Following her disastrous sparring session with a being who the term eldritch was far too kind to be applicable, a baker's dozen of corpses now lay sprawled across the grass of a public park, hoping the eternally pleasant sun would warm their dour expressions. The results weren't very encouraging.
Suparna laid back with her head resting atop knitted fingers, savoring the coolness of the dirt beneath her back while her eyes trailed across slowly tumbling clouds. Idyllic was always an apt term for the weather in Celestia, perfect for reveling in the grandeur of fine architecture or strolling in the flashiest of garments. She herself only had a relatively modest apartment that still smelled of dried harpy blood, semen, and egg yolks, while her clothes were nowhere near ostentatious enough to parade around for the sake of vanity. Regardless of these deficiencies, the Queen of Carrion couldn't be more content then to enjoy the low hanging fruits of Angelic society after the charnel houses of Hell and the oppressive dungeon she'd trapped herself in after.
"Alright, brain trust, what do we have so far?" Specialization was an optimal route to improved efficiency, as any Machina could attest, yet Suparna hadn't put much stock into it when she was limited by only herself and Chirada for bodies. She wasn't ashamed to admit she herself possessed very few skills outside of eating and the savagery required to mutilate herself as readily as her enemies while promoting the maggots inside Chirada to more nuanced combat duties, but with a glut of bodies at her disposal came a wave of innovation; The brain trust.
A quartet of bodies rose up, backs rigid as they addressed the supine lolita.
"We've determined that we lack offensive ability. When presented with a barrier harder then our claws can rend we lack the means to bring down our prey. It is advised we attempt to expand our control beyond...our present limitations." The hesitation was enough to have Suparna turn and give them a questioning look, uncertain if she understood the implication.
"Limitations?"They shared a look, the hives of carrion within the corpse vessels communicating separate from the Whole- A development Suparna tolerated bitterly, she might add- before vocalizing once more.
"We are maggots. Great in number, but even with our swarm combined we have failed in our battles. It is becoming clear to us that we need to develop new strains of carrion, specialized to counter our enemies defenses and bolster our strengths!"She stared unblinking, her blackened eyes wide in stunned silence. A change of form? She'd never considered that, and frankly she'd have been insulted were it from anyone but her own bodies.
"I'll take it into consideration, but I don't have the first idea how to go about it myself. Reproduction is natural but altering the composition of the swarm physically doesn't come so easy.""We shall continue to search out new possibilities." They concluded with polite nods performed in stereo before returning to the comfort of the grass, only to be replaced by another quartet of dragons.
"We concur that we must change, and propose that we advance beyond the need for solid vessels."Now the all the bodies turned upon this quartet of the seeming Post-Maggotists.
"If you say we need to become beings of pure energy, I'm re-assimilating you and feeding you to Diana." Suparna growled, not in the least willing to entertain the notion of abandoning the bodily pleasures and tribulations of flesh and blood. They paled at the threat and quickly spoke to re-assure her they had not gone treacherous with their independent thought.
"No. We propose a change of perspective carrying off from the previous branch of thought. Rather then infesting a host body and being reliant upon upholding some degree of structural integrity, we instead form a new strain of carrion to form a shifting exo-layer as needed, allowing our bodies to break apart and reform at will. We could use bodies as templates or create entirely new constructs, similar to a Machina nanite swarm if that makes it easier to grasp."That was actually peeking Suparna's interest now that her indignation passed, recalling her all too often tactic of losing limbs to spray her enemy with flesh eating maggots at the expense of a working arm or leg. If their bodies were instead one hundred percent carrion and could shift at will, there'd be no need to harm herself. A vicious predatory grin tore across her face at the thought of passing through swung swords and bending around lasers to devour her enemies, though it quickly faded when she came to the practical application.
"I still haven't a clue how we'd do that. Doesn't sound as simple as taking the training wheels off a bike." Suparna said, sitting up cross legged and hugging herself, wondering how she could maintain something that complex when she could hardly fight in this shell.
"Anything else?""Acquire more bodies. Eat until our number blankets the Heavens, and rain upon our foes like an unbreakable tide!" A yet to speak trio of megalomaniacs cackled ominously, only to wither under a glare from the main body. It was moments like these Suparna thought she had the briefest glimpse into the Jester's point of view, and she wondered why he didn't throttle half the Court.
"No, I'm not extending my control that far. If Iona doesn't smite us and the Angels don't turn on us, then odds are Juno would consider us a snack and eat us all. And as tempting as that boundless feast is, I don't want to be stuck in snake guts for eternity." With the increasingly disturbed maggots shot down and left to regroup to form an actually useful thought, that left the last of Suparna's bodies to actually speak. The one that Suparna didn't realize till much later wasn't actually a Dragon, but Angelic. She supposed that Harley had to get these bodies somewhere, and if the past owner wasn't cooperative...
Regardless, the last body gave her a flat look before falling back against the grass.
"You will gain nothing sitting here. We have a world of endless conflict and you contemplate growing strong from the comfort of a park. Pick a direction and head to the war front. They always need meat for the grinder."She bristled at the derision from one of her own but the wisdom of her words stayed her hand. There was sense to trial by combat, and the humans had a lovely expression about necessity being the mother of innovation. More importantly it was the only bit of advice she could readily act upon. Suparna brushed the grass stains seeped into her clothes and rose followed by her corpses, turning as one towards the seat of Heaven's power.
In no time at all they'd be arrayed before the arch angel who loathed them fiercely, and mustered up the strength to look Iona in the eye without gulping nervously.
"We'd like to test ourselves. Is there a theater of war you can point us towards were we can get into the thick of it?"
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