by Pal, J
“I can live with that,” Kitty said, smiling.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Weapons Testing
We were eating breakfast as a group the following day when Liam’s voice echoed through the base. He had rigged an intercom system without telling all of us. “Gear up and get to the fifth floor!” He exclaimed. “Now!”
We did as told. David and Jay ran up the stairwell. The rest of us took the elevator to the third floor. I had my prosthetic on but needed the Pogo Heelies, lab coat, and Grappling Belt before getting into a fight. Kitty pulled on her black coat over her pajamas. She still hadn’t gotten used to its grappling function, but it gave her some degree of protection. When we joined the others on Liam’s level, Morpheus and Miley were already there.
“What’s up?” Caitlin asked. She had her hairdryer and blood pressure machine plugged into the sockets on her abdomen.
Liam and I showed them to the surveillance room. All the screens displayed the base’s exterior. More specifically, the direction facing our old sector. Giant plumes of smoke rose from all over the sector.
“It looks like a war zone.” David gasped.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks like chaos.” He pointed towards lights flashing from two opposite ends of the woodland. “If I were to put money on it, I’d say the nests are well under control, and they’re fighting for territory.”
“The Metalsmith’s people versus the raiders?” Kitty asked. “That’s far from us and none of our business. Why did you have us gear up?”
The screens shifted to display the skies around us. Elite and king platyhawks filled it. “I don’t know whether it’s the smoke or the sound—I don’t know what it is. I figured there’s an invisible field keeping creatures and stimulants from moving between the sectors, but something has gotten them agitated.”
A blinding flash consumed one of the screens before spreading to the others. It took a moment for the cameras to adjust, and a large plume of smoke rose from around the sector. A violent shockwave spread through the area but stopped abruptly at the border. The platyhawks in the sky went wild.
“It’s their eyesight,” Jay said. “They can see it and communicate.”
“Our ones too.” Liam switched to the cameras showing our roof—our little platyhawks were flying around while the ankylopus were screeching their lungs out. That’s right. The wingless ones had great eyesight too. “They’re drawing unwanted attention.”
He wasn’t wrong. A pair of elites and a boss-ranked platyhawk were circling high above us. Our little ones were so distracted with the smoke and the lights, they hadn’t noticed the creatures circling high above them.
“What the hell is Fin doing?” I demanded.
“They’re out of control.” Liam pointed to a corner screen. Fin stood alone on the roof, yelling at the creatures. He stood, yelling and waving them closer, but failed to bring them in.
“Damn it,” I swore. “We need to get up there.”
“Are you mad?” Caitlin asked.
“He’s right,” Jay said. “The kiddos might be stronger than the average platyhawk, but at the end of the day, they’re just kiddos. It won’t be that bad.” He pointed at the screens. “There are multiple bosses and elites in the sky, but they’re almost all too distracted by the chaos and are sticking close to the sector’s border.”
As he spoke, a giant glowing claw shot out from among the buildings, hooked a platyhawk, and dragged it down into the urban jungle.
“That’s a crusher claw.” Kitty had seen plenty of them up close to identify the monstrous appendage. “They’ve got plenty keeping them busy. The only platyhawks close to us are those three. We could be inflicting a crippling blow to a nest if we kill them.”
Matter settled. We took the elevator to the roof. Fin shot me an apologetic look, probably expecting my assistance—I could be wrong. The gray face and black eyes that consumed most of his face weren’t the easiest to read. Instead of berating him or providing his reassurances, I waved him into the building. He paused, mouth open, but didn’t get the attention we needed.
“Liam, you taking to the skies?” I asked.
“Not with my new weapons,” he answered. Liam’s metal plates shifted to cover the dome completely while the spider legs dug into the roof and locked him in place. Barrels bigger than anything he had displayed grew out of his body. “I’m going to try my best to turret them down.”
