CHAPTER 44 – DESPERATION
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, INSIDE ANOMALOUS STRUCTURE
LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST
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“YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS OUTRAGE! HOW DARE YOU STEAL OUR MEAL FROM US! THERE IS TO BE NO MERCIFUL DEATH AVAILABLE TO YOU NOW!”
The titanic beast thundered after their party, crushing experimental pods like tin cans as it ran along the tops of the corridors they formed.
BIO-MONITOR AUTO UPDATE: PARALYTIC VENOM ELIMINATED FROM BLOODSTREAM;
NANOMACHINES REDEPLOYED
NEUROTOXIC VENOM SEQUESTERED;
ELIMINATION IN PROGRESS INTERNAL BLEEDING STEMMED;
RECYCLING DAMAGED TISSUES FOR BIOMASS CONVERSION;
ASSESSING INTERNAL ORGAN FUNCTIONALITY; UPDATING NANOMACHINE TRIAGE QUEUE; BIOMONITOR STATUS: ORANGE WARNING: ABDOMEN WOUNDS AT RISK OF REOPENING;
COMBAT INADVISABLE DYNAMIC PAIN BLOCKING STILL IN EFFECT
Paul found himself increasingly able to move, which freed Hamilton from having to drag him along as aggressively. The dulled agony throughout his body seemed to have mostly abated thanks to the efforts of his internal medical suite. Clarity of mind had mostly reasserted itself as the pain receded and the neurotoxin was purged from his system.
Paul spared a look back over his shoulder, which caused a spike of pain in his sides. He didn’t even want to think of what this experience would have been like without the help of the pain blockers and his medical suite. Nau-Shesma was gaining on them quickly now. The small lead they had gained while it chewed through the head that had… eaten him… was nearly gone already. He repressed another shudder before he refocused his efforts on the challenges of the moment. Hamilton was right, they needed to survive above all else.
“WHY FIGHT THE INEVITABLE? YOUR COWARDICE ONLY DELAYS YOUR DOOM. YOUR LEADER IS WOUNDED, YOUR SPEARS YOU ABANDONED WHEN YOU FLED, AND YOUR FRIENDS OUTSIDE ARE DEAD. WE HAVE CONSUMED ENOUGH BIOMASS TO REGENERATE OUR LOST HEADS. THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU IN THIS BATTLE.”
“Just shut UP already you arrogant snake! I don’t care how long it takes! We have already shown we can injure you. Anything that bleeds can die! If we can take your heads we can take your life!” Estefani shouted back at him, clearly having none of Nau-Shesma’s shit.
She then paused as they neared a corner and shot off several arrows at the monster in defiance. The gargantuan Naga hissed from its cobra heads and roared with its dragon heads in response before it shot a great gout of flame after her. Hamilton and Paul made it around the corner just in time while Estefani used one of her jump charges to dodge.
“Too slow! Gonna have to do better than that!” She taunted after landing beside them somewhat awkwardly and breaking back into a run.
Nau-Shesma responded by throwing an experimentation pod at them. It crashed into the ground in front of them, blocking their pathway and showering them in glass and debris, forcing them to come to an abrupt stop.
“BOLD WORDS FOR A TINY LITTLE SNACK TOO SCARED TO STAND AND FACE US! WE WONDER IF YOU WILL BE SO DEFIANT AS OUR FIRE MELTS THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES.”
“How you doing Paul? Can you stand? Better yet, think you can fly us out of here?” Hamilton asked over comms.
Paul let go of his shoulder and steadied himself on his own feet after a moment, and waved away an offered hand.
“Ill give it a shot.” Paul said as he raised his hand above his head and took a deep breath.
Okay… the venom should be mostly out of my system…..here goes nothing!
Paul focused on forming his base TK field only for him to feel a spike of pain right through the dynamic pain blocking. Nau-Shesma arrived in that moment, its heads rearing back and ready.
“THIS HAS BEEN A MOST SATISFYING CHASE, BUT WE MUST END IT HERE. PREPARE YOURSELVES TO MEET OUR MASTER.”
“Paul…?” Estefani said as she drew her bowstring taught and began to take a few steps backwards.
Paul pumped his full effort and focus into his powers again, pushing through the pain. Sweat poured down his face and blood began to dribble from his nose as he steadfastly refused to give up.
WARNING: AMPLIFIER IMPLANT HEAT LEVELS RISING;
ACTIVATING SECONDARY COOLING POTENTIAL NEURAL PATHWAY DEGRADATION DETECTED;
ANALYZING…. NEURON PATHWAYS DAMAGED BY NEUROTOXIN EXPOSURE;
REROUTING NANOMACHINES…. STEM CELLS DEPLOYED;
NEURON GENERATION ENZYMES RELEASED;
ACCELERATOR ENZYMES RELEASED.
