Jason soared like a bird across the alien pnet, his wings fpping so powerfully it broke the sound barrier. His speed was immense and easily eclipsed even a fighter jet. A maniac grin was spread on his face as both of his tendril arms consumed all life on the surface. Anywhere he passed turned into a barren wastend, devoid of any and all life. The alien animals on the ground tried hard to escape, but how could they? The tendril arms split off into dozens of different branches, making them all apart of him.

  Suddenly he paused in mid air, a relieved sigh passing through his lips as he closed his eyes. The feeling of power swelling within never got old. Lately, he realized he'd been scking on his own personal growth, which was obviously important. But he could hardly be bmed. Running a gactic war and commanding his troops, coming up with new infected, ways to crush his enemies, and more importantly bonding with his children took up the majority of his time. And how could he ignore his gorgeous women?

  Yet he soon frowned, sensing the increase become smaller once again. True, his body had no limits due to being the Perfect Vessel. Theoretically he could simply keep going and going. But he needed more. Far more in order to grow. Entire pnets worth of life, sapient or otherwise. Even that would cease to be enough, soon needing to devour the pnet itself whole. Of course by then, the surrounding Gaxies would become nothing more than child's py to him.

  “I wonder…” He muttered to himself as he opened his eyes, gncing at his tightened fist. How strong had he become from consuming an entire Continent’s worth of life?

  To test it, his wings fpped powerfully and he dove down like a meteor. Just before nding he raised his fist and punched towards the ground with all his might. A deafening boom erupted like a volcano as the barren ground was torn asunder. The earth split open for miles around and unknown to him, earthquakes appeared in various parts of the area. Taking off into the air, he gnced down at his handiwork. Even now it hadn’t stopped, the ground beneath him crumbling into a ravine.

  “Holy shit…” He was awed at his own power. But he could do more, couldn’t he?

  Opening his mouth slightly, he began charging his beam attack. Never before did he have occasion to use it besides a single time to simply test it. Across his chest, red streaks showed up and pulsed lightly. They traveled up his neck slowly, a loud rhythmic humming coming from inside him. As the streaks arrived at his mouth, the humming grew in strength and frequency.

  Sensing it was time, Jason aimed down at the ravine he made and released his attack. A pure red and slightly bck beam exited his mouth and shot downwards at an insanely fast speed. All sound and light was drowned out, repced with only red. Once it collided with the ground, it splintered the already damaged earth into pieces. A massive dust storm was kicked up, one which eclipsed even a small mountain. Yet the red gre could still be seen, punching a hole into the pnet.

  Jason kept his attack up, his powerful vision able to see past the storm. He wanted to see how much damage he could really do. After a few minutes however, he was forced to stop as the beam lost power. Over and done with, he breathed heavily, a wave of exhaustion overcoming him. Shaking his head he flew down a bit and marveled at the destruction he caused.

  The surroundings alone had shifted to something new entirely. Massive pits and holes were everywhere, but the worst was the bottomless crater. Pitch bck, save for the burn marks, and it’s depth unable to be seen. How far down it went was unknown even to Jason, who smiled brightly.

  “Christ, and this is just one Continent’s worth. Even if the increase slows down dramatically, what if I consume the surface of a pnet?” He clenched his fists, muscles rippling with unstoppable power. Felt as though he could tear a mountain in two.

  “More time. We just need more time.” A whisper exited his lips. Like him, all infected grew more powerful through consuming biological lifeforms. Evolving into a more perfected version of themselves.

  If given enough time, the quality of his troops would far surpass his enemy. To the point their puny weapons will bounce off his infected’s metal-like skin. But the problem, is time.

  ‘Jason?’ Alice’s sweet voice echoed in his mind, stunning him briefly before he smiled.

  ‘Yes my love?’ She giggled lightly before speaking.

  'We’ve done as you asked, but what are these things anyway? And did you do something? We could feel the ground shake.’ Jason grinned and fpped his wings, shooting off to their direction.

  ‘A trap for the Alliance. I know damn well they’ll pass through this system and notice the Infestation on this world. As soon as they’re in range…’ He chuckled darkly.

  ‘They’ll suffer. As for the other thing? Just testing my strength. Nothing to be concerned about.'

