Thricen Ore
A marginal source of heat and an excellent material for crafting
Perfect. I dipped a finger in the slurry and dribbled a few drops onto the ground, pressing my new find against the paste as quickly as I could. Time was still of the essence. CAV had obviously been trying to be quiet, which would surely slow him down. That didn't mean I had long, though...
Nothing happened, until it did. Just as I was about to give up, a plume of dirty smoke billowed up from the goo as the rest of it flared and spat flames and sparks. They spat and sizzled against my hands, and I found myself dropping the ore and using both of my hands to beat out a dozen little nagging fires that had blossomed on my pants.
"Good enough," I said, once I made sure I wasn't in danger of turning into a firework. When I was as safe as I was going to get, I scooped up the strange ore and stood back up, putting it gingerly into my pocket. After I took a few experimental steps, all the while making sure it wasn't going to find a way to cook my balls, I shrugged and hurried back to the passageway.
My best bet would be to hold them off at the narrow part of the tunnel that had forced the three of us to go through it single file. The XAR were big creatures. If it really was CAV on a revenge mission, he was already going to have a hard time navigating even the widest parts of the shaft. The choke point would give me my best chance to get a swing or two in before he shredded me with his claws.
Except you're supposed to be letting him kill you, right?
The logic of it made sense. I couldn't go the entire thirteen days with the albatross of a trackable Nemesis mechanic hanging around my neck. Even with the help of the Verdant Epidermal Strip, I'd have to sleep eventually.
I was a liability right now, and the only way I was going to fix that was by sacrificing myself for the greater good, even though that didn't exactly sit well with me.
I should just leave the slurry right where it was. I couldn't envision a way of getting enough on CAV to make a difference anyway, not to mention a tactic to work my way within melee range so that I could press the ore against him.
Was it worth trying?
Of course it is. I'd been lying to myself about letting the XAR even the score. From the moment Zane had told me what the other members of CAV's race would do to him if I killed him twice in a row, I'd known that was exactly my intention. Maybe the guys in the little encampment that I'd just left were happy hoping for a return to the status quo, but not me.
As near as I could tell so far, humans had a few considerable handicaps in the Citadel. We were split up, and everyone I'd met had timers that were so short as to be almost worthless. On top of that, we had no natural armor or weapons. Just about everything I'd bumped into so far had been more than capable of killing me with a few well-placed attacks.
And that was before I even acknowledged that the Evvex were probably not exactly championing our cause. I'd made waves on that front with my backtalk, and I doubted that whoever was king of the top floor was expecting to ever come face-to-face with us.
If CAV wanted to kill me, he was more than welcome to try. I was happy to die along the way, so long as I put up a good fight. Maybe I would kill him and take out one of the Hive's warriors along the way. And if not? Well, the worst I could do was exactly what I'd promised Zane I intended—getting rid of the Nemesis status by dying at CAV's clawed hand.
I was at the narrow squeeze of the passageway now. I'd made as little noise as humanly possible on the way here, but I was beginning to see that there were probably a lot of situations where 'humanly possible' wasn't going to be good enough. Still, I'd managed not to scrape the bucket or the pickax on any of the outcroppings I'd passed. The blue light had guided me well, and I hadn't sent any loose rocks clattering.
I also hadn't heard any sounds from the opposite end of the tunnel. I tried not to picture CAV crouched on the other side of the narrow section ahead, mandibles waving as he tried to capture my scent on the air. How accurate was the Nemesis tracking? Could he tell exactly where I was, or simply in what direction?
I had no way of knowing, despite how important the knowledge was.
My first instinct was to slink forward as quietly as I could, then slather one side of the chokepoint with the goo in the bucket. That'd save me the hassle of trying to apply it directly to him. But what if he waited me out? I didn't want to underestimate his level of cunning, and if he realized that I'd wasted one of the two weapons I'd brought with me I was sure that he'd find a way to ruin my plans.
What would I do, in his position? Either force the fight to happen elsewhere or use those long arms for a kill shot while I was still fumbling with the burning rock. I'd like to hold it in my hand ready for use, but the fucking thing hurt way too badly for me to touch it for any length of time.
I held my breath and listened. The silence was so complete that it even had a sound, filling the gaps between the pulse that pounded in my ears as adrenaline kicked my heartbeat up a couple of notches.
I didn't like this. Even though every second let Neve's ragtag bunch of abductees put distance between themselves and CAV, I wasn't really concerned about stalling. Once he killed me, he wouldn't be able to find them.
"Is that you, CAV-THRI-JARV?" I called, not caring if I butchered his name. This was hardly the time to worry about inter-Galactic diplomacy. "I hope so. I'm still waiting for that 'always pain' you said I'd earned. Remember? Just after I amputated your leg and tore your nose off your stupid fucking face? Right before a bunch of fish ate you up?"
No response, though my words echoed an impressive distance down the tunnel in both directions.
I shrugged. That was fine. I was just getting warmed up. "You know, I've been thinking about that. It was the fish that killed you, in the end. By rights, there's a Puddle Piranha out there that should really be your Nemesis, but I guess even the Citadel couldn't argue with how hard I kicked your ass."
