~ excerpt from an interview with a mech engineer of the Northern Federation's 14th battalion, questions omitted.

 

“Drakker are divided into different threat ranks starting from F rank. Professor Sam should have told you about the Standard Drakker.” He signaled to Hermione who activated the Hologram table which brough up the familiar image they had been shown earlier in the day of the lizard-like creature.

“The majority of them and other types without special mutations are in the F rank. Though this particular type despite being called the Standard type is on the low end of the E rank.”

A different image of winged version of the same monster showed up. Measurements showed that they were smaller in size being about the size of a standard human.

“These and others of around the same size are the F rank Drakker. You could either have a couple of mundane soldiers with the appropriate weaponry or a basic combat robot take them down. The weakest of Haze weaponry should be capable of dealing with them and in hordes on few well-coordinated squads could deal with them.”

“Typically, however they are supported with the Standard types or other low-end E ranks sometimes also being flyers as a sort of pseudo leader group. You would need some more destructive weaponry that should be carried by platoons of mundane soldiers with mechanized support. At the higher ends however Standard types with mutations and the like, Pre-Alphas and enhanced or modified marines would be called in.” The image changed to show the Standard type with bigger frontal claws, larger tails, bigger back feet and larger horns.

“At the D rank is where you would need Alpha Framers of every level as this rank is where there starts to be the greatest variance in power. Squads of modified marines with all kinds of Haze weaponry are required at this level as well. You would likely need to evacuate multiple city blocks if the fight were to somehow happen in a city. Flying Drakker regardless of whether they have wings or not are far more frequent at this rank.”

The image showed what looked like a giant grotesque-looking floating eyeball complete with veins and b also covered with the same dark almost horn-like parts of the Drakker.

“We call this a Watcher, complete with eye beams, barriers and some other interesting abilities. Do not underestimate them luckily you would not find too many of these as they are the most clever and typically some of the most powerful of the D rank.”

Another image showed up a humanoid looking Drakker with blade like arms and also a tail, the measurements showing it to be four meters tall.

“A Blader, the most regular D ranks typical melee fighters and very fast. If you are sluggish against them you would regret it. These are what you would be fighting the most as an Alpha Framer. If a group show up expect a Watcher amongst them.”

The image changed showing what looked like a lion with a woman’s upper body and head. It had wings, the dark Keratin type material covered the human arms and the two pairs of lion limbs as well as the long neck of the creature. It was about the size of a five-floor apartment building if laid on the side.

“C rank Drakker. These are called… well Sphinxes as that is generally what they resemble. At this point they start having even more varied powers and a high level of intelligence. You would need multiple platoons of modified soldiers to take one C rank down with some of the most destructive weaponry we have available. Theta class Framers or multiple top tier officer class modified soldiers are required for a low number of casualties and immediate evacuation of a city is in order if they manage to show up anywhere close. The Sphinxes especially are some of the most dangerous. Honestly seeing more than one of these in the same place means that a city is likely to be under siege by an army of Drakker and would need coordination with multiple Theta class Framers or a Zeta class. If you happen to be near a C rankeyes Drakker, lay low and hope they don’t find you while trying to contact military.”

“Next we have B rank also called Bane rank. Here the variance of power drops off. A single one showing up means a country would be going to war. Even Zeta classes unless they are at Nicholai’s level would need to coordinate to take one down. Top tier Theta classes can provide a level of support due to their powerful abilities however even if they would be nigh impossible to injure the Bane class Drakker.”

What looked a lot like a dragon with truly ridiculous proportions showed up. A two-kilometer length from head to tail. It was hard to imagine such a thing showing up let alone fighting it.

A raised hand.

“Constantine.”

“You said that a B rank gave you your injury? You were fighting a B class? But you mentioned that multiple top tier officers were required for C ranks.”

“True but like I said, Theta classes can support Zeta classes in this fight especially depending on their specialties. On top of that with the help of the fairies I am able to provide support of my own, making me a bit of a special case. A few other officers from my era are also in the same boat. We older ones who survived and are still in service have some benefits after all.” He smiled.

“Though I definitely could not stand directly against a power like that. My eyes were destroyed by a powerful shockwave that happened in the fight when I should have gotten to a safe distance.”

 

***

Year 2190

 

Drayton sat in a ruined building pulling out his old-style cigarette, looking into the moonless sky. He liked these things despite out obsolete they were with all the technological advancements. There was a novelty to them, unfortunately they weren’t sold anymore but old ruins always had some packs from back in the day and he requested them from the military which provided due to his service to humanity.

He was out in the deserted North-West of the post Expanse world, meaning that the territory was still largely uncharted. After all, every satellite was knocked out of the air. Even the moon was gone since then. To where? No one knew, some theories existed that it could only be seen on the other side of the planet. The half that had been corrupted.

A few seconds later Hermione appeared again in front of him and whisper-sung into his ear, nodding he pointed at the blunt in his mouth and she rolled her eyes making a flame appear in her hand as she lit it. He took a deep draw before blowing a bunch at the fairy who coughed waving her hands all over the place before smacking his nose much to his amusement.

