Chương 149: Book 2 - Chapter 67 - It All Falls Down

"Are you sure this is smart?" I mumbled as I emptied a giant drum of nanites into the digestion pool. These nanites are immune to the effects of the acid, and will be swept up into the system along with the rest of the metal particulates. Since they require a signal to activate, you can wait until everything has been distributed, then bring the entire system down at once.

"I'm sure it'll be effective. I'm actually more concerned that if we bring down the supports the entire upper level will come down on our heads," I replied as I stepped away from the slurry.

"You don't have to worry about that. This little hideaway still has plenty of stone supports, and the entire structure is reinforced by that polymer the antithesis seemed so fond of using around here," Magpie explained.

"It won't collapse."

"Good to know. I'd hate to be remembered as a Samurai that survived fighting a Forty-Four, only to be crushed by her own incompetence," I grumbled.

"Where did Dreamer and Bob get off to?"

"They went off to explore while you were setting up the nanites," Humboldt said, pointing deeper into the cavern.

"I think I can see them back towards where we came in. How about you check on them, while Magpie and I set up these supports?" I turned back towards where she was pointing, and barely made out the oversized bear flailing in the darkness. He seemed to be bouncing around, kicking and punching at random. I immediately opened up my augs.

"Bob… what are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.

"We're playing with the biters. They're all over the place! Dreamer is amazing at hide and seek, she seems to know exactly where they are. It was hard at the start, but it's like they're barely trying anymore, they're just rushing towards us. They're a lot easier to find when rushing forward as a glitchy mess, than when they're pretending to be something else."

"You're being rushed by stealth models?" I asked, raising my voice so it would reach Humboldt and Magpie.

"Just Model Nines? The small ones?"

"So far!" the bear replied. A moment later I watched him slide about a foot to the side, only to lunge back and smash into something.

"Nevermind, I found a big one!"

"Fuck… gimme a minute." I cut off the connection to Bob and turned to my compatriots.

"We have stealth models down here, and I'm really not set up to deal with them right now. How about you two?"

"My suit has limited sensor capabilities. It can detect Twenty-Ones that get close enough, but I rely on the automated systems to cut down any Nines that get close enough to strike," Humboldt reported.

"I have spray paint!" Magpie added.

"That's great… but probably not the most useful. If a Twenty-One gets close enough to get sprayed, they're probably already mid-attack," I replied.

"Anything else?"

"Gimme a minute to dig through my bags," Magpie said brightly, "I'm sure I have a couple things I can try!"

"I wish I'd brought Bandit," I whispered to myself. In the distance I could see a small horde of glitchy blobs slip past Bob and head our direction.

"Incoming!" I yelled, lifting my rifle and firing at the Nines. Humboldt's arms swept forward, lasers slicing into many of the blobs, while Magpie continued to dig through her stuff.

"Garrotte grenades!" Magpie called, throwing a couple orbs into the Nines' path once they got closer. The grenades exploded into a mess of thin wire, which dismembered the Nines that ran into them.

"What else do I have?" she mumbled immediately, getting distracted by her bag again.

"This is fine, for now!" I shouted over the sound of the lasers and gunfire, "but I'd prefer to not get punched by one of those invisible fucks again. Anyone?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Even though there are a number of catalogs that would do the job, I doubt you want to spend the time evaluating them all right now. Might I suggest you trigger the nanites instead?

"Nyx, I really don't think this is the time to worry about breaking down the hive! The Nines and Twenty-Ones are a much more immediate issue!" I yelled as the glitchy blobs grew closer. It's up to you. I just thought that activating the antithesis-devouring goo that's slowly being distributed along the roof directly above your opponents might be useful. I paused, just for a second, as I processed that information.

"Have the nanites already flooded the entire area?" No, but they've already spread far enough to cover the combat area. It'll take another two or three minutes for them to make it to the farthest veins.

"Then we wait. We can hold for two minutes, I hope," I said gunning down a blob that was making its way towards Magpie.

"Just trigger it the instant the system is flooded."

"Taffy grenades!" Magpie yelled, chucking a couple spheres around our small group. They exploded, coating the area and surrounding Nines in a thick layer of sticky candy.

"Why do you even have that?!" Humboldt yelled.

"Parties! Great for kids!" Magpie replied happily. She started reaching down to dig through her bag again, only to stop and point to the left.

"Twenty-One!" I swivelled, eyes straining to find the creature. It took me a few seconds. The only sign of the creature was prints in the taffy, and a thin layer of the candy floating in the air.

"I don't have anything for it right now!" I snarled, as I fired my LCARS at the creature's position, only to watch the missiles detonate ineffectively.

"Then keep on the Nines, I'll deal with it!" Humboldt shouted in reply. Three of her lasers swiveled, and immediately focused on a single location. I'd seen her laser arrays on the larger suit chew through a model Twelve, but this was much faster. There was the sound of sizzling flesh as a cauterized hole was quickly drilled in the air. The Twenty-One dropped its stealth, and attempted to struggle forward, but Humboldt just adjusted her aim and burned into its head instead, killing it almost instantly.

"Fuck!" I screamed as it collapsed at my feet. I was quickly running out of ammo, and even Humboldt's arms were struggling to keep the Nines back. Suddenly the pipes, vines and other plant matter coating the roof began dripping ichor, before the biological piping began to burst and coat the entire area in a thick grey sludge. All it did was obscure my vision for a moment, but the model Nines weren't so lucky.

The nanite-laden liquid slowly began eating through their limbs, causing many of them to topple over, or struggle to advance. All around the area I could see a handful of Twenty-Ones, silhouetted in the gloom by a thick layer of sludge.

"Nyx… it didn't kill them," I growled as I fired at the nearest Nine. These nanites are designed to kill antithesis hives, and since the nanites had to be optimized to survive the acid, they lost the replication function. They're still doing damage, but because they have to eat their way into the antithesis's carapaces, they're not quite as effective. It still crippled most of them. Magpie squealed.

"I have the perfect thing! Nano accelerators!" she cried as she threw out a handful of boxes. When they landed there was a burst of power, causing the nearby Nines to dissolve into sludge.

"I didn't think I'd get a chance to test those until I got back home!" she declared proudly. As the area around us cleared, I lowered my rifle and started scraping the remaining goo off my helmet.

"Why didn't you use those when Grey was around?" I grumbled.

"Her entire kit is made of nanites." Maggie cocked her head to the side, completely ignoring the thick layer of liquid coating her armor.

"Didn't think of that, maybe I'll try them next time," she said thoughtfully. While I struggled to clean myself off, Bob and Dreamer slowly wandered back in our direction. Bob looked like a drowned rat, with his fur all matted, but that didn't stop him from stepping on the crippled Nines, and smashing whatever Twenty-One approached him. Dreamer, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of her life.

"Fall has come! Isn't it magical when the plants lose their leaves?!" she said, while dancing around occasionally beheading a nearby antithesis.

"Leaves and everything else. Aren't you bothered by all that slop you're coated with? You're not even wearing a helmet," I asked.

"Why? It's just a natural plant balm. Good for the skin!" she replied with a smile as she pranced away. I just shook my head at her antics.

"Remind me the next time we clear a hive to NOT stand inside it when triggering the nanites," I told Humboldt.

"Those nanites might have just saved your life," she reminded me.

"There are worse things than being covered in nanite sludge." As she said this Dreamer danced by, humming some happy tune.

"At least you don't enjoy it," she finished.