Empire Builder 4: Breed, Populate, Conquer, page 25
But that was nothing compared to what they saw a little farther down the hall.
To the right, through long, rectangular windows, Ben and the rest of his group had a good look into rooms that appeared to be labs. In there, larger, more powerful mechas were being built and tested, one at a time. These mechas were twice the size of those piloted by the goblins.
“These things are massive!” Zito said. “They’d crush anything they came across!”
The mechas had a bevy of weapons at their disposal, from grenade launchers to machine guns to saws to flamethrowers. And more than that, the front portion of the mecha, where the pilots were installed, had been covered in heavy armor. Without this weak point, there’d be no way to easily attack them.
But Ben noticed one thing—there were no pilots to be found.
Those were in the next room.
There, Ben and his group saw dozens of humanoids—humans and goblins, along with monster and elemental kin—being “prepared” for installation in the mechas. The sight was almost too grisly for Ben to take.
“It’s awful!” Melody said, turning her eyes away from the scene.
Ben wanted to look away as well. But before he turned, his gaze went to the door on the far side of the room.
“Come with me,” he said to the group.
They did as he asked, following him down the hall and to a large set of doors a little farther along. These doors were sealed tight, with no sign of how to open them. Ben pressed his ear against the door and listened.
Sure enough, on the other side, he could hear the sounds of people, moaning and crying and talking amongst themselves—they were prisoners.
Ben stepped back, an idea occurring to him.
“Shrike, we’re going to use our flame magic on the doors. I think that between us, we’ll be able to burn our way through. Got it.”
“Got it.” The tone of her voice made it clear she was just as interested in saving the prisoners as he was.
The group stepped back, Shrike and Ben at the front before the doors.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
“Now!”
Together, the pair raised their hands and fired blasts of superheated flame at the doors. At first, nothing happened. Ben feared that the doors might’ve been made of steel that would be too strong to burn through.
Despite the technology of the rest of the factory, however, Ben soon learned that there was no steel to speak of. The metal of the doors glowed bright orange and soon began to melt away in goopy heaps. It didn’t take much of Ben firing Flame Cannon at the door before he could see through, all the way to the dozens and dozens of prisoners packed into small cells in the large space. The prisoners watched the events with wide, shocked eyes.
Ben was more than happy to surprise them.
Once the orange metal had cooled into cold slag, Ben stepped through the hole in the door and looked around. He guessed there were a hundred goblins, humans, and kin in total, all looking worse for wear. Part of him wanted to speak to them all, to find out all he could about the Genius and what he’d been up to.
But as he stood there, taking in the sight of the prisoners around him, he realized that he didn’t need to ask. Between what he’d seen on the factory floors and in the labs, he’d seen enough.
Instead, he spoke.
“Who here wants revenge?”
The prisoners, weak as they were, let out cries of eager agreement. And Ben knew that he had an army ready to fight for him. They were a motley collection of goblins, humans, and monsterkin.
“Does anyone here know the layout of the factory?” he asked.
One of the prisoners, a tall, slender woman with deep red hair, raised her hand. “I do. Most of us were brought in here unconscious. They’d gas anyone, I suppose to make sure they didn’t see what was in store for them. But I did…” She trailed off, and Ben could tell that images of what she’d seen on the factory floor were fresh in her mind. She shook her head, focusing. “Anyway, there’s an armory farther down the hall that they use to arm the robot… things.”
Ben put his hands on his hips. “In that case, I’ve got good and bad news. The bad news is that you’re going to have to fight your way out. The good news is… you get to fight.”
The looks on the prisoners’ faces let Ben know they were all eager for a chance at revenge. And considering they’d all likely resigned themselves to horrible fates, he could imagine they were ready to get started.
“We’re going to open the armory. And when we come back, your jobs will be to get armed and create as much destruction as you can.”
“What about the man in charge?” one of the prisoners asked.
“We’ll take care of him,” Ben said, total confidence in his voice.
“And what about when this is all over?” another prisoner asked. “We’ve got nowhere to go.”
“You do now,” Ben said. “Once the tower is taken and the Genius killed, you’ll all be welcome in my empire. And I’ll do whatever I can to reunite you with those you’ve been taken from.” More happy expressions formed on the faces of the prisoners. “Now, wait here!”
Chapter 25
Ben hurried out of the room, gesturing for his companions to follow him down the hall. It didn’t take long before they reached the door that the other prisoner had been referring to.
Ben and Shrike blasted it with more fire, the door melting and giving way to a room filled with the weaponry intended to be fixed to the mechas—grenade launchers, machine guns, saw blades, and even flamethrowers. Huge hunks of mecha armor could be found, plates that could be worn by individuals.
Ben grinned. It was just what he needed. He rushed back to the room with the prisoners, calling for Shrike to help him with the locks on their cells. They moved from one cell to the next, burning through the locks and freeing the helpless prisoners within. When the prisoners were freed, Melody and Zito led them to the armory where they loaded up with armor and weaponry.
