"Holy Mother of Ants!!! Antsss!!! Ants everywhere!!!" K-13 shouts as he kills more elite variants.
°The Queen is a hard worker; I must say°
Yu to everyone: Cirrinapods, 13. Not ants. Anyways, as you can see in the map I provided, you guys are inside one giant asteroid. It's like a maze!
Cold Welding is a fascinating and sometimes problematic phenomenon that occurs in vacuum conditions when two clean and flat surfaces of the same or similar materials come into contact with each other.
"It looks like that way, and we keep coming back to this location no matter what path we take!" Sylvia let out in frustration.
Yu to everyone: Cleaver! The Flathead Cirrinapods blocks and leads your way back.
"Flatheads unscrewing my head, torture! TORTURE!" K-13 randomly shouts.
°They have that type of variant? That's cool!°
Yu to everyone: Whatever 13... Anyway, I added a path for you two to follow to meet the Queen.
"Pathway way to hell!" K-13 happily shouts.
°Sounds good! Thank you, thank you°
"Killing the Queen should put them into chaos and immediately escape," Sylvia said, continuing, "I know it's a bit of a stretch, but it's the only way I can think of."
Yu to everyone: Take care and come back alive...
"Drama queen!" K-13 shouted as he split an enemy in half.
°I know Yu also cares, and I thank you°
Yu to everyone: (Static sounds)
In Yu's processors, the chance of them getting out alive is very slim, and her response makes her more like a living being than other humans. So, what makes someone or something human?
"I can't even make a dent!" Sylvia protests until K-13 uses his blaster not to shoot but to mimic what he saw.
A small and precise EMP through the door like password that the Cirrinapods use to let the other side open the path.
"You're a genius!" Sylvia happily comments and kills the enemy.
"Open sesame!" K-13 happily lets out.
°Just lucky!°
They continue to follow the path Yu provided as they face their enemy head-on. They might be skilled and can be called elite, but they're just living beings that get tired from a prolonged battle and two against a whole colony; they need more than skill and luck.
"Kay, have you seen those space horror movies when the MC's suit leaks?" Sylvia casually said.
MC- Main Character
"To the abyss! Ha Ha Ha Ha!" K-13 madly laughs.
°Not a good way to react, body! And we better hurry!°
Yu to Sylvia: Please don't joke like that! You can't leave me with 13... Just scanned your suit... You're leaking oxygen! Turn back now! I'll pick you up and, and...
"Don't worry, you two! It's just a small leak," Sylvia reassures as she kills another flathead as soon as it opens a path.
Sylvia used all her IESSS and quickly fixed all leakage, but the user had to stand still to cure and to successfully seal her suit. Fighting the enemies did not help her at all.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Internal Emergency Space Suit Sealant: Innovative compound created by a bum during the Holy War that saves humans from suffocation. Once activated, the gel looks its way to the hole, changing its state and transforming into a flexible sealant for a temporary fix.
Closing to the Queen's chamber, Sylvia and K-13 enter an open area and encounter three "Royal Guards" of the Queen.
1st Guard: A fatter kind but small rocks float around it, which it has complete control to attack and defend.
2nd Guard: Smaller build, but the main body is built for ramming the enemy like an Artillery shell.
3rd Guard: Regular size and tentacles are naturally attached to the wall.
RG- Royal Guards
Yu to everyone: Based on my research, the Royal Guards are mutated warriors of the colony. Stronger and way more dangerous.
"I'LL SLURP THEIR BRAIN FOR POWERRR!" K-13 shouts at the top of his lungs.
°More variant? This is so cool! It reminds me of my brothers and sisters°
"Be careful, Kay! We don't know what they can do!" Sylvia reminds K-13.
"The first one is so fat; rocks float around it!" K-13 happily remarks
°Will do! Wait, I can say funny jokes?°
Yu to everyone: Hahaha, that's funny! You know, cause gravity?! Why can you be normal like your jokes?
"THAT'S NO DESTROYER! I am the DESTROYER!"
°Old guy once told me when you accept who you are, you'll never be lost. Something like that°
Yu: ...
"..." Sylvia didn't comment and focused on the enemies.
Knowing what's happening in the hive, the three RG immediately charge after they hear K-13 shout at the top of his lungs.
With the 3rd RG holding the 2nd RG, K-13 shouts once again. "Dodgeball time!"
°Shit! Dodge the enemy°
Sylvia looks at the enemy and realizes what K-13's words mean. Before Sylvia realizes what's happening, the 2nd RG shoots towards them, and with an open area in zero gravity, they're sitting ducks. She knows she can't avoid the enemy, but K-13 comes to the rescue with his grappling hook to grab her to safety.
When the 2nd RG hits the wall, it looks like two cars collided, and small rock debris shoots everywhere.
"CAR WREAKED!" K-13 shouts.
