Warmth.
This was the first thing she felt after the neon light surrounded her body. Like a warm, yet sorrowful hug of a Mother sending their child away.
How long had it been since she'd felt such warmth?
This thought scratched at her heart as she closed her eyes. However, this warmth was quickly replaced with the familiar feeling of life spreading through her veins.
Pins and needles spread to every nerve ending as the feeling forced her into a paralyzed state. It took all she had to open her eyes and breathe in a deep and desperate breath.
The shock of suddenly needing to breathe forced her to sit up on her butt and cough as saliva found itself into her windpipe.
It took longer than she wanted to admit to finally recover and reach back for something to lean against. As her hand scrapped against the familiar wrinkles of a tree, she slowly slid herself over to lean back and take a few breaths to ease herself back to reality.
"Fuck, couldn't give me a warning or something?" She grumbled as she brought her knees up and rested her head between them.
Slowly opening her eyes, she found that night had long since fallen in the forest she woke up in. The familiar cold of the wild nipped at her naked, pale flesh. Strange bird calls sounded in the distance that was quickly followed by a howl far in the distance.
Wait, naked?
She stood up quickly to get a good look at herself, only to feel a rush of blood leaving her head and forcing her against the tree.
"Gods be damned, the hell is going on?" A groan left her lips as she leaned her head down to hold her forehead.
Luckily, she was able to recognize her own body through the hazy fog. After some quick blinking, she realized it was the same body as when she was in her early 20s. However, without the scars from the Slaughter.
She wasn't well endowed like her mother, but her noticeable muscles and natural curves helped were easily noticeable under the pale moonlight. What she regretted was not having the tanned skin she'd once worn after the long marches under the sun. Instead, it was replaced by a snow white and tender looking flesh that made her wonder if she was truly in her own body.
Shaking her head, she looked around at her surroundings. She remembered Mother Moon mentioning her AI, so her suit had to be around somewhere.
After a few steps, she spotted a pair of simple clothes and her armor resting under the shade of a nearby tree, with her rifle and chains leaning against the trunk. After a heavy sigh, she made her way over and knelt down to rummage around.
After tossing the underwear and skin tight pants on, she grabbed the small earpiece from her suit and slipped it in her ear slowly.
"Willow, you online?" She asked in a hushed voice as she grabbed the bra and shirt from the pile.
[ATTENTION: Willow activation sequence initiated. Loading....loading....]
While the AI started itself up, Nix clipped the bra on and slid into the shirt that hugged her flesh a little to well. Just as she knelt down to open the armor she was so familiar with, Willow finally finished it's sequence and flooded her with an array of commands.
[WARNING: Aether levels below nominal. Attempting to gather from surroundings.
DANGER: Unable to regenerate Aether supply. Permission to use emergency supply.]
"Denied. Keep usage to a minimum and shut down all unnecessary systems." Nix ordered as she began to step into her black armor.
[Acknowledged. The following sequences will now be locked. Absorption, wings, weapon creation, external communication, language mod-]
"Activate the language module when around new beings of similar intelligence." Nix interrupted as she slipped into the chest of her armor.
After the acknowledgement from Willow, she drowned out the rest of the systems the AI was shutting down. Though the list wasn't that long, it was amazing to actually hear what her long-time partner truly thought wasn't important to her.
[WARNING: Unable to connect to satellite. User is advised to keep Aether Scan locked unless absolutely necessary.]
"Understood. For now, gather data and map out our surroundings as we go." Nix replied as she grabbed her helmet and looked down at the faceplate.
The emotions that whirled like a vortex in her mind caused her to stand there for a few minutes, reminiscing on the times she was given it after the upgrades made to it. She could almost see the pair of careful, yet scarred hands that would usually tap on the glass as a form of good luck.
The mental image caused her to force her eyes shut and take a deep, shaky breath. Instead of giving into these emotions, she forced herself to put the helmet on and let out a defeated sigh.
"Willow, keep weapons systems to voice activation only." Nix spoke in a low tone as she leaned down to grab the butt of her rifle, made of the same black metal as her armor.
If anyone were to look at her now, one would only describe her as a Demonic Soldier. The armor itself was sleek and menacing, fitting perfectly to her body to show off her curves and edges. The rifle in her hands looked like an M4A1 from the Age of Technology, but held no space for holes or adding ammo. Instead, it was a sleek model that looked futuristic in nature.
It was a weapon she'd used since the Slaughter, and only allowed one other person to fiddle with it. Now, though, those hands would never handle this lonely weapon again.
