As I quickly approach the sounds of absolute chaos that is unfolding at the far end of the cavern, I try to get a decent look at the strange metal worm which had caused such a ruckus. Unfortunately, the only details I could make out from my current distance was its gaping maw which looked to have three separate drills all spinning rapidly in conjunction with each other.

I guess that explains how it managed to dig a hole through the cavern wall. I quickly begin to pick up the pace as I begin to hear the tell tale sounds of combat. With that in mind I order all of my spiders in the cavern to stop repairing the support beams for now as I feel that their expertise will be much needed soon.

A few moments of running past building after building, I eventually stopped at a crossroad of sorts which was wedged between four buildings with a couple slightly armored looking moles duking it out with the worm thing. Now that I was close up to it, I could clearly see that the worm was as long as a car but only half as wide which is not saying much.

The worm's fighting style was quite unorthodox as it constantly dipped in and out of the ground before launching itself at its target with its gaping maw of serrated drills. Thankfully for the moles currently fighting, their shield-like appendages were thick enough to mostly deflect the blows that the worm was dishing out but not by much.

Assessing that my chances at hitting the worm were negligible, I decided it was best to simply rush in and hope for the best. And so that is what I did, sprinting into the fray just when the worm jumped out of the ground straight for the two moles who were holding the line.

Quickly taking advantage of the worm's back turned away from me, I stabbed my javelin into the worm which pierced its metal shell embedding deep into its machinery. The worm let out a pained shriek before suddenly changing trajectory and diving into the ground, dragging me along as I had not let go of my javelin just yet.

As the worm began drilling into the ground, I hastily snatched my mace from my satchel before repeatedly slamming it into the back of my javelin which drove it deeper into the worm. But before I could force more than half of my javelin into the worm's insides, the danger noodle in question broke through the outer layer of the ground and began swimming through the much softer rock, knocking me off in the process.

Once the worm escaped my grasp, it did not resurface but rather it began tunneling away from me. I rapidly began tracing the direction at which the worm was heading but before running in that direction I hurriedly checked on the two militia moles. The first one looked to have only sustained superficial damages but the second had taken multiple blows to the chest which looked quite nasty.

Kneeling down, I tell the uninjured mole to go send for one of my spiders who should be able to patch up their friend before getting to my feet and back on the move. Following the thunderous rumbling, I eventually reached a large clearing near one of the large support beams which allowed me to spot my target swimming through the rocks as if it was of the same consistency of mud.

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Thankfully, the worm decided that it had run far enough away and switched directions towards me. It must have believed that since I was now alone, I would become an easy target and to be fair, I was. No matter how thick my blast shield is, it will be no match against the worm's deadly drills.

The only reason the moles claw shields did not shatter upon contact with the drills was the fact that their claws were designed to handle immense pressure and thus were built with many reinforcements and plating. It also did not hurt that the claws were somewhat curved allowing the moles to rather easily deflect the blows rather than take them head on.

Unfortunately my blast shield, while being designed to take a beating, was not meant for these kinds of attacks and so I could not rely on it to take too many blows. As the worm swiftly barreled towards me, I hurriedly grabbed another javelin and threw it, managing only to hit the worm with a glancing blow before jumping to the side.

The worm had realized that I would attempt to dodge and thus preemptively changed its angle slightly which managed to clip me in my right shoulder and rip into my circuitry before tunneling back into the ground.

Clutching at where my arm had been hit with my left hand, even though it likely would not help very much seeing that I no longer have blood to spill, I grab my mace with my right before I spun around and slammed it into the worm who had just sprung up while my back was turned. Immediately regretting using my damaged arm to swing as a jolt of pain shot through my body.

Ugh! Why does my vessel have to have pain receptors? I shake my head in a futile attempt to clear my mind before focusing back on the writhing worm which quickly slipped back into the ground. Clenching my mace harder, I begin shifting around trying to keep myself facing the worm.

Suddenly the worm tunneled straight towards me so I heft up my shield and prepared to dodge the next strike. But strangling no strike came as the worm tunneled right beneath me and, realizing what was happening, I hurriedly jumped out of the way but I knew I did not react fast enough.

Acting entirely on instinct, I move as much as I can in-between me and the incoming worm, which just so happened to be my blast shield. Through the blast shields see through panel, I saw the worm burst through the ground and slam into me with enough force to launch me into the air.

I landed on my back, around a couple feet from where I was launched, something the worm gleefully took advantage of as it pounced atop me and drilled deep into my shield which was quickly getting torn apart. It does not take long before the worm makes its way through my blast shield and now that it is through, my fate is all but sealed.

My blast shield was considerably more hardy compared to my vessel's meager plating, perhaps once I am forcefully removed from my current vessel I should design a more heavily armored version. But before I could contemplate my imminent doom further, horrible pain coursed through my form as the worm started ripping my body apart.

Then, it stopped as the worm fell back as if it were hit by something. While my vessel was losing power and would likely not last long enough to be repaired it was still functioning, if only temporary. Thus I could, keeping one hand on my spilling insides, push myself up with the other hand just enough to see my lead hound and a half dozen moles all swarming the worm.

Looks like I'm not needed for this, I think to myself before succumbing to my wounds and fading back to the familiar dark.