C68 Iron Fenrir Ascendant

His instruments lowered toward my eyes, and I felt the pressure as they carefully installed the optical enhancements.

My vision flickered, adjusting to the new lenses as they synced with the neural chip.

When it was done, I sat up with great difficulty, blinking as my new vision came into focus.

Everything was sharper, clearer, and I could overlay tactical data with just a thought.

The lenses were directly connected to my brain, allowing me to zoom in, switch to thermal, night vision, or even infrared.

I turned to the others, scanning their body heat and vitals with a quick flick of my eyes. Everything was seamless.

"Alright,"

I said, standing up only for my legs to give out but I grabbed the tables edge and steadied myself.

"Alright who's next?"

Darius stepped up, cracking his knuckles.

"Me. Let's get this sh*t done."

He laid down on the table, and the doctor immediately set to work, slicing into Darius with the same mechanical precision.

Darius didn't flinch, his pain receptors disabled just like mine.

The doctor began with the synthetic muscles, wiring them into Darius's arms, chest, and legs, reinforcing his already massive frame.

"You're going to be a f*cking wrecking ball after this,"

Paul said, watching as the doctor embedded ceramic grafts along Darius's spine.

Darius grunted, his voice steady.

"Good. I've got some payback to deliver next time we're in the field."

As the nano fibers were woven into his joints, Darius flexed his arms, testing the new strength building in his muscles.

When it came time for the neural chip and lenses, Darius didn't so much as blink as the doctor sliced into his skull.

"What the f*ck why can I taste peanut butter In my mouth?"

Darius couldn't help but ask as he too almost kissed the floor after the good doctor closed up all the surgical cuts with his medical grade lazer.

"How the f*ck should I know?"

I asked while shrugging my shoulders.

"Tch Damm doc you scrambled my brain"

Darius cursed at the doc who just Ignored him.

Airid was next, lying down without a word as the doctor's tools descended on him.

"Feels like my whole body's getting rewired,"

Airid couldn't help but say as he kept shifting on the table uncomfortably to the point the doc locked him down In place with his mechanical tentacles which made me cringe as f*ck because of certain h*nime genre.

Paul, Julian and Robert went through the same process, each of them taking the upgrades in stride.

Paul, ever the joker, cracked jokes throughout the procedure, even as the doctor sliced into his skull to install the neural chip.

"Hey, doc, you ever work on anyone this good-looking before?"

The doctor's mechanical voice remained flat.

"No. But I've also never worked on anyone with such a damaged brain."

"Touché,"

Paul said with a grin.

When it was all done, we stood there dressed, holding each other for support looking like a bunch of drunkards stumbling their way home after a night out.

As we stood in the cyborg doctor's dimly lit chamber who looked like the literal Incarnation of a certain toaster loving big fellow from the universe In which there Is only war, holding each other for support like a bunch of soldiers fresh out of a battle with gravity, I reached for my holo-phone to pay for the augments.

My body still felt sluggish as the new augments settled in, but I was eager to get the hell out of there.

The doctor, his mechanical arms folding back with a precise click, looked at me with his mechanical eyes glowing faintly.

"You don't need that,"

He said, his voice a cold blend of metallic and organic.

"You can pay using your neural chip. It's already connected to the Galactic Net."

I blinked, confused for a moment, then felt a slight pulse in my head.

My cybernetic lenses flickered as they synced with my neural chip, and a HUD overlay appeared before my eyes.

"Huh?"

I muttered, feeling more disoriented than ever.

"How the f*ck does that work?"

The cyborg doctor's tentacle-like appendages waved slightly as if gesturing for me to focus.

"Just think about it,"

He said.

"Use your mind. Access the Galactic Net in your HUD."

I took a deep breath, focusing on the faint data streams that now filled my vision.

My pupils glowed yellow, a byproduct of the cybernetic lenses that had been installed.

I could see everything account balances, transaction options, and payment methods floating in front of me.

"F*ck me…"

I muttered under my breath, overwhelmed for a second.

"Just like that,"

The doctor continued.

"Select the payment method, confirm the amount, and you're done."

I stared at the numbers hovering in my vision.

All I had to do was think it through, and sure enough, the system responded.

With a flicker of thought, I authorized the payment.

A confirmation popped up in my HUD, and the transaction was done.

The doc nodded.

"Easy, right?"

"Yeah,"

I said, my voice laced with disbelief.

"Too easy."

As soon as the payment was confirmed, we started staggering our way out of the doc's workshop like a bunch of drunkards trying to navigate the street after a wild night out.

Our bodies still adjusting to the new augmentations, we moved in awkward, unsteady motions, gripping the walls and each other for support as we made our way down the space station's corridors.

"G*ddamn augments,"

Darius grumbled.

"Feel like I'm learning how to walk all over again."

"At least now I can finally justify not needing legs,"

Paul joked, barely able to keep his balance.

"You mean when you fall flat on your face, right?"

Julian said, smirking as he stumbled past him.

"Shut up."

As we made our way through the station, we finally reached a sleek, metallic storefront belonging to one of the top xeno suppliers specializing in exoskeleton armor and high-caliber weapons.

Their logo, a stylized image of a heavily armed demihuman, flashed across the signage.

It was the same company that supplied the UNOE's Orbital Insertion Shock Trooper core, meaning top-tier gear and no cutting corners.

When we stepped inside, the first thing that caught our attention was the demi-human woman behind the counter.

She was tall, around 190 centimeters, with cat ears perched on top of her head and a tail that swished lazily behind her.

Her sharp amber eyes glanced over us, but to her credit, she didn't flinch at the sight of a bunch of stumbling augmented humans with cybernetic yellow-glowing eyes.

She had probably seen worse.

"Welcome to Damucles Armaments,"

She said, her voice smooth and professional, though there was a slight purr to it.

"How can I help you today?"

"Exoskeleton armor,"

I said, stepping forward, trying to regain my balance.

"Six suits, military camo paint In black, red, white and white skull paintjobs. Plus, weapons. A lot of weapons."

She raised an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by the amount of firepower we were about to order.

With a flick of her hand, a holographic display appeared, showing various exoskeleton models and an array of weapons.

"We have several models of exoskeleton armor available, all fully customizable. Any specific modifications?"

"Yeah,"

I replied, scanning the options with my HUD view.

"We'll need spiked reinforced knuckle plates for our right hands, grappling hooks attached to the left forearm plates, sharpened nail armor plates for our right and left hands and fusion packs for extended power."

Darius, already looking at the heavy weaponry section, pointed at a medium laser machine gun.

"And I want that."

The woman glanced at the gun, then back at Darius, her feline ears twitching.

"The HL-90 medium Laser Machine Gun? You'll need the exoskeleton just to carry it. You sure about that?"

Darius grinned.

"Positive."

She nodded, adding it to our list.

"And for the others?"

I listed out the rest.

"Two 12.7mm smart rifles with underbarrel grenade launchers and other attachments. Two more with underbarrel flamers. A mass accelerator rifle for exoskeleton armor users something with a punch. Eight 12.7mm plasteel tipped mags for special occasions, sixty-four mags loaded with lead, a multipurpose missile launcher with a missiles with Inbuilt energy distruptors, frag, flash bang, smoke, emp grenades, first aid kits and combat stimulants the high end kind, and laser-edged combat knives."