The hivemind is conquering for me?

A year and a half later and I was In the training room having just finished a spar with Orchid and was now taking a short break going over some things on my bio pad. During this time I have been rigorously training my mind and body as I am about to go on my first expedition into the universe, excluding the Ker'min invasion.

When I first decided to bring up the subject of me leaving I expected Jewel to be vehemently against the idea, but she was surprisingly encouraging and had told me she had been preparing for me in secret as a surprise.

At first I thought it was a strategy to make me feel loved and supported and make me want to stay, which nearly worked, however she was genuinely excited for me to go as long as the place I was deciding to go was 'peaceful' in the eyes of the hive.

I did extensive research on the matter. Most of the advanced invasion were a death field for each side. The Weapons of galactic destruction some civilisations possess were deemed hot zones by the hive and I was not allowed near them.

I was also temporarily banned from entering Back into Ker'min space as their frontlines have had a 250% increase of reinforcements since the sneak attack we pulled on the planet and are doing everything in their power to 'starve out' the hive fleet in question by only engaging in extreme firepower engagements and destroying outer border planets to prevent feeding the destroyers.

Different places had different scenarios for danger threats but I finally found 3 different locations that were deemed safe. The first was a recently discovered branch that lead to what was a solar system with over 20 ocean planets, and from quick psionic scans, it seemed the nearby systems followed the trend.

This was a great find for the hive as the planets in question were primitive so it would be a boon of resources but not a place i fancied as I did not plan on altering my body into that of a fish.

The second location took about a month of travel on the psionic tendrils And had a galactic wide unified conclave. The big issue with me going there was all the inhabitants of the conclaves were living organic composites or as I took to calling them, rock men and tree men.

While I found the idea fascinating and wanted to study their genes for how what I consider non sentient resources evolved into such marvels, I would stick out like a sore thumb and probably be imprisoned for looking squishy.

The final place was looking to be my best option. It was in fact the galaxy This body of mine originated from. Sure there was a constant war occurring between all the major superpowers and the only hive presence was the scouting fleet as well as some super elite that are protecting 'my world' and a bunch of bio infiltrator cults.

Since the hive was considered a new enemy to the galaxy, The population had not actually learnt all that much about their workings. As such, almost all bio infiltration cults that have managed to take root have stayed hidden and are continuing to grow. There had only been 2 that have been discovered in the last 28 years the hive has had an active presence.

The first was purged in an diplomatic engagement in the human controlled faction , The spartari. Apparently a short civil war broke out on a planet and the whole planet was destroyed, the cult along with it.

The second cult was purged rather recently about 5 years ago when a member of the Coalition of united species known as a seer saw the threat of a parasitic mass taking over a group of innocent citizens and had the infected purged. No other information was given from the bio-infiltrator after that as it was presumably killed.

"Orchid thats enough with the licking I'm pretty sure the wound has closed." I said to the creature who had left a purposeful gash across my chest right at the end of our spar. with a last long *mleeh* Orchid got her final taste of me before jumping onto me and wrapping her legs around my midsection.

"You know you taste irresistible Orchid has to enjoy every drop she can." She said innocently as she pushed her face into my neck. "Sure, sure. Or you could not cheat by speeding up and going beyond the limit set right at the end thinking I would not notice." Orchid had chosen to do one of the smartest thing possible in the moment and stayed silent.

"yeah thats what I thought, no treat for 2 days will be punishment." Orchids pulled her head from the nuzzle zone and looked me straight in the eyes with so much terror. "NO! Tonight was supposed to be Orchids night for mating!"

I pulled her cheeks hard in response to this. "Well you should think about that before cutting me open stink bug. Now come on I still have stuff to get ready for the ship and who knows I may knock time off your penalty if you help."

I needed not say another word as Orchid was already off me and out of the door in the blink of an eye. "Honestly at this point with that determination Id just be in the way of packing I might as well just let her do it." I thought with a chuckle.

To my left Zircon was hovering like a sentinel as usual. " I have some time to kill you wanna get oiled? whoa!" Before I even finished my sentence Zircon was already in my hand vibrating like a woman's bedside draw after being knocked into.

"Someone eager today aren't they." I cooed while walking over to my 'Zircon maintenance area' and placed her down on the table.

Picking up a cloth and dousing it in a quality blade oil I chirped on "Are you excited to travel with me as we fight through a galaxy side by side as partners?" With her still being on the table her vibrations were causing a *vrrrt* as her excitement washed over her simple mind.

"Ha, Ill take that as a yes" I said with a smile before I began wiping down the face of the blade. Zircon vibrated the whole time clearly enjoying the process but as usual when I get to the precision and run my cloth covered index finger down her blue fuller, she grows silent the phrase 'I'm fingering a sword' had popped into my mind a few times in the past when she stops her movements.

After doing the face I turn her over and jokingly spank the other face making the blade vibrate again. "*sigh* I'm fucking mental." I joked in self-deprecation before following up and oiling the other side of the blade.

While Zircon does not technically need to be oiled as a power sword she is self maintaining and removes and damages herself, A weapon should be considered a partner and should be taken care of.

Holding her up to the light of the maintenance area, She began to gleam beautifully. "Look at my belle of the battlefield. All people fear you and all weapons want to be you."

Inside of my mindscape the shadow inside of Zircon was struggling with her fractured psyche. She wanted to gift her wielder a gift to show she loved him. but she could not. She needed more liquid bio-mass, fresh biomass. still warm blood. Only then could be give her wielder a fraction of her former self as a token of her thanks.

back on the table her wielder had just bent down to fetch something. "Now where is it. Ah here." I said as I pulled out a scabbard. "Now, now here me out. I know you like to float and be free but when we are together in places other than the hive other beings might find it weird to see a floating sword.

You have been in a scabbard before and this one is special I had it made from that strong Ker'min we killed together do you remember our foe?"

Zircons psyche did remember It was glorious Her wielder plunged her straight through the inferiors armour and she tasted biomass that allowed her now short moments of clarity in her fractured state.

It seemed Zircon enjoyed the sheathe I had made for her as she decided to slot herself in with no hassle. I strapped the scabbard onto my back and attempted to pull her out in testing. The bottom half of the left side of the scabbard had a slot exposed so I could easily draw her without all the fumbling that would occur if you placed a normal scabbard on your back.

Perhaps it was her recent oiling up but Zircon left the scabbard with a satisfying *whoosh* And caught the light as I struck a heroic pose which caused a passing by warrior to jump around in excitement. I gave my audience a slight bow before dropping Zircon from my hand who proceeded to hover behind me and automatically went back into her sheathe .

satisfied with the result I gave praise. "Good sword."

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