Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 58B2 - : The B-Team levels up

Part of my clan? Priam thought as he shook his head. “He killed his own clan? Why?”

“Power,” Dee replied as she walked over and joined Priam in petting the sand sharks, which Priam had stopped doing once Quinn had told him about Wricen’s association with him. “People who have power want to keep it.”

Greg cursed and pointed off in the distance, “Priam, are enormous sandstorms like that usual here?”

“Like what?” Priam asked as he looked out where Greg was pointing. He saw an enormous cloud of sand and debris spiraling off in the distance, covering the whole horizon. “Oooh, that does not look good!”

Quinn’s voice came over the comms, “Wricen is controlling the world and changing some settings. He’s put up a permanent sandstorm in the Big Dry: the enormous desert that splits the world into two portions.”

“The sand sharks won’t have a problem with that,” Priam replied. “And if Quinn is giving us directions, we won’t get lost. But we will need protection: and to protect the sand sled.”

“Let’s level up then, and look at our options,” Greg replied.

His Wayfinder, Darrin, popped out of his armor, “That will require us going to the Starlit Sea. You should each go one at a time; so you can have two people keeping an eye on the sled.”

Priam nodded, “You two okay if I go first?”

Dee patted him on the back, “Go ahead.”

Priam lifted his hat up, and Bloopa flew out from under it. “How do we do this?”

The geometric shapes spelled out her words to Priam’s mind. Just touch me and we’ll do it now.

Priam reached out and the world fell away. He was floating in the starlit sea, and a screen appeared in front of him with various choices of Ascended Power.

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[Gigastar.]

[Flux.]

[Magnetar.]

[Supermassive.]

[Exoplanet.]

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“I think I’ll go with Gigastar,” Priam stated as he tapped the icon. “Fire, radiant light, all that sounds like it’ll be a nice complement to my Pulsar electricity and magnetism.”

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[Use the space below to describe what you desire to do with your Ascended Power.]

[The Cosmic System will then determine a selection of Advanced Classes based upon your description.]

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“I want to improve my ability to heal and shield others. Keep it with the divine-magic angle, though!”

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[Exarch.]

[Archpriest.]

[Mender.]

[White Mage.]

[Continue Scrolling by sliding your hand down.]

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Priam scrolled through the lists upon lists and returned to the top. “Exarch it is.”

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[Preparing Skill Advancement.]

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“What’s that?” Priam asked.

It is going to merge your Skills to create a more streamlined Skill set.

“Oh, okay! As long as I don’t end up losing out on a ton of stuff that I’ve gotten. I need to be able to do all the same things!”

This will assist you, have no doubt in The Cosmic System’s workings.

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Name: Priam Westerfold (Aspirant, Tier 6)

Power [Class Level]: Pulsar [Priest <Seraph> 100] / Gigastar [Exarch 1]

Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Exarch's Ward (Rank 1) [Multi-Target], Exarch's Seraphic Soothe (Rank 1) [Contingent], Exarch's Blessing (Rank 1) [Enduring], Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10), Wrath of the Gods (Rank 5), Heavenly Smite (Rank 1) [Marking], Fount of Energy (Rank 5), Ishtar's Embrace (1/day)

Stardust: 130

Equipment: (Light) Archpriest Vestments, (Conservation) Soul Warden Writ, (Insightful) Dad's Hat, (Light) Venture Pack, survival meals (x40), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit

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Boons: Common (Information), Epic (Augmentation)

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Exarch’s Ward (Rank 1): The user creates a barrier of divine energy, infused with the power of their Cosmic and Ascended Powers.

Exarch’s Seraphic Soothe (Rank 1): The user heals all wounds and ailments affecting any number of targets within line of sight, with increasing Energy cost per target.

Exarch’s Blessing (Rank 1): Increases the target's physical, sensory, and cognitive traits by an obscene amount on any number of targets within line of sight, with increasing Energy cost per target.

Heavenly Smite (Rank 1): The user gains the ability to fly for 10 seconds. While flying, they may smite any target within line of sight, harming them with divine power, Cosmic Power, or Ascended Power manifestations.

Greg was watching the sandstorm on the horizon when Priam appeared with a pop. “So cool!” he said as he looked at his two allies. “I’m an Exarch now!”

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“A whatnow?” Dee asked.

“Really good at support. Check it out!” he shared his status screen to the other two, and Greg glanced through the changes.

