The rest of the guards outside the reactor room were dealt with quickly. I was surprised at how little I felt after all the death and destruction I had caused up until now. Was protecting those I cared about enough justification for what I had done? For what they had done to me? The guilt raced around in my head. I wondered if these soldiers had a family waiting for them to return home. The thoughts sat heavy on my mind, twisting, and churning into warped possibilities. I grimaced and tried to shake them. There was no choice. With a deep breath, I spun around and returned to the control room to check how much progress Tom and Samiel had made.
“Are you two almost done?” I asked as the door slid shut behind me.
Neither Tom nor Samiel looked up at me and continued to type away with impressive speed. I took that as a no. I was worried. While the small fry that had assaulted us at first were easy enough for me to deal with, if Ozark himself eventually arrived, things would turn sour very quickly. We need to get out of here before then.
“Crim, sorry! Trying to focus. This is delicate work.” Tom yelled over to me, looking up from the computer screen for only a fleeting moment.
“It would be a lot easier if you were not causing such a racket outside!” ridiculed Samiel, his eyes still locked onto the screen.
I decided to ignore that comment. It was not worth the trouble at this point. As long as he did his job, that was all I cared about now.
“I am almost done with this reactor, and I have one more after this.” Tom commented, shaking his head at Samiel’s comment.
“Likewise.” Added Samiel.
I nodded. This was good. We just had to hold out for a little while longer then. Protecting these two was my mission and I intended to see it through to the end.
At this thought, my ears perked up and I quickly spun around to face the doorway. I was puzzled. Were those footsteps? They sounded far too quick and heavy to be one of the guards. Whatever it was, it was going to be here fast.
“Something is coming! Its far bigger and faster than the last ones!” I yelled as I moved forward to open the door. “You both be prepared!”
As soon as the door slid open, I saw something huge flying down the hall towards us. It stood so tall its helmet scraped the ceiling as it barreled forward, its stomps shaking the whole area. But that was not the only problem. I heard at least two more approaching from the sides, my ears flicking back and forth in a panic. They were going to try and smash through the doors!
“They sent a behemoth! Oh god!” Samiel cried out from behind me, his voice full of fear.
I wanted to ask what that was, but I did not get the chance. The beast was already here and about to be upon me. Instead of bracing myself, I charged forward to head it off and stop its momentum. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. Not only did this thing not even stagger when we collided, it kept on going, carrying me effortlessly into the room before embedding me into the wall opposite the doorway. It was like colliding with a mountain.
“You idiot! Did you think you could fight it head on!” ridiculed Samiel, taking cover under one of the desks.
I had no time to react. As I fell from the wall and rose back up to my feet, the hulking creature was already pulling back a fist to swing at me. It missed as I dodged to the side, taking out a few tables in the process. As it readied another blow, I tried yet again to meet this foe head on. I slashed and bit at any limb I could reach but the armor it wore was immensely thick and regenerated much faster than what I had seen before. Growing frustrated, I clamped onto one of its arms mid-swing and tried to wrestle it down with little success. It was big, heavy, and from what I could wager, not too smart.
As I struggled with one of them, I heard a thunderous boom as two more crashed into their respected doors on either side of the room. I could only catch a glance because I dared not look away from this monster for too long. The doors we had previously shut tight were practically folded in two from the impact. They were now punching away mindlessly, trying to free the doors the rest of the way.
“Crim! There are more of them!” cried Tom frantically.
“I am aware!” I managed to bark out as I finally got my footing. Planting my feet and using my claws to grip the floor, I whipped the behemoth around and sent him crashing into the far wall.
A lot of computers and equipment were destroyed in the process, and I feared we were going to cause even more damage here shortly.
“I hope that was not important!” I shouted out towards Tom and Samiel.
Samiel threw his hands up in frustration as he hurried away from the destruction.
“Oh no! Just destroy everything. I am sure it will be fine!” he bickered, eyeing the behemoth from across the room. “The main control panels need to stay intact! Do us both a favor and play with them somewhere else!”
“I do not really have a choice in the matter!” I growled, bounding forward to knock the creature down once more as it slowly rose up. “You are just going to have to work around it!”
I could have sworn I heard him mutter a few choice words, but it was not important. I had to deal with these behemoths somehow. While the first one was recovering, I looked first to the east. This one was almost through the doorway. The west seemed to be fairing a bit better. The door was only now being peeled back by the creature. I would prefer to not have to deal with more than one at the same time if I could help it.
