The Beacon, page 7
“Will do, Captain. Good luck out there and stay alive.”
“I will.”
Melias didn’t wait. He found a gap in the webbing that led down to the surface below where the constructs had come to life. There was no way down there in the conventional way, so he had to make his own. Despite the sticky nature of the paths, he found running to be of no issue, so when he launched himself over a gap in the road, he found the strength of his launch was unimpeded.
Propelling himself with his rocket boots, he sailed over the heads of a few nervous Malvali scampering over the streets. In mid-air, he twisted and straightened his body to be as straight as an arrow—and right on time to pass through the gap at a speed that some might have found alarming, but he didn’t mind in the slightest. The exhilaration sent his pulse racing, and he couldn’t help a smile.
The layers of webbing from the street to the underground were incredibly thick, probably a few meters. Had he gotten stuck in there, he would have been in trouble, but he had angled his jump well and passed through with only his shoulder brushing against the webbed walls.
He shot through and was freefalling in the darkened surface streets, but before he could land in a terrible way and break bones, he activated his boosters and steadied himself.
His gaze lashed about, quickly taking stock of the situation. There were about a dozen dwarf-class constructs, short and squat but sturdy and hard-hitting. There were a few elf-class ones and a giant-class, which stood almost two stories tall and had large gleaming blades on both arms that vibrated similarly to a vibro-blade.
Malvali fled in all directions. There were a few dead, but not many. For now, he counted that as a blessing, but they needed to act fast. He started with the giant, which was thankfully preoccupied and hadn’t noticed his arrival. Some constructs had sensors that could detect movement behind them and in their blind spots, specifically giants, who were big and lumbering and didn’t have great movement but packed a hell of a punch.
This one sensed him as he dashed toward it and began to turn to intercept him, but Melias was faster than it and had a head start. So, he was able to weave beneath its hulking metal legs and slash with his plasma-saber. The metal plating was strong enough to withstand even plasma, but the joints weren’t. The constructs had to make some sacrifices of protection in order to move.
The saber sliced through the hydraulic servo with a hiss, and the servo sparked and broke.
The giant shuddered and dropped to a knee. It groaned with the sudden effort, but Melias knew it was not down and out yet. It was immobile, but not disarmed. It had powerful concussive cannons on each arm, as well as built-in vibro-blades. With its focus on him though, it wouldn’t be a danger to the civilians, and that was the goal at the end of the day. Keeping the people safe and alive was top priority.
With a screech of steam and metal, its torso unhinged as it swung a powerful arm around to hit him, but Melias avoided the blow. Had he been hit, he probably would’ve been pulverized into mush.
Not ideal, he thought.
He danced around the giant for a time longer. With its knees no longer exposed, it was almost all armored, and even his plasma-saber would find difficulty penetrating to its mechanical guts. His pistols were useless too, aside from drawing its focus. He had fought a giant before but had not been the one to end it, so he couldn’t remember where the core was. Break the core and the construct would go down.
But the Prime Ones were not stupid. Of course the cores wouldn’t be easy to find or reach. It would have done them no good to have their mechanical armies so easily defeated by an obvious weak spot.
Where is it? he asked himself, growing frustrated. Come on, you know this! Not the chest, not the head, not in the arms or legs but in the…
The hip!
The memory of Niath pouncing over a swinging arm and stabbing her poleax deep into the seam between leg and torso armor rushed back to him. Most would think a core would be in the chest or head, mimicking how many species had hearts and brains, but the Octopoids didn’t have a biological makeup similar to other species, and they also thought differently.
Here, it was in the hip. He had a target, and he went for it.
Melias dodged its attacks as best he could. The swinging of its arms seemed slow but up close, they were far faster than they looked from a distance. He made sure to stay behind the constructs as best he could, because between its fists, blades, and concussive cannons, one hit from it and he was likely dead or severely wounded and wouldn’t have been able to defend himself.
But this was nothing. He had faced worse and survived. So, when he saw an opening, he dove in. It shot a concussive blast over his head, which made Melias’s ears ring, but he endured it. He slid between its legs, out of range of the arms. As it started to rotate its torso to anticipate him moving behind it, he stood from his half-crouch. When it turned its torso like that, its hip armor had to peel back, opening its core to attack.
The design relied on timing and ignorance, hoping that the person fighting the giant-class construct wouldn’t know where the core was or wouldn’t have the courage to get so up close and personal with a thing that could kill them in one shot. Melias didn’t have these issues.
So, when the armor moved to expose the core, he jammed his plasma-saber deep inside.
It was the joint but much worse. The whole construct shook, as if in pain. Its torso stopped rotating, and its arms fell limp at its sides. It hissed as the mechanical life left it. The armor plating began to fall against itself, no longer held in place by the internal gravity pumps that held the immense weight up.
Quickly, Melias pulled the saber free and dove away as the construct collapsed in a heap of alloys and tech. It lay still, no longer a threat.
He stood tall and wiped his sweaty brow. “That was close,” he told himself.