  It didn’t take long for Jason to reach Alice’s position on another side of the pnet, who stood next to his two other wives. Infestation covered the surrounding area in mass with Tumors pulsing away, spreading it even further. The Continent he left behind would soon mirror this, as will the entire world. But he didn’t focus on them, only the rge creature impnted into the ground. Looked very simir to a building in a way, cking any arms or legs. Yet it did have a pair of eyes.

  The only thing of note though was the giant and long toothless mouth in the middle, aimed towards the sky. Seemed more like a cannon than a mouth. The creature’s size was quite rge as well, nearly two hundred feet tall. However, this was not it's peak state since the thing was recently pnted. Jason estimated it could be nearly six hundred feet when fully grown. Unseen by everyone and known only to him were tendril roots beneath the creature's body. It fed directly off the Infestation itself to survive.

  “The fuck did you make this time?” Seeing him nd, Lily immediately marched up to him and asked. He chuckled a bit and gazed upon his newest creation.

  “One way of protecting our worlds. Meet the Anti-Air Bio Launcher, soon to be impnted into every world. These will be perfect in taking out ships from orbit. Watch.” Jason gave the creature a mental command to fire, and it followed without question.

  The Bio Launcher moved slightly to the right and began powering up. Just a few seconds ter, a giant blob of green liquid exited the mouth and shot into the sky with insane speed. It soared into the clouds themselves and disappeared from view. Nearly ten seconds ter, the Bio Launcher fire another shot.

  “Unfortunately I couldn’t increase the firing speed any further than this. But it’ll work wonders. I specifically tuned their attack to melt through the Alliance’s shields and armor. The hull especially will suffer great damage. Now imagine a hundred of these all firing at once. Be a sight to see.” Lily hummed lightly before speaking.

  “I’m guessing you have another? You’re not just relying on this ugly ass this, right?” He gasped dramatically and grabbed her cheeks. Lily was shocked, but still enjoyed the contact. Until Jason opened his fat mouth.

  “I can’t believe it! You… can think?! It seems miracles really do happen!” Growling lightly, Lily shoved her knee into his crotch. Yet Jason simply smiled.

  “Come on darling, my armor isn’t for nothing-“ She punched him in the face so hard he took a few steps back. He rubbed his nose and coughed lightly.

  “Okay then, I can see you’re upset.” Suddenly, Lily smiled gently. However, the fire in her eyes didn’t decrease in the slightest as she slowly walked towards him.

  “Upset? Of course not Jason. Why don’t you just come here? Hm? And obediently let me shove my foot up your ass. Stop running you stupid asshole!" While they pyed together, Alice giggled lightly and gnced at Athena.

  “What’s wrong?” The tter sighed deeply and threw her arm around Alice’s shoulder, bringing her into a hug.

  “I’m bored Bunny. I just wanna fight something already. And-“ She paused for a moment before rubbing her stomach.

  “I want a child. It’s pissing me the fuck off. Though I love Dante and the other two, I just…” Alice pced her head on Athena’s shoulder and rubbed her back.

  “I understand. Don’t worry, it’ll definitely happen. Just keep trying.” Athena nodded, yet still had a bad look to her face.

  “Thank you, Bunny. You always make my day better.” Alice giggled lightly, watching as her older sister chased Jason.

  "That's my job after all. Gotta make sure everyone's happy and healthy."

  "And you?" She looked towards Athena with some surprise. The tter continued.

  "Are you happy?" Alice nodded, a joyful and bright smile to her face.

  "Definitely!"

  .

  .

  .

  .

  ( Jason )

  After Lily tired herself out by kicking my shit in for a while, or trying to at least, we left that barren world. Barren in the sense of zero sapient life and the fuck ton we consumed. I couldn’t just hog the gains all to myself after all. What kind of inconsiderate asshole would I be to do so? Meanwhile, the Bio Launchers have been impnted and are ready for the trap. It’s not guaranteed the Alliance will pass through this exact system, but there’s an 80% chance.

  My hope is their sensors will pick up the Infestation and come to purge it. If they want to do that, they HAVE to get in range of the Bio Launchers. I’ll also set up a few extra traps in the area. Nothing crazy, but enough to cause some damage. Problem is, I underestimated the difficulty in crafting it.

  “You fucking piece of actual shit. Just stay together.” I gripped the pile of flesh between my fingers, a burst of rage entering me. My test creation and one of said trap, failed again. Would be great, but I can’t get the thing to stay together. Keeps falling apart.

