The Outlaw (Phantom Server: Book #2) (16 page)

“They've smashed your Electric Storm, man,” Foggs insisted. “We only have forty-seven micro nuclear batteries left. Plus a separate unit to power the force shield properly, otherwise they'll breeze through it. Let's think logically,” he added moodily. “There're thirty mobs in there, not even counting their queen. You're going to lure their guards out, and then what?”

“We'll do it in two stages. First we'll do this,” I removed my force shield belt and laid it onto a flat stretch of ground in a semicircle. I completed the circle using the other belt that Vandal had found among the dead exobiologist's gear. Then I sat the deformed remains of my Electric Storm in the middle, using the bent manipulators as a makeshift mounting.

That got Foggs interested. “What's that you're trying to make, a turret? Protected by a force shield? Do you think you can fix the guns? But still,” his face darkened again, “they're not going to fire all by themselves.”

“We can go back to the rover!” Vandal offered enthusiastically. “I'm sure they have some remote controls! I've been thinking: two clips of five hundred rounds each, that's 170,000 damage dealt to all those mobs. The passage is narrow, isn't it? And whoever tries to attack from above will be stopped by the force shield. Shame we won't get any XP.”

“We don't need to go anywhere,” now was the time to demonstrate my freshly-acquired abilities. “I'll control the turret via my mind expander. The group will be getting all the XP.”

“You think you can do it?”

“My Synaps is geared up for fighter flying. To close the circuit remotely and shift a few servodrives is no work for it.”

“We should place the turret closer to the cave entrance!” Vandal blurted out. “This way it can reach inside the cave! Would be a good idea to give their queen a couple of Bleedings!”

“Yeah right,” Foggs interfered. “And what if she goes into enrage mode?”

“So what? The entrance is too narrow. She'll never squeeze her way out. Listen, Zander,” he turned to me, “how do you plan to smoke this queen, after all?”

I reached into my inventory and produced the diamond-shaped piece of cargonite and a five-battery power unit. I connected the two by winding a length of suit sealing tape around them.

“And?”

“You'll see in a moment. Just step aside, all of you. No, don't touch the Storm. Leave it all as it is.”

I took a swing and hurled the piece of cargonite as far down the crevice as I could. Then I focused and activated Replication, choosing the item as an object suitable for utilization.

I had less than a hundred nanites left. No one noticed anything as they flashed past us toward their target. A brilliant flash blinded us as a roaring cloud of incandescent gas escaped the crevice, leaving a deep fire-polished crater in its opposite wall.

The entire process of making new nanobots had taken but a couple of seconds. A crimson haze flooded the gorge, rising up in a scorching vortex as all the side products escaped, leaving behind a small cloud of nanites.

“Wow,” Vandal gasped, his stare fixed on the smoldering remains of the dead Daugoths. “Oh, Zander. This is-”

“Wait,” I focused on the ravaged Electric Storm, visualizing the two machine guns as a turret. With a swipe of my eyes, I activated the Object Replication icon.

The nanites received the mnemonic image and broke into several thin wisps that reached out for the spots I'd marked for them. They connected the two guns together, then straightened and reinforced the makeshift mounting. For them it was a simple job. They didn’t have to create any devices: all they had to do was join a few separate objects into one single one. Still, my men were suitably impressed.

Durability: 500/500.

“You're too much, dude,” Foggs glanced at the restored weapon's stats. “Mind telling us what it was?”

“Those were nanites. First they self-replicated — that's what the chunk of cargonite and the batteries were for — and then they formed new binds and created this turret using the guns and all the rigging.”

“Awesome,” Vandal picked up a molten cable end and studied it closely. “Why didn't you do that before?”

“I had to save it. I can only do it twice every time. It has a twenty-four hour cooldown.”

“So you were saving it for the spider queen?”

I grinned back at him. “What do you think?”

Pointless walking around with a sour face. Yes, we were all beyond exhaustion. Yes, we'd had a couple of close shaves. But we'd leveled up nicely, we'd found Kathryn and besides, this little nanite-replication trick had raised my Mnemotechnics 30%.

Novitsky walked over to us. He'd been so absorbed in his own work he'd barely noticed the explosion.

He could hardly move his feet but he was beaming. He showed me a small slime-covered pouch he'd removed from the insides of a Daugoth.

“It contains neurotoxins with a Paralysis debuff,” he reported proudly. “Should work on any life form but the spiders themselves.”

“That's cool,” Vandal slapped his shoulder in approval. “How many have you got?”

“A hundred and fifty in total. A few I ruined learning how to extract them. Only I've no idea how to use them.”

“We'll work that out,” Foggs added. My little nanite trick had cheered him up considerably. “All right, Zander? Let's go check the location!”

* * *

We didn't venture too close to the cave entrance. Hiding behind a large chunk of cliff, we held council. I forwarded them a close-up of the potential approach routes; besides, all of them had access to the video file I'd made during my little recon op.

“How are we sure they will come out of their lair?” Vandal asked, doubtful.

“Oh, they will,” I said, loading micro nuclear batteries into the guns.

“Normally, mobs never leave their dungeons. Or are these different?”

“Normally, any dungeon is a separate location by definition,” Foggs argued. “That's why mobs stay inside.”

“Listen,” on my orders Novitsky had dragged a dead Daugoth along and was now busy covering the Electric Storm's mounting in a thick layer of slime. “What prevents us from using stealth? We'll just walk in, put one of those camo devices on her and pull her out.”

“You're too smart, you,” Foggs chuckled. “Come on, slap more slime on, don't spare it. Make sure those bastards don't smell the steel while we set up the turret.”

