“Goddamnit!”
Immediately Davídrius grabbed a nearby chair, sped over to the corner,
and then rammed one of the legs down the hole the metallic bugs had created. He
then jumped back and tossed the Master Ayas to Siyuakén. “Catch!”
“What–?!” She caught it haphazardly before gritting her teeth due to
the mild stinging pain the Ayas was causing her. “Wait, it–!”
“You’ve got more use for it than I do!” Davídrius insisted as he smashed
another chair to pieces with a kick and grabbed two of its legs to use as
clubs, “Now don’t just stand there!”
“You don’t need to tell me what to do,” Siyuakén responded quickly
before stretching her right arm toward the hole and blasting it with
electricity. The resultant heat almost immediately fused the chair to the hole.
“…Not bad,” Davídrius smirked, “Now let’s get out of here before–!”
He was cut off as several of the bugs dropped down in front of the
doorway and then charged at the two Chaotics. He scowled before dashing forward
and bashing them out of the way before kicking open the door and waving
Siyuakén over. She quickly jumped forward and leaped over the bugs before
slamming the door shut and applying a massive voltage to the shack.
“Just how many volts can you put out?” the Introtechnic whistled.
“A lot,” the Electrotechnic replied, “…though it usually takes more
effort to generate that much power.”
“Could it be because of the Master Ayas?”
“Maybe…” Siyuakén trailed off as her gaze shifted past Davídrius and to
the open space behind him, “…though we should save the speculation for another
time. There’s more of the bugs coming.”
“Of course there is…” he scowled again before brandishing his two metal
rods. “If only it weren’t dusk, then I could actually see where they are…”
“Let me take care of this.”
“Eh what. How…?”
“Just… when I count down from three, make sure you’re in the air. …And
probably far away from me.”
“Tch. You non-Introtechnics and your snazzy powers. Alright, I’ll run
ahead to the main building. Try not to get overwhelmed when you catch up.”
“Sure thing,” Siyuakén rolled her eyes as Davídrius dashed off into the
darkness. She then turned her attention back to the approaching metallic bugs
as she began charging electricity in her left arm, where she held the Master
Ayas. Once the stone was visibly glowing and her arm was generating small
shocks she thrust the Ayas at the ground, immediately releasing all of the
charged electricity on impact. There was a brilliant flash of light as all the
bugs within five meters were fused to the flash-crystallized ground and all of
the bugs within another ten meters catastrophically overloaded. The
Electrotechnic stood up and paused for a moment to admire her handiwork before
sprinting off toward the main building, watching vigilantly for any more hordes
of metallic bugs.
*
* *
“Lead! You’re here!”
“Colonel?” the Captain glanced between Yamamoto and Shepherd warily,
“What’s this about metallic bugs?”
“You’ll have to ask the Nimalians,” Shepherd snorted.
“What he means is that we don’t know,” Yamamoto gave Shepherd a
reprehensive glance, “The two Nimalians from the caves returned with a horde of
metallic bugs after them. Given their rate of progression, they’ll arrive
within the hour. Now, what’s the status on the extra equipment?”
“The higher-ups are wary about granting extra sentry guns to a Code
Blue situation,” Lead responded, “Not at this short of a notice.”
“Of course they are,” Shepherd grumbled.
“Our current stockpile won’t cut it…” Yamamoto frowned, “The Nimalians
claimed that the bugs could easily burrow through solid rock. We have to assume
that they can do the same to the cement foundation – and that means we need to
reinforce all of the key hallways, namely the ‘Gate Room access points.”
Lead glanced back at the active Interstellar Gate behind him before
looking at the three ‘Gate Room entrances. “What do you need me to do?”
“Command the armored vehicle squads and keep the lanes to the Frigate
landing clearings open. Shepherd, I want you to command the gunships, as we discussed
earlier.”
“Permission to speak freely?” Lead questioned.
“Granted,” Yamamoto nodded.
“How do you intend to defend against a horde of bugs with armored
vehicles?”
