Chapter 26: The Striker
The Archangel hummed with a new, rhythmic vitality—Angel's heartbeat. We moved past the deployment deck and into the Workshop Zone, a space that felt less like a garage and more like a high-tech cathedral for the Pack.
Navigator zipped around us, his green casing reflecting the sapphire sparks from the forge. Above, the pink digital sphere of Angel drifted lazily near the ceiling struts. She was in her "sleepy" state, her sensors dimming and brightening like a slow breath, but her presence was everywhere; the lights dimmed slightly as we approached the anvil, focusing all the ship's power into our workstation.
"He's ready," Aria said. She didn't just walk to the heavy supply racks; she grabbed a slab of raw Soul-Steel that weighed half a ton and swung it onto the table with a grunt of pure, effortless strength. "Bee's original KBT-Type core is stable, but it needs a housing that can handle the 'Purge' logic."
"I've got the blueprints," I replied, my eyes glowing as my high-speed processing kicked in. "We aren't just giving him armor. We're giving him two distinct souls of combat."
The air in the workshop turned into a localized storm of sapphire and silver. I moved like a blur, my Agility making my hands a flicker of motion as I shaped the Laminated Soul-Steel. Beside me, Aria was the anchor. Her Intelligence calculated the heat-dissipation matrices in real-time, while her raw Strength allowed her to physically compress the armor plates into the "Virtue" configuration.
Bee stood at the center of it all, his blue optics calm and steady. He was the gentle giant, wordlessly holding his arms out as we built a fortress around his core.
Mode 1: The Virtue Beetle (Heavy Siege Artillery)
We didn't just add plating; we added mass. Inspired by the legendary Gundam Virtue, we encased Bee in thick, slab-like layers of Soul-Steel. He lost his traditional arm-cannons—those were now buried beneath the impenetrable exterior. In their place, I forged the GM-Bazooka, a massive particle accelerator that looked more like a ship's cannon than a handheld weapon.
I aligned Bee's internal GM Condenser with the bazooka's docking rails. When locked in, Bee wasn't just a soldier; he was a stationary siege engine.
Mode 2: The Zero Striker (Speedster)
"Now for the secret," Aria grinned, her hands glowing with silver mana as she etched the Purge Logic into the inner frame.
Beneath the heavy "Virtue" shell, we crafted a second, sleek silhouette. This was the "Zero" frame. I machined Magnesser Greaves into the legs—thrusters that would allow him to dash through the air leaving sapphire afterimages. For the headpiece, I designed a specialized venting system that would exhaust excess GM particles in a long, flowing plume of energy, resembling a trail of silken hair.
For his weapon, we moved away from the bazooka. I forged a hilt that projected a highly compressed, crescent-shaped arc of plasma—the GM-Saber.
"Installing the Combat Heuristics," Aria whispered, her fingers dancing over the logic-core. "He'll learn, Nero. Every boss he cuts down, he'll take a piece of their soul and turn it into a new Art."
We stepped back as the final rivets hissed into place. Bee stood there, a towering white-and-red juggernaut. He looked at his massive, armored hands, then slowly looked at us. He didn't say a word, but he leaned down and carefully moved a heavy welding tank out of Aria's way, his movements incredibly gentle for a machine that could now vaporize a city block.
"Good boy, Bee," Aria smiled, patting his massive knee-guard.
The System chimed, solidifying our work into the record:
[SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC: BEE (PURGE-TYPE SOUL-FRAME)]
Core: KBT-Type GM Drive (Legacy Evolution)
MODE 1: VIRTUE BEETLE (HEAVY SIEGE)
The Wall: Laminated Soul-Steel armor. Standard magic and physical projectiles simply "splash" off the surface.Weaponry: GM-Bazooka (Massive particle accelerator).Burst Mode: The Bazooka locks into the chest-mounted GM Condenser, firing a catastrophic beam that can vaporize fortress gates.Aegis Field: A 360-degree spatial barrier that refracts incoming energy.
MODE 2: ZERO STRIKER (PURGE FORM)
The Ghost: When the heavy armor sheds, Bee becomes a high-speed master of the blade.Weaponry: GM-Saber (Crescent plasma blade) & Buster Arm (Retractable arm cannon).Mobility: Magnesser Greaves allow for supersonic dashes and sapphire afterimages.Combat Heuristics: A learning algorithm that records enemy data.Current Slots: [EMPTY] (Defeat bosses to unlock "Sure-Killing Arts").Finisher (Rakuhouha): Drives a fist into the ground, releasing a massive AOE shockwave of GM Particles.