He really has leaned into the support role well, Greg thought. But he hasn’t pigeonholed himself with just being a support-focused class. He’s got some oomph behind him. He glanced at Dee, “You want next?”

“I’ll go last,” she replied as she turned back to the sand sharks and kept petting their tummies.

Greg nodded and glanced down at Darrin, “My turn.” The world fell away, and Greg appeared in the starlit sea. Going through the various selections, he had a thought. Thinking out loud he asked, “What if I went into an offensive focus for my Advanced Class? Make myself a bit more versatile. I’ve got plenty of defensive stuff from Planet Protector and <Resolute Guardian>.”

Darrin floated in front of him as the two scrolled through the various selections, “It would not be unwise if you intend to go off solo any time. I anticipate Dee will be focusing into damage exclusively, and Priam, well, he is defensive and support focused.”

“What’s Jace look like nowadays?”

“He is well-rounded. But not overtly specialized.”

Greg nodded, “I want to get something offensive focused.”

“You do not get new ‘basic’ Skills for the Advanced Class, like when you first became an Aspirant. So you will not be able to get anything offensive-focused Skill-wise until your next level up.”

“That’s fine. It’s future proofing.” And Supermassive for some gravity manipulation powers. I can only imagine how devastating shooting a bullet at someone with a miniature black hole attached to it could be.

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Name: Greg Bhastal (Aspirant, Tier 6)

Power [Class Level]: Planet [Protector <Resolute Guardian> 100] / Supermassive [Weaponmaster 1]

Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Protector's Vow (Rank 3) [Guardian's Vow], Planetary Defenses (Rank 3), Planetary Retribution (Rank 3), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Protector's Panacea (Rank 8), Planetary Palisade (Rank 10), Planetary Growth (Rank 6), Rock Blast (Rank 15), Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10), Defensive Upgrade (Rank 10), Sphere of Protection (Rank 5), Call to Guard (Rank 5), Guardian's Defenses (Rank 14), Thellor’s Reversal (1/day)

Stardust: 130

Equipment: (Heavy) Thellor's Impenetrable Bulwark, Pheracorp deflection matrix, Stunstick, (Heavy) Venture Pack, survival meals (x40), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit, 20,000 creds, Bunker-Buster Mk. 3, Enduralife Guardian AR, General Logistics 9mm Pistol, x2 EMP grenade, x3 flashbang, Killer Whale

Boons: None

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Greg smiled as the world returned around him and shared his decisions with his allies. “Weaponmaster aught to make me really capable with anything I pick up.”

Priam smiled and nodded, “Good! Having some balance is really nice. I remember when I first started with Jace on Nihilethelea, I did not have any offensive Skills! I felt a little useless.”

Dee grinned, “Okay, my turn now!”

Dee appeared in the Starlit Sea. Her Wayfinder, Miku, was flapping just above her as the various screens popped up. “Well, if that cute little bunny-man is going to be keeping his focus on support, and Greg’s effectiveness as our frontliner and protector isn’t changing…I should be able to keep focusing on more blasting.”

“I-It s-should be f-f-fine to d-do that,” Miku replied as the meowl landed on her shoulder.

She reached up and scratched Miku’s chin, able to do so only because they were in the System itself, “Alright! I want to do Flux. And as for Advanced Class…I want bigger and more damaging explosions!”

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Name: Deasyl 'Dee' Luna (Aspirant, Tier 6)

Power [Class Level]: Nebula [Blaster <Artillerist> 100] / Flux [Demolisher 1]

Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 3) [Blast], Artillerist's Acumen (Rank 6), Artillerist's Discipline (Rank 5)

Stardust: 130

Equipment: None

Boons: None

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Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 1) - The user fires a bead of Cosmic or Ascended Power at a target within line of sight. Upon impact or at any point along the path of travel, the user may detonate the Skill, dealing overwhelming damage of the specified type to a single target.

Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 2) - Unlocks the 'Blast' Skill Evolution.

Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 3) - As any lesser Rank, but increase the damage inflicted.

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[Evolution Name: Blast.]

[Effect: Causes damage in a large area, increasing in size with Energy invested.]

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“A-as you l-l-level up that S-skill, you w-will g-get m-m-more Evo-evolu-lutions.”

Dee squealed with delight and hugged Miku, “That’s so cool! I can’t wait to use this new power to blow even more stuff into smithereens!”