David shifted his weapon to cannon mode. Jay summoned a large border collie out of his chest hole. Like Maya, the dog towered over all of us. Most curious of all were its long, furry wings. The collie spread them, and Jay sprang onto its—her—back.
“Try not to hit me,” he told us. “I’m going to try to herd them in.”
Neither Kitty nor Caitlin had access to any long-range weapons. As a result, they agreed to cover us if the creatures tried to dive-bomb us. I was finally going to put the upgraded Charge Launcher’s new weapon to use.
My forearm split down the middle, from between the middle and ring finger all the way down to the socket. A biometal projectile formed at the central bar’s base, while the rings placed at regular intervals along it pulsed with a bright blue light.
David was the first to identify the weapon. “Is that a rail gun?” He asked.
“No,” I said. “They’re too powerful and cause a fair bit of wear and tear. It’s a coil gun.”
“I doubt his shoulder would survive a rail gun’s recoil,” Liam laughed. “I’m going to try to lead their flight. The two of you blow them out of the air. Agreed?”
“Yep,” David and I replied in unison.
Liam started off by firing rapid shots, almost like an anti-air machine gun at the circling platyhawks. After seeing us, they had flown closer. As kings of the sky, they probably didn’t expect us to attack first. They broke away from their formation and responded to our attack with their own.
Fortunately, the noise and flying bullets spooked our little ones. They scrambled, and Jay was ready to control their flight patterns. He swooped past them, yelling something intelligible. Much to our surprise, most of them followed. With them out of the way, I could aim in peace.
David’s weapon’s cannon mode suffered the same issues as our old weapons. The projectile speed was much too low. His payload burned bright yellow and, instead of flying straight, it changed trajectory. The shot carried too much weight and didn’t get high enough. When the projectile started falling, David squeezed a button on the cannon, and the volatile sphere exploded. It wasn’t particularly loud, but a shockwave of hot air washed over us a second later. I could foresee the weapon bringing a lot of hurt against creatures on the ground, but it wouldn’t do much good here.
“It needs a few minutes to recharge,” David said.
“Stay on defense until they get lower,” I told him.
Then it was my turn. Since the prosthetic was a part of my arm, I had a much easier time lining up the two crosshairs. It started with a hum. I felt the Charge Launcher’s vibrations in my bones. Before long, I had to use my left arm to keep the weapon steady. It took close to half a minute before the Coil Gun was ready to fire. Then once it was hot enough, I fired my first shot.
The projectile flew at near blinding speeds, leaving a bright blue line in its wake. Locked in a dive, the boss-ranked platyhawk didn’t have time to dodge. Two of the elites appeared to almost teleport, coming to their leader’s rescue. One shielded the king using its bone-plating. The other flew into the monster’s side, knocking it off course.
The Coil Gun’s shot ripped through the first creature it hit. My projectile struck the elite’s bone-plated skull, but the armor didn’t provide sufficient protection. I missed the boss but managed to strike the other member of its guard too. The bullet didn’t kill the second platyhawk, but it did take out a limb.
The monster fell several meters, fluttering violently, and suffered several of Liam’s bullets. He didn’t do much damage though. The creature righted i
tself and climbed to higher altitudes, the boss-ranked monster following close behind it.
“Holy shit!” Caitlin exclaimed. “Do you even need us?”
“The more charge I pour into a shot, the longer the weapon takes to recharge,” I said, feeling proud of my Creation. My shoulder burned from the attack. I had expected a harsh recoil but hadn’t expected the joint to suffer as much. I didn’t vocalize my discomfort, however. “It’ll be a few minutes before I can fire something as powerful.”
“Still. That thing is bloody terrifying.”
Everyone but Liam agreed with her. I couldn’t tell whether he knew it or not, but I had taken several liberties during the Creation process. Considering his Mega Brain, Liam had probably figured it out. I could increase the rate of fire at the cost of projectile speed, but Liam’s turret mode had that sorted, so I followed up by firing a couple of spheres of crackling electricity from the base of the Charge Launcher. It wouldn’t hurt the beasts flying above us, but it did what I wanted. The projectiles kept them scared.