“It’s really a delay tactic…” the Colonel admitted, “One of the
Nimalians is a Materiatechnic – she can control matter. Once she’s
returned from the Battlecruiser, she should be able to control the situation
easily. So we just need to make sure that the base isn’t overrun and that, in a
worst-case scenario, we can evacuate all of the personnel.”
“And every second we spend here is a second we’re not setting up
defenses,” Shepherd bristled, “Say the word, Colonel, and I’m off.”
Yamamoto opened her mouth to respond when a metallic spheroid suddenly
dropped from the ceiling, directly in front of the Interstellar Gate. It then
uncurled, standing up on its four legs and wiggling a wing-like appendage on
its back before turning toward the ‘Gate – and getting blown to pieces as
Shepherd shot it with his pistol.
“They’re already here?” the Captain scowled, looking up – just in time
to see the entire cement ceiling crack.
Colonel Yamamoto responded immediately. “Everyone OUT OF THE ROOM!” she bellowed while signaling toward the exits.
She then held a hand to her ear to activate her headset as Shepherd and Lead
ran past. “Lockdown the ‘Gate! Now! And send a message to Earth telling them to
lockdown theirs!” She glanced up at the ceiling as it audibly cracked before
dashing toward the ‘Gate Room exit that Shepherd and Lead were standing outside
of. With a final, resounding crack the entire cement roof shattered, sending a
rain of cement, metal, and metallic bugs down on top of the ‘Gate and the
Colonel – who dived to safety just in time.
“You said we had an hour!” Lead exclaimed incredulously.
“Looks like I was wrong,” Yamamoto scowled, “And we just lost the ‘Gate
Room for it.” She turned on her heel and began powerwalking down the hallway. “Follow
me. We need to get to the surface, and to any communicator capable of reaching
the in-system frigates…”
*
* *
“Haaaah!!”
Davídrius impaled one of the metallic bugs with his metal rods before
tossing them aside with the now-defunct creature. He reached into his jacket
pockets and whipped out two knives that he had found in an armory and began
cutting into the approaching horde as fast as he could, leaving Siyuakén to
watch on in irritation.
“I can’t do anything if you’re in the way!” she shouted after him, but
received no response. She sighed and turned down another corridor, hoping that
the Introtechnic would be able to handle himself. Grasping the Master Ayas
tightly, she began feeding enough electricity into it to make it glow, offering
a light source amongst the dark complex – and then striking a bug just as it
leaped through the air toward her. The Electrotechnic immediately swung around
to face a group of metallic bugs before quickly shocking them all – only for
them to continue rushing her. She quickly charged up more electricity for a
more powerful blast before unleashing it on the bugs, this time causing their
joints to fuse and freeze up just as Davídrius rushed up behind her.
“I broke the knives…” he commented.
“Of course you did,” Siyuakén sighed, “Let’s get out of these narrow
corridors. It’s too easy to get ambushed–!?”
She was interrupted as Davídrius scooped her up in his arms and then
leaped up onto the roof of the nearby building. He then leaped from roof to
roof until reaching the edge of the clearing at the front of the base before
dropping down to the ground and releasing the Electrotechnic.
“Warn me next time!” she scowled once she had regained her bearings.
“No time for warning when you’re tryin’ to go fast,” Davídrius quipped.
Siyuakén sighed before glancing toward the base’s front gates. “Looks
like the bugs haven’t raided here yet…”
“Or they’ve just gone underground,” Davídrius pointed out, “…where are
the Earthians?”
“Securing evac routes. I’m… actually not quite sure what their defense
plan is at this point. Maybe they’re counting on Kaoné to save the day?”
“Well she is a Materiatechnic,” Davídrius shrugged,
“Hopefully a horde of goddamned bugs won’t trigger her ‘don’t kill’ nonsense.”
He glanced over at Siyuakén as she gave him a disapproving look. “What?”
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
“Tch.” He turned away just in time to watch several vehicles roll out
of a garage as the entire complex was suddenly flooded by light. “Gah–!” He
clamped his eyes shut painfully.
“I’m surprised they didn’t do that sooner,” Siyuakén mused, “Anyways,
we should watch the vehicles. I think they’re going to secure the route to the Frigate
clearing.”
