Barten took a tentative step through the exit of the room. Only his caution was unwarranted as that the tunnel was empty. No hostiles, not even the smaller ones, could be detected. Conners’ words echoed through his mind. There would be tougher enemies to fight against. Ones that he might not be currently capable of dealing with.
So Barten turned his attention to the persistent blinking blue light that had been living at the corner of his vision.
—
You have reached level Pilot 4!
1 stat point has been awarded.
—
Barten frowned. He had been hoping for something more when he reached level 4. While the lone stat point wasn’t nothing. It still wasn’t the skill point, or anything else, that he was hoping to see. He had already decided where to spend his stat points, and he quickly brought up Psychic Resonance to 8.
With a little more power available Barten felt that he would at least be able to escape if things were to go poorly. Maybe if he was lucky there would be another level to be gained?
—
Level 4
1001/8000
—
That wasn’t great. But it gave him an idea on what to expect. Though who knows how the system calculates experience. Maybe it would take one big fight. Or several smaller ones. Barten decided to try and take down anything and everything that he came across. Just in case he needed the boost to level 5.
The tunnel that Barten was in slowly winded its way downward. At each junction was a single spider at first. Which he was easily able to overwhelm with the speed of his winged dav. He was quite tired of always missing his shots all of the time. So he charged in and chopped hard with the machete sized blade that all non melee davs have been equipped with. It usually rested on the back of his dav, just under the wings.
He was happy to see when the first one gave him 250 exp. But then it slowly dwindled from there as he continued to kill them. With the last one giving him only 50 exp. At the very least it seemed like the system didn’t reward one when things were no longer challenging. Or maybe it was because he kept killing the same thing over and over?
Barten shook his head. He was getting distracted. By how easy things had become. As well as the game-like aspect of the system. The tunnel that he was currently in had been running straight for sometime. And he finally saw an opening in the distance. But there was also a pair of spiders guarding the door.
Would the charge work? Probably against one at least. They had been reacting faster the more that he killed. Which showed that whatever AI they had was learning. Two was almost too much of a risk for Barten to take. It was impossible to tell if either of the other two reactors had been blown yet. But he didn’t think that they had. The object was shaking slightly at times. And he assumed that was from the fighting that was being done on the top level. If one of the reactors blew, wouldn't it shake the entire place?
Barten stopped his line of thought for a moment. If the reactors did blow like that, didn’t it mean that anyone who popped one would be standing on a stack of dynamite? He couldn't think of a safe way to disable it. Which could only work if there was a terminal or something that he could understand and work. Was he really such a jughead that the only way forward was by shooting it?
He realized that he was procrastinating. If two of the spiders were enough to get him in a tizzy then what about one of the type 5s? Another of the turned? Barten put his worries out of his mind. And decided that any problems would be dealt with as they came up.
Charging was fine enough for one, but it would make him vulnerable to the second one. Trying to block with the plasma cannon wasn’t a great idea. Neither was sacrificing a limb. So Barten doubled back to the last type 3 he had downed. Hacked off a leg and shouldered the cannon. He hadn’t trained at all with two weapons. But from watching the others he at least had some idea on how to move with them.
Once he was back in the tunnel with the 2 type 3s Barten just changed. He had spent enough time worrying about things. And it was instead a time for action. His first attack on the spider missed. And he needed to make another attack in order to finish it.
The second type 3 instead of attacking went for a body check. The momentum knocked Barten’s dav against the wall of the tunnel. He grimaced through the impact and was then able to spear the type 3 with the leg that he had taken. And then finish it off with a chop of his machete. It didn’t go perfectly. It was enough that he wasn’t wrecked and could still continue fighting.
He took a moment to center himself before he peeked into the room before him. It was large, larger than the one where he parted with the rest of Foxtrot 6. In the middle was a pit that shone light out of. From what Barten could see there wasn’t anything else in the room. While there were several entrances like the one he had just entered from. Which probably meant that they were also guards posted further in.
Barten tossed the spider leg aside, sheathed his machete on his back, and stepped forward. Plasma cannon raised and ready to be fired at any threats. He was able to approach the pit without issue. And when he looked inside all Barten saw was an almost blinding light. If the pit was anything, it should be the reactor.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Just as he was trying to think of a way to destroy it, Barten heard a noise behind him. As he turned to look his dav was bodychecked from behind and he found himself falling into the pit. His dav floated for a moment before he engaged the wings and flew to the other side.
“Pity,” a voice came over the comms. “It would have been a great boon to the Aethergarblind had you fallen in. At least you would have been able to become one with us.” It almost sounded like Smith. But the voice was horse and gravelly.
“Smith?” Barten asked. He landed and turned around. On the far side of the pit a type 5 was standing. “Is that you?”