It didn’t take long before more platyhawks joined the battle. They didn’t pose much of a threat though. I had expected it to happen sooner or later, so I activated my trap card. When I’d last activated with the Hub’s Core, the system had given me the ability to interact with it remotely. I suspected it had something to do with my latest installations.
When the moment felt right, I accessed the interface, opened the menu displaying the traps, and released the balloon pods. They rose rapidly, tethered to the balloons by a thick green covered in large, ugly thorns. They interrupted the platyhawk’s flight patterns and kept them from diving. It got in the way of Liam’s firing too, but I considered it a decent trade-off.
The platyhawks now had two options: continue their attack or retreat. It came as no surprise that they picked the former. We had angered the king by killing one of his pets. We hadn’t seen a close bond between a boss-class creature and an elite since the first nest we’d cleared. The trio of rat elites had put everything they had into defending their queen. She had mourned when we put them down. Now the king wanted revenge.
When the wind picked up, the balloons didn’t stay still. They waved back and forth, making things harder for the attackers. Fortunately, Jay managed to get all of our platyhawks within the base before things got ugly. The ankylopus was a different story, but they had climbed down the Hub’s walls to the ground levels, so I didn’t worry as much about them. My sole focus was the attacking force. We needed to sort them out as soon as possible.
Instead of diving at us, the injured elite tried to sever the vine connecting the Hub to the balloon. I had been hoping one of them would try such an attack. As soon as the biometal-covered wing cut through the vine, it sprang to life and wrapped itself around the platyhawk. The additional drag slowed down the creature’s flight, making it easier for Liam to hit it.
While attempting to escape the trap, the elite ended up pulling the balloon pod into one of the new platyhawks that had joined the battle. The pod exploded, killing the creature immediately and sending glowing red spores everywhere. A couple fell on the elite, and it screeched, its biometal taking on a similar sheen. The ordinary platyhawks hit by the attack died almost straight away.
“Damn!” Liam exclaimed. “We need more of these traps!”
“More will grow from the spores that fall on and around the building,” I told him.
We watched as the panicking elite flew into another balloon. The point-blank explosion killed it immediately and a second lot of spores got to the boss. It screeched too as the volatile spheres of red burned holes into membranous wings. It didn’t matter. The creature had slowed and was low enough for David’s weapon—he fired.
It came as no surprise that the projectile missed. The boy’s marksmanship was worse than mine. However, he managed to trigger its explosion just right and set off two more balloon pods, showering the boss and several other platyhawks with the spores. The little ones died, and the big one found itself severely slowed.
The Charge Launcher’s new weapon had just about recovered, so I poured energy into it once again. This time, I gave it more energy than the last while tracking my target. I knew my shoulder would suffer, but I’d get Kitty to fix me up right after. After that, I’d fashion some armor that attached to my right upper arm and shoulder. Hopefully, it would provide support and help reduce the strain.
The boss was struggling to regain altitude and get away from the panicking platyhawks and floating spores. I took advantage of the confusion and fired. This time, nothing got in the way of my attack. The shot struck the king’s side and came out the other side, leaving a pure white line in its wake.
I tried to keep myself steady, but the resulting recoil jerked me backwards. The Pogo Heelies tried their best, but I had learned some time ago that the stabilizers didn’t help in this regard. I stumbled several steps, trying to right myself before running out of roof. My heart leapt into my chest as I found myself falling backwards.
The Grappling Belt came to my rescue. It sprang to life, shooting outwards and biting down on the ledge. Physics being the arsehole it is didn’t help me come to a gentle stop. I swung violently instead, bashing my sore shoulder into the Hub’s side repeatedly. Either way, I was glad not to fall down to the ground floor. Theoretically, the Pogo Heelies would’ve helped me land on my feet and absorbed the impact. However, it wasn’t something I’d like to test.
