This time Irellia took the pilot seat, and Sasha was beside her. I turned back to see the two share a mischievous look before Irellia started to move the ship without warning. Both girls squealed as I turned around to see them stuck in awkward looking, falling sideways from getting pulled back.
Once back in space, we were able to relax, and the girls started to yell at Irellia but stopped when she asked how many hours of Private PT they were looking for. The rest of us laughed as we neared the massive blue, glowing asteroid.
A skeleton structure covered the blue rock, and long shafts led down to the surface, and I could only assume into the asteroid itself. I turned to asked Maxine about the mining operation, but she had no idea.
//KNELL IS A PLANET RICH WITH DYNAM, BUT IT IS A GAS GIANT AND ONLY THE SPECIALIZED RACE KNOWN AS SHYFTERS CAN HARVEST IT. EACH TYPE OF SHYFT HAS A CERTAIN JOB. ARACORIAN'S ARE SPIDER LIKE AND THE HARVEST THE DYNAM BY CREATING WEBS TO CATCH IT. NEXT THE VERDATION'S STRETCH FROM THE BACKS OF DRAGORIAN'S AND THEN FLY OUT THE COLLECTED DYNAM. ONCE IN SPACE THE PRIMORDIUM'S CREATE A SHELL COATING TO ALLOW THE BESTARION'S TO BUILD THE STRUCTURES AROUND THEM FOR MINING. FINALLY, THE METALLURG'S HARVEST THE DYNAM INTO CANISTERS
That was a long-winded explanation, but that was probably the short version. During that time, Irellia docked, and our seat released us, and by the time I finished reading, everyone was already standing. I got up, and we all filed out, but Mikota and Tama each grabbed one of my hands, so I walked out with them.
The inside of the docking tube was covered in a material that was reflective and flexible. I let go of Tama's hand for a moment as I reached out to touch it, but my hand was swatted down by Irellia.
"Don't ever touch that stuff! It Metalrugics, a metal type created by the Metallurgs that is extremely flexible, but it is charged with Dynam from the asteroid. If you touch it, your body will be overcharged with Dynam energy. Unlike Sasha and Maxine, you cant freely use Dynam. You need a gun or melee weapon designed to use it to discharge the energy. This means if you touch it, you will explode."
Explode? Holy crap! I was only a couple centimeters away from touching before my hand was slapped down. That was far too close for my sense of comfort, and I grabbed Tama's hand again. From this point, I vowed not to let go of either of the girl's hands, lest I inadvertently kill myself and everyone around me!
We were walked for about five minis before coming to a door. Irellia waited a couple seconds, and then a voice came over the speaker.
//What's the password?
"I'm gonna plant my foot in your ass if you don't open this door right now!" Irellia commanded.
Metallic laughter rang over the speakers, and I had to wonder what kind of thing was on the other side of this door? Irellia had obviously had to deal with this person before, or she would not be acting like this, I think. There was another pause before the door opened to reveal something I wasn't expecting.
Chapter 76: Praxcel The Pervert
When the door slid open, a man was on the other side of the door, but he was different from a normal person simply because half his body was made up of metallic moving parts. I think with a name like Metallurg, I assumed that they would be more bug-like.
"Why do you test my patience!"
Irellia kicked at the android, but it skipped back nimbly and avoided her kick while jetting out childish giggles. I saw Irellia's fist tighten, so I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder lightly. Irellia whipped around, and I gave her my winning smile but was rewarded with a punch in the solar plexus that I never saw coming. What is with these violent women?!
Mikota and Tama weighed with me as the Metallurgs led the rest of them down another shaft. I was able to catch my breath, and the three of us ran forward to catch up with them, but they were gone. We ran ahead, but we ended up in a circular room with tunnels leading in every direction. I tried to listen for them, but it was no use.
"Where did they go?" Tama asked while looking around.
"I'm not sure. I can't hear the girl or the Metallurg with that humming going on."
"What is that sound? It's coming from this way, follow me! Maybe they went this way!"
Mikota led us to the left, and as we walked, the humming got closer. Soon we reached a sealed door that wouldn't open. This was probably a good thing because I could see open space outside of it, but I could also see something else happening. Outside, the same tunnel was being extended by workers that used laser-like three-dimensional printers to develop the tunnel.
One of the workers noticed us, but it was hard to tell if that was a good thing or not. This worker was a massive tiger that was doing the "printing" with eye lasers! Holy cow, now that was cool, but the tiger thing was still staring at us, then it disappeared, leaving a gorilla and bear to finish the work.
There were no windows on the side of the tunnel, so I couldn't follow where the tiger had left to, but I motioned for the girls to turn back. We would have to try another path, but Irellia, Sasha, and Maxine were waiting with the man when we returned to the ring room.
"Where did you guys go?"
"We got lost and went to go check out the humming noise."
"Ah, that is the Bestarion's. They build the skeleton structure use their lasers to pour the alloy, so the Dynam in the walls will bind it into place. It is a great system that has work for one-hundred-thousand years now and will continue to serve."