“What about the ‘Gate?” Davídrius frowned, “That’s the easiest way
off-planet–!”
“And I’m sure the Earthians are guarding it just fine. We should stay
with the vehicles, out in the open – where we’ll be able to help the most.”
“…Ngh. You’re right. I’ll need new weapons though…”
The Electrotechnic glanced at him incredulously. “Do you always break
your weapons?”
“It is not my fault none of the blades I’ve used were
built to Introtechnic standards,” he replied defensively, “Even considering the
fact that they should withstand as much force as I can… cheap blades just won’t
cut it, you know?”
Siyuakén sighed impatiently. “Really? Really?”
“…Keheheh, that was totally intended,” Davídrius grinned, and then
quickly reset to a serious expression. “But we should stop just standing
around. The Earthians need our help. Ready?”
“Ready for– agh!?” the Electrotechnic yelped as Davídrius picked her up
again and dashed off toward the vehicles. Just as he arrived by the side of the
leading vehicle it pulled to a stop, prompting the two Chaotics to stop as
well. A couple seconds later Captain Lead emerged from a hatch on top and
turned to address the Nimalians.
“I take it you’re here to help?” he questioned.
“Yes, we are,” Siyuakén responded, having caught her breath after the
short dash.
“What’s the situation with the rest of the base?” Davídrius questioned,
just as two gunships flew by overhead.
“…We lost the ‘Gate Room,” Lead replied, “We were able to lock down the
‘Gate before any of the damn bugs got through, but we can’t use it as an escape
route. For now we’re defending the path to the Frigate landing clearings until
the Frigates can pick us up or until your friend arrives to clean up this whole
mess.”
“How long will that be?” Siyuakén asked.
“Hopefully, not for long…” Lead’s focus shifted from the two Nimalians
to the dark, open area behind them. “Lights full!!” he barked, “Ready for
action!” He glanced at the two Chaotics, “here they come. Do your best against the
damned things. Good luck!”
“Wait!” Davídrius exclaimed, causing Lead to pause just before he had
retracted into the armored vehicle fully, “I need weapons. Anything you have, I
can use!”
The sound of a tank firing suddenly filled the air, followed by several
machine guns. Amongst the cacophony Lead ducked into the vehicle and then
emerged shortly afterward with two pistols and a knife. Davídrius immediately
leaped up and grabbed all three, stuffing the knife into his jacket pocket
before thanking the Captain and dashing off into the horde in the opposite
direction of the tank fire. Siyuakén quickly followed suit as Lead climbed back
into the vehicle and closed the hatch.
The Introtechnic knocked away two bugs that had leaped at him before
grasping the pistols in a dual-wield stance and blasting away at bugs
point-blank. After twenty shots from each pistol, however, he found that he
could shoot no more. “What–?!” he scowled as he dived backwards from the bug he
had just attempted to shoot, “Limited ammo… figures the Earthians would be so
damn primitive!” He then discarded both weapons by chucking them at two bugs,
smashing them both to smithereens before grabbing his single knife and taking
off to stab more bugs. As soon as he left the area Siyuakén blasted the bugs
with a wave of electricity, stunning them long enough for her to charge up a
more powerful blast and de-commission them entirely. She then turned toward the
vehicles and shocked the front lines of the approaching horde, giving the
gunners enough time to wipe out the front line and effectively push the bugs
back a couple meters.
But the defense only lasted for so long. The Earthian vehicles could
only turn their weapons so quickly, and against a horde of bugs they could only
be so effective. On top of that, the bugs seemed to be developing a tolerance
for Siyuakén’s electrical powers, and were being stunned for lesser and lesser
periods of time, and required more and more power to completely disable. And
when Davídrius finally broke his lone knife, he was left to impatiently and
nervously watch the battle from atop one of the Earthian vehicles.
“Move forward!” Captain Lead suddenly ordered over the comms, “Take
detour three-B at forty kilometers an hour. Try to lose the bugs before we
reach the Frigate clearing!”
“What?” Siyuakén scowled as she climbed up onto the vehicle Davídrius
was standing on just before it began moving, “They can’t lose the bugs!”
