Looking at how the ship was docked to the long tube that was expanding from the main hull of the battleship, Robert slowly started to go through available options. His initial idea to break into the small ship to get inside the flagman was crossed out from the list almost immediately. He could bet that whoever evacuated from the ruined station would still be treated with caution. Therefore, Rob could expect at least a group of soldiers to meet the newcomers, armed and ready for any development. The situation he would want to avoid at all costs, considering his current condition.
Yes, he felt much stronger than before, leaving the marks on the ship's hull just with a tight grip. Such inhuman strength seemed terrifying at first glance, but after further observation of his transport, Rob figured out that the spacecraft wasn’t finished. Having no armor and using the metal that was good against heat and radiation as the outer shell, it wasn’t something incredible to damage it with bare hands. Well, taking into account Robert’s nature and abilities.
To his capability of bending steel, the increased regeneration and toughness were added, making him a killing machine… on the medieval battlefield. The reason was simple – his Energy Blasts were inaccessible, already working on the maximum power in his reactor core. The same went with conjuring steel, as only the remnants of his main ability were left in the form of controlling the obsidian steel that was stuck inside his body. At this point he used most of his previous skeleton to create a sphere, leaving not even half for other options. Considering that his artificial metal bones were hollow to hide the tubes, there was not so much matter to begin with.
Therefore, it was easy to understand why Robert wished to decrease the chances of frontal confrontation. Somewhere, deep inside, his inner beast wanted to continue its hunt, but with bigger control over his body, Rob could easily suppress his own primal instincts. The beast wasn’t a different mind in his own head – just a part of himself that wanted to murder everyone who treated him like a thing and not a human being.
So, yeah, it was always me… Maybe not in a clear mind and under the influence of wild creatures that were added to my body but still me.
Admitting his own bloody deed brought nothing. No relief, no regret, no grief. Robert felt nothing after killing so many innocent people. It could be because he never viewed them as innocent, but he wasn’t sure. The scariest part of this revelation was this indifference about lost lives. The only exceptions were children, and his fragmented memory had some pictures when the beast simply walked away after noticing them, not wishing to hurt any of them. It was another confirmation that the creature was always Rob himself as there was no chance that the old memory from the burned village, where the massacre took place, could influence its decision.
My inner rage, my hatred, my beast… My responsibility and I have no regrets. I saw too many deaths at this point. Saw too many filths and cruelty in humankind… or beast-folks… or those amphibians… Everyone was ready to kill each other for the power, for authority, for resources… Even the global risk of dying under fucking alien invasion didn’t manage to unite them… Yeah, them, as at this point, Rob, you aren’t human anymore. So, fuck them all… And stop pondering – you need to save your metal ass before making any long monologue with an attempt to add some philosophy to it.
Pushing himself forward, Robert crawled from the small ship to the docking tube before finally reaching the main hull of the battlecruiser. Luckily, there were enough tiny gaps in armored plates to keep him from falling into open space. Still, he willed the obsidian steel to gather in his hands, conjuring two hooks. This was the exact moment when Robert finally managed to evaluate the drop in his ability to summon constructs. Not only did both instruments barely have a volume of his single forearm combined, but even the speed of creating dropped immensely, returning to the starting point when he got the ability. The black matter seemed to flow over his skin, periodically diving inside the flesh before finally reaching the spot and slowly organizing in the needed form. The process took two painfully long seconds – nothing close to his previous instantaneous creation.
Yep, another downgrade – how could it be without a downside after what seemed to be a huge improvement? The only positive thing I see - it feels much tougher than even my body. But if I need to free my hands, I will need to find a spot on my body to keep the steel in such a way that it wouldn’t obstruct my motions… Knee and elbow pads? Maybe helmet? So many things to think about… At least the view is great.
Leaning on the ship, Robert raised his head only to see the huge brown planet that was taking half of his sight. The red light from the local was illuminating the lifeless surface that created a strange but beautiful pattern with the thousands of craters and mountains. There were no signs of the station – just a huge rock among the stars, but even with a lack of details the scene was mesmerizing. Multiple tiny dots on the black background, each varying in size or color. The reflection of light on the enormous planet, where quite a few gigantic whirlwinds were rotating. An overwhelming silence. Still, it was enough to put Rob’s mind into a trance, capturing his attention. All thoughts had disappeared, leaving only him and the universe.
