The Martial Unity

When the laminar integument severed his head off, he thought that that would be the end of that. Most lifeforms couldn’t survive when the portion of their body containing their brain and mind was torn away from the rest of their body; it was usually a death sentence.

It had told Rui the truth in an attempt to distract him with what it knew would be a world-shattering realization. The realization that the universe was alive and conscious was one that would have moved almost anybody. Indeed, it had moved even the laminar integument when it had first learned of the truth so long ago.

SPLAT

The laminar integument watched with what could only be described as relief as it watched its tendril cleave through its opponent’s neck, separating the head from the rest of his body. Blood gushed from his gaping, open wounds, spewing into outer space as his body went limp and lifeless.

The laminar integument beheld his floating body for several moments. The strange native creature had been a surprisingly powerful opponent for such a primitive civilization, thanks to his Path, no doubt. The alien lifeform even enjoyed the fact that the native creature was able to understand and speak its mother tongue, the language of light. It enjoyed that the native alien creature was able to converse with it and even share some valuable information with it.

However, that was it. It bore no affection for this strange native alien leader. While the creature had fought hard to protect his civilization, he had ultimately failed, as many before him had, in the face of the laminar integument’s systematic destruction of infected worlds. The laminar integument shifted its attention to the infected planet as a space war raged some distance away from it. The jellyfish-like alien watched with a hint of intrigue as it beheld the native army withstand even the full power of the laminar army despite the vastly inferior tech and military technological resources.

It should have been an overwhelming victory for the laminar integuments, but the native aliens had one crucial advantage that allowed them to even the battle. “Pathwalkers.” The laminar integument mused as it observed the various infantry assets of the Gaian army somehow had as much power as warships despite only being a little larger than regular laminar integuments. “Paths. Exotic. Information Phenomena. Must. Gather. Samples. Must. Gather. Test. Subjects. Must. Gather. Large sample populations.”

He was especially curious about the titanic lifeform as large as a moon. It was truly remarkable that a creature could organically reach that size within the gravity of a planet. Clearly, the native population of the infected world was capable of some miraculous feats with the power of the so-called paths.

The laminar integument was eager to study and harness the power of paths, if possible. However, in order to do that, it needed to understand exactly what Paths were. And for that, it needed a sustainable population to conduct long-term studies on.

Thankfully, the army of Gaian civilization was in outer space, so it didn’t need to go out of its way to preserve the planet of Gaia.

It knew that it was running out of time. It needed to destroy the infected world as soon as possible.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The laminar integument began drawing as much power as possible from the expansion of the universe, fueling its body with dark energy. It was among the scant few laminar integuments in its civilization that had managed to survive a radical process of biotechnological upgrades to its very being that replaced regular fluids that flowed through its body with supefluids and other exotic substances that would allow it to tap into the power of dark energy. A process that only one in a million survived, requiring a steep price to be paid to produce an individual combat asset like itself. And yet, it alone was enough. It alone was enough to annihilate the entirety of Gaia.

Soon enough, it had gathered all the power it needed.

Soon enough, it was all but ready to completely destroy the infected planet.

And that was the moment that Rui chose to strike.

SPLAT

The laminar integument froze as its body was pierced for the third time in the battle. Before it could even realize, Rui’s hand dug into its body, piercing its many layers.

His body was still headless.

And yet, its arm dug deeper and deeper into the alien jellyfish’s body.

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!

The laminar integument quivered as it struggled, releasing its many solutions to get rid of an impaling attack, including solutions it had tried before.

But this, none of them worked. Rui’s arm began injecting his blood into the laminar integument’s body. The antithesis cells of his evosapien half began interfering with the laminar osmosis of the alien lifeform; the very fundamental metabolism that sustained the creature’s very life force was now starting to falter, impeding its ability to activate other mechanisms that would allow it to oust Rui.

Rui’s other arm reached out into outer space with an open hand.

WHOOSH

Rui’s head teleported into it, having tumbled away for a bit. The arm placed the head back upon the body as the two severed parts of a whole came together. The healing was rapid and almost instantaneously as cells greeted each other once more, forming a whole lifeform once more. Rui opened his eyes slowly.

Within their depths were blood-red suns shining with blinding brightness as a single remark escaped him.

“Osmotic Interference.”

It was the technique he had created to specifically be antithetical to the laminar integument. It was the kind of technique that was useless against anybody else, but was absolutely antithetical to the laminar integument specifically.

The previous two times that Rui had pierced the laminar integument, he had managed to take samples before the integument expelled his arms away with its countermeasures.

He had crafted the perfect genetic formula for his cells to completely shut down the laminar integument’s biological systems. More than that, he could process its mind to an even greater degree than before, intercepting its light signals from the depths of the laminar integument’s mind. He had full access to its knowledge and its memories.

That was why he rapidly comprehended the truth.

The full truth of the universe.

And the virus.

And everything.