Had I heard something? If so, it had been incredibly subtle, the softest scrape of chitin on stone.
"I found out what happens to you if I kill you again. What do you think it'll be like, stuck in here without your Hive? If I had to guess, I'd say you should get used to trying to find your own food and sucking your own dick, because you're going to be one lonely son of a bitch."
This time the noise was obvious. He wasn't even trying to mask it. I heard movement in the narrow confines and leaned the pickax against the wall, opting instead to hold on to the bucket with both hands. I wanted to be ready to douse him with the slurry the moment I saw those hateful, faceted eyes.
The blue light that lived on the Thricen Ore threw illumination in every direction, making it even harder for him to sneak up on me. There was movement again, and a lot of it.
I got ready. He was close.
The woman that deftly slipped through the tight confines of my would-be ambush was clearly not a XAR. Neither was the guy that followed her.
Both of them were humans in their mid-twenties. She was lithe and lean, her red hair dangling down her back in a thick braid wrapped tightly with twine. He was taller and noticeably bulkier on his right side than his left. It was hard to tell because they were both wearing the same basic suit as I was, but there was something mechanical in the way his more substantial arm and leg moved. Even his right eye caught the light and threw it back differently than the left one did.
It could be a trap... Even as the thought crossed my mind I realized how stupid it was. Obviously there wasn't an invisible XAR mounted on their backs, pressing that wicked hypodermic proboscis into them. There was nothing wrong with being cautious, but I refused to jump at shadows.
Even so, I watched them for an extra few seconds without revealing myself. They were wordlessly moving in the direction of the encampment, picking their way through the passage in a manner that told me they were unfamiliar with the hidden handholds that Zane had demonstrated to me on our way through.
But that made sense. Judging by the way they were dressed, I tho
ught it was safe to assume that these guys were 'volunteers', to use the abductees' word. That meant they were on my team, and hadn't been here before.
The tunnel was too cramped for me to remain hidden for long. In a moment or two they'd blunder to me, and then I'd look like an idiot for not having greeted them in the first place. Besides, Neve had asked me to promise not to reveal the presence of her or her compatriots to those of us who called the space station home. Even if I let these two go by unhindered, I'd be breaking my word.
I'd always had a knack for accidentally sneaking up on people, only realizing that I'd done when it was too late. By the time I was right beside them, less than a foot away I was in a ridiculous Catch-22. Should I slink off, and risk startling them with the movement? Remain silent, and wait for them to realize how near I was and to wonder how long I'd been there?
There was a third option, of course. Never one to waste an opportunity, I usually leaned in close and said something directly in their ear. Scaring the shit out of people had become something of a superpower.
I didn't know these two, which meant that even I understood it was socially unacceptable to make them shit their pants on our first meeting. I settled for a loud and cheery, "Hey guys!", my voice booming off the walls.
They didn't jump. They didn't swear. Both of them simply turned their heads and looked at me, and even then I didn't get the satisfaction of seeing how pissed off they were.
"Okay, I get it," I told them, feeling awkward now that my little plan had fallen flat. I set the bucket down and took a step forward, holding out my hand to the dude. "That was probably pretty dumb. I mean, you don't know me from Adam." I chuckled nervously. I was rambling, but the realization didn't mean I could apply the brakes. "That's funny, see, because my name's Adam."
"Adam," repeated the guy.
I nodded. "And who are you two?"
The woman spoke, her eyes still blank. "Always pain."
I flinched.
"Adam earn always pain," agreed the guy.
I took a step back and tripped over the bucket, sending myself flopping painfully against the pickax I'd leaned against the wall. It was only dumb luck that allowed me to avoid impalement, but I heard something crunch in my shoulder anyway. I tried to get up, but whatever I'd just hurt slowed me down enough for me to have to waste a couple of seconds on my hands and knees.
As I attempted to stand back up a second time, I saw them both turn their heads and track me. I'd missed it before, but the movement highlighted the monofilament line that ran from the base of their necks back into the dark narrowness behind them.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," I groaned. "Is there anybody in this place that doesn't have a XAR at the wheel?"
I wasn't going to let them get the jump on me. Just because they looked human didn't mean they were. I guess part of the joy of being up here, with the ability to respawn when something caved your skull in or pumped you full of toxin, was that gratuitous violence was only a momentary setback.
If these guys were on my team, I was sure we'd laugh about it back at the station when I finally met them for real.
Call me sexist, but the girl was closer and so when I jumped up and grabbed the pickax it was her that I went for.
A lifetime of watching vids and playing games had conditioned me to expect anyone controlled by a secondary creature to be slow. I took a swing at the side of her head, but instead of trying to hit a staggering puppet/zombie, I discovered that my target had the agility and nimbleness of a cat burglar.
I missed, of course. Even if she hadn't gracefully dodged to one side, my chances of a clean shot probably weren't very good. As angry as I was at myself for not being able to surprise them, I didn't want to use Rage. Right now, the negative modifiers would've dropped my skill through the floor and my arms would get tired way before I scored a hit.
