Chapter 107 – Evisceration

Talia aimed her PAR, the suit’s aim-assist locking onto the Blue soldier sprinting toward the tunnel. The rifle barked, a burst of projectiles tearing through the target. He crumpled, lifeless.

A warning beep sounded, and an icon flashed on her HUD. She dove behind a chunk of building as plasma fire erupted from a turret. Flames licked over her cover, and her suit screamed warnings.

“Neo, we need to upgrade these modules when we get back to the Slim Girl!” she shouted, frustration seeping into her voice.

[Acknowledged: Upgrades are recommended if User is to participate in combat directly.]

“Take out that damned gun already!” she yelled, her eyes darting to the tactical map.

IRUs moved to flank the turret. Before they could bring their weapons on target, Hot Pink plummeted from above, trailing pink flames. She landed on the gun, slicing it with her sharp forelimbs.

The armored Blue grabbed the spider’s leg but ignited instantly. Her limb flashed down, stabbing behind his head like a spear. She tossed him into a nearby building.

Hot Pink let out a battle cry, echoing through the massive chamber while Talia checked the tactical scan as the recon drone buzzed by.

[Report: Enemy position has been reduced.]

Talia crouched behind the chunk of building, her eyes darting over the tactical map projected on her HUD. The battlefield map pulsed with colors, blue units for her, the IRUs, and her spider companions.

Black markers showed the various groups of Blues they had eliminated. There weren’t any red ones left. The Blues had either retreated up the tunnels, or died.

She noted the loss of one MIRU and one HIRU. Her fingers tapped against her thigh, a nervous habit she couldn’t shake.

“Neo, send more units down to assist,” she ordered. Even if the scan didn’t show enemies, that didn’t mean there were none, and her squad wasn’t that big to begin with.

[Notice: Reinforcement IRUs have already arrived.]

A LIRU landed beside her, its agile form barely making a sound. Talia glanced at it, then back to the tactical map.

“The LIRUs? What about the relay?” she asked.

[Report: Units in the tunnel are leapfrogging toward User’s position without losing relay connection.]

“Great,” she muttered, allowing herself a moment of relief. “What about the surface combat?”

[Update: Blues are in full retreat. We are taking control of the entire area. In the desert, combat is more protracted. Artillery advantage has prevented Blues from advancing despite numbers in their favor.]

Talia’s brow furrowed. The desert battle was dragging on longer than she’d hoped. She couldn’t afford to lose ground there, not with the HEM deposits at stake.

“And the HEM site? The western front?” she pressed.

[Status: Desert flats are not currently engaged. Scouts are present watching for enemy activity.]

“We need to reform the battle lines,” she said.

[Notice: Battle line reformation is underway. Increase in IRUs has delayed heavier unit production.]

Talia sighed, frustration bubbling beneath her calm exterior. “Do what you can about that, but we also need to keep assisting in Spider-Town.”

Dapple and Hot Pink returned to Talia, their movements jittery with anxiety. Talia pointed to the center of the Nest.

“We need to head to the center and look for survivors and Big Red,” she said, her voice firm despite the knot tightening in her stomach. There hadn’t been any survivors so far.

The IRUs fell in on their flanks, their sensors scanning for any sign of hostiles.

The Nest was eerily quiet, the chirps and clicks of the Tch’Llik’yzz’Lrr absent. Each step Talia took felt heavier. They had arrived, but they hadn’t really saved anyone, had they? She could feel the agitation radiating from Dapple and Hot Pink, their usual playful energy replaced by a tense urgency.

As they reached the square outside the spider throne room, Talia’s worst fears seemed to materialize.

Hundreds of red spiders lay dead, burnt to a crisp. Her suit beeped a warning as it detected high concentrations of highly volatile organic compounds.

In the center, Big Red lay on his side, several Blues still impaled on his long legs. Smoke still rose from his blackened armor.

Hot Pink rushed forward in a panic, her voice a frantic cry. “Nest-Leader! Nest-Leader!” She nudged Big Red’s limp form.

Dapple’s usual calm demeanor was shattered as she let out a whine.

Talia’s heart sank. She had come to respect Big Red and his leadership of the spiders. Seeing him like this was another blow.

“Neo,” she called out, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is there any sign of the kidnapped spiders on the surface?”

[Report: There are signs that many were captured and then hauled out of the jungle at some point, but it occurred before User arrived.]

Talia surveyed the wreckage. The Blues had to have planned this all along.

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The speed and precision of the attack was too coordinated to be a spur-of-the-moment decision. Why target the spiders? They had captured a large group at her research module before. She had rescued them.

Now the Blues were trying again? There had to be a reason.

She clicked her tongue in frustration. “They could have just bombed the Nest if they feared their defenses and weapon. Why go through the trouble of raiding?”

A terrifying thought hit her. “Neo, scan for explosives.”

[Notice: No demolition charges detected.]

So they weren’t trying to totally demolish the Nest, then…

Talia’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the throne chamber. Her gaze fell on the elevator at the back, its platform missing. Someone had taken it down. She doubted it was the spiders.

“We need to check the Nest computer,” she decided, turning to Dapple and Hot Pink. “We’re going down.”