So far, the plan was working perfectly. But it wasn’t long before a klaxon blared through the factory, the noise making it clear to Ben and all the rest that the alarm had gone off, and that the Genius had finally realized they were there.
“Ben!” Zito’s voice carried through the prison as Ben finished burning through the last of the locks. “You might want to see this!”
Ben flicked his eyes at the final prisoners—five in total. “Get to the armory and gear up—you’re fighting for your lives.”
They didn’t need to hear another word. The group hurried out, and Ben traveled with them. And when he stepped into the hall, he saw right away what Zito had been referring to. Dozens and dozens of mechas were streaming out into the enormous hall, ready for a battle.
But Ben and his people were ready, too. Ben commanded them into lines, the prisoners working through their fatigue and fear. The mechas approached, and Ben began the battle by rushing to the front and sending one blast of Force Wave out after another, knocking the front line of goblin mechas into the row behind it.
“Open fire!” Ben shouted during the chaos and confusion.
His newfound army obeyed, launching grenades and gunfire into the mass of mechas. The first line was quickly taken out, the goblin bodies exploding in red clouds as the grenades did their work. But the second line was already rallying, and Ben could see that it would only be a matter of time before they were back in fighting order.
The woman from the cells, the one who’d told him about the armory, caught Ben’s attention in between blasts of grenade fire.
“We’ll hold the line!” she shouted. “Get up there and take out the Genius! This isn’t going to end until he’s dead!”
Ben knew she was right. He hated to leave the prisoners to fend for themselves, however. He turned to Nipper and Brock, who were busy doing their best against the mecha goblins.
“Stay with them!” Ben commanded. “Make sure they get out of here alive!”
Nipper turned to Ben, Brock at his side. The big cat let out a snort, one that made it clear he’d heard Ben’s command.
“The elevator down at the end!” Melody yelled. “We need to get there, now!”
“Come on!” Ben swept his arm toward the far end of the hall, taking one last look at his new army before rushing in the other direction. Leaving the prisoners behind went against every instinct he had. But he knew they would be as good as dead unless he could take out the Genius and end the mecha army once and for all.
A huge set of metal doors awaited them at the far end of the hall, Ben and Shrike wasting no time using their fire magic on them and clearing a path inside.
The elevator was a large, round space big enough for transporting people or materials. The space was awash in the red glare of emergency lights. A control panel was to the side of the ruined doors, but only one button was there to be pressed.
“Guess it’s a one-stop trip,” Zito said.
Without another word, Ben pressed the button, the elevator rising, the sounds of battle fading from down below. Whatever happened next, Ben knew, it was up to the prisoners.
The elevator rumbled as it rose from the bottom of the mountains to the base of the tower. It finally stopped, the doors opening.
“Shit.” The word tumbled out of Ben’s mouth at the sight of what awaited them on the other side of the elevator doors.
Another dozen or so mechas were there, all forming a half-circle around the doors. They’d clearly been waiting for Ben and his companions to arrive. Their arms were raised, the grenade launchers at the ready.
Thwomp. Thwomp-thwomp-thwomp . One grenade after another launched from the mechas. Ben raised his hand and summoned Force Wave, a blast of air shooting back at the grenades and sending them in the direction they’d come from. The magic did the trick, the grenades landing and exploding, the first line of the mechas reduced to flaming scrap.
But when they were gone, more came. Within a minute, the space was filled with dozens more mechas, enough that there was no chance Ben and his companions would be able to break through.
“What’s the plan?” Shrike asked, her eyes alive with fire.
Ben knew they couldn’t risk fighting their way through. But all the same, they needed to get to the top of the tower. He glanced up at the ceiling of the elevator, knowing what he needed to do.
“Shrike!” he called out. “Blast a hole through the top! The rest of you get ready to move up!”
The group did as he asked, Shrike going to work with a blast of superheated flame to the elevator ceiling. Orange drops of metal plopped to the floor as the rest of the group got out of the way. Ben focused his attention on shutting the elevator doors, the pang-pang-pang of gunfire against metal sounding out as they closed. Relief washed over him when the doors closed, the group safe for the moment.
“There!” Shrike shouted when she was done, a big, gaping hole in the top of the elevator that led to the space above.
“I’ll check it out first,” Ben said.
He used another blast of Force Wave to propel himself up into the tunnel above the elevator. Once there, he looked up to see that there wasn’t much space above—maybe a floor or two’s worth. But there was a ladder, and there was a door.
He called down to his friends. “There must be another elevator to take all the way to the top.”
Melody put her hands on her hips and shouted back up to him. “Then how the heck are we supposed to get up?”
It was a damn good question. But with the number of mechas in the lobby of the tower, they didn’t have many options.
“We take the door up here,” Ben said. “And we try to find the elevator from the next floor.”
“Good thinking!” Zito called out. “Now, you want to give us a hand up? Something tells me these guys aren’t going to be so kind as to wait for us to come up with a plan before they barge in here!”
“Yeah!” Rox shouted. “Once they break out the big guns, we’re toast!”