She had let him know that a few D-rank Drakker leading a lot of E-ranks were coming this way. They hadn’t hit his detection range yet so they had to be at least four kilometers out. He suspected that he could take them out and if they were led by some low-end C rankers they would go too. He still made sure to give a quick heads up to control though it would take a while for the message to arrive, after all Haze emitters were not that close to this area as it had still been too dangerous to build around it before he did a lot of clearing out.

His mission had been to scout out this area for a new city to be built for the quickly growing Northern Federation. A critical mission which had been going pretty well so far.

Whistling a jaunty tune he picked up his Haze spear, twirling it expertly as he stretched. His left hand grabbed what looked like a shotgun. Haze modified of course and he slung it into a holster on the left side of his jacket slightly behind him.

He couldn’t help but feel sad as he looked back into the ruined room people had lived here long ago the states of the skeletons told him that they had died by Drakker attacks likely in the early stages of The Expanse.

Unfortunate.

His mood brightened a moment later, he was going to avenge them about now after all. He stepped up into the air with a happy, almost dancing gait, space rippled under his feet as if standing on water.

Aerial Path.

A Framer ability that he and a few other copied for Haze abilities. The ability to make a temporary platform for movement through the air. It took him forever to learn this and its use is immense when D ranks and upwards become casual fliers.

Hyper Stride took him a few hundred meters way in an instant and a few more allowed his senses to detect the oncoming D ranks. A few dozen of them. A C rank was likely then. They were clever however and rarely just showed up with the group.

He hid in a nearby ruined town as they made their way down the road towards it at blistering speeds. An interesting thing about The Expanse was that the Drakker did not all team up together. In fact it seemed there were factions of a kind, they fought each other often. This was part of the reason humanity had not been completely wiped out before being able to band together. And was also why they had managed to gain territory of course with the help of Framers.

The rumbling of monstrous feet could be heard now. A kilometer from the town and closing in fast. It would not take them a minute to reach it.

An advantage modified soldiers like himself had over Framers was in that Haze tech was nigh impossible for Drakker to detect. They were too intent on using HLE to detect lifeforms and apart from looks Haze tech provided some stealth capabilities allowing it to bypass a certain level of detection employed by Drakker. He doubted this would last long after all Haze tech was still new.

The monsters would adapt sooner or later.

He ran out to the middle of the road behind a large piece of rubble and took a stance with his spear in his right drawn back in a motion that implied stabbing. His left-hand forwards splayed out.

Hermione took a peek over the rubble before turning around and giving him a thumbs up confirming what his senses already told him. They still charged towards the town without a care in the world. The tip of the spear let out a small hiss and a blue light shone out of small vents making an even bigger spear head.

Five hundred meters.

Four Hundred.

Three.

Now.

Vacuum thrust.

His spear stabbed forwards at such speeds that a bang rang out through the surroundings as it broke the sound barrier. The shockwave shattered the few remaining windows in the area. An invisible force struck out, hitting the first few D-rank monsters instantly killing them. Then another and another. The E-rank died from the simple shockwave of the vacuum passing through.

It was like multiple high yield missiles were striking the group as holes just opened up in the formation, blue blood spilt all over the place as they were turned into mush from his thrusts.

After a few more thrusts he settled his steaming weapon down, keeping that up would tire him out for the C-rank fight to come.

The vacuum thrust was just due to the speed and power, but a skilled technique he had developed himself allowing old hands like himself and even Framers using melee weapons to fight far out of their range. It also allowed for the taking down of gigantic Drakker which was a requirement.

A few D-rank were still alive and even still made it to the town. Drakker were very hard to instill fear or trepidation into. They tended to fight to the last creature even when outmatched. The rest he made quick work of while on the look out for the expected C-rank. He was not dumb, letting his guard down now would just lead to a stupid death even for him.

After a while clearing out the stragglers, he found himself in another abandoned building surveying the area.

His senses went crazy. Hermione’s eyes widened.

GET OUT! Was what his instincts screamed at him. The entire town was in danger. But even with Hyper stride he could currently move a maximum of a kilometer on top of that he had moved deeper into the town after making sure the other Drakker was dead.

“Mami! Shield!” At the same time he formed a Haze barrier before using Hyper Stride anyway.

He slammed right through the walls of the building he was in and a few other buildings, moving as far away from the center of town as possible in the time he had. A watery bubble formed around him as a spherical transparent shield made of hexes covered himself.

BOOM!

Half of the town was torn apart in the explosion kilometers of land turned into a crater as he found himself coughing in pain a couple of kilometers from the epicenter. Both barriers, one made from another fairy and the other from himself had broken despite not even being in the center of the explosion.

That had to be an HLE formation meaning it was a C-rank not one too as it would not have needed the time they took to form that. It had likely floated outside his sensing range and even Hermione would not move that far away from him when scouting.