“Can someone answer my question?” Novitsky insisted.

“Zander was alone,” Vandal said. “And he crept past them nice and quiet. With two of us carrying a heavy body, we're sure to walk right into the guards. Did you see that they all follow random routes? Imagine you step on something and it rattles, or you stumble and unstealth accidentally? With all those mobs around! They'll have a party! And you'll be going directly to your respawn point. There's also another thing. You should always, always mop up a lair. Leaving it undone is a stupid waste. We need to level up and we could use some loot too. Did you see their boss? I'm sure she'll drop something worth our while.”

“But what if we shoot our own by mistake?”

“Nah. Only if it ricochets off something. Didn't you see where they keep their stores? They're behind some cliffs below.”

“All done,” I connected the two fully loaded force shield belts. “Come on, Foggs.”

Vandal and Novitsky stayed behind to cover us while we stole toward the cave entrance and set up the turret. We hadn't fastened it down yet for fear of making any noise, then retreated as quietly as we'd come.

Novitsky stood up, peeking from behind the rock. He didn't want to miss anything. I, on the contrary, sat back and lowered my eyelids to shut out any distractions, then entered the local network.

The Daugoths hadn't noticed anything. The turret's infrared sensor streamed a picture of their barely visible outlines. The enormous female was in the center. You couldn't miss her if you tried. Hopefully, she was going to get enough damage to lose all of her abilities before we even entered the cave.

“On my signal.”

I sent a mental command to the turret's mounting. Its razor-clawed feet fashioned out of the manipulators sank deep into the rocky floor. Immediately the spiders reacted to the unusual sound. The nearest guards scurried toward the entrance to find out the cause of all this clamor.

Fire ripped through the dark. The female screamed, having lost 25% HP in less than ten seconds. A cloud of neurotoxins filled the cave.

Foggs swung round. The female's scream sounded suspiciously like a call-up signal. But it didn't seem as if they were getting any reinforcements. We'd already smoked all the nearby Daugoths that might have attacked us from the rear.

The turret kept firing non-stop, its servomotors arcing its double barrels ever so slightly within the field of fire. Ammo was down 30%. The female's Health had shrunk to 50%. The infrared sensor couldn't stream anything anymore: its field of vision was blocked by the heaped-up bodies.

Suddenly the force shield flared up, deflecting an attack from above. A dozen mobs had found a blind spot on the cave's ceiling and had used it to get to the turret. I'd maxed out the shield though so all they'd done they'd lost their own limbs in the attempt.

I released the mental trigger.

In the silence that followed, all one could hear was the sound of rocks crashing down the slope, the wheezing of the dying Daugoths, the screeching of movement and the thin whizzing sound of their quills loosed off by these “bionic machines”.

I couldn't see anything past the heaped-up bodies. But judging by the sound, I'd been correct: the wounded ones were now trying to take cover within the cave.

The force shield kept pulsating overhead.

“What are you waiting for?” Vandal asked me anxiously.

“Let them regroup.”

The thumping sound of quills grew stronger, more methodical. The heap of bodies began to fall apart, revealing what was behind it. I could now see about a dozen mobs that stood in a semicircle, showering us with quills rhythmically and systematically. The disturbed female's outline towered behind them. She reared up, spitting venom.

She seemed to be down to her second ability.

The infrared sensor outlined the pools of liquid growing on the floor. The rock hissed and heated up wherever her venom touched it, filling the air above it with toxic smoke. Not good. I thought about the rover's corroded armor. Could there be another one of these ladies prowling on the loose or was this one capable of leaving her lair?

“Zander, what are you waiting for?”

I resumed firing.

These mobs were smart though. They immediately dispersed, shrinking into the walls. Those who still had all of their limbs intact leapt toward the ceiling and hung there, clinging to the uneven rock. I loosed off another burst into the female. She took damage in silence.

But what were those silhouettes? Could they be wounded Daugoths crawling toward their queen?

“Foggs, get to the entrance! Send me the data!”

He dashed off. Immediately his gear's sensors began streaming the picture.

The queen was secreting some whitish goo. The maimed Daugoths swallowed it greedily, restoring their Health.

Our force shield was at 20%. The turret had 300 rounds left.

I squeezed the mental trigger and never released it again.

* * *

It had turned out to be not as easy as we'd thought. I'd fired the last rounds. The force shield folded. The queen had about 5% Life left when she began to devour the Daugoths crowding around her to restore her own Health!

I just loved their food chain. “Foggs —
now
!”

He hurled a chunk of cargonite coupled with a battery block into the cave.

I had no idea how much damage Molecular Mist could deal. Hopefully, I might find it out after the battle. But now I had to get to the entrance, select the bright signature of the battery unit as target and activate Replication.

With a blinding flash, a pillar of fire roared toward the ceiling. Crimson haze poured out of the cave, causing sensors to glitch. I darted toward the entrance squeezing myself past the molten turret and scanned the location.

The queen was dead. Her body towered there motionless.

You've received a new level!

You have new characteristic, skill and ability points available.

You've created a nanite colony. Your Mnemotechnics skill has been upgraded to level 4.

For your information: the above upgrade results in the activation of the external neuronet you received from Ingmud.

For your information: as long as the above neuronet module remains plugged into your mind expander, it will give you +1 to Mnemotechnics and +1 to all active ability levels.

New ability available: Differential Nanite Control

Warning! The external neuronet requests access to the newly-created nanite colony control. Allow: Yes/No.

Honestly, I'd already started thinking that Ingmud had damaged the neuronet while extracting the nanites from me. So this message took me by surprise.