy casualness, his voice carrying that particular edge that suggested consequences. “Don’t test me.”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

Zedd’s shoulder blade twinged as he finally turned his back on and walked away from the scattered team. Son of a… He knew there were plenty of microscopic tears from pushing himself too hard with those spells.

Ghostlance, especially.

Damn it. He did his best not to hiss or show his pain as he walked away, leaving the stunned faces of the five recruits behind and the others above in the opposite skybox. Keep it going, cool guys don’t show it. Trying to copy Sasuke was clearly not worth it and really, honestly… yeah, spent too much trying to make Chidori work anyway. His ring felt warm against his finger, residual heat bleeding through the sapphire.

Magic sucks, too. Just because he could do math, it didn’t mean he liked doing it on the fly in a fight.

He honestly would have preferred using the larger flipphone-like CAD that had come with the knowledge of psion-based magic and coding but it just didn’t look as cool as the ring he made himself. Way too Power Rangers SPD.

“What the hell was that?” Kira’s voice cut across the arena like a blade the second the elevator dinged and his crew poured out of the open doors. “I accepted the fucking bullshit you’ve got all over here. Human biotics? Sure, why not? Nanobots? What the fuck ever, right? This isn’t Alliance space. Whatever the fuck you want to do, you can do. But what the hell can you do?”

“What she said,” Nina added, arms crossed.

Dev approached with that easy confidence he’d developed over months of command. “Look, I don’t have questions. I’m just here to say that was sick.”

“Same,” Caleb agreed, nodding his head.

Adele tilted her head and smoked her NicStic silently, pale eyes remaining unreadable.

“I’m the number one expert on non-eezo tech and personal enhancement in the galaxy,” Zedd said back, voice carrying that lazy drawl he used when stating obvious facts. “Do you really think I wouldn’t keep a few secrets for myself?”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

5k Words (100 FP)


ROLL: Navigation (100 CP) [Star Trek: TNG] {Knowledge – Future Tech}: “Training in how to locate your position and plot courses. You can navigate both with a computer, and without one using astronomy.”

Forge Points: 400 FP