  “Daddy?” Raven’s emotionless and frigid voice came from behind me. I dropped the flesh pile and turned around with a smile. What a pleasant and quite frankly, needed surprise.

  “Yes sweetheart?” She tilted her head, those bck beady eyes staring into my own. Really takes after both me and her mother.

  “Don’t give up. You can do it.” My eyes widened slightly before I chuckled. That’s all the motivation I need.

  “Thank you Raven. Why don’t you stay here with me and watch?” She nodded happily and came to my side.

  As for me, I cracked my neck and consumed the pile of flesh. Trying to mess with it further wouldn’t yield anything good. It’s not only too fucked up, the DNA is too tangled together. Like one of those messy spaghetti codes in a computer. Instead, my arm transformed into a tendril and lengthened, reaching across the room and grabbing ahold of a few more infected. They didn’t make a sound, knowing their deaths are coming. I wiped their minds quickly, making them hollow husks.

  “Okay, one more try for tonight. If I fail, we'll go py a game." With a now satisfied Raven by my side silently cheering me on, I got to work.

  My fingers changed into narrow and sharp tendrils as I kneaded their flesh together with expertise, trying to form the infected I had in mind. Meanwhile, my new surgical fingers dug deep and began transforming the DNA to my specifications. What I wanted in essence was an invisible suicide bomber. Of course it won’t be fully invisible, more like camoufge 'borrowed' from the Predators. However, I knew the Alliance ships had the sensors to catch their location. Therefore, adding Mimic DNA should hopefully help the bomber out in tricking their sensors. And to top it off, I'm adding my own unique blend to hopefully heighten this power even further.

  But adding several strands of conflicting DNA together isn’t easy, even for me. It was as if they were working against me, trying their hardest to fuck with each other. However, I simply forced it all into pce against their will. To my surprise, the fleshy clump was finally beginning to take shape. A circur creature without any arms or legs as they didn’t need them. Same for muscles or organs besides the bare necessities. Allowed me to make room for even more explosive material, increasing their power massively.

  I made two special and unique gnds inside of it’s body which were pced next to one another. Trapped inside and waiting to be let out were two explosive materials of my own design. Once ready, the creature will open these gnds at the same time and fuse the materials together. On contact they’ll immediately explode and cause a chain reaction throughout the rest of it’s body. Both under and on the surface of it’s skin will be chock full of tiny nodes. These nodes are extremely sensitive to anything explosive and, well, kaboom!

  “Ah~” I breathed out lightly and leaned back a bit. Finished at st.

  The creature in front of me cked eyes, a mouth, and whatever else nonsense a fleshy being has. This bad boy didn’t require any of it. Instead, I installed a sort of biological heat seeking system. If anything gets inside of a certain range, it'll immediately beeline for it and explode upon contact. As such, I find it prudent to name it the Suicide Seeking Mine, or SSM for short. Unfortunately, any movement will make the camoufge worse. Although they won't immediately become visible, they're a fuck ton more noticeable.

  While I only designed them to be made into a trap for the incoming fleets, these are still a great idea for defense. Pnt these everywhere inside of a system and create a massive ass minefield. However, I’ll need to tune them so they won’t target fellow friendly infected. And as for how it’ll even survive? Like a pnt, feasting off the star's delicious rays.

  A sudden burst of cpping made my head turn. There, my sweet spiderling cpped her hands together, an adorable and rare cold smile to her face.

  “Good work Daddy. I knew you could do it.” I know I shouldn’t feel it, especially since I was the dad. But damned if making her proud doesn’t feel good.

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her close.

  “It’s all thanks to you sweetheart.” Kissing her on the head, my eyes turned back to the inactive SSM. Won’t be hard to impnt a basic consciousness inside of it. Nothing sentient of course, just enough to control it’s bodily functions.

  But that’s for ter. I was filled with purpose! With mission! So why not keep this ball rolling and create even more things?

  “Wanna help me out with this next one Raven? We can do it together.” She nodded eagerly, bck beady eyes lighting up with happiness.

  Smiling, we got up and moved to a different section of the room. This one will require a rger space as we’ll be making the prototype for the defense ptforms, or whatever I decide to call it. Of course, it’ll be much smaller than the finalized product for an obvious reason. Once done, it'll be the same size or maybe slightly smaller than the Leviathan. For now though, just a miniature version. Like a scale model.