As I was frantically trying to think of an idea, I felt a colossal fist grab my leg and lift me into the air. I knew I should not have looked away. The creature twirled me overhead like a child’s toy before repeatedly smashing me into whatever was within its reach. My head started to ache as the world spun around me, a shower of sparks erupting from whatever poor machine was unlucky enough to be in the way. I was pretty durable, but this was starting to take a toll on me. I needed to get away.
Thinking fast, I sank my claws into the ground as it smashed me down once more. It went to swing again but found it could no longer lift me. It paused and looked at me confused. I took this moment to spin around and sink my fangs into the creature’s forearm. The armor was tough, very tough but I just kept biting. My teeth slowly sank further into its arm as it started to pummel me with its free hand, trying to knock me off. I did not relent. All around it swung me, trying desperately to free itself from my encroaching fangs which were now starting to slowly dig into the soft flesh beneath. Wails of pain escaped the beast, which only encouraged me to bite down even harder still.
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With a loud crunch, my hard work had paid off. I fell to the floor, just barely managing to catch myself with my prize still firmly locked between my teeth. The behemoth’s arm was now mine. Looking up at my handiwork, all that remained was an exposed bone and torn flesh. I spat it out in disgust. It tasted foul, tainted with mana.
“Almost done!” shouted Tom just as the eastern door gave way and another behemoth stepped inside, its eyes locked squarely on Tom.
I looked to the current one, now flailing on the ground in pain, gripping what was left of its arm. It may have been trying to stop the bleeding, but I suspected there was little it could do. With it out of the battle for now, I spun around and charged at the newcomer before it could reach Tom.
“Run!” screamed Samiel as I tackled the creature.
Tom did not stop to ask questions. He leaped over the terminal he was working on and fled to another across the room.
“Why is it after me?” Tom yelled, as he tried to keep the creature in his line of sight while typing into the nearest terminal.
“Behemoths are very simple!” commented Samiel who followed Tom’s lead and moved further away from the action. “They lock onto the first thing they see and just mindlessly beat the crap out of it. Its why there are no other guards here. They tend to kill their own.”
“Oh, that is just great!” replied Tom as he tried to work even quicker now.
Samiel’s words made sense. The first one to attack us saw me first when I opened the door and did not try to attack the others at all. Unfortunately for us, Tom was the first thing the second one saw when it finally managed to get inside. Now that I knew I could hurt them given enough time, it gave me some much needed hope.
Diving low, I decided to go for the legs of this next one, clamping down like I had before. It seemed to be working, but it looked like things were not going to be as simple. While I did have a firm grip onto its leg, it was still able to move with relevant ease, dragging me across the floor. The thing was still chasing Tom even with me trying to tear its leg off. How simple minded could something be?
I desperately tried to cling onto anything I could reach, my claws leaving deep grooves in the ground. That slowed it down but not completely. This was not going to work. I needed to get it away from Tom and quickly. Planting my feet, I heaved upward, trying to topple this beast over. It tried to correct its balance but ended up following forward instead.
Tom leaped out of the way as the creature came toppling down where he had been working moments before. The terminal he had been typing on was crushed. Scrambling to his feet, Tom rushed over to where Samiel stood and started to help him instead.
With the beast now on the ground, I started to drag it towards the other door which by now was almost completely ripped free by our third guest. I wanted to make sure I was the first thing it saw, not one of the others. It was hard enough having to chase after one let alone two. I would not be able to manage.
Just as I was about to reach it, the third door was sent flying much like the last one, the behemoth standing in the doorway, eyes locked. I started struggling to bite down harder on this one’s leg, but the bone was much thicker this time around. Expecting two on one, I tried to position myself a little better, but it was not necessary.
I heard the thud of a fist connecting but I was not its target. My eyes darted upward in time to see the latest behemoth winding back and punching the one I was currently fighting against square in the head. Was it attacking its own kind? Of course! It had not seen me first but its comrade.
“Stupid creatures. All muscle and no brains.” Commented Samiel as he looked over, not amused in the slightest.
He was right there but I was thankful for it. The only reason we were all still standing was the fact these guys were dumb, and I intended to use that to our advantage. The behemoth I was currently biting down on was struggling to get back up with both me and its own comrade fighting it. This was perfect. I started to run, dragging the fallen creature with me out of the room. This proved to be more difficult than I anticipated but it was working. If I could lead them both away, I may be able to get rid of them.
