He bounced up and down on one foot. All of his armor looked good. There was no noticeable change to his gear. In fact he was even able to enchant his katana and made a sheath for it that was enchanted as well.

"Okay, what are you up to now? I thought you were preparing to fix whatever is going on with Catherine Hex?" Cain asked in surprise as they looked at him. Shinobi was nearby testing his gear against a piece of spare parts that they set up as a dummy. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Jace reached up and rubbed a hand against the back of his helmet. "Either way I needed to do this first. I will have recharged by the time I am finished with the container." He reached down and patted the sheathed sword that was hanging from his hip.

"You look like you want to test out your combat capabilities." They all looked to the door as Victor and Valkyrie walked into the hangar. Now all of them were all gathered in the hangar for their impromptu meeting, just as he knew they would be.

"I do. But there will be a time for that later." Jace snapped a gloved finger causing a muffled bang occur that had all of them flinching. "Now then, let’s talk about what we are going to be doing over the next few days."

"What?" West asked with a scoff. "We barely just got here."

"Yeah, but time moves quickly." Jace shrugged. "So we are going to need to focus on what we need to do quickly. Cain, West, and Valkyrie go to the hangar aboard the incomplete cruiser and start building the material and equipment printer design I sent you."

"A new printer design?" Cain asked after a moment. "Why us?"

"Because West is malleable and needs to find her niche and the other work she would have already touched on at one point. You are the best for making sure there are no flaws and this can’t have any flaws. While Valkyrie has a bunch of practice with automated systems." Jace quickly explained with a wave of his hands. "If I am right it should take you two days to get up and running. Then I will have more tasks for you to do."

"Do you have a plan for all of us?" Victor asked.

"Yes I do in fact have a plan for all of us." Jace answered still with the same chipper attitude. "Victor, Crystal, and Shilla you three are going to go prepare Catherine for the procedure. We will begin once I finish getting ready."

Shinobi walked over to join them.

"K, Jamal, Shinobi, Liz, Gaz, and Colvert." Jace started before pointing at the ship. "You are doing two things. The first is securing the cruiser so if the massive laser cannon fires it will move the force to the rest of the facility instead of moving the cruiser. Then you need to complete the massive laser cannon on the cruiser."

"What?" Liz asked first in shock. "How is that a priority?"

Jace just shrugged mysteriously. "I don’t know. I just know that it will be beneficial if we do." He explained.

"Is this same mysterious reason also why you crowded the rest of us- wait did you include the lizard in the list of ’people’?" Colvert suddenly asked as he noticed that Jace included the lizard.

"Yeah I did. Don’t think about it too much." Jace waved him off before looking around. "Now then, where is that metal?" He looked around for a second before starting to walk off before freezing. "Oh! I almost forgot. Make sure all of you are armed at all times."

"Yeah, no that is not ominous at all." Victor mumbled under his breath. "Okay, let’s split up and get to work."

Jace hummed as he walked to the end of the hangar before going to an inconspicuous door and opening it with a thought. Just like the construction mech that was now lying dormant nearby. He was able to connect to the facility and control various functions. One of those was the door controls.

As he walked into the room whose door would not open under any normal circumstances he looked around at the various panels of metal that are standing up right in batches. The door was locked so that only a specific command could open it. Which was why he was curious and decided to take a look. Now that he was seeing it he could tell what was so important about the stuff.

Although in his eyes it was only a decent metal. Certainly not at the level of Chemi-metal. But for the purposes he needed they would work. He moved around the whistle humming before stopping in front of some spare pieces of the metal. He did not feel like carving out a whole piece. But these pieces should work for the metal part. While for the clear part he can reuse one of those containers that had the stabilizing liquid.

A minute later he was walking back out the room with a bundle of the metals in hand. He set them down on the work bench he was using earlier before walking out of the hangar. Within an hour he had modified the container that was holding the stabilizing liquid. Now it was reinforced with a mesh metal layer over the clear part. While the rest of it, the valves on the top and bottom, were now secured with an improved valve system that could not be removed easily or accidentally opened.

Once it was done he began writing the complex hex spell all along the container. The spell came in three different parts. One on each of the valves securing them. Then the third one was on the cylinder portion of the container. It would strengthen and weaken depending on the contents.

"Hey Jace, are you ready yet? We are waiting in the infirmary with a temperamental Catherine Hex chained to an infirmary bed." Shilla informed him with a grunt of annoyance.

Jace hummed as he walked through the facility. "I am on my way." He informed them as he skipped through the last hall of the facility. Then he arrived at the door to the infirmary and frowned.

The door opened and he quietly chuckled. "Oh that is why it is so quiet." On the ground unconscious was Shilla. While Crystal was draped over a table unconscious. While Catherine Hex was still unconscious in the secured table. The machine was running as it pumped the stabilization serum into her.

The only one that was missing was Victor. But a moment later he was emerging from the side of the entrance with his axe in hand. His eyes were glowing red more than usual. Jace dodged backwards as his eyes were drawn to the shade above him that looked like it was controlling him like a puppeteer and its puppet.

"So what should I call you?" Jace asked as he caught the second handaxe that was thrown at him. He felt a pull on it like it wanted to go back. But Jace just launched a pulse of electricity that had the puppeteer reeling back and silently screaming before it recovered and spoke through Victor.

"What do you mean? I am the superior version of Catherine Hex. I am the ruthlessness that ruled her life. Just call me Catherine." The creature spoke through Victor easily but Jace could just as easily see the creature now.

"No, I mean what form of creature are you?" Jace pointed out with a chuckle as he tossed aside the axe. "How about a shade? That is a creature that fits what you are. Nothing physical, just a hostile spirit that can only control the world by possessing another person. While also only being a shadow of a person."

"I am not a shadow of Catherine Hex! I am her!" The shade yelled through Victor in anger.

Jace chuckled as he opened the lid of the container. When he did the enchantment started to work as it pulled at the air. "Maybe you were at the start. But the longer you stayed separated the more you became your own thing."

"What are you to say, what I- what! What are you doing?" The shade began morphing as its form began to be pulled away from Victor. Victor stumbled as it was pulled from his body and into the container. Once all of the shade was inside he closed the top valve and sealed it. The enchantment began glowing red almost immediately.

"Ah what?" Victor groaned as he stood up shakily and looked around. "What just happened?" He asked.

"Your body got hijacked by the shade of Catherine Hex." Jace held up the container where a black whirlwind of smoke was moving around and visible to anyone. "I took care of it." Jace told him. "Go ahead and finish up the stabilization process for her. I am going to secure this in the brig aboard the cruiser."