As I sat in the Pup trying to recover from the nightmare I had just survived, a song started playing over the PA:
“I’m Walking in a spider-web
Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”
It was Spiderwebs by the band No Doubt.
“Elvis,” I said.
“Yes, Captain?” Elvis responded.
“Kindly go fuck yourself,” I said looking up at the ceiling. I could hear CJ and Elvis both laughing over the comms. Hey, at least they were bonding over something; I considered as I started planning how to handle the last 18 spiders.
“Hey, Tiff, why didn’t I get any experience for the 182 kills I already got?” I asked.
Tiff responded over the comms, “Grind stations don’t give out experience per kill. You will receive ranks after completing the grind station. Think of it like a mini-dungeon.”
“The mobs are all similar in level and usually tailored to the combatant's level. They will offer a challenge, but it won't be so hard that you won't jump at the chance to get some easy XP. The higher your individual level, the more challenging the grind station will be. I would expect that you will need assistance on higher-level grind stations.”
“I can help you kick some ass on the next one!” CJ yelled over the comms. “I'm ready to test this suit out. Elvis has been drilling me non-stop on this thing.”
“Okay, I need to finish off the last of these so I can get off of this rock,” I said. “Elvis, do you have any sort of radar to show where the rest are?”
“I was able to map out the valley once spiders started moving. I used Pup’s sonar to map. I can ping the valley now that you are back inside the Pup,” Elvis said.
“Why do I need to be inside the ship?” I asked.
“Captain is familiar with sonar on Earth submarines?” Elvis asked.
“I know what it is but that is about it,” I responded.
“Submarines would emit sonar in waves of 235 decibels. If a human were outside the submarine at the time of ping, it would kill them. At 200 decibels the vibrations would rupture your lungs. Above 210 decibels, the noise would be enough to cause hemorrhages in your brain.”
“The Pup has something similar. Sonar, as you know it wouldn’t work outside of water, but the PUP has an advanced Photoacoustic sonar system. Think of it like sonar on steroids. If sonar is a bullet, then the Pup’s version of Sonar is a heat-seeking missile!” Elvis said with excitement.
“Okay, I think I have an idea then, Elvis. Ping the valley and see If you can zero in on the location of the remaining spiders," I said.
“Pinging now,” Elvis as an audible ping rang out from the Pup. “Spiders are located in center of valley; they seem to be huddled together under one of the large mounds.”
“Okay, let me see if I can get their attention then,” I said, opening the rear bay door of the pup and walking down the ramp. I grabbed a plasma rifle this time, just in case.
“What is the plan, Captain?” Tiff asked.
“I’m going to work smarter, not harder. I need to get the spiders to chase me back to the Pup and then you will see,” I said, walking back toward the slope down into the valley.
With my increased stats I could run about twice as fast as I could before, so I used those stats and made a B-line for the center of the valley.
“Elvis, tell me when I am close to the remaining spiders, I need to get their attention.”
I wasn’t the fastest runner before, but I could pull a ten-minute mile on the treadmill. The center of the valley was about a mile and half from the Pup, and I was on pace to get there in about 3-4 minutes based on the path that Elvis populated onto my mini map.
As I ran, I thought about how amazing this was. Since my stat increases, I was stronger and quicker, and my recognition and reaction times were improved. I also retained knowledge and problem-solved quicker than ever before. All of this was without even equipping my armor; with my armor equipped my speed and strength were increased at ridiculous proportions, but I had to be wary of that 5-minute timer until I figured out a way around it.
The stamina drain was something that could be an issue as well if I didn’t conserve stims.
I ran straight to the large mound in the center of the valley. My plan was to approach, fire off some rounds into the mound, get the spiders' attention, and lead them back to the Pup. They were fast, but I was confident that I could outrun them. If I couldn’t do it without my armor, I could always just equip my armor and leave them in my dust.
Unfortunately, my plan fell to shit quick. As I stood about 100 yards away from the mound, I fired 10 or so plasma rounds into it. Nothing happened.
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“What the hell? Are you sure they are down there Elvis?” I asked.
“Captain, get ready, they are moving,” Elvis responded.
What happened next was a blur.
I expected the remaining spiders to start running up out of the mound, at which time I would pick a couple of them off and run to the Pup. Instead, their mom joined the party.
“Oh, my god!” I screamed as a monster exploded up out of the mound.
It was about 15 feet tall, somewhat humanoid in shape, with two arms and two legs, but it had the head of a spider. Out of each side of the head sprouted two, meter-long dripping fangs hanging out of its face. It was black with coarse hairs poking out of its torso, but the torso looked more like the body of a spider. I think it was called the Cephalothorax, pulling some of the knowledge I got in my jr. high natural science class out of my head. The abdomen protruded from the rear of the monster, hanging above its legs. White, fleshy eggs lined both sides of the abdomen. They were gooey and slime dripped from them as the monster stood and roared a high-pitched, shrill roar like metal scraping metal.
“Tiff, you said there wouldn’t be bosses at these grind stations!” I yelled as I stumbled backward and fell to my ass.
“There usually aren’t. I didn’t expect to find one on a low-level grind station. You need to run!” she said.
As I scrambled backward, I took a second to identify the monster:
Spider Queen – Level 10
“Holy shit! It’s Level 10, Tiff!” I screamed as I got to my feet and started running.