“Now would be a VERY good time to get us out of here!” Hamilton shouted as he drew his sword and activated his wrist shield on its largest size setting.
“I’m TRYING!” Paul shouted.
Nau-Shesma opened one of its serpent mouths to spit venom only to get an arrow to the interior of the throat. Simultaneously, a dragon head prepared to shoot fire as its throat began to glow. Hamilton raised his shield and stood bravely in their path. Estefani began to lob arrow after arrow in an attempt to stymie further attacks.
REWIRING NEURAL PATHWAYS; STAND BY
Nau-Shesma roared from the first head they had killed; it was now almost half the size of its fully grown counterparts. Two other smaller heads already emerged from the other stumps, both in much earlier states of growth. The head that had prepared the flames took an arrow that grazed its eye, but ultimately did nothing to stop its attack.
A great gout of fire washed over Hamilton’s arm shield and caused his photonic shield to flare as well. The flames split themselves around his shield and washed over onto Paul, which forced him on the defense.
FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
88% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Paul drew his sword and stood fast behind Paul just in time to block a lightning fast bite and retaliate with a stab into the hood of the cobra head. Ignoring the pain in his side. Paul then activated the weapon’s stored capacitor shock into the head which caused it to spasm and smoke. Estefani landed a perfectly aimed arrow to the eye causing the monster to scream and hiss. Paul very nearly had his sword get wrenched from his hands when the head suddenly pulled back with great violence.
Another head struck at Hamilton, which he similarly blocked, though he failed to land much more than a gash before it withdrew. Nau-Shesma hissed at them and shot acid at them from its injured head, forcing them to raise their shields to protect their heads. The acid splashed everywhere else as steam and smoke began to rise. The slow speed and low energy state of the acid meant their photonic shields did not recognize it as a threat, which forced their armor and shield to be their only defense.
ENTERING CAUSTIC ENVIRONMENT; RETREAT RECOMMENDED DETECTING ARMOR DAMAGE; SELF REPAIR ACTIVATED;
SPARE META-MATERIAL PACK DEPLOYED; REFILL REQUIRED DETECTING WEAPON DAMAGE; SELF REPAIR ACTIVATED
Paul frantically shook the acid from his sword and armor in a desperate attempt to stop the degradation. A bright flash brought his attention to another flame burst headed their way. Paul and Hamilton raised their shields up again as the flames roasted them.
FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
72% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
61% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
49% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
“My shields are almost down! We can’t keep this up much longer!” Estefani said as she managed to land an arrow that put a stop to the fire breath.
“Use your jump charge to get out of here! My medical suite is working to repair damaged connections in the neuron clusters I use to control my powers.” Paul said as he blocked another attempted bite.
His sword swing in retaliation failed to penetrate as the snake head retracted itself.
It’s learning how to fight us… Being more cautious… You need to get closer… inside its attack range…
Gonna be kind of hard with it hiding behind the wall of tanks like that. All we can reach is the heads when they come close.
Paul racked his brains trying to find a solution to the issue as he lunged forward to slash at a head that tried to bite Hamilton.
“I'm not just gonna leave you behind like that!” She complained.
“Then consider it an order! We’ll keep him distracted as long as we can. Hopefully I’ll be able to access my powers soon. Right now you’re the only one who can fight at a longer range than it can and escape quickly if needed.” Paul replied.
“Fine. But I’m staying in this fight. You NEED me.” She replied as she jumped over the wall of experimentation tanks just in time to dodge another flame strike. Paul only just managed to raise his shield in time.
FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
41% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING FLAME STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
32% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
The bright flash of a photonic arrow zipped overhead in an arc and embedded itself in the dragon’s throat and killing the flames.
“That’s why you need me.”
“TASTY LITTLE SNACK THINKS IT CAN RUN ON TINY LITTLE FEET. WE TIRE OF YOUR STINGS AND ARROWS. YOU'LL DIE FIRST!”
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“Like hell you overgrown lizard! Catch me if you can!” She shouted before she broke into a run.
Nau-Shesma spat acid at Paul and Hamilton, forcing them to scatter and dive out of the way. Paul was forced into an awkward dive, a sharp pain in his side reminded him of his still-healing wounds. He was forced to watch helplessly as the Naga climbed over the rows of tanks in pursuit of its prey.