  “Okay Raven, listen close.” When we stopped next to an awaiting Abomination, I got her attention and leaned down a bit.

  “See this?” She nodded as I showed my surgical tendril fingers.

  “These will make it much easier to mess with somethings DNA. You’ll need to split them up again and again, constantly making them smaller as they travel inside. Go ahead, try it yourself. Concentrate and will it to happen.”

  She held up all four of her hands and focused deeply, trying to mimic what I had done. However, a frown marred her cute little insect face seeing it not work. I couldn’t help but silently chuckle at her frustration. But after a minute of failure, she did something surprising.

  Lowering her arms, the legs on her back came forwards a bit. Then in just a few seconds, the sharp tips of said legs transformed into something new. Not exactly like my tendril fingers though, instead unique to her. Despite her success, she seemed sad.

  “What’s wrong?” Raven gnced my way with disappointment.

  “I wanted to be just like you Daddy. I’m sorry.” Oh, I see how it is. I swiftly brought her into a hug and squeezed tightly.

  “Don’t you be sorry Raven. I am super proud that you followed your own path instead of just copying me. Okay?” She nodded and returned my hug, her legs wrapping around my body. So weird. Just like her mother, they had a sharpness yet contradicting gentleness to them. Then again, makes sense considering her room is a bundle of webs made into a nest. Constantly poking holes in it might be a bit annoying after a while.

  “Now let’s get started huh?” Raven nodded joyfully and moved closer to the paralyzed Abomination. Wonder if I should wipe it’s mind to save it the pain? Eh, too much effort.

  But what’s this? My insect daughter getting cold feet and feeling anxious? I patted her lightly on the back and kneeled down. Meanwhile, my other hand grabbed the Abomination's leg and brought it to the floor with a pull.

  “Don’t be nervous. I’ll follow along with you and give aid.” She nodded and steeled herself. That’s my daughter! Go in with full confidence!

  Her new legs slowly poked the Abomination’s hard flesh, beginning to take it apart. With a closer look, I noticed bck, silver, and narrow webs dig into the body. Basically, a simir concept to my tendrils and how they split apart. I pced my hand near the location her legs were and sent my fingers inside. Didn’t take long to find her webs amateurishly trying to mess with the Abomination’s flesh. Seems she’s not able to go deep enough yet for messing with the DNA itself.

  Just as I was about to guide her, I paused. Maybe I should only give a general outline and the very bare basics. I think it'll be better if she figures it out by herself instead of having me show her the way. Might make her more eager to explore herself. More I thought about it, the better it sounded. So my fingers exited the paralyzed and agony filled Abomination’s body and I began expining the basics to her. Raven took everything seriously and improved noticeably to the naked eye. What a prodigy in splicing biological flesh.

  Backing away from her silently, my lips curled into a smile seeing her go by herself. So this is the parent experience, watching your child find their way through life with a bit of guidance. Precious. Seems making the defense ptform will wait for ter. Maybe tomorrow or something. As for now, I slipped away and came to a fairly normal common infected. Always had a hundred or so in here at all times, using them as disposable materials for experiments.

  This one already had it’s mind expunged and wiped clean for the coming improvement. Can’t have him moving around and whatnot. Grabbing it by the throat, I pced it onto a nearby table and grabbed some tools. This time, I didn’t need my tendril fingers or mess with the thing’s DNA. Now, it was time to bring back the Cyborgs. It’s been long enough.

  This one in particur is one Hiroshi didn’t make himself and instead, is my own creation. What I’m going to be doing is opening up it’s skull and surgically impnting cybernetic enhancements into the infected’s brain. I’ll also add a few other things throughout it’s body as support, like the Generator Core. But my main goal is to boost it’s intelligence and processing power far above anything a normal infected or even Chosen can have. Like a super computer for a brain.

  Mass producing these… Scientist Cyborgs, will help alleviate the pressure on myself about inventing new things. They’ll mainly be focused on the cybernetic aspect of things though, rather than biological like me. Still, they’ll help immensely in every field, especially with designing the weapons and shields for the Leviathans and future ships.

  Which also got me thinking of making a specific Cyborg designed for constructing more of it’s fellow brothers and sisters. No chance in frozen Hell will I do all this myself. Sigh, all work and no py.