I turned and fired at the queen. As the plasma rounds hit, she centered her focus on me and fell forward, placing her hands on the ground in front of her.
She raised her head to the sky and screamed again. As she did, several of the eggs shot out of her abdomen. Lines of goo shot out behind them like the eggs were pressurized. When the eggs hit the ground, Level 6 spiders immediately burst out of them and started chasing me. The queen screamed a second time as four more legs burst out of her abdomen, filling the holes that four of the eggs had occupied earlier. She started running toward me at a blinding pace.
“My plasma rifle didn’t do anything but piss her off!” I screamed. “I have one more grenade. I'm going to see if that does the trick,” I said as I hurled my last grenade back toward the approaching spiders.
There was about a ten-second delay from arming the grenade until it exploded. I threw this one immediately after arming it.
The queen had emptied the rest of her egg sacs and, sure enough, there were 17 baby spiders now chasing me as well as the queen.
When the grenade landed, the queen looked over and made a chittering noise at a group of baby spiders. Five of them took the grenade and started running away from the queen. By the time the grenade went off, they were too far away for the blast to affect her. On top of that, the five baby spiders had jumped on top of the grenade to nullify some of the blast potential.
“They are learning; they stole my damn grenade and ran away with it!” I screamed breathily. “I’ve got to equip my armor; she is going to run me down otherwise.”
I mentally equipped my armor and, as it materialized, I could feel my speed nearly double again. It wasn’t enough to get far away but I would reach the Pup before the queen and group of babies.
I fired a few shots off as I ran, hitting another two of the babies, but even the weapon from my armor seemed to have little effect on the queen. I did manage to take out a few more of the babies as I ran.
“Don’t waste your time shooting at the queen; she is a Level 10, and it will take something stronger than even your Havok armor at Level 4 to kill her,” Tiff said, “I hope you have a plan, Captain.”
“I do!” I shouted as I continued running, “but I don’t know if it's going to work on that thing!”
“Elvis, make sure that damn bay door is open and be ready to close it immediately when I enter the Pup. Stand by for further direction!”
I could hear the queen behind me. She was within 100 feet of me now and gaining on me. Her speed on open ground was just incredible. I knew if I had to run much longer, she would catch me and that would be that.
Luckily, I had made it back to the slope and I was no more than 50 yards away from the ship.
“Elvis, get ready to close the bay door. I'm almost back to the Pup!” I shouted.
“Understood!” Elvis responded.
As I approached the Pup, I heard the queen roar again. She knew I was trying to get back to my ship and she wasn’t ready to let me go yet.
She launched herself into the air, over my head, landing 10 feet from the rear bay door of the Pup,
I skidded to a stop; I was fucked.
“She landed in front of the damn ship! What do I do now?” I screamed to everyone.
“You gotta get inside that ship, Andy; that bitch is gonna rip you to shreds if you don’t. C’mon bro, use the old baseball slide and get under that crazy bitch!” CJ shouted over the comms.
The 10 remaining baby spiders were approaching my rear and the queen stood 50 feet away blocking my entrance to the ship. I didn’t have a choice, I had to get past her, and I had to do it now.
I launched myself toward the queen. I equipped my black hole daggers and held them to my sides as I ran.
The queen reared her top half up, her top two humanoid arms raised over her ugly spider head as she roared one more time.
As I ran, I started to slide. The queen expected it; she raised up as high as possible and began to slam down trying to crush me as I slid under her abdomen.
Unfortunately for her, I expected this. The tactic I used here was a baseball slide. If you have ever seen a baseball player slide into a base and bounce back up to their feet, yeah, that is what I was going to attempt here.
What I didn’t plan for, and hadn’t tested, is exactly how far I would pop up. With my armor and my additional stats, I shot up into the air, bounding over the grasping arms of the queen.
With my increased dexterity, I flipped and swung the black hole daggers at her outstretched arms, cutting them both off at the elbows. Black blood spewed out of her arms as she wriggled on the ground under me.
I landed on the ramp of the Pup. “I’m in! close the damn door!” I shouted to Elvis as the bay doors raised and sealed.
“What now?” Tiff asked.
“Elvis, can you increase the output on that Sonar?” I asked breathlessly.
“Raise it to max and let me know when it’s ready!” I shouted running to the cockpit of the pup.
I could hear the queen banging on the hull of the Pup and the baby spiders landing all over the ship, trying to get in.
“Are all the remaining spiders here, Elvis?” I asked.
“Yes, Captain! Time to kill!!!” he said triumphantly.
“Then fucking kill ‘em!” I shouted as the ship's ping sounded, rattling the hull and hurting even my ears.
“It is done, Captain! Spiders are dead!”
“Way to think on your feet, Andy!” CJ shouted.
“Good Job, Captain!” Tiff said. "Return to the Bloodhound now, and let's get going.
Grind Station Clear. Well Done
scrolled across my interface. I had gained three levels in total, jumping all the way to Level 7.
Elvis showed the outside of the ship on the panels in front of me. There were just puddles of black goo everywhere with a few spider legs here and there.
“I need a break from spiders for a while, Tiff,” I said as I settled into my seat. “This has got to get easier. Please tell me it gets easier,” I said.
“No, Captain, it does not get easier, but you did a good job today. Let’s enjoy it while we can” Tiff said in my head.