He didn’t know how long it lasted, but after the effect was gone Robert found himself refreshed. The toll on his mind to keep his whole entity in shape was eased by a noticeable margin. Rob still had to manually do everything – fuel the sphere and force shield, produce more energy in the reactor core, redirect it into his body, and keep himself from being dispersed – but the task slowly started to demand less. Almost as if his subconsciousness was learning how to deal with it by itself. It resulted in clearing his mind, and finally pushing him into motion.
Reminding the learned structures of the spaceships, Robert tried to find the service hatches. However, before he made even a few steps, the surroundings flicked for several seconds. Only after a whole minute, Rob understood that it was a force shield. The flagman was huge and had a powerful energy system to supply the main protection of the spacecraft. Considering its size and not ideal shape, the force shield was set to appear above the hull's surface, literally capturing Robert.
And taking into account how it is fueled, currently, an insane flow of energy and radiation is flowing through my body… Thank my stupid luck I am a steel abomination. Otherwise, I would be dead in a moment. Well, makes it easier – I don’t need to fear about falling out. Will accelerate things.
Raising upwards and touching the invisible wall, Rob smiled lightly before continuing his journey among the stars. The nearest hatch was fifty meters (around 165 feet) away from him, having bright red markings for easy locating during the repair. Reaching his destination, Robert remade his hooks into a screwdriver, adjusting its form to fit the odd gap. It took quite an effort, many strikes of a created hammer, and his inhuman strength to finally break in. Unfortunately, he was met with the same obstacle that prevented him from riding on the tank during his service as an infantryman – his size was too huge for the tiny hole, which was never intended to be used to get inside.
Damn it! How do I get it? I don’t think I can stay here forever and wait until it lands somewhere… Well, technically I can, but I don’t want to. And stupid Aether doesn’t want to open the portal. The situation isn’t resolved yet... Fuck you! Oh, calm down and think, Rob.
Pushing himself upward only to hit the invisible ceiling, Robert continued an aimless walk, or precisely speaking, crouched across the outer hull of the spaceship that was flying through space. The idea to get inside through the missile ports was abandoned after failing to penetrate the metal. His might was enough to leave noticeable marks and dents on the gates, but not enough to break through the thick armor meant as the last layer of protection. The smaller weaponry had a “hole” problem or had no direct connection to the inner parts of the ship, being just lasers. Anything that might be recycled was recycled, leaving no need to drop waste outside. Moreover, his knowledge about the battleship from his short study denied the possible usage of portholes to prevent any vulnerabilities.
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Unless it’s a flagman that has this stupid main window in front of the commanding staff to give them the privilege to observe the stars, relying on the force shield to protect their asses…. Yep, it might work cause this thing is huge. In fact, too huge to be an ordinary ship. I refuse to believe that local admirals are all for equality between them and low-ranked spacers. After serving in two… no, three armies – not a chance it can be true.
The search took a lot of time, as viewing everything from the perspective of a bug on a huge animal, Rob couldn’t even understand where the top of the ship was or even where he was. At least he didn’t need to climb, simply floating between the force shield and the hull. Once again, this time-spending pointed to how distant he had become from an ordinary human. There was no tiredness, no thirst, or hunger. He didn’t feel any cold as the constant flow of energy seemed to keep his temperature in check. There were basically no uncomfortable feelings, despite his surroundings. Even the pain was dulled to the point that he knew he felt it more like a touch.
And by losing or lowering the level of many sensations, I will lose the pleasure from a lot of things… but will be alive. Maybe it’s a good trade in such a case…
When the superstructure that looked like a tower with a bigger room on top finally appeared in front of him, Robert immediately focused on the thing, pushing away the thoughts about his future. Knowing Aether and his luck, Rob simply couldn’t plan anything at all, as no predictions could tell where he would be after another change of the realm. So, there was no need to worry about the things he barely could influence. On the other hand, the desire to live was as strong as always, sending him into the flight with a strong push of his legs.
Reaching the highest point of the ship, if it could be said about the spacecraft that could fly in any direction, Robert finally found what he was searching for – an enormously wide transparent screen that opened a view of the big control room. The center was occupied by the captain’s chair, which had the look of the real throne. A few more similar seats were situated on the lower level in front of the main ass-holder. Another long row of consoles enveloped the whole room, putting aside the less important members of the crew.
Moreover, the diversity was not only in their location, the size of the chairs, or the free space available for each of the specialists. No, even the uniform had the color change, shouting about the difference in the status of their owners. The captain – the middle-aged man with long black mustaches and a frown that seemed to be engraved on his face – had a weird round hat without a brim that had three stars on the front side and a long feather on the top. Robert wanted to spend more time observing the odd outfits of the battle crew, but their energetic reaction to his sudden appearance made him change his mind.