Quinn was observing the various changes in her allies’ status screens. As expected, she thought as she tapped her fingers on the desk, drumming out a beat to a song only she heard. Dee is going full-on offense. As long as she is with the group, it won’t be an issue.

Greg was pragmatic, from Quinn’s few months of socializing and being around the man. His choice makes sense. An Advanced Class that gives him versatility to use any weapon from any world, and as an already-trained CQC combatant, this should make him quite deadly. He was already hard to injure as-is with his hyper-defensive focused build.

Then Priam. His choice made sense, and Quinn was confident that as long as he was with Greg, and the two were covering each other with Skills, they would be practically unkillable barring some enormous, overwhelming odds. And even then, with Dee’s hyper-destructive focus, as long as the dire situation was not prolonged, the hostile forces would be obliterated.

Quinn leaned back in her chair. I really underestimated her smarts. Using silicate particles to effectively sandblast those skeletons into nothingness was really ingenious. Quinn glanced over at the panel with her recent changes.

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Name: Quinn Cipher (Aspirant, Tier 6)

Power [Class Level]: Star [Broker <Celestial Coordinator> 100] / Exoplanet [Reality Strategist 1]

Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Broker's Instinct (Rank 8), Broker's Contract (Rank 20), Broker's Fee (Rank 16), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Magic World Interface (Rank 10), Magitech World Interface (Rank 10), Technology World Interface (Rank 10), Other Realm Interface (Rank 5), Celestial Observer (Rank 1), Coordinator's Critical Gaze (Rank 6), Coordinator's Warning System (Rank 5)

Stardust: 130

Equipment: Broker's interface, Broker's starting gear, Webwalker Implants, Pheracorp Bionic Brain Mk. 1, Pheracorp Bionic Eyes Mk. 1

Boons: None

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No new Skills, she thought. But this Reality Strategist sure has an interesting list. She had been poring over the data that Xera had sent over to her, and the Advanced Class was focused heavily on reinforcing and supplementing her allies’ capabilities regardless of distance. And, according to the faction leader of the Dark Between Stars, the effects Quinn would be able to manifest would apply outside of their universe, once they defeated Troxanir and had secured the ‘funnel’ leading to the Astral Verge.

Quinn tapped through a series of screens, firing off transactions and accepting offers on the various supplies that they had gathered on Earth. I’ll make sure to distribute the Stardust later, she thought.

Turning her attention to the monitor dedicated to Jace’s Celestial Observer, she saw him entering a lavish mansion. Be careful, she thought. There are no reinforcements to help you out if things go tits-up.

Infiltration was easy, as Jace just had to pull himself with his grapnel up and over the guards at the door who were checking invitations. Hanging from the ceiling, he glanced around. The entry hall had some type of coat check, where a few servants were standing behind a desk and taking people’s property, handing them a slip, and then going into an enormous vault embedded into the wall to stow the items away.

The center part of the room was dominated by a fountain that bubbled up with some type of alcohol that wafted up to Jace’s current grapnel-point underneath a chandelier made of gold. The entire interior was a gorgeous, white marble with roses carved into the surface. He kept an eye on the pickpockets as they made their way in with passes. Must have lifted them on their way over, he thought as he heard commotion from some Yittka further back in the line who were checking their pockets.

Dropping briefly, Jace reshot the grapple and pulled himself along the corridor. Thankfully, they’ve got these huge rooms, he thought. Twenty feet off the floor means tons of space to maneuver. He continued to shadow the pickpockets as they ascended a set of stairs and went up to the next floor.

People were mingling, laughing, discussing, and dancing in an enormous ballroom. On one wall was a sumptuous feast, and the other was dominated by an enormous full-size band. There was a soft waltz-style tune playing, and Jace was able to get much higher as the vaulted ceilings were easily fifty feet tall.

He spotted Deckard, the leader of the Nebula Alliance, surrounded by ten Signers for his faction, and two Black Hole Conclave members. The weird slug-tentacle-man was sitting off to the side of the room, chatting with a well dressed Yittka.

Jace kept his eye on the allied pickpockets from the Gold Paws. They went around the room, mingling and slipping their sticky fingers into pockets, around wrists, waists: anywhere their hands moved, valuables swapped owners, and they stuffed the objects into their left pockets.

Time to get to work.