My weapon was heavy, and my swing had been overly optimistic. I fought hard to wrench the pickax back under control, but before I could she'd darted inside my guard. She moved like quicksilver, launching three openhanded palm strikes into me, one to the inside of my knee, another to my solar plexus and a final vicious finisher toward my throat. I was completely exposed to the first two, and the only way I could stop her from crushing my larynx with that last was to lower my head and take the attack square on the chin.
I guess I have a glass jaw, because I went down hard. I heard my weapon clatter to the stones before I realized I was no longer clutching it. Both of my ears were ringing, and I half expected to see cartoon birds circling me.
The only thing circling me was her friend, stalking me like an animal ready to pounce. He wasn't a big guy, but now that he was near I could see that the bulkier limbs gleamed with a metallic sheen in the blue light.
"Enhancements? Really?"
I couldn't goad him in to breaking his concentration with a little back-and-forth tête-à-tête, though. The movies had been right about that much, at least. Both of my opponents remained expressionless.
Humorless.
I glanced at the pickax. Grabbing it would mean opening myself up for another attack, not that I really thought I had very many defensive abilities to call into play anyway. The only thing I could do was scoot backwards, farther away from them and nearer to the encampment I'd left behind a few minutes ago.
Running was definitely an option. These two were still attached by those thin, silky filaments to whatever was controlling them. I was trying to keep an open mind as to what exact sort of creature that was, even though my gut was telling me it was simply another form of the XARs' bullshit. If I just turned tail and sprinted, I had trouble imagining their master being able to let out enough line fast enough to keep up with me.
It was the easy option, which probably meant it was the wrong one. If I let them force me back to that opening in the rock where Neve and her crew had made camp, I wouldn't buy myself more than five minutes of safety.
The only option would be continued retreat, which was exactly what my enemy would want. CAV had already proved that he was able to track me through that fucking Nemesis mechanic.
The girl was just watching me, her center of gravity low as she adopted a fighting stance that I knew damn well I couldn't overcome.
The guy was still circling. It was only when he crossed in front of her and she subtly ducked under the thread that stretched back into the chokepoint that I realized I'd been going about this whole thing all wrong.
These guys had been in the Citadel for a while, most likely. There were pretty good odds that they were a much higher level, which would mean they had better abilities.
"All right, let's just slow this down for a second," I said, standing back up and locking my hands behind my head. "I get it. I can't fight you."
They both nodded, though I noticed that the motion wasn't synchronized. I took a step to my left and watched as they both shuffled to the right, but once again she'd moved a heartbeat before he had.
"Well, what do you know, CAV? And here I thought you'd be bug enough to face me on your own, but it looks to me like you brought a friend. Are the two of you having fun back there, pulling the strings?"
The guy spoke first. "Adam Nemesis hunt successful."
Not to be outdone, the girl laughed. It sounded like the alien hadn't used the noise before, and dragged air in instead of pushing it out. The result was a choked, ragged din that set my teeth on edge. "For this Hive forgive both failings."
I shook my head. "It figures. Your buddy is on the edge of getting kicked out of the Hive too? He's putting a lot of faith in you, CAV. Did you tell him that I pushed you into a stream full of angry fish, last time?"
The guy sneered, and I could almost imagine the mandibles on CAV’s face doing the same thing. "Score even."
"Not yet it isn't. There wasn't enough of your corpse left to be certain, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see any balls on you. That tells me that you'll manage to find a way to let me kill you again."
I wasn't sur
e if that would translate, but judging by the way the guy roared something guttural and unintelligible before sprinting at me, I was pretty sure the insult had landed.
I saw my chance. My attacker only had one enhanced leg. He could probably walk a straight line with his eyes closed, having mastered its use over who knows how long, but CAV had too recently sat in that particular driving seat to have had time to adapt.
The guy staggered and swerved and I managed to duck the haymaker that would probably have taken my head off. The girl pivoted in place so that she was still facing me, but I wasn't dumb enough to attack her again.
When I'd locked my hands behind my head I'd done my best to scoop off the lump of goop Zane had put there to protect me from the XAR. I ran as fast and as hard as I could toward the chokepoint. Neither of the humans were quick to follow, assuming correctly that they had me pinned between the puppets and their masters.
"I hope this works," I muttered, snatching a taut monofilament line from the air in each muck-covered hand. I was rewarded with simultaneous chitterrings of anger and outrage as the shit on my fingers did its work. I'd assumed that the wire-like leash connecting my pairs of opponents would be something like an electrical conduit, but now that I had a hold of it I could tell it was more like a dense spiderweb. I looked down and saw what must have been millions of fragile strands braided together into a pseudo-umbilical cord, and wherever the yellow pus on my hands touched it, the material melted away.
The web was severed. The humans were free.
Skill: Stratagem
Sometimes the thing you pull out of your bag of tricks is exactly what the situation requires.
Base Score – Thirty-Two
New Score – Thirty-Three
I'd never passed up a chance to add a personal insult to a grievous injury, so I smashed the frayed ends of the cords leading to the XARs together. They erupted in high shrieks of agony as their panic and pain careened down the length of the fiber and slammed into each other's minds in a feedback loop that sounded to me like it was a brand new hell.
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