It took far longer than I would have liked but I dragged the creature down the hall and into another open room, all while it was being continuously pummeled by my unknowing assistant. Once there, I simply released it and backed away. Even if I had not finished off its leg, the damage was enough to ensure it could no longer walk. Although, it was surely going to keep trying. As I slowly walked backwards out of the room, the two creatures continued to struggle, one continuously pummeling its prey while the other tried to desperately return to Tom.
Hopefully those two will keep each other busy while we finish. I returned to find Tom and Samiel no longer typing away on the terminals but talking amongst themselves.
“I will admit you did far more than I would have given you credit for.” Samiel said in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Yeah, you are just mad I got mine done first.” Mocked Tom, cracking his knuckles.
“I would never!” shouted Samiel.
“Is everything ready?” I shouted as stepped further into the room, both of them turning to look at me.
“Yeah, everything is done. We have about an hour.” Tom replied, still glancing at Samiel, quite annoyed.
“Yes, the job is done. I take it you dealt with those brutish creatures?” Remarked Samiel, turning to walk towards the exit.
“They should keep each other busy for a while at least. More than enough time for us to get out of here.” I said back, walking over to let Tom hop onto my back.
“Pfft, now I have seen everything.” Samiel commented.
We all started back towards the gate, taking our time to be careful of any more surprises. Samiel insisted there would be no regular guards out with the recent behemoths released but I was not so sure. I wanted to return as quickly as possible. Leaving Katie and others alone for so long was making me worry. Were they okay? Had they started the gate? We would be there soon.
As we approached though, I felt something in the pit of my stomach. There was a pile of bodies stacked just outside the door. Fear raced through my body as I sped forward. They had to be okay! As I got closer, I noticed the entire door was missing. I paused just long enough to tell Tom to hop off before blindly dashing inside. I saw nothing. There was nobody here besides more Old One corpses scattered all around and much to my surprise, another fallen behemoth.
“What happened here? Where is everybody?” I called out, poking my head into the locker room hoping to find somebody.
Tom and Samiel entered the room and seemed just as perplexed.
“The gate. It is turned off.” Commented Samiel as he ran up to inspect it. “Though it does look like it was turned off very recently. Perhaps your friends already went through?”
“Does the gate turn off when its complete?” asked Tom.
“Well, not quite. It will eventually time out and close on its own, but this was done manually.” Replied Samiel as he scanned the terminal for more information.
I had a terrible feeling in my stomach. Something was not right here but I could not place it. Katie said they would wait for us, and I believed her. There is the chance they had no choice but to flee through the portal, but somebody would have had to stay to turn it off. I had a terrible thought.
“Tom, do any of your comrades besides Katie know how to work one of these?” I asked quickly, my eyes wide.
“No, just me and Katie.” Tom replied, looking at me curiously before it clicked in his head as well. “That would mean either she stayed behind or…”
Tom was cut off by a booming voice that seemed to come from everywhere. It was the voice of none other than Commander Ozark.
“You have made quite a mess of my ship Experiment 001. It is going to take ages to fix all the damage.” He mused, “But not to worry, I am sure your friend here will be of some help.”
My fear was realized. Katie was still on the ship and Ozark had her.
“Where are you!” I shouted, looking around the room.
“It is an intercom Crim, he is not here.” Remarked Tom as he listened.
“I am on the command deck of course. Where else would the commander be? Why don’t you come pay me a visit and we can discuss some things.” Came the voice again.
“You will pay if you hurt Katie!” I growled, my temper rising.
“Oh, fear not Experiment 001. I will not be hurting your friend. She is far more useful to me alive. You seem to care about her tremendously which makes her valuable to me.” Ozark said, his voice full of malice.
“When I find you!” I snarled, dashing towards the exit.
“Wait, Crim!” called Tom, reaching out to try and stop me.
“They have Katie Tom!” I snapped back, pausing at the doorway. “I am not going to leave her!”
Tom swallowed and sighed, gesturing to the gate terminal.
“We have under an hour Crim. Please rescue Katie. I will have the gate ready for you when you get back.” Tom said with a quivering voice.
I nodded to the two of them and shot out of the room. I had no idea where I was going but I would find them even if it was the last thing I did.