“Oh, HELL no! You ain’t getting away from us that easy! Nobody messes with our girl!” Hamilton shouted as he scrambled back to his feet.
Sword in hand, Hamilton bounded up to an insane run speed and threw himself into a leap that should have been impossible. Whether it was the adrenaline of the moment, the xeno-tech augmentations, or a combination of the two would be a matter for later debate. Paul’s eyes bugged out as his perception of what was now possible was expanded and utterly shattered.
Hamilton made the nearly three meter leap to the top of the nearest tank and landed heavily before he began running and jumping from tank to tank in hot pursuit. Paul tried to rise but was stopped by another sharp pain in his side. He inspected the painful spot only to find his hand came back slick with blood.
FUCK! I must have reopened the wound.
He struggled back to his feet and began moving as quickly as his battered body would allow along the ground well behind them all. Paul grimaced and raised his hand up again, determined to catch up to them no matter the cost. Paul felt for the familiar sensation of control over his powers only to be pushed back by a spike of pain. The speakers overhead blared to life, snapping him out of it.
"CAPACITOR CHARGE FULL; TEMPORAL COFFIN READY; STATION ADMINISTRATOR ON STANDBY"
That doesn’t sound good… Fuck it, mind over matter time….
His second attempt went just slightly better as he felt blood drip from his nostrils and from his eyes as the pressure and pain built to a climax. Bitter memories of the tortuous training he endured at the hands of the Ascension Project as his powers first manifest taunted him. In a fit of pure willpower, he pushed through the assembled barriers in his path and at last felt the familiar warm buzz of the Neural Pineal Carbonic Structure in his brain resonating.
NEURON PATHWAY REWIRE PROGRESSION UPDATE; LIMITED CONTROL RESTORED
Paul overshot himself into a parabolic curve, which allowed him to get a sense of the battle’s progression. Estefani had escaped the maze of tanks into the clearing at the front of the room and was using the doorway as an impassible barrier against the increasingly frustrated Naga. Nau-Shesma shot an impotent blast of fire her way that she easily dodged before she sent a few arrows back in response.
Hamilton had nearly caught up, after taking a short detour to get in recall range of his spear. Paul readjusted his flight path to join him, as his sense of control increased along with the fading pain. Hamilton took one last mighty leap onto the back of the distracted Naga and began to mercilessly stab his spear into the smaller-half formed necks. Their lack of armored scales made them easy to gauge deep wounds into the unprotected flesh of its neck.
Nau-Shesma screamed in pain as it thrashed about in an attempt to dislodge Hamilton, though an iron squeeze of his legs seemed to hold him firmly in place. Paul aimed himself with one last quick burst of TK and raised his sword overhead into a downward slash that severed the targeted neck from the body. Paul then landed into a roll, ignoring the pain in his side before he drove his sword upwards into the other freshly forming neck.
Nau-Shesma responded quickly by swiping at him with its dagger-like claws. Paul only just managed to block with his wrist shield, though the force follow through of the blow knocked him to the side anyway. Paul scrambled back to his feet as Hamilton finished severing the other smaller growing head. The third one they had severed first now was in Paul’s direct pathway and he raised his shield and prepared his sword to strike as it reared back.
Hamilton stabbed his spear deep into the top of the nearly full-sized neck and released his capacitor charge. Several photonic arrows landed, furthering the distraction. Paul took merciless advantage and used a TK assisted charge to close the gap. His sword cut deep into the throat and spilled what seemed like gallons of blood before it caught against bone. With a mighty heave, Paul managed to withdraw his sword and continue to hack away at the weakened neck.
“THIS ENDS NOW! WE TIRE OF THIS FARCE! WE REQUIRE ASSISTANCE! REINFORCE US MY LORD!”
"ACKNOWLEDGED, DEPLOYING TEMPORAL COFFIN; STATION ADMINISTRATOR RELEASE APPROVED"
In the huge chamber at the back of the room, a bright flash appeared which grew into a large black ball of energy before it dissipated. This one was much smaller than the one that had brought Nau-Shesma to them, nonetheless, alarm bells rang loudly in Paul’s brain. In his moment of temporary distraction, Paul very nearly missed the timing on blocking another claw swipe. The raw power packed behind the attack broke his shield and sent Paul flying backwards in a tumble.
Nau-Shesma then reared back with a mighty shake and finally dislodged Hamilton from his grip on its middle neck. One of its cobra heads hissed and spat acid at Paul, forcing him to use his Telekinesis to escape at the last second.
