Chapter 6. Rat War.

“LANI, it looks like more of the rats are coming for us,” Watkins said. LANI was still a bit of out of it after helping him secure control of the compartment, but he could feel her shift her focus onto the mutant rat stalking its way toward the drone hatch.

“Wait, look at the others, those rats are not the same as the ones that attacked us,” LANI said. She was right, the movement that Watkins had spotted from under the storage racks wasn’t more of the mutated rats, these were much more normal looking.

“Why are those not mutated? Wait, why are there even rats aboard the ship, mutant or not, what were they eating? We’ve been drifting out here for over a century,” Watkins asked.

“It must be your core energy, Watkins, that’s the reason there is so much life aboard your ship. It’s probably also the reason it took so long for you to become conscious. These rats, mutants, and whatever else might be aboard, are being sustained by your core energy,” LANI said.

“But how did they get onboard in the first place? You can’t tell me that there are rats and other vermin on spaceships. They were never a problem on the warships I served on,” Watkins asked.

“Not every ship is maintained to the same standards. I don’t have the data available anymore, but I do remember that the council contracted with third parties to bring supplies out to the station. Undoubtedly, some of those vessels carried vermin, and those vermin, without any automated maintenance systems remaining operable, must have infested the station, and your attached vessel.

“Given an ample food supply, in this case, your core energy, they would multiply and thrive while aboard. Oh my, look at that,” LANI said, sudden cutting off her explanation.

Watkins, who had been focused on the mutated rat the whole time, watched the six other rats pounce on and begin to attack the mutated creature. They were all about the same size, but the mutated rat seemed to be stronger than the others. Not only was it stronger, but it had also more natural weapons to work with.

The mutated rat had a hard, chitinous outer layer that other rats had trouble penetrating. They were still hurting the mutant, but the damage seemed negligible. In return, the mutant was easily able to clamp onto the rough, hairy bodies of the normal rats, each bite inflicting grievous wounds on its target.

It was hard to keep track of the fight, as the rats swarmed over each other in a confusing ball of combat. One, then another of the normal rats fell to the mutant’s bite, their lifeless bodies flopping onto the buckled decking. As it killed off the third normal rat, two more charged out from under the shelving, reinforcing their kin.

“That mutant is a real monster, isn’t it,” Watkins commented as the thing made its fourth kill of the fight.

“Truly, but quantity counts for something,” LANI replied, watching as yet another pair of rats charged out to join the fight. The normal rats were finally starting to have an impact, and Watkins noticed that several had focused on the back left leg of the mutant.

After killing another normal rat, the mutant began to back away, heading toward the opening in the deck it had emerged from. The fight continued, but things slowed down a bit. Both sides were wary of each other, and only when they thought they had a good opening would one lunge forward to bite.

“I’m glad I have a pattern for those mutant rats, we can probably build some eventually,” Watkins said.

“Wait, why didn’t I see that when I examined your logs and database,” LANI said excitedly, going quiet as she sorted through the data they shared.

“I gave you permission, I’m not sure why you didn’t see it? I got something called a Mobile Offensive Battle System schematic when the drones reprocessed the ones they killed,” Watkins explained.

“Interesting, it looks like data on your schematics was locked out until we controlled this chamber. I can see it now that we have direct access to the fabricator. This is good news, but we need to hurry. Send your drones in to gather up the corpses. Make sure they’re specifically tasked with that, not gathering other salvage. Also set them to passive so they don’t stop to defend themselves,” LANI said frantically.

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“Why? Those rats will tear them apart,” Watkins said, not wanting to send his only drones into certain death against so many angry opponents.

“Please, just do what I requested. The other rats are busy with each other. If our drones can gather up enough biomass, we can build our own mutant rats. Should you delay, one side is going to beat the other and claim the remains as their prize. We need that biomass,” LANI explained.