°Fuck!°
"Thanks!" Sylvia happily lets out but notices the wall's cracks creating an intricate pattern, and without warning, the hexagonal pattern extends like a pillar, propelling the two away from the wall.
Yu: Be careful! The Royal Guard rooted in the wall controls the room!
"Wall parasite!" K-13 let out.
°Dr. Two once said that who he controls the battlefield controls its outcome°
Without anything or anywhere to grab into, they watch the 2nd RG position to shoot itself while the 1st RG shoots fist-size rocks.
"Give it to me! I can take it! GIVE IT ALL!.Ha! Ha! Ha!" K-13 frantically laughs.
°Perfect, perfect!°
K-13's blaster turns into a small shield that can produce a controllable force field. He can make it as big as he wants, but he needs to conserve its power if he wants them to survive.
With the projectiles hitting K-13's shield, it propels them back to the wall, and before the 3rd RG pushes them back to the center, Sylvia suggested to separate, but this time, she knows the enemy's ability and knows what to do to give K-13 time and space to attack the enemies.
"Kay! You know what to do!" Sylvia said as she pushed each other with her legs, separating in the opposite direction.
"Slashing time!" K-13 let out.
°Got it! We don't have enough time to defeat the enemies, but I have a plan°
With them separated, the 2nd RG focuses on K-13, the 1st RG targets Sylvia, who's running on the walls, while the 3rd RG assists the 1st and 2nd RG.
Sylvia's suit has retractable claws in all limbs to run around the area, while K-13 uses his grappling hook, blaster, shield, and the enemy's attack to move around.
Yu watches the two, especially Sylvia, with the ship's sensors and can't help but to feel anxious and worried about her safety. She wants to tell them her feelings and thoughts, but she must stay quiet; losing focus means death at this very moment; praying for their safe return is not usual for an AI.
It must be deep inside her code or a genuine feeling that evolved over a long period of time, but who knows... Yu is more human than she'll ever know. Let's just keep it that way.
After a few minutes, the 2nd RG hits the same spot it's been hitting since the beginning, as K-13 planned, and destroys it, giving them access to the Queen's camber.
All of the RG panicked and focused their effort to secure and close the hole.
"MURDER!!!" K-13 shouts as he charges towards the 3rd RG.
°AHHH!°
No one expected K-13 to attack the 3rd RG since he's on the opposite side of the room. Still, with the 3rd RG's attack pushing him into the center and with the remaining blaster power, he quickly reached the 3rd RG and sliced it in half successfully, unlike his first attempt, where it was covered with rock as protection; it was used to cover the hole to protect their Queen.
The 3rd RG needs to see to attack and defend, and with that short amount of time, K-13 kills a RG. The 3rd RG happens to be the one who controls the whole hive's structure by giving orders to the rest of the colony to keep their home like a maze and bunker.
"BODY OF CHRIST!" K-13 menacingly laughs as he takes the 3rd RG's body with him to cover the hole after they pass the hole leading to the Queen's chamber.
°This should do the trick!°
Yu: Without that RG, the cluster is undoing? Temporarily. You guys can escape! No need to slay the Queen! Thank God.
From K-13's point of view, everything slows down, and saw the Queen and stops escaping.
"A Queen deserves a Knight!" K-13 loudly let out and went straight to the Queen.
°I need to see the Queen!°
Yu: Where the FUCK are you going, 13? Vi! Just leave that monkey!
"I think... It's safer to go with Kay!" Sylvia looks around, and no enemies can be seen, but shaking from the 2nd RG, trying to unblock the path.
Yu: ...
Reaching the Queen, both knew what she'd been through with chain cuffs in every tentacle and a busted metal device implanted in the Queen's brain.
"Fallen Queen! I'm your Knightmare!" K-13 in an angry tone.
°Don't be afraid°
The Queen looks at K-13 in horror and tries to fight back as she shrinks in fear in the corner.
K-13 aggressively grabs the Queen's tentacles (It's K-13's nature) while the Queen helplessly pushes him away.
It's such a cruel fate. Slaved in the past, free but trapped by her own memories and trauma, She'll never be free.
Giving up and accepting what was to come, a sense of tranquillity knowing her suffering was ending and a sudden bliss as the chain cuff undone. The Queen looks at K-13, and Sylvia escapes, not knowing what just happened and what to do.
Yu: Hurry up! Vi's air is running empty! You guys should have left when the opportunity showed itself!
"..." K-13 didn't say a word as he followed Sylvia.
°A gift like my Old Man once given to me... Freedom°
Sylvia smiles as she passes out.
Yu: No! No no no no. 13! Vi! Sylvia! Vi!
"Fear not!" K-13 shouts, grabbing Sylvia and sharing his air with her.
The Cirrinapods stopped pursuing them midway, but K-13 also passed out after both depleted their air out as he saw the ship.
Yu grabbed both of them and immediately went to treat the two.
Yu: I'm here... I got you two!
End.