บท 692: Refract React

Afton chuckles at its shocked face, decreasing his grip on its throat to allow it to speak, "Beg for your life, and I might let you live, creature."

...

"Die before, beg!... Race, weak. Will die. Friends weak, will die! Offspring WEAK! DEATH!" it screams in response, its sentence structure sounding broken and foreign, despite Afton knowing what each word means.

Afton shakes his head and laughs, "My race is weak!? Look at you! Without your weapons, you are weak! Once we steal your technology, I WILL ANNIHILATE YOUR RACE. You won't be able to touch our children, you won't even be able to stop me butchering your own!" he states, shaking the creature by its neck.

Once Afton stops shaking its neck, the creature grins, Afton Danger Sense triggering as he notices the alien activating some sort of device. He forms a root tentacle which grabs the device and throws it out of the city at terminal velocity... But the Alien just grins in response, showings its thin fangs as it gives an awkward laugh.

He crushes its neck and feels his hair begin to stand, static electricity clear in the air... His eyes widen as he looks up, finally noticing the giant spaceship that was floating overhead. A compartment underneath it opens up, and a bright light shoots from him, Afton momentarily wondering if he'd just had an Exterminatus dropped on his head...

A laser similar in power to his own Helios Sattalites descends before Afton can react, Afton somehow managing to use VAC's just before the laser hits him.

...

"Fuck." he mutters, his eyes locked on the bright beam of light about to wipe him off of the planet... How was he supposed to get out of this situation now...?

He shakes his head, looking at his status and focussing on the 10 remaining points left... Calming his breath, he selects the Mutations tab and starts looking through it, unsure what could possibly save him at this moment...

Sure, he had his [Miracle Maker] Perk which might save him... Or he might just survive the first wave of atomizing laser fire and get spawn killed almost immediately after...

He shakes his head, not willing to risk it... Plus the fact he had no idea if the orbital bombardment would reach the underground bunker where House, Tamia, and Rose were hiding.

[Atomic Decompression] : Allows user to enter a state of intangibility, doesn't work on held items. 10 points. Wouldn't help in protecting the bunker.

[Light Manipulation V3] : Allows user to manipulate Protons to a certain degree. 8 points for V1, V2, and V3... Doesn't really say how powerful this ability is, nor if he'd be able to immediately use it proficiently.

[Photosynth-Eater] : Allows user to absorb light and use it for sustenance. 4 points... Might be useful? It would meld well with his [Solar Powered] Perk, maybe even increasing its effectiveness? Though, it still might not be enough...

[Unstable Growth] : Allows user to force plants to grow incredibly quickly, even without necessary nutrients... Might be usable on his plant arms? 3 points...

[Diamond Skin] : Allows user to turn their body into an incredibly reflective surface, +20 DT when active... This, might actually work. It seems as if the Perk is more focused on defence than reflectiveness, but it might work nonetheless?... 6 points...

Afton frowns, wondering if he should keep looking... He'd already spent what must have been twenty-four hours looking through the list, and the above mention was the best he'd found that was in his price range... He was starting to regret wasting it on the language acquisition skill...

He shakes his head, deciding to just go for it, and take responsibility for what happens afterwards... He buys [Diamond Skin], and [Photosynth-Eater], praying to whatever gods still exist in this shit-hole of a world that the combination would work.

With that, he mentally reaffirms his decision and unpauses, immediately activating [Diamond Skin] and covering as much area as possible with roots. His skin quickly turns into a pure white, sparkly substance that spreads to the roots, all of them looking like massive diamond structures.

They each resembled disco-balls in their looks, which was only exacerbated when the orbital laser finally struck. The light of the attack refracting in all directions, in an unstoppable wave of destruction.

Almost immediately, the entirety of New Vegas was obliterated... The refracted laser scorching the city, cutting buildings in two, and even bisecting Mr House's Lucky 38...

Afton struggles under the force of the attack, feeling the heat of the laser rapidly transfer into his roots. [Solar Powered], [A Pool of Dead], and all of his other defensive Perks were working overtime to resist it, but he could feel it slowly eating away at him.

Of course, his regenerative abilities would be massively enhanced by the amount of energy he was absorbing from the light the laser was producing, his [Photosynth-Eater] mutation allowing him to produce even more roots than he usually could.

Unfortunately, it didn't feel as if the laser would stop any time soon... The ground under his feet had already started liquefying from the sheer heat being produced, and it wouldn't be long before Afton found himself sitting in lava... Luckily, his roots were fracting enough to stop the laser from eating completely through the earth, potentially saving the bunker...

Of course, it all depending on how far House had built the bunker... Something Afton wasn't privy to... Mostly because he didn't care enough to ask about it, nor expected it to be needed anytime soon.

Eventually, the assault ends. Afton's roots almost immediately turning to dust as the cool winds cause a catastrophic failure in their superheated structure. Afton falls down backwards, exhausted. But happy for stopping disaster from striking.