Watkins was still not entirely certain that LANI was right, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to compromise and send one drone, keeping the other in reserve. Giving his drone the command that LANI had suggested, Watkins sent it on its way. The access hatch for the drone slid open, and the unobstructed path to Watkins’ core drew the attention of the mutated rat, who then suffered for it when two of the normal rats shot in and landed solid bites on the mutant.

Squealing in pain, the mutant retaliated, snapping at his foes but missing. The mutant’s wounds were building, and the chitinous outer layer of the beast was breached in several places from the repeated bites. A nasty, green tinted blood leaked from the wounds, the scent of which seemed to entice the other rats as they sensed the weakness in their opponent.

Watkins turned his attention away from the rat brawl, watching his drone approach the nearest rat corpses. It opened the compartment on the back of its main body, stuffing the rat corpse inside. Only one of the large rats fit inside the storage compartment, but the drone was also able to haul a second rat that it hooked with one of its front legs.

Overburdened, the drone began to slowly walk toward the far wall, the rats ignoring it for the time being. Another access panel opened on the far wall, right next to a human-sized hatch. The hatch resembled one that Watkins would expect to find on a submarine back home, but he figured in space, you had to have everything sealed off from potential leaks, just like you’d have to do under the ocean.

The drone disappeared through the hatch, ostensibly making its way to the reprocessor. Watkins was hoping the reprocessor was in the next forward compartment, which would be rather convenient as it was probably the target for his next expansion. So far, all the compartments were in a single line, and no passages broke off to the right or left. He couldn’t sense his hull yet, so there was still something between what he’d gained control over and the space his ship was drifting through.

With the first drone no worse for wear, Watkins went ahead and ordered the second one to join in the corpse collection. Its entry into the contested compartment didn’t seem to distract the mutated rat this time, who was still backing toward the opening in the deck that it had entered from.

Like the previous drone, the second one stuffed a rat corpse into its small storage compartment, and then dragged a second one along with it as it headed deeper into the ship. About that time, the first drone must have made it to the reprocessor as Watkins’ biomass began to increase.

Available Salvage: 4.

Available Biomass: 4.

It looked like the rat corpses provided one biomass. Checking into his MOBS menu, Watkins could see that it took five biomass to create one mutant rat. It seemed rather inefficient, and he asked LANI about it.

“It’s due to our reprocessor. The ship was installed with a basic, experimental system that we were testing, but eventually we can upgrade ours to a more efficient model. At least for the time being, it’s all we have to work with,” LANI explained.

At the far wall, the first drone reentered the fabrication compartment and headed toward the closest rat body. One body from the start of the fight was further away from the brawl, so Watkins directed his drone toward that one, rather than toward the fresh kill the mutant had just made.

“I think this is the last one that’s safe to grab,” Watkins told LANI. His other drone was just now dropping off its cargo, and the biomass total climbed up to six. He ordered the drone that had just unloaded to return to the core compartment, though he lifted the no combat restriction. If the rats wanted to start something with his drone, it was going to defend itself.

“Yes, that’s a good call. We can build one of your mutant rat MOBS now for some extra protection,” LANI said.

Watkins opened his production tab and selected the only thing he had the supplies to build, a mutant rat. The fabrication machine began to hum, and several lights blinked along its length. It turned out the lights were a way to monitor the progress of the item being created. They moved from the far end of the machine and slowly progressed toward the end closest to Watkins’ core room.

While his first non-drone defender was being created, the rat war was wrapping up. The mutant had been badly injured but survived the ordeal and managed to retreat into the floor. A total of five normal rats were still in the compartment, though two of those were injured from the fight. They snatched up the remaining corpses and fled back under the shelving, ignoring Watkins’ drones as they returned to the core compartment.

“It seems the normal bilge rats are unconcerned about anything that isn’t biological in nature. As long as our drones don’t attack them, they should leave us alone,” LANI suggested.

“I’m going to have one of the drones start collecting salvage in there, but only in areas far away from the shelving so we don’t disturb the normal rats,” Watkins added, sending a drone in to begin work. His first MOBS unit was almost done as well, and with more salvage coming in, he felt like he was making progress.