— Well... Welcome, my dear students. — Margaret's voice echoed through the auditorium. The trainees just sat there silently, not daring to break the oppressive silence. — Come on, don't worry, I'm not as cruel as that old man, — though she tried to reassure them, the atmosphere barely changed. Just by looking at the trainees' expressions, it was clear they didn't trust her. — That old devil has given me so much trouble, — Margaret muttered irritably but quietly. — I understand that your attitude is perfectly logical, and, to be honest, in your place, I would have done the same. So please, reserve this attitude just for this idiot. — her full of sarcasm comment towards Darius clearly caught the audience's attention.
— Okay, let's stop talking about this unpleasant person and start our theoretical class. Ahem... Let's begin by outlining the goals of today's lecture. Firstly, the classification of nephilim. And don't be outraged, I know this is pretty common knowledge, but I need to make a remark. What the public is told and what actually happens differ significantly. Therefore, I am obliged to briefly talk about all five classes of nephilim. Secondly, you will learn about the weapons used to kill these creatures. I'll give you a little spoiler in advance, it is also classified and divided into several categories. Thirdly — nexuses. A brief history, structure, and categories. We will cover all this today, and in the subsequent classes, we will delve deeper into these topics. Is everything clear?
The trainees nodded in unison. Everyone understood that it was necessary to know everything possible about the enemy because sooner or later, it could save their lives, or maybe even the whole citadel.
Margaret squinted, slowly, with a keen eye, surveying the auditorium.
— Well, that's better. So, you take the question of how not to die on the first mission more or less seriously. That's commendable.
She snapped her fingers, and the holographic screen behind her came to life. A ripple ran across the blue screen, and it turned into a hologram. A massive familiar creature covered in armor plates with pulsating lines of energy along its body appeared before the trainees. Three familiar and spine-chilling pairs of disgusting limbs. The very guardian that chased Cassian in the simulation.
— Guardians. Thirty, sometimes even thirty-five meters tall. Flesh covered with armor capable of withstanding heavy weapon hits. Their task is to die. Well, to be more precise, they are often cannon fodder. There are more monsters of this class than any other, and they are at the bottom of the nephilim food chain. But don't underestimate them, they may be dumb, but damn, they are the most stubborn creatures you can encounter. Guardians aren't very fast, don't have any special powers, but if you get stuck next to them without enough firepower — consider yourself done for.
Margaret casually glanced at the whispering trainees.
— Some of you had nephilim of this class in the simulation, some even managed to kill one of these creatures. But don't get cocky, overconfidence is your worst enemy.
She ran her hand over the control panel, changing the image. The hologram disappeared, giving way to another image. A more slender and threatening figure — something with four long, sharp limbs. Several long, thin tentacles grew from the back of the quadrupedal creature.
— These are hunters, — after this phrase, the hologram sharply decreased in size, and a guardian image appeared next to it. — As you can see, compared to guardians, these creatures are tiny. Hunters do not belong to the nephilim, so why are they included in the list?
After a moment of silence, Lirian's voice was heard: — That's because hunters often follow nephilim.
— Absolutely correct. If a nephilim attacks the citadel, then most likely an army of hunters will come along. By themselves, they do not pose a great threat. An ordinary person armed with a rifle can easily kill a hunter. But, if a breach occurs in the citadel's defense, these small freaks will not miss the opportunity to arrange a bloodbath.
— Goliaths, — Margaret immediately continued, changing the hologram. Now the screen showed a huge mountainous figure with powerful limbs, all covered in metal growths. — Can reach up to sixty meters. Huge armored beasts. They break fortifications, pierce the citadel's defenses, mow down infantry, turn entire districts into ruins. See it? Then you've been sent into a meat grinder. Want to survive — aim for the joints and pray you have enough ammunition.
Someone shuffled nervously. Margaret smirked and continued. The next image appeared. Another familiar creature. The very monster that attacked the seventeenth citadel before the trainees arrived. In hologram form, its features became much clearer, allowing a detailed examination of its repulsive structure.
— Colossi, — followed a brief pause. — These are creatures of an entirely different weight category. In addition to their enormous size, two more unpleasant features appear: a diverse set of abilities that vary depending on the nephilim, and invulnerability to conventional weapons. The only way to kill such a creature is to use specialized weapons together with a nexus.
She paused, giving them time to digest the information.
— And now the real fun begins, — her previously friendly expression disappeared. Her gaze became sterner, the slight smirk vanished. She moved her hand, changing the image. The screen flickered, and now a blurry figure appeared before the trainees, as if the very space around it was unstable.
— Requiems. Smart, cunning, cruel distorted creatures whose existence defies all logic. They can be of any size, shape, appearance. They can influence human consciousness, they practically don't care about any force fields. Their mere presence near the citadel leaves a mark on human consciousness, driving people insane. And this is just their presence. When they engage in battle... it's indescribable. They break all laws of physics, turning entire citadels to ash... — Margaret's voice slowly faded. No one, not even Margaret herself, seemed to dare break the formed silence. — A few years ago, such a creature attacked the twenty-first citadel. This hologram is its approximate appearance. But in reality, it conveys only a fraction of the horror that took tens of thousands of lives then.
Suddenly perking up and taking a deep breath, she said: — But do not despair. Though they are terrifying, they are quite rare and only appear in the dead zone. — Margaret's encouraging words had a good effect.
— Well, now it's time for the cherry on our rotten cake.
The screen displayed a giant distorted silhouette, glowing with veins as if lava flowed inside. An enormous long figure with numerous limbs. Like the requiem, it distorted space, making it impossible to see it clearly. The only thing clearly visible was seven colossal tentacle-like limbs and a huge maw, more like a black hole.
— Titans. Exact size unknown. Throughout our time, we have encountered only one representative of this class. We know that it can control nephilim that are weaker than it. The only known fact is that this monster is currently in the dead zone.
Margaret sighed and finally opened the last image.
— Well, and a separate class worth mentioning — terramorphs.
The hologram disappeared, and a photo appeared instead. It showed something like a forest. For miles ahead, everything was covered with plant-like entities made of bones, flesh, and syntoplasm.
— It spreads over the land like a fungus, capturing new territories and terraforming them.
The photo disappeared, and she continued: — I hope I managed to pique your interest. This concludes the brief overview of the nephilim classification. In the next classes, we will go into more detail about each class. Now let's talk about how to kill them, — Margaret said with a slight smirk.