"Do you know A tiger Bestarion? What is your name, by the way?"
"I'm Praxcel; I watch the top layer in this section. About the tiger... Oh! You must mean, Lady Kyrina! She is one of the best and brightest of the new generation! I should think that she will be coming to meet you all since she is part of the reason you were requested to stop here, besides the Dyman pick up."
"Oh? we get to take her with us?" I asked the question while turning to look at Sasha and Irellia, and they nodded.
"Yes, you do, Dave."
"But, your gonna have to take me too!"
Two familiar voices came from one of the tunnels beside where we had just come out. I turned to see a woman and a man walk out, and I ran up to give them both a hug. Now, this was something to get excited about! They were two different people now! Maybe still attached at the hip, but no longer stuck in the same body as before.
I let them go and then pulled Kyrina into me, by herself. Like Mikota, I had even less personal time to spend with Kyrina because of the precarious nature of her and her brother being in the same body. Now though, I held her in my arms and pressed my forehead into hers. I lightly rubbed my nose on hers, making her giggle and then relax the head down on my chest.
"I was worried about you guys."
"I glad you came for us, now we can get out of here! I was starting to get tired of building tunnels. For the other Bestarion's, it is probably easier to do because they have less personality than a human. Regardless, this is nice."
"Well, let's continue on and try not to get lost, or we will never deal with the problem at hand!" Praxcel stressed.
"Lead on before I kick you down the hallway!" Irellia snapped at the android, who was trying to keep a reasonable distance between the two of them.
I was inquisitive to know what the reason for her dislike of the thing or man. I turned to ask Kyrina about it, but Kyrin was the one that answered me with a snort.
"That insect as been caught crawling up Irellia's legs shyfted far too many times. If anything, she is overly nice to Praxcel."
"Wah? What do you mean crawled up her leg?"
"So you saw Kyrina in her tiger form? Well, they can get a lot smaller for these metalheads and shrink down to the size of a coin. Don't ask me how. Makes my head hurt when thinking about shrinking my body in such a tiny form, but that's not saying that is the only size that can be. their purpose is, most of the mining happens automatically, but things break down, and the Metallurgs fix it, no matter the size of the part."
"So Praxcel is just a pervert?"
"Yup, hehe," Kyrin
chuckled.
It was great to have the old crew back; even though jill stayed on the ship, Tilly and Iona were here, and Serina and Vic were safe. Soon we reached a set of doors; Praxcel turned to us all. He looked a bit anxious and nervous like he didn't want to say what he was about to say.
"So, a Gibbler larva was caught in the Web Drag and was missed. Gibbler, are piles of flesh with many mouths and sharp teeth. Normally kill before they can grow, but this one got in and has been feeding on Dyman. Needless to say, but we have lost ten members already, so I think you had better prepare."
"Where is the closest airlock?" Sasha asked as Irellia was using an earpiece she had just pulled out to talk to Jill or Alta.
We were guided back to an intersection and took two more lefts and a right to reach the airlock. Outside, our MAS suits were waiting for us, and Praxcel manipulated the controls to open the first bay, and all the suits moved in slowly and silently. Once the suit ad all set down, the outside door closed, and the one in front of us opened with a hiss of hair filling the void spaces vacuum had left.
We each stepped up to our suits, and each placed a hand on their helmets. Each MAS opened to welcome its pilot. I turned and backed up, sliding inside my MAS unit, Diamonds Edge. The armor moved around to close the space I had just past, though, sealing tight around me like a second and better skin.
I looked over to see the finishings of the girl's units closing up and hugging each of their curvaceous bodies. The MAS units highlighted everyone one of the girl's right parts, and I could have stood there all day if Kyrina hadn't pulled on my arm. I turned to her and nodded, then we all headed back to the elevator.
At the last turn, Praxcel told us he would get us loaded up, so we wouldn't have to wait if we survived. His confidence in us was a bit said, but we didn't really know what we were going up against. I turned back to the girls, and everyone's masks opened, including my own.
"Well, are you guys ready for what every a Gibbler is?"
"Before we go, no one can cut this thing, understand. Every time you cut it, the Gibbler will grow another mouth, allowing it to consume more Dyman. Electricity is best here and fire, so we should be fine."
Little did we know, those could have been our famous last words.
Chapter 77: Bare Dynam Crystals
Everyone got into the large elevator, I was a large enough space for us to all fit, about three by three meters. As we got lower, I started to get a bad idea about us going down here. I looked over to see how the girls were doing, but they all seemed fine. Maxine was in a MAS similar to Tilly's, except hers was cover in smaller gun ports.
"What is your suit deal, Maxine?"
"White-eyes, it's an Adaptamorph beam type. I will be able to deal a lot of damage to this with Sasha; you all just need to let me gather the Dyman. That means I can't be jumping around, so we need to be protected."
"That's what we're here for!"
Just then, the elevator stopped moving, and we had arrived. I looked over everyone one more time and then stepped forward. I placed my hand on the open button, and the doors open up into a bright blue hell.