He laughed. “That was the name of this body before I took over it. Did you know that he thought he could fight against me? With just his feeble mind?”
“Your harvest will fail. We won’t let you go through with it.” Barten looked over the pit and shot his plasma cannon down the shaft. The plasma fell until he couldn’t see it anymore. The blue light swallowed by the yellow light of the reactor.
“Your actions will yield you no results. More than your pitiful weapons will be needed to destroy the fountain of power between us,” Smith said and started to skirt the side of the pit. “Now. Since you have already refused to join us I tried to execute you for your sins. But it seems that you are more resilient than I expected. This time I’ll use a more physical approach to dealing with you.”
Barten leveled his plasma cannon at the type 5 that Smith was piloting. Would he be able to- Instead of completing the thought Barten fired instead. The plasma arced over the pit and Smith side stepped it. A chuckle came over the comms. “So inelegant. Perhaps if it were as fast as our beam weapons you would have a chance. But you do not.”
Instead of letting Smith’s words get to him. Barten shouldered his plasma cannon behind him and drew out the machete from the sheath on his back. This upcoming combat was going to get rough if all he had to rely on was a side weapon. It was too late to change things, But Barten wished that he had picked up Dane’s sword or shield or something.
Barten decided to take on a more defensive approach. He darted in once Smith was in range and attempted an attack. His sword aimed at the type 5s arm. Not enough to be deadly, but enough to hinder Smith and perhaps put the fight into Barten’s favor.
Only Smith parried it. The forearms of his type 5 had edges on them and looked more like swords. There was a resounding clang when the two met. And Barten found himself on the backfoot. As the recoil from the clash pushed him, and only him, backwards.
Before Barten could mount another attack, Smith had already pointed an arm at Barten. There were several noises of air being shot out, and the small black projectiles came flying. They dinged each time they landed on his armor and the dav brought up several warnings about the small amount of damage he was taking.
How many times could Smith shoot such a volley? And given that Conners seemed to launch them all at once the weapon was dangerous enough to down Barten if he wasn’t careful. Or if he over committed and Smith caught him off guard. He circled around Smith and placed the back of the type 5 to the glowing yellow pit.
“Come on Barten. You’re not going to try and steal my own trick from me?” Smith asked. “This flesh thought more of you. I’m always surprised from his memories at how much he thought of the group that you were with. Is this what they call camaraderie?”
Barten clenched his teeth. Hearing the Goliath throwing Smith’s memories at him just about broke his hold on his emotions. If that did happen he was just playing into the enemy's hands. And there would be no chance for him to save Smith or the Earth. Even worse he could be taken himself.
With a roar over the comms Barten charged Smith. Even going so far as to engage his wings for the first time in the fight. The type 5 went low and seemed about ready to either deliver an uppercut or dive to the side. But Barten had another idea in mind. And he swapped out his machete for the plasma cannon. He used the wings of the dav to arrest his motion, an action that put quite the strain on his body, and one that might not have been doable without the bump to his Con. Then he leveled the cannon at Smith’s type 5 and pulled the trigger.
Smith went into a dive as Barten expected. But also faster than what Barten had hoped he would be able to do. The plasma shot landed behind the type 5 and pushed him forward a step. But before Barten could capitalize on the opportunity Smith had already stepped into another roll to Barten’s left.
This time both arms of the type 5 rose and Barten knew that it was going to be trouble. He dashed to his right and put the pit between the two of them. Smith held back and did not fire. “I was surprised by that trick with the gun. But not enough for it to work. What was more surprising was that you were even able to aim it at this flesh. I had thought that you humans valued one another more than that,” Smith said with an eerie chuckle.
Barten had a few choices in front of him. He was clearly no match for Smith as he was. Conners had been right. And if it were about any other topic Barten would be loath to admit it to the man. He could try and hold out until the rest of the Foxtrot squad arrived. Or even until one of the other squads. But that would only matter if they were able to get by all of the interference between them and the reactor.
The next choice was to just try and fight against Smith. Hope for something to change, or for the best. But what if he failed? Or if more type 5s appeared? It was rather strange that there was only Smith defending what should have been an important resource of the object.
There was a rumbling as the entire object shook. A sloshing sound came from within the pit. And a brilliant yellow liquid splashed around the edges. Barten had to dodge to the side as parts of the roof came tumbling down. “What? How could they have managed that?” Smith asked and then roared.
Someone must have found a way to destroy another one of the reactors. So it was possible. There was a way to win. Instead of dwelling in the endless questions that he could think up Barten picked the last option that he had to him.
—
Level 4
7030/8000
—
He engaged his wings and flew out of the nearest entrance. There were two type 5s still standing guard. With one swing of his machete and a lucky plasma cannon shot Barten was able to down both of them.
—
Level 4
7080/8000
—
What would level 5 bring?