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War Crimes of a Dronemancer [System Litrpg]
Chapter 24: Coffee Breaks and Teddy Bears

Chapter 24: Coffee Breaks and Teddy Bears

Some time later, Ice woke up and stretched. He scratched at the area where his stump met the resolute blue nano prosthetics arm for a moment before he went to the clothing printer Raven mentioned the night before. Slapping at the screen a few times to get it to turn on he dialed up a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He yawned and stretched some more as he walked slowly out of his room and down the corridor to the Mess Hall where he sat down and ordered his usual black bread and water from the store. He ate his solitary meal in the quiet, easy morning.

After he ate, he slowly made his way to the Armory where he had left the dronesuit on a charging station. The acid damage from the day before was gone and the blue light on the pad indicated the armor was at one hundred percent charge. Ice smiled as he tapped the faceplate of the armor.

Then he wandered up to the bridge of the ship and stared at the large viewscreen; at the four stations around the bridge. He wondered if Alanna had been alone on the ship, since only one cabin had any personal effects in it. The ship had a Deadlocks personal locking system that he had activated on that cabin while he took a different one.

Ducky walked onto the bridge, the VIs small nanoshank hidden in his feathers. "Any plans for today, Captain? The enzyme tanks are still low but I could fire up the sensors and look for a nest?"

"A nest?" Ice asked curiously.

"Yes, on conquered worlds, single digit Theriopes will form nests often with a few double digit Theriope. It might be dangerous but they are good for points and great for the enzyme bunkers." The waterfowl informed him.

Ice tapped the side of his face with one neon orange digit consideringly. "Go ahead and find us one but we aren't going to go there today. Maybe tomorrow. I am going to relax a bit now."

"As you say, Captain. I'll have those locations ready for you tomorrow." Ducky sounded disappointed.

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Ice relaxed into the captain's chair on the bridge and actually spent two points on a cup of coffee. He took a sip and gave an appreciative groan at the delightful flavor. Ice spent the rest of his day leisurely inspecting the ship top to bottom.

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Ice stepped off the ramp, his armored boot leaving a slight imprint in the dirt. Following him were Alpha and Beta as he had decided to name the two D.O.Gs he kept with him. Ahead of him was the C.A.T he still hadn't named. Ducky had found a smaller nest according to the sensors for them to exterminate.

He checked the ammo counter for his railgun as he walked across the bare ground towards the hole that Ducky claimed held the nest. The waterfowl had informed him that Alanna would normally drop a nano-covered RFG on a nest entrance before moving in to clean up the rest, but as they still didn't have enough power to enter orbit he was going to have to do it the old fashioned way. Boots on the ground.

With an activated nano shield he entered the dark cave. The lights on his armor brightened without him having to ask Raven. He walked slowly with his hud tracking any movement in the low light conditions. "Raven, how's the Cat doing; any sign of Theriopes?"

"Not yet but this nest seems deeper than Ducky indicated. The Cat is 200 meters ahead of us and is now at a fork. Do you want it to go left or right?"

"Send it left for five hundred meters and then if it hasn't found anything, have it take the right fork. We will leave Beta at the fork so nothing can sneak up on us."

"Sending the Cat now."

Ice stumbled over a small rock on the floor windmilling his arms for a moment before he caught his balance. He kicked at the rock only to have it clang as his boot hit it. Freezing at the loud noise in the relative quiet he listened for any sounds indicating the noise had been heard. Ice swore he could hear his own heart beating loud enough to draw anything in the cave to them. After a few minutes of silence, they moved further inside, coming to the fork where the Cat had gone left. Ice turned to take the right hand fork as Beta split off to stand guard. As they went deeper Ice noticed the walls were becoming damp and covered in what looked like slime. He reached out and gently touched it with the armored tip of one finger and felt the slime adhere to his finger as he pulled it away from the wall trailing a long strand. "Well that's gross."

"Theriope often leave that slime inside of their nests. Testing shows it contains biological residue of the organics they have taken."

"Raven, did I just touch Theriope shit?"

"Possibly."

"That's really gross. A little warning next time."

"Maybe." The AI answered primly. Ice sighed as he continued walking. He felt, rather than saw the Cat move past him in the dark. Its optical camouflage was near perfect.

Ice shuddered; resolving not to touch strange things without asking first. His hud lit up for a second as it tracked movement on the roof of the cavern. Ice stared at the ceiling where the movement had stopped, pointing his railgun at it as he slowly moved forward.

Something fell at his feet and he screamed as he jumped backwards firing his railgun into the darkness. When he finally calmed down he almost laughed when he saw the scraggly destroyed teddy bear that had fallen out of the slime. Just then he felt something drip on his arm.