The Gibbler was over four meters tall, and after a quick count, I estimated there to be about thirteen mouth orifices filled with razor-sharp teeth, ya this was a bad idea. Too late, as we stepped out of the elevator, the giant monster roared out at our entrance to its lair.
"What the hell is this?" Tama was looking at the massive thing, but there was no blue Dyman anywhere.
"This isn't good, Irellia. Let Jill know we're are coming back up…Irellia?" Sasha was trying to reach Irellia since she stayed above, but it seems that she wasn't getting through.
"We have to get out of here!" Tilly yelled, but I could see the fleshy blob moving towards us with alarming speed; I had to act.
"Everyone, run! There is tons of room around here; we can't escape now. It's too late for that. If we try to leave, it will get us in the shaft. We have to deal with it ourselves!"
My words made the girls snap out of it, and they started to move, but suddenly one of the mouths whipped out a tongue towards Mikota. I dashed and batted away the tentacle before it could reach her and then turned to run away. I could do nothing but defend and distract, so I pulled Mikota with me to the side while the rest ran to the farthest area.
"Split your clones but don't let it intentionally get one, OK?"
"Mhm."
Mikota's twins formed like silver mist behind her, and they each grabbed a gun. I split off from them, and the clones and Mikota started to use hit and run tactics, and when it got too close to a clone, I would defend. I decided I could slice the tongues off, and we started to have an easier time.
"If there is no Dynam, then what does it matter how many mouths it has if there is nothing left to feed, right?"
*silence*
"Let's just hit it with everything we have! Let's group up; we are coming to you guys. Be ready!" I shouted in the microphone.
We both ran back to the other, and the monster followed us, but we had an easy time outpacing it. When we reached the group, we moved to one side and let them unleash what they had stored up. As they started to fire, Tama met up with us, and we ran around to attack from the other side.
Rockets, lasers, and sound waves crashed into the red flesh pile, and it was momentarily stunned; that's the moment we cut back in for the strike. Tama latched on and started to drain the Dynam back out of the Gibbler. That was followed by a barrage of bullets from Mikota.
//ACTIVATING OVERDRIVE, MULTIPLY DAMAGE X4
In one side and out the other and then three more times from different angles. My suit's ability to walk anywhere I wanted was like having superpowers, and I was sad when I felt the power leave, but it didn't matter. The monster was dead. The girls all cheered and came running over, but I stopped them, walking over to the destroyed monster.
I had noticed something, and it catches my eye because it sparkled, whatever it was. I could see a gem like things inside the monster, so I started to cut into it with hacking swings. Soon I was able to retrieve ten fist-sized treasures, and I carried them back over to the girls and handed them over. Sasha and Maxine took them from me excitedly.
"These are bare Dynam crystals! They are worth a fortune and very hard to find, and you found ten of them!?" Maxine exclaimed.
"I just noticed them; what are they useful for?"
"Weapon crafting and, more importantly, MAS upgrading!" Sasha explained with excitement
"Oh? Then it really is a good find! I just glad that it wasn't as bad as we thought; I thought it would have been a lot worse, but I'm thankful it wasn't."
"Can we go home now?" Mikota asked with a yawn into the microphone.
We all headed back up with our crystals, but everyone stayed clear of me on the elevator. They went as far as crowding in the opposite corner; even Mikota shunned my blood-covered MAS and me. Luckily after ten minutes, we arrived back up top, and everyone piled out of the elevator before me, but I couldn't blame them.
Irellia told me to go back first and use the shower to clean the suit off, so I headed back. Praxcel waved to me as I walked by and headed back to the shuttle. Once inside, I realized I had no idea where the shower was.
Luckily, Alta must have sensed my confusion and directed me to a room that looked like an oversized shower stall, but I guess you could wash large MAS units in here as well. I cleaned the suit off, and then Alta guild me to a place to put the suit, and I got out. By this time, the rest of the girls were back inside, and the ship was already moving. It happened before I left the shower; I had no stress from the departure thanks to the suit.
I moved to the cabin area to join everyone. The girls in the two back seats talked excitedly about what was going to happen with the upgrades. Only Irellia really knew each mech's functions, and she stayed tight-lipped for the duration of the ride back. I sat down across from Maxine again; Tama and Mikota were both talking excitedly about the changes and the new things they could do
.
I fell asleep during the flight back, and Sasha shook me awake, so we could leave the shuttle. I stood up and stretched, feeling a bit better than I was before, and followed the group out. Sasha took the gems in a bag and gave them to Irellia from a storage locker, and then we all exited the craft.
Jill was waiting for us in the hanger, and she had a warm smile, but when Irellia handed her the bag of gems, the circuits of her skin lit up with a myriad of colors. We all came over to join them, and Jill hugged each of the girls, but then she stopped when she came to me.
"How do you always do this?"
"What do you mean?"
"How can you always pull such miracles out of thin air?"
"This is hardly a miracle, is it?"
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