Ben didn’t waste a moment before reaching down and sticking his arm into the elevator. Melody was first, and once she was up, he helped Shrike while Melody helped Zito. Rox was last, and by the time they pulled him up, the mechas had broken through the doors.
“Here!” Rox said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a couple of the now-familiar explosive vials. “Let me leave them a little something to remember us by!”
They hurried to the ladder and began climbing as Rox dropped the vial down into the elevator. Ben took a quick glimpse down to see that mechas had already begun cramming into the space and raising their weapons to fire.
They didn’t get a chance. The vials crashed onto the floor of the elevator, a massive explosion ripping through the space and incinerating the mechas inside. Ben and the group had reached the top of the ladder by this point, but the explosion was still enough to project heat through the tunnel.
A door awaited Ben at the top. Fortunately, another blast of heat from his Flame Cannon spell was more than enough to burn through the handle and allowed him to open it. Ben hurried through first, wanting to be the one to face any danger that awaited them on the other side.
But when he climbed through, he was greeted with… nothing.
He found only darkness on the other side of the door, his footsteps echoing through the space. Only the sounds of his companions coming through the door snapped Ben out of his confusion.
“This… this is weird.” Rox’s voice carried down the open space.
Ben couldn’t dispute him, and neither did anyone else. He’d simply said what they were all thinking.
Ben opened his mouth to speak. But before even a single word could come out, a strange noise sounded from the darkness. It was a low groan, one that had come from a raspy, dry throat.
Then another of the same noises sounded. Then another. Then another.
And they were drawing closer.
“Ben?” Melody asked. “What’s going on here?”
He didn’t say a word, instead listening to the sounds in the darkness. There was shuffling and moaning, the noises growing closer.
“Shrike,” he said. “We need some illumination.”
“Got it.
With a whoomp , Shrike’s body became completely engulfed in flames, the fire casting light through the space. Ben saw that they were in a series of dingy hallways, the metal walls covered in rust and dirt. The place struck Ben as similar to the labs downstairs, but… different—abandoned.
But Ben didn’t have much time to appreciate his surroundings. The source of the noise became clear—horrible shambling things that appeared to be some kind of horrible combination of metal and goblin, their bodies deformed and faces horrible.
“What the hell!” Zito shouted. “What are these freaks?”
Rox had the answer. “Guessing that this floor is where the Genius keeps the, uh, not-so-successful results of his experimentations.”
The creatures shambled forward, raising their arms toward Ben and his group. It was hard to make out in the flickering, low light, but as far as Ben could tell, there were at least two dozen. They were horrible to look at, seeming to have pained eyes as if they wished to be put out of their misery.
“Well, whatever’s going on,” Melody said, “I don’t think they’re here to make friends!”
Her words snapped Ben back into the moment. “This floor should lead us to another elevator that can take us up to the top floor. We just need to find it!”
“Right,” Shrike added. “In the meantime, we’re going to have to fight our way through these freaks.”
Ben nodded, taking out his goblin sword and clicking it to its full length. “Break through!”
The group didn’t need to hear another word. The hordes of goblins approached from the halls in front of them, Ben and his companions attacking with everything they had.
Ben stepped forward and speared the nearest goblin through the head, the end of his blade easily puncturing the creature’s forehead.
Shrike let loose with flames, roasting them where they stood, the flaming goblins shambling for a bit before dropping into roasting heaps.
Melody went to work with her lightning wand while Rox launched more firepower from his portable cannon and Zito effortlessly cleaved through the masses of creatures, limbs flying here and there.
Despite how many they killed, Ben realized, more goblins came.
“How many of them are there?” Melody yelled as she blasted a hole through the chest of an approaching goblin.
“No way to know,” Shrike said as she let loose with another torrent of flame. “But at this rate, they’re going to overwhelm us!”
Ben knew she was right. He had to come up with another plan, one that would get them through the hordes and allow them to find the elevator to take them up. Sticking around trying to take out the masses of goblins would only end in disaster.
Ben turned his attention to the middle of the three hallways. An idea occurred to him.
“Tower! Tower, are you there?”
At first, there was no reply. Ben worried what he had in mind wouldn’t work.
“What are you doing, Ben?” Melody asked.
“Trying to see if I can establish a connection!” He closed his eyes, using his mana to focus his mind on the connection between the towers. “Tower, are you there?”
More silence followed. But then right at the moment Ben was about to give up hope, a voice spoke to him.
“I am here, Ben. But I can hardly hear you.” Sure enough, the voice of the tower was faint and staticky like a bad radio transmission.
“I need a map of the tower I’m in right now. Can you put it up for me?”
“Yes. One moment.”
Ben and the rest of his group continued to blast through the deformed hordes of goblins, each second passing like an eternity.
“Tower?” Ben called out.
“My apologies, Ben. But the current occupant of the tower has gone to great lengths to hide the schematics. I can trace your position, however, and tell you that the prime elevator through the tower is to your right and all the way to the end. Hmm, interesting.”
