Chương 411: Book 7 - Chapter 7 - Everything becomes crab

"Why do all the powerful Antithesis models have pinchers?" I growled.

"It seems like everywhere I turn lately all I see is pinchers." You're exaggerating, Nyx said.

"Am I? The Gene Tender's massive guard thing had four claws, that shrimp in Seattle had claws, and now this thing has claws!" I exclaimed, waving at the display. That's because they're all based on the crustacean form, which is a fairly common form both here on Earth and intergalactically. It's rather efficient, Nyx replied.

"Please tell me you're joking," I muttered. Not even slightly. There's even an old meme that pops up in the mesh every once in a while.

'Everything becomes crab', Nyx said.

"Yeah, well, if the Antithesis had their way, that would be true… just not in a way anyone would enjoy, or survive," I said.

"I'm talking about them eating us." I got that, thanks, Nyx replied.

"No problem," I muttered as I watched the Antithesis hive thing scuttle up the wall towards the Marsupial.

"I guess I should stop messing around and deal with that thing." Preferably before it rips your ship in two, Nyx agreed. I gave the crew in the Marsupial a quick mental command, which had them throw the ship into full reverse. Not only did this allow them to maintain distance from the approaching beast, but it also caused the Marsupial to rise towards the surface and away from the ocean floor. Even though that beast probably had a way to attack at range, I wanted to keep the Marsupial out of range of its claws.

"Do you think we missed the main body before, or that that thing has a shell underneath the remains of that container ship?" I asked. I'm unsure. The Hypervelocity Cannon is quite powerful, but it lacks penetration underwater. Once it hits a target, the supercavitation effect is disrupted, and the round immediately begins to lose power. Nyx replied.

"So what you're telling me is if I want to put a round right through that thing, we either need to shoot it in an unarmored section or rip that ship off its back, right?" That's the long and the short of it, Nyx said.

"In that case, it's a good thing we armed the Marsupial with more than the Hyper Velocity Cannon," I replied with a grin.

"I guess this is as good a time as any to perform a weapons test. Shall we see what the… What the fuck am I supposed to call those? Missile racks? Torpedo Tubes? Torpedo racks?" They're known as Generic Remote Operated Weapon Launchers, Nyx replied. I paused, blinking slowly as I decoded the acronym, then just decided to let it go.

"Alright, well, let's see how those do," I said as I sent a quick command that sent the crew of the Marsupial scrambling.

"And what do I call the new underwater missile things?" Those are Multipurpose Self Propelled Munitions, Nyx said.

"MSPMs?" I said cocking my head to the side.

"That's a terrible acronym," Not everything I give you has to have an acronym, just the ones that amuse me, Nyx replied defensively. You never asked me what the specialty bullets the bears use are called. I figured you wouldn't be interested in the missiles. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What? There's an acronym for the bullets? I thought they were just standard rounds," I said, surprised. Of course not, have you ever seen a traditional human round punch right through the side of a model Fourteen before? Those are Kinetic Linear Accelerated Warheads, Nyx said.

"Really?" I asked.

"I'm… just going to keep referring to them as bullets or rounds," I figured you'd say that, and it's why I didn't tell you until now, Nyx grumbled. I quickly glanced at the screen and saw that the crab thing's eyestalks and claws had just crested the edge of the crevasse.

"Hold that thought," I said.

"I need to take care of this first." As the Antithesis creature began hauling itself out of the hole in the ocean floor, it briefly exposed its underside to the Marsupial. Although it appeared to be armored, at least it wasn't covered by several feet of steel hull and empty containers; I ordered the bears to open fire. Six sleek projectiles shot out of the Marsupial, three from each side.

Each one seemed to have a mind of its own as they nimbly darted back and forth through the rocky crags and over the long, dead coral reef before smashing into the crab's underside. The explosion was strong enough to violently rock the Marsupial, even though it was a good two hundred feet away. It took a minute for the camera to settle down.

It looked like the water around the Antithesis had flash boiled, causing an immense amount of turbulence and froth in the water, but once the water settled, it became clear that the creature had survived. The underside of its shell had cracked, and a large part of it was boiled red, but it was alive.

"Tough fucker isn't it?" I muttered. The crab stepped forward, out of the abyss and onto the ocean bed, and shook itself like an animal coming in out of the rain. It performed its little bizarre dance for a good two or three seconds before finally stopping.

"Uhhhhh… what was that?" I asked. If I had to guess, it was trying to unleash the Antithesis that were birthed, or living in the hulk on its back, Nyx replied"And why didn't it work?" Evelyn, those torpedoes of yours would have flash-fried everything within fifty feet of impact while simultaneously exposing them to explosive decompression, Nyx said. I'm honestly surprised that that walking hive wasn't outright crippled by that attack. It probably only survived because its shell was tough enough to take the strain.

Look at its eyes. I squinted at the screen, focusing on the crab beast.

"I don't see them anymore." Exactly, they were almost certainly destroyed by the explosion, Nyx said. It probably had some sort of vibration sense too, but receiving that much shock…

"The thing's blind and deaf," I said, once I caught on.

"So all we have to do is finish it." It's probably the easiest target you'll find throughout this entire campaign, Nyx said. So… don't miss.

"Like that'll happen," I replied, rolling my eyes as I mentally prompted the bears to reload the main cannon. It was like Nyx said, at this range, and with a foe that couldn't see it coming, this was an easy kill. Still, once the Hyper Velocity Cannon was ready, I had the bears double- and triple-check the firing solution before I finally had them pull the trigger. The round shot off faster than the eye could see, leaving behind a trail of spiralling bubbles.

It connected with the giant crustacean just below where the cargo ship sat, directly in what I could only guess was the creature's head by the location of the eyestalks. The impact didn't just penetrate the creature's armor, it hit the thing so hard that it caused the creature to partially fold in upon itself. Its shell shattered as everything around five feet from the impact point was forcibly shoved deep into its own body.

I waited a couple seconds, half expecting the thing to charge the Marsupial but it just slowly collapsed onto its side and lay still. When it did, the ship on its back slipped off, spilling rusted shipping containers and the bodies of hundreds of smaller Antithesis onto the ocean floor.

"Do I get credit for all those smaller Antithesis too?" I asked Nyx. You did technically kill them, Nyx confirmed. They're not worth much though.

"A point earned is a point… saved?" I said before waving my hand dismissively.

"It's something like that anyways." Turning back to the display, I inspected the downed behemoth.

"I guess that confirms that the Hyper Velocity Rounds don't penetrate barriers very well, but when they finally connect with the target… Well, I don't see many things walking away from that." I feel like I should point out that in aquatic battles you won't be facing many enemies that walk at all. Who knows what sort of tricks the Antithesis have developed around here, Nyx said.

"Yeah… we'll see," I muttered.

"I think it's time that I plug the sensor feed into the network and get the bears to go over it with a fine-toothed comb. I doubt it'll lead us to the Tender, but if that thing left even a single clue, I don't want to miss it." Then the chase is on, Nyx said. Let's hope it doesn't lead you right into trouble like usual. I pushed back from the table and smiled.

"Me? Never!" You're really going to regret saying stuff like that someday, Nyx muttered.