Noting the shock on at least half of the faces, the open mouth of the loudly shouting captain, and even the attempt to shoot him with a gun that was unfortunately stopped by others, Robert focused on his obstacle – the thick window that prevented him from entering the ship. Rotating on his spot, he placed both of his feet on it, while his back was held by the force shield. Concentrating on the black steel, he moved along his skin's arms, creating a pickaxe. Pausing for a moment and raising his eyes, Rob grinned before striking with all available strength.
The sharp blade hit the window, failing to pierce the window. However, it still managed to damage the “glass”, creating a gouge on the surface. It caused another mad smile that was changed into another strike. And another. The non-stop barrage was destroying the protective screen right in front of the shocked crew, leading to a panic. The first long crack caused a commotion that was stopped by the captain. Robert almost missed how this surprisingly calm man gave an order, continuing to observe how the monstrous giant was trying to get inside. Almost – as such a cold reaction to the danger raised a suspicion. It appeared to be the right decision that saved Rob’s life.
Another hit produced another long crack, but the material only had the resemblance to the glass, in fact being something akin to a tough polymer. However, no matter what property it had, Rob was sure he could break it. Preparing for another swing, he suddenly felt a short tremble. Action on the instincts, he immediately pushed himself forward, changing his instrument into a hook. A few following seconds were spent in an attempt to fix himself on the observation screen, pushing the conjured matter inside an already-made hole. Only after stabilizing his position, Robert finally sighed with relief before turning his eyes to the captain. The latter was still calm as ever. Maybe only his frown had deepened, showing the result of failure. Nothing else. Moreover, the man was already giving another order, pushing Rob into motion.
To disperse the force shield so I would fall out into outer space… Nice idea, but I am not so easy to deal with, asshole!
Using the remnants of the available obsidian steel, Robert conjured a small dagger and continued his attempts. This time the hits had less strength because of the lack of amplitude and weight of the instrument. Still, they were powerful enough to damage the surface. Considering his inability to get tired, it was just a matter of time before the screen would shatter. What was surprising was that the crew had given him plenty of it. Rob might have thought that they had given up, but the sight of the focused team working on their panels and the calm attitude of the captain raised another red flag, warning about incoming troubles.
The first indicator that something was happening was a vibration that started to spread from the shield. Weak with low frequency, it still couldn’t be missed. Then the light appeared somewhere behind, illuminating the visible halo of the spaceship. The next were the stars, which started to move, slowly but surely turning into thin lines before merging with others of the light in the whirlpool that started to envelop the space around the battleship. Turning his head toward the captain, Robert found him smiling with a mocking expression. Only after that it finally clicked, giving an explanation of what was happening. Rob only read about it and never thought that he would experience it literally from the first row.
Fucking bastard! You are going through the warp! Shit! Shit!
Shouting like a fish on the surface with an open mouth but no sound coming, Robert intensified his bombardment, not wishing to experience the jump through the local types of wormholes that made it possible for humanity to travel into different systems across the galaxy. He already felt like something was trying to rip off the parts of his body, sucking even the energy of a hungry wild beast. The spacecraft wasn’t any better. Unprotected, it was losing multiple fragments from its hull. The problem was that the speed of it was almost on par with Rob’s disintegration, but the flagman had an advantage in being an enormous machine. Robert, on the other hand, had constantly to repair the damage, while continuing his hits.
The moment when his grip failed to hold him on the screen due to losing the fingers, being torn apart by the surroundings of a between-space, Robert made a last strike, putting all his anger and hatred into it. The hit finally broke the matter, shattering the whole screen. However, the different pressure together with a sucking force instantly threw everyone out of the room, turning the fragile flesh of humans into meat paste. Rob, himself, almost lost consciousness because of the blast, and only by sheer stubbornness managed to hold on to the edge of the dark pit that had no return. Flying chaotically, while doing his best to keep himself in one piece, he had again and again sent a request to Aether. And at some point, the all-mighty being answered, taking him “somewhere and fast” as Robert begged.
The spaceship with preset parameters left the warp at a planned time. Unfortunately, the whole commanding post was destroyed in the process, leaving only part of the records from the accident. The following investigation of the event led to the situation with Fantasy City and multiple civilian casualties due to orbital bombardment from the flagman. However, no matter how the investigation team looked at everything, the single piece of the puzzle was always there, being the very first stone that started the avalanche. Therefore, to cover the higher-ups from blame, the whole responsibility was put on Robert Flop, the last and the strongest Terranoid, whose final attack showed once again how terrifying the citizens of Terra were, and why their extermination was justified.