“FOOLS! YOU ARE NO CLOSER TO DEFEATING US THAN YOU WERE BEFORE YET STILL YOU PERSIST. NO MATTER. THE REAPER OF SOULS COMES FOR YOU NOW! OUR MERCIFUL LORD IMPLORES YOU SURRENDER. THERE WILL BE NO OTHER CHANCE.”
Paul watched from his spot in midair as the chaotic ball of black energy collapsed into a more standard null barrier before it lowered itself to the ground. Doubt tugged at his brain with the realization that they had done nothing but re-sever the same three heads as before. The fact that the wounds were closing and recovering slower seemed a paltry consolation in light of the looming reinforcements. Paul gripped the hilt on his sword tighter as he mulled over his options.
“Team one… HT One come in! We’ve cleared … have reinforcements…. Repeat we have cleared…. How copy?”
A smirk gave way to a deep laugh of released stress. Paul activated his speakers and pumped the volume.
“Piss off, snake! I told you already we will negotiate from atop your corpse only!” Paul shouted with glee before he switched back to radio.
“Estefani, link up with the others. We’ll keep them distracted. We only get one shot at the element of surprise here.” Paul said over their team radio.
Nau-Shesma hissed in anger and shot flames at Paul, which he dodged with contemptuous ease.
“THEN YOUR HUBRIS WILL LEAD TO YOUR DOOM.”
As the Naga spoke, the barrier in back dropped to reveal an almost impossibly buff giant in gleaming armor and a scaled metallic tunic about its waist. It’s helmet rose from a wide banded blue and gold plated headdress and took the form of a black jackal with ruby eyes. Buff arms that were nearly as wide as a normal human torso were crossed over its chest and were equipped with a jeweled mace in one hand and a black scepter in the other. At his side sat a snarling hybrid creature made from what appeared to be a hippo’s rear legs, a lion’s body and front paws, and a crocodile head.
THREAT DETECTED: NEPHAELI’IM-HUMAN HYBRID; QUANTITY: ONE,
POSITIVE ID: ANUBIS. WAR-BODY; THREAT LEVEL DEIFIC ADDITIONAL THREAT DETECTED: XENOFORM HYBRID; QUANTITY: ONE;
POSITIVE ID: AMMIT THE DEVOURER; THREAT LEVEL DEADLY WARNING: AVERAGE INTEGRATION LEVELS TOO LOW;
RETREAT RECOMMENDED
I know this one… this is not a battle… we can win… we must fall back into the corridor… it is the only way.
What do you mean you know this one? Our reinforcements are almost here, if we fall back now we lose maneuverability and the element of surprise. Paul thought, giving the entity a sharp rebuke.
“FOOLISH, WICKED HEARTED ADAMU, YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCEPTED OUR GIFT OF MERCY. YOUR SELFISH AND IRRATIONAL VIOLENCE SHOWS THE TRUE HEAVINESS OF YOUR HEART. WE NO LONGER NEED YOUR KA FOR NEGOTIATIONS. WE HAVE ALREADY FOUND ANOTHER ONE WORTHY OF THE HONOR. YOUR MATERIAL AND ETERNAL LIFE IS NOW FORFEIT, AND WE STAND IN JUDGEMENT AGAINST YOU!”
Off to Paul’s left, Hamilton was fighting a desperate battle to keep Nau-Shesma’s attention. By staying close and dodging, he seemed able to keep himself from harm, but any attacks he did manage to squeeze in the gaps seemed ineffectual at best. Anubis uncrossed his arms and lifted off into the air, taking Ammit alongside into a shared TK field as they rushed towards Paul. The black scepter he held flashed brightly before a pitch-black scythe-like blade shot forth from its head. The slight sheen of reflected light made it obvious to Paul that it was a blade of pure null matter.
Visions of an accident where a clumsy Ascension Project trainee lost a hand simply by having it within the closing radius of a null barrier came to his mind. The screaming and the severed cauterized stump had served a poignant lesson. Paul suppressed an involuntary shudder of fear at the implications of such a weapon. Involuntarily his hand drifted down towards his still-injured side.
That thing will cut through my armor like butter….
We warned you… recall Hamilton and retreat while you still can… your photonic shield will not protect you for long… not against this type of weapon…
Photonic shields… of course! Paul kicked himself for his lapse in tactical reasoning as he re-activated his wrist shield, thankful it had the time to recharge.
“HT One reporting! We're moving to pick up Estefani and are on our way to you! Just hang on a little longer, help is on the way!”
Anubis and Ammit landed gracefully and broke into a charge straight towards Paul.
“Hurry the fuck up! Or there won’t be anyone left to save!” Hamilton shouted.