Shaking her head of those unnecessary thoughts and emotions, Nix steeled herself and looked around with a cautious glare.
"Willow, take in any data of the creatures and people we meet in the future. This world is new and unfamiliar and is teeming with danger. Let me know as soon as you find a weakness." Nix ordered as she turned around and began to walk towards the denser part of the forest, lead only by her instincts.
[ACKNOWLEDGED: Willow will run simple simulations and run immediate diagnostics.]
With that, Nix took her first walk in the new world. Considering the warnings the Goddess had given her, the place was actually quite peaceful. The trees themselves were quite thick, undisturbed by mortal hands of thinning and destruction.
As if to welcome her to this new place, a few of the trees began to glow due to the moss that grew on them. The dim blue seemed to surround everything, allowing Nix to see quite a distance into the darkness compared to her old world. She could see the shifty shadows of beasts both familiar and new running around or sleeping in or under the trees.
The sounds of birds and howls of what she thought were wolves could be heard in the distance. The dashing of small creatures did little to shake her mind, simply keeping her guard up as she calmly walked through the unknown place.
[ATTENTION: User is advised to gather water and food to keep yourself stable.
WARNING: User is advised to allow Willow to test for dangers of anything you wish to consume.]
"Acknowledged. Pulse for effect in a 50 meter radius. Better to experience any dangers quickly."
[WARNING: Pulse could alert predators or other beings. Do you wish to proceed?]
"Affirmative. Just enough to scare the smaller creatures while attracting the larger ones." Nix confirmed as she brought her rifle up a bit and stood her ground.
[WARNING: Pulse in effect. User is advised to prepare for combat.]
As the dull voice of the AI finished, a dull blue bubble formed from her chest before swiftly expanding into her surroundings. As she'd hoped, all of the smaller creatures either quickly flew or skittered away from her. Her sensors on the screen infront of her eyes showed a few red dots to her left, causing her to kneel down and aim in their direction.
[WARNING: Creatures appear to hold an unknown power source. Please confirm.]
"Source is called Mana. Match levels to soldiers of the Legion." Nix whispered as she tilted her head to eye the iron sights of her rifle.
[Acknowledged.
ATTENTION: Creatures similar to level 2 soldiers, surrounding a level 3 leader. Nature suggests Predatory Pack nature.
[ATTENTION: User is advised to set weapon output to level 5. Proceed?]
"Request denied. Keep power to level 3 and track their movements." Nix ordered as she slowly stood up and walked towards the pack of enemies.
To her surprise, the idea that it was a pack of wolves wasn't that far of a stretch. The only difference was the size of them. Timber Wolves looked like Labradors compared to these creatures.
Standing at 5 feet on all fours, they stretched to over 7 feet tall and held engravings of a dull green light in their grey fur. The pupils of their eyes held the same glow as they glared down at Nix cautiously. The biggest among them simply sat on a flat rock at almost 7 feet in height, as if to show off that their new meal wasn't even a threat.
[ATTENTION: User is advised to kill the Alpha creature first before proceeding.]
"Roger that." Willow whispered before pulling the trigger.
A beam of light immediately shot out, reaching out towards the middle of the giant wolf's head. It seemed to hit something just before reaching it's mark, but pierced through quickly and ripped though the wolf's head swiftly. Unable to utter a sound, the wold slumped forward before collapsing, causing the other wolves to whimper in shock.
[ATTENTION: Creatures are found to use unnatural shielding abilities. Processing....processing...]
As Willow processed the new information, Nix aimed at the next wolf furthest from the pack and took another shot. Once more, the beam ripped through the barrier and killed the wolf in one shot. Sensing the danger, the rest of the pack lept away quickly with an unnatural rush of wind.
[ATTENTION: 3 dead, 11 remaining. User is advised to pick off the slower wolves and allow the faster ones to fall into range.]
Without responding, Nix instinctively turned around and fired just next to a nearby tree, picking off a wolf that had tried to dash to it for cover. She then jumped back to avoid an invisible blade just as the warning came uup.
[ATTENTION: Scanning complete. User is advised to be weary of new types of powerful attacks. As current attacks won't pierce the Aether Shield, User is advised to take attacks head on.]
While Willow spoke, Nix shot down the wolf that attacked from above while it was jumping to another tree for cover. Just as another blade was about to hit her back, she turned around and fired two shots at the rushing shadows.
As if realizing that the attacks they were using were ineffective as the blade hit her, the wolves growled in anger and began to draw closer.
"This is gonna be a long night." Nix sighed as she shook her head and realized her mistake in attracting unnecessary attention.