It wasn’t close to being over yet, though. He looked around. There were still plenty of constructs, tall and fast elf-class with precise gun systems, short but sturdy dwarf constructs that could roll and hit like a wrecking ball. No giants that he could see, but he bet there were probably more of those around the city.
He started to make a beeline for the elf-class constructs, but several more constructs burst from a window in the building to his left. He had to jump back to avoid a spray of glass and stone. Several large shapes crashed to the stonework streets. Curses slipped from his lips. He had let his guard down.
Three nimble goblin-class constructs, relatively weak but faster than any other, chased him. He dodged the attacks of their superheated blades, but barely, and he couldn't get a good shot in or catch them with his saber. When he did, it skirted off their armor or deflected his blaster bolt. They were a pain to deal with alone, and he was beginning to worry that maybe he wouldn’t make it out of this.
Abruptly, one of them was shot in the neck by a thundering plasmic charge, making it buckle and fall in a broken heap. The other two turned at the sudden attack, assessing that to be the bigger threat. Constructs were remarkably efficient at combat, but at the end of the day, they were simple creatures and didn’t think like sentient minds or even droids or artificial intelligences. One of them should have kept an eye trained on Melias, but neither did, and that was all the opening he needed.
He lunged and struck before they made up for their error. With a precise swing, he swiftly beheaded one. The other started to turn, but another shot slammed into its chest, strong enough to force it to a knee but didn’t kill it. That, however, was enough, because Melias slammed his blade into the goblin’s chest and right in its core, rendering it dead.
When they were all still and dead, he let his shoulders slump and a heavy sigh escape from him. That was closer than he had intended. The giant was easy to handle in comparison. That shouldn't have been the case, but being swarmed was always a bigger danger.
He was safe though, and he’d had help. It was clear who had helped him, but Melias cast his gaze back to where the support had come from anyway. He saw a flash of crimson skin, bulky arms, a huge gun, and a wide smile. Nummer jumped down from one of the smaller buildings. Where he had come in from was anyone’s guess, but Melias was glad to see him.
The large Ter’ Oroi gunner landed with a loud bang, but his durable muscles and bones made that landing easy. That same jump would have really hurt a human.
He strode over to Melias, hefting his massive gun over one shoulder like it weighed nothing. To him, it barely did. There was a reason Ter’ Oroi warriors were feared throughout the stars. They were a terrible enemy to fight against but a delight to have on your side.
“I appreciate the assist, but I had that handled,” Melias quipped as his friend joined him.
Nummer rolled his eyes. “Yes, you looked like you had the situation completely under control, Captain.”
“I would have had it, eventually.”
“Of that, I have no doubts,” Nummer said with a wry smile.
Melias nodded, then cast his glance toward the remaining constructs on this street. “We should hurry. No way to tell how many more of them there are.”
“Right.”
They ran toward the next bit of conflict. The two fought through another wave of constructs—elf-class, goblin-class, and a few dwarf-class but no more giants, though he had a feeling they were not done with the big guys.
The city was huge, as were the ruins, so who knew how many more there might be. They were still concentrated around the main temple premises. On Bo’Kole, they only dealt with constructs within the main grounds of the temple, but outside in the wider ancient cityscape, there had not been anything to deal with. He wondered if that was the case here. He hoped so. If the whole city was under siege, they would be in deep trouble.
They fought a circle around the temple perimeter. It was even wider from below than it appeared above the top-level webbing. If it was just the two of them, they might have had more difficulty, but they soon found help. It didn’t take that long for the local Malvali guard to mobilize. They descended into the underground from the webbing above, gliding through the gaps with ease. Under normal circumstances, the sight of seeing dozens of huge, armed Arachnoids crawling from above with aggressive intent would have made him squirm a bit, but at this moment, he was thrilled to see them. Most of them wore small pieces of armor, mostly for their chests and thoraxes, and helmets. Most wielded melee weapons, as most Malvali didn’t have the proper eyesight for ranged weapons, but a select few did, and they took high positions all around.
The soldiers were a bit put off by the two Sentinels at first, but soon, they were working together in concert.
Things were going a bit too well. Besides the close call of the beginning before Nummer or the soldiers arrived, they had been sweeping through the constructs with only minimal effort. Something felt off to him.
He put a hand to his ear and activated his comms. “Tonvash, give me a sitrep from the air. Do you have eyes on any constructs beyond the perimeter of the temple? And I mean specifically a widespread presence, not just a straggler that got through.”
“Standby, Captain. It’s hard to get a visual with all this webbing. Even the different scopes are having trouble seeing through it.”
“Roger that. Keep me posted.”
A duo of dwarf constructs burst out of a building, breaking through the flimsy metal door right as Melias clicked off. He dove beneath its attack and came up firing with his ballistic pistol. The power of the round hit one of the shoulder joints and made the dwarf stagger forward, right into the waiting range of one of the Malvali soldiers. They swung their poleaxe, took its head, and destroyed the core beneath the neck.
Nummer stood over his captain and offered his hand. Melias took it gladly. He groaned. That last roll might have twisted an ankle slightly, but he wouldn’t let it deter him too much.