“I know,” Davídrius replied, and then pursed his lips. “…It must be a
last resort. Things clearly won’t go too well if we stay here–“
He was cut off as one of the vehicles in the middle of the column
suddenly exploded, sending hot debris – as well as several bugs – flying in
every direction. One of the bugs landed in between the two Nimalians, and was immediately
launched off of the vehicle by a kick from Davídrius. He then glared back at
the large mass of metallic bugs chasing after the vehicles. “…Looks like things
won’t be going too well anyways.”
“…I can slow them down.”
“What?” the Introtechnic whipped around to stare at Siyuakén, “Hey,
you’re not seriously–“
“And how else are we getting out of this damn mess?”
“…Tch. Fine. If you wanna throw your life away for no good reason, see
if I’ll stop you.”
“I should’ve expected such a response from you.”
“Hn.”
“I’m not throwing my life away, anyways,” Siyuakén slowly
stumbled to the end of the vehicle, “I’ll be fine.” She stared at the mass of
bugs for a couple seconds before taking a deep breath and moving to jump –
– only for Kaoné to suddenly dive into the ground next to the vehicle,
manipulating the ground to absorb her falling speed before jumping out and up
to the vehicle the other two Chaotics were standing on.
“You’re here!” Siyuakén exclaimed.
“What the hell was with that entrance?!” Davídrius balked.
“The shuttle is still up in the air…” Kaoné replied, “When I saw what
was going on down here, I decided to just jump. And since I’m a Materiatechnic–“
“You damn non-Introtechnics and your snazzy powers,” Davídrius
grumbled, “just hurry up and save the day already.”
“Of course,” she smiled, and then turned toward the metallic bugs. She
closed her eyes and remained silent for several moments.
“…Uh, Kaoné?” Siyuakén eventually spoke up, “…What’re you–“
“They’re not working!”
“Huh?” Davídrius cocked his head in confusion.
“My powers…” Kaoné turned to stare at the other two Chaotics in panic,
“Against those bugs – my powers won’t work!”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 13 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: Interstellar Gates
Interstellar Gates are large rings eleven-meter in diameter (ten when ignoring the physical ring and measuring the interior space along) that act as portals to other ‘Gates. One Interstellar Gate is capable of connecting to any other Interstellar Gate, but a ‘Gate can only maintain a single connection at a time. There are thousands upon thousands of Interstellar Gates that form the Interstellar Gate network, with no more than one ‘Gate per solar system. The network is believed to be a remnant of the long-gone Aldredas Civilization, which is the only hint current civilizations have as to how the devices function.
Once a connection is established, material can move both ways through the ring. Upon reaching the other side, material will not be materialized until there are no objects in or within half a meter directly in front of the location the material would appear. ‘Gates also have a blocking mechanism that completely prevents the materialization of incoming material. If a ‘Gate’s block is activated – sometimes known as “locking down” the ‘Gate – then any incoming material is returned to the sending ‘Gate. A blocked ‘Gate is only capable of “returning to sender”, however – it cannot send new material.
‘Gates have a dialing pad on the side of the ring that is used to enter three-dimensional coordinates to reach other ‘Gates. The coordinate system uses no convenient distance measurement, but it is still possible to triangulate a ‘Gate’s coordinates if you know its location in space relative to four other ‘Gates as well as the coordinates of those four ‘Gates. Conveniently yet baffling for Earthians, the ‘Gate dialing pads use base-10 Arabic numerals.
The connection between two ‘Gates self-terminates after five hours, or after half an hour of no activity, but the connection becomes unreliable after merely two. That is, once two hours have passed, the integrity of material passing across the event horizon is not guaranteed. Material may even fail to materialize once reaching the other side, being lost to locations unknown.
Furthermore, momentum is maintained when crossing a Gate connection. This fact has been used countless times throughout history to turn a ‘Gate connection into a gun by dropping a projectile into one ‘Gate, laid horizontal, so that the projectile will fly out of the connected ‘Gate at high speeds. This will also work for laser weapons and Chaotic abilities, assuming both ‘Gates sit in a Chaos-Energy rich environment.
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