“THE TIME FOR PARLEY HAS PASSED! PREPARE YOUR PRAYERS TO YOUR GODS FOR MERCY, FOR YOU SHALL GET NONE FROM US!” Anubis roared.
Paul raised his sword and held his shield at the ready, and once again cursed his bad luck at having lost his spear when he was being swallowed by the Naga.
"Spare me your talk of false gods and mercy! We know the true nature of your kind. You raise a facade of divine benevolence to hide the truth of your cruelty and oppression!" Paul shouted back as he broke into a sideways run to begin kiting his foes.
Ammit's mouth hung open as it ran, showcasing a mouth full of sharp teeth and flinging spittle. Paul raised his wrist and began to fire his laser projector as fast as it would cycle into Ammit's open mouth, which caused the great beast to howl in pain and shake its head as its pursuit slowed.
"YOU CLAIM TO KNOW MUCH YET YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING, ADAMU! YOUR KIND WERE HALF-CONSCIOUS APES WHEN WE HAPPENED ACROSS YOUR WORLD. YOU OWE YOUR VERY EXISTENCE TO OUR WISDOM AND GUIDANCE, LONG HAVE WE GOVERNED YOU WITH A LIGHT TOUCH, AND LONG HAVE WE SHEPHERDED YOUR KIND AWAY FROM THE PATHS THAT WOULD INEVITABLY LEAD TO YOUR SELF DESTRUCTION! YOUR TECHNOLOGY BETRAYS YOU, WE KNOW THE UNSEEN MASTERS THAT GUIDE YOUR HAND. SPARE US THE HYPOCRISY."
Anubis then pointed his jeweled mace towards Paul and flicked a control upon it that made it glow with a bluish aura. Paul found himself unable to run as he was engulfed in a powerful field that pulled him towards Anubis. In a panic, Paul formed the most powerful TK field he could muster around himself to counter the effect. He struggled in pain as he felt like he was being ripped in two while his mind burned with the exertion.
"FASCINATING... YOU MUST BE A POWERFUL TELEKINETIC INDEED TO RESIST THE PULL OF THE GRAVITON HAMMER... RESIST ALL YOU WANT. THE END RESULT WILL BE THE SAME. AMMIT, TEAR OUT HIS HEART!"
Paul struggled to aim his wrist laser amidst the pull of the dueling titanic forces exerted against his body as Ammit bounded into a leap with its wicked dagger-like claws extended fully from her lion paws. Paul lined up his shot and fired, but the shaking of his struggling muscles caused a near miss. Mere moments later, he was hit by the full weight of a hybrid beast that massed as much as a truck and his whole world turned to pain. His only consolation was Anubis dropped the graviton beam before impact, restoring full motion as Paul wrestled desperately with the savage animal for his life.
MULTIPLE KINETIC STRIKES DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
63% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
With a final heave of effort, Paul managed to get his feet under Ammit's belly and kicked her from atop himself, though she landed a mere meter away and right back on her paws. Paul had just enough time to form a quick TK field to throw her much farther back before Anubis arrived. Paul rolled as Anubis sliced through the deck where he had just been in a shower of bright high energy particles. Paul managed to get back to his feet, favoring his side, just in time to raise his shield to block the next strike. He eyed his sword on the ground several meters away as he sought a chance to retrieve it.
NULL MATTER STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
42% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
"This is HT One, we're at the last curve. We had to take care of a few last stragglers, keep fighting, we're almost there!"
Anubis wasted no time and followed up with a mace strike, this time with its head glowing faintly red. Instead of being sucked towards it, Paul felt the full force of the blow greatly multiplied by what must have been an anti-gravity effect.
KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
12% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Paul flailed helplessly as he flew through the air and smacked into the back wall with bone shattering force.
KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…
WARNING! SHIELD DEPLETED! RECHARGING EMERGENCY MEDICAL ALERT;
INTERNAL BLEEDING DETECTED
MULTIPLE BROKEN BONES DETECTED UPDATING TRIAGE QUEUE
DEPLOYING NANOMACHINES
IMMEDIATE MEDEVAC REQUIRED
"THE HERETIC IS FINISHED, AMMIT, YOU MAY FEAST NOW. ITS TIME I ASSIST NAU-SHESMA WITH ITS BATTLE WITH THE OTHER PEST."
Paul slumped against the back wall and coughed blood up into his helmet as he struggled to breathe. The last thing he saw before his world went black was Ammit's charge being stopped dead in its tracks as a .50 BMG round tore a chunk from its shoulder.
A small grin spread across Paul's face as he lost consciousness. The cavalry had finally arrived.