Nummer noticed his grimace. “You good, Captain?”
“Yeah, just turned my ankle. It’s nothing, Num.”
No argument there. They had both been through much worse than a twisted ankle. They’d both been shot and stabbed and beaten over the head and had a myriad of broken bones. Not to mention the painful hell he had endured within his own brain when he had let his crew use the Lightbringer device on him to learn how it worked. That had been the wringer. Next to that, he could damn well handle most pains. Not that he wanted to, though.
As he, Nummer, and the Malvali readied to continue their sweep and assistance to the wounded and those hiding in their homes, his comms buzzed.
“Captain, an update,” Tonvash said.
“Go ahead.”
The Malvali streamed around him, scuttling ahead to continue, unaware of whatever he was saying. Perhaps they couldn’t even understand him, as it was to his knowledge that not all of the Arachnoids used translation tech.
“I’ve spotted a few stragglers around the city and have gunned down a few with Tomi, but there doesn’t seem to be a widespread presence of them beyond the main temple area. I think this is a pretty contained event.”
“That’s good news, Lyra, thank you. Clean up what constructs you can and offer what help you can provide to the people of this city. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Will do. Over and out.”
Her voice disappeared, and the low hiss of the comm channel went silent. He looked to Nummer, his shoulders stiffening with anticipation. “Did you get that?” he asked.
“The gist of it. Sounds like good news, though.”
“It is.”
No sooner did he say that than a raucous boom shook the air and a plume of dust blasted into the air from a nearby building. He heard the tell-tale sounds of vibro-blades against metal and the screeching cries of fleeing Malvali. Melias didn’t hesitate. He launched himself into the air with his boot boosters, and Nummer followed at a slower pace.
As he rushed through an alley and emerged onto an adjoining street, he found a squad of Malvali soldiers struggling with a giant-class construct. They didn’t have the weapons or the know-how to sever its knee joints and take it down to a more manageable level, so they could only scuttle around it, swinging weapons at its hard outer shell. Melias hated to do it, but he knew if they kept at it like that, he could move in and do what he did with the last one.
But he never got the chance.
A second giant came out of nowhere, bursting from around another building and swinging its large, bladed arm at him. He only vaguely got a look at a ramp leading deeper before he was able to move. With a roar, he twisted away, but he still got slapped by the flat of the vibrating blade. It sent him sprawling end over end and into a wall.
The impact was jarring. Limbs screaming and shoulder bleeding from the impact, he struggled to right himself, though he was a bit dazed. Before the giant could fully turn to attack him once again, a large plasmic charge hit it in the head and knocked it sideways. Enough to distract but not to do any serious damage.
Then Nummer was at his side, helping him to a stand even though it was painful. So much for barely worrying about a simple turned ankle.
As soon as he was back on his feet, both giants turned their attention on him and Nummer. Two giants were a major problem. Two giants that weren’t yet immobilized and could move okay and had their full weapons capabilities. Not good at all. Curses slipped from his mouth.
They had nowhere to go. He’d been sent flying into a corner. Melias might be able to use his booster boots to jet out of there, but they couldn’t take the weight of Nummer with him, and he certainly wasn’t going to leave his friend behind.
His eyes searched for help beyond the giants, between their legs and behind their hulking backs, but all he saw were dead Malvali and soldiers having difficulty keeping back a new onslaught of elf and goblin constructs. It seemed Melias and Nummer were on their own.
The giants advanced, slow and menacing. They didn’t have a lot of time. “Okay,” he said, more to himself than to Nummer. “If I can boost through their legs, I can try to slice through the leg joints of at least one of them, taking it down to your level, and you can put a charge or a grenade in the core slot at its hip.”
“Easier said than done, Captain,” Nummer said.
Yes, much easier said than done, because the giants had some strategic programming, and perhaps they had already seen that Melias could use his boosters, because as the first one loomed over them, the second one stood a decent pace beyond and positioned itself to intercept him if he tried to rocket through or around the first. They were stuck.
“Crap,” he seethed as the first giant raised its arm, the concussive cannon primed to fire.
They could dodge it. They could jump out of the way, but that would only get them so far. With the two of them, and him being still a bit injured, their mobility would be limited, and…
Just as the two giants bore down on them, they suddenly stopped. They stood, frozen for a second, before taking a step back, standing rigidly with their arms falling at their sides. The light in their eyes faded, and he knew that they were no longer functional.
He knew what it meant but was still relieved when Arke commed him. “We found the master override. All constructs should be completely shut down now.”
“I noticed. Good work.”
Nummer let out an exaggerated breath at his side. “Well, that was exciting. To be honest, I was wondering if I could tank a hit like that.”
Melias cast him an incredulous sideways glance. “I would like to not test that, lest I have to find a new gunner, and few are as skilled as a former warrior.”
“Yes, we are hard lot to replicate.”
The danger was over, the day was won, and Melias was able to smile and feel some hope for the first time in a while. The city was not too much worse for wear, and though there were some unavoidable casualties, the city’s residents and visitors made out surprisingly well. Less than thirty dead. He would reluctantly call that good day.