Dapple chirped slowly, then lowered herself, inviting Talia to climb onto her back. Hot Pink moved to spit sticky webbing for handholds, but Talia raised a hand to stop her.

“No more spider goop, please,” she said, activating a new suction device on her suit. It latched onto Dapple’s carapace securely.

“Hot Pink, can the IRU units ride on your back?” Talia asked.

Hot Pink nodded, her vibrant exoskeleton shimmering under the dim light.

Dapple used her webs to create holds for the MIRU and HIRU units. The LIRUs led the way to the elevator, their climbing devices allowing them to descend without assistance.

As they moved, Talia’s thoughts churned.

The Blues’ relentless pursuit of the spiders suggested something beyond conquest. The spiders’ bio-mechanical nature? Their connection to the jungle’s communication network? Their connection to the precursors? Or perhaps something even more sinister?

Both the Ferroin and Tch’Llik were client races, but why did the Ferroin want the spiders? Maybe it had something to do with the HEM?

She shook her head, focusing on the task at hand.

They needed answers, and the Nest computer might hold them. They had the partial translation that Rosetta had built now. She tightened her grip on Dapple’s carapace, feeling the suction device hold firm.

Talia clung to Dapple, her PAR ready. They flew down the elevator shaft, Dapple’s legs a blur of motion. Hot Pink followed closely, and the LIRUs skidded down, creating a shower of sparks.

They reached the bottom quickly, and her HUD lit up with threat alerts. Two dozen Blues were clustered around the nest computer.

She opened fire before they landed. The PAR’s high-velocity rounds tore through two Blues in heavy power armor, shredding them. The MIRU leaped from Hot Pink’s back, going prone and opening fire. Dapple dodged a barrage of plasma fire with a sideways leap, then began to sprint around the attack.

Green flames lashed at them, and Talia raised her hand to cover her visor. Their personal shields flared protectively, preventing harm.

Hot Pink hissed and charged, drawing the Blues’ attention away. They fired on the angry spider, but the HIRU still on her back activated its barrier field, shielding them as they reached melee range.

“Don’t use explosives near the computer!” Talia shouted.

The HIRU leaped from Hot Pink’s back, grabbing a Blue and ripping its limbs off. The enemies began to fire on it, but its arm morphed into a tower shield that provided protection from the shots.

Hot Pink didn’t slow down and moved in to slash a Blue in half. Dapple hissed and charged. Talia yelped as she held on with her legs. Somehow she maintained target lock with her PAR and fired on the remaining Blues. Two more went down in the hail of bullets.

They entered melee range, and Dapple pounced on another target, shredding him with her forelimbs.

Talia let go, landing with a roll. A Blue stared at her in shock, up close. She swung her PAR, jamming the barrel into his stomach before opening fire. The blast tore him in half, her boots clamping onto the ground to keep her steady.

A shriek drew her attention. Hot Pink sliced two more Blues in half at the same time as they tried to flee. Talia scanned for the next hostile.

[Notice: Threat neutralized.]

Talia huffed, out of breath. The spiders went crazy, slashing at the Blue corpses.

“Calm down,” she said shakily. “We got them.”

The spiders stopped rampaging and looked at her.

Talia sighed. Anyone else, anyone normal, looking at the brown and pink spider covered in blue blood and viscera—Hot Pink still had a Blue torso stuck on one of her stabbing legs—would have screamed in horror.

The only thing she felt was worry that the two spiders might have been traumatized.

“You’re okay,” Talia said, her voice steady. “I’m okay.”

Hot Pink flung the Blue body away with a flick of her leg. Both spiders tried to rub themselves clean, but it was obvious they wouldn’t get anywhere without water or something to wipe it off with.

Talia turned to the Nest Computer. It appeared undamaged, but various alien devices were hooked up to it. She frowned, unsure what the Blues had been doing.

“Neo, any idea?” she asked, her eyes scanning the setup.

[Unknown: The fact that we have information on their positions will have been learned.]

“Great,” she mumbled unhappily. She bit her lip, considering the implications. Now the Blues knew they knew and so would adjust their movements to account for them knowing and… Argh! The circular thinking was going to make her go crazy.

“Should we tear the Blue equipment off the computer?” she asked.

Before Neo answered, a loud, high-pitched chitter from above interrupted. She looked up, eyes widening as hundreds of spiders began to emerge from the ceiling and descend the walls. Each one radiated anger.

She moved to the center of the room with her IRUs, Hot Pink and Dapple flanking her. The spiders surrounded them, hissing loudly.

“Oh shit,” Talia muttered under her breath. “They’re angry.”

The spiders closed in, their hisses growing louder. Talia’s heart pounded in her chest, but she kept her stance firm. Panic wouldn’t help now.

She looked at Dapple and then Hot Pink. “Uh, can you say something?”

Hot Pink chirped softly, a sound that seemed almost soothing. Dapple followed suit, adding her own series of clicks and chirps.

Why didn’t the stupid translator work all the time?

She watched the nest spiders closely, searching for any sign of a shift in their demeanor.

The hissing softened slightly, but the tension remained.

She hoped whatever Hot Pink and Dapple were saying would be enough to calm them down.