He was still alive, though winded as he scrambled to his feet. The C-rank was descending . Thankfully he had been right, a Singer. Its large mishappen mouth yawned out a nigh angelic sound as the dozens of grasping arms moved in odd angles as if a conductor of a choir. Tearing at the world around it. The creature was the size of a private jet as it made touchdown out of the sky into the middle of the ruined town. This was too close though to the temporary base just fifty kilometers away, he would have to distract it or at least take it down so that it could not alert any other powerful Drakker about the base if it noticed.

It started to look around moving to the non-obliterated parts of the town, it had realized he was not dead, good. A Hyper Stride brough him back as close as possible to get its attention. He could not let it get out of range or it would try to use another formation which he could not afford to take with his shield down. The suit he had also had a personal shield, but it was nothing compared to his Haze barrier.

Seeking Javelin.

Wielding his spear he threw it with all his might, combined with a complicated set of HLE tracks his spear moved in impossible angles towards his target. Another creation of his as he studied the Hyper Stride.

Inhuman screeches rang out as spear tore around it, first breaking down its HLE barrier before going to town on the monster itself. In the meanwhile, he closed the distance gathering a mass of Haze from his core in readiness. He always wished he could do this faster.

As he finally reached it, the spear flew back to his arm.

“HEY! Over hear!” The massive eyes of the creature the size of a small castle looked down at him.

A mass of arms shot down at him in the middle of the ruined street which he let come to him before using his spear to slam the giant hands aside. They crashed into the buildings on either side destroying them as the creature opened its mouth. A sound much like an organ playing rang out from it.

Drayton felt the pressure on his mind as the entire city was submerged in its honestly angelic singing. A mind domination ability. Any human in the town would have been turned into mindless zombies and moved under its control. A troublesome ability, which while weak when used on anyone of note. It was more destructive than even Sphinxes when considering the victims created.

He was able to withstand it easily however, so it wasn’t a problem and its range should not reach the people in the temporary base who had Haze defenses for situations like this anyway.

It moved a mass of car sized hands at him in one bunch and he dodged deftly taking a left into a building which the creature swiftly blew apart with a swing of its arm only to realize that he wasn’t there as Hyper Stride brought him above it. He would need to disperse Haze much like HLE soon however so that was his last for a while as he fell down towards the creature.

Meteor Strike.

A push off the air with Aerial Path threw him at the creature bypassing all the dozen arms as they reached for him.

Just before he reached its head however.

SCREEEEEEECH!

The voice tore out letting loose a shockwave that blew aside every building hundred of meters around it. Despite his supersonic speed he had been moving towards the source unfortunately.

Except he had been expecting that.

Haze overdrive.

Right before the screech the stored Haze had been released. The Haze halo above his head grew in thickness and he gained another smaller halo within it.

His senses were pushed to new limits, his strength, speed and ability to use Haze reached another level. And ability not granted to newer models due to the danger of gathering Haze for such a transformation in level had led to a seventy percent death toll to modified soldiers in his era. On top of that lost tech from said era meant that replicating it to even that level of “safety” was seen as impossible, at least for now.

Counter Strike.

How do you parry sound? Sound, at the end of day was vibration. His senses pushed to the limit allowed him to copy the frequency and replicate it but in the reverse direction. And his increased reactions allowed him to do so far beyond the moment the sound reached a truly explosive level combined with Vacuum Thrust to reach a greater distance.

BAM!

The attack got deflected back down to the Drakker below slamming it to the ground. A crater formed beneath its large bleeding form as it made some frankly pitiful sounds.

“Phew. You sure made me work up a sweat, you know that?” He looked around at the destruction of the landscape. “Not many modified from my era are still alive so I would appreciate if you Drakker did not kill more of us.”

It screeched back at him, he doubted it understood him and he had to finish it before it recovered. Projection formations were still second to Precise Manipulation when it came to difficulty, but he felt that this was the best time to try one out. It was also only possible with his Haze Overdrive.

Haze Blast.

A copy of the HLE Blast. Forming a ball of energy in the palm of his hand he pointed it at the creature after stepping into the air. One had to his head in a salute.

“See ya in hell.”

The blast ripped down through the air consuming the creature as it travelled through the ground and formed a cylindrical crater a hundred meters across and much deeper.

Bzzt.

His headset went off, it was from the base.

“Good work captain we were able to witness the battle from here.” A female voice rang out. “No wonder you are called the strongest Empyrean.”

“Oh please, stop with the flattery.” He was inferior to any powerful Theta class after all, being the strongest modified soldier meant nothing in this world. Not that he minded too much he supposed. A C-rank on this level was tough enough and would have been impossible for him to defeat a decade ago, heck even now a misstep would have meant death twice.

He was strong but he was just strong fodder to the true powerhouses in this world. Not that he minded, he learnt his place years ago and even as he strove to learn and incorporate what he could to gain power he knew his true limit in pure strength had been reached. He would really not want to fight a B-rank or hell an A-rank anyway he had only heard about them in his few talks with Jyllian and her crew of Zeta classes. And to hell with that. Were they even on the same realm at that point?

“This area should be clear no-”

“Uh, sir, get out of there.” The voice was weirdly calm, as if trying to hold back her panic.