Morpheus came to my rescue. The golem reached down with its giant mechanical hand and pulled me back up. Kitty had him shoot me with a couple of syringes without warning. I couldn’t see her face, but it felt like she was pissed with me.
“I didn’t realize it would be that powerful,” I said, grinning. “I promise. On the bright side, we know this will bring down a crusher for sure.”
Kitty didn’t say anything. She helped me up onto my feet and looked away. The king had fallen out of the sky—it lay on a neighboring building’s roof, bleeding profusely. David lobbed another one of his slow payloads at the creature.
Liam didn’t wait to see whether the projectile hit or not. He switched into flight mode and flew up into the sky. The roof’s door burst open, and several Scavengers scurried out. They leapt off the ledge and followed him, propelling themselves with fans under their main body. The spiders moved much slower than him but had little trouble covering the distance. Much to my surprise, they didn’t butcher the thing there and then. Instead, they lifted it into the air and carried it back to the Hub’s roof.
After watching us for a few minutes, the remaining platyhawks departed. There was still a lot going on in the neighboring sector, and it was just as interesting. A fight had broken out between several bosses and the crushers. The battle drew away many of them too.
“Thank god it’s over.” David sighed.
“They know where we are now, though,” Kitty said. “They’ve already seen through our platyhawks, and now the bastards know we live here too. The base is going to become a target.”
“We should invest more in the base’s defenses and deck you lot out some,” I told Caitlin. “David is pretty much set with his artifacts, though I think he should make a couple more. You, on the other hand, need better equipment.”
Liam and his scavenger drones backed away from the king’s corpse before heading off to find the elite’s remains. I pressed my hand against the boss’s side and disassembled him. It gave Caitlin a little jump. David didn’t react, as he had seen me do so before.
“What do you have in mind?” Caitlin asked, watching wide-eyed as the Hub absorbed the flesh and whatever materials I didn’t want.
“This thing just gave me three McGuffins. How about I give one to you, David? The second I can use to upgrade our defenses, and the third for Caitlin’s new toy.”
“I’m good,” David said. “You did most of the damage. Make something so the new arm doesn’t kill you next time.”
“Good call.” Kitty huffed before storming away.
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I knew I was going to get an earful from her. She thought I was reckless. That just wasn’t true. I knew very well what I was up to and what was at stake. We weren’t the sector’s apex predators yet. If we found the strangers, I wouldn’t tell them what we had straight away. Instead, we’d take some time to get to know them and figure out their motives and ambitions.
Sure, I wasn’t used to my new arm yet. This was the first time I had used the Coil Gun feature, and yes, it had damaged my shoulder. However, weapons needed testing. It wasn’t like we had the leisure of doing things in our own time. The longer the pylon stayed up, the more people would risk themselves for the Alvans’ lies and die. We needed to get things under control as soon as possible. At least now I had an undeniably powerful weapon. We just needed to figure out a way for me to use it without doing long-term damage.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gotta Love New Toy Day
It wasn’t until the following morning that I got to work. We were wiped out after the fight. The Hub didn’t ask for much, but the interface had a bar showing the biomass stores. It had been painfully low ever since we’d built the Farm, and it needed filling up. So after the fight, we all chipped in bringing in all the corpses. I disassembled the elites first, of course. Even though we had their parts in surplus, it didn’t hurt to have extra.
Liam’s new scavenger drones did most of the heavy lifting, but we still found ourselves pretty tired out by the end of it. We spent the rest of afternoon cleaning ourselves up and the evening relaxing. None of us brought up going out the following morning. Jay and Caitlin did go out and scout though, while Kitty and David worked in the Farm.
I went down to the basement to check the Hub’s core. The basement had a ton of empty space. Moss, vines, and mushrooms covered the core and the neighboring walls, but besides that, it was mostly empty. I tested the walls. Since it housed the Hub’s heart, they were exceptionally thick down here. Come to think of it, I was wasting room by using the first floor as my workspace.