Chapter 107: Chapter One Hundred Six

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Ruin/ Corridor out of Cavern Entrance/ Field of Centipedes

Galactic Standard Time / 0635

Running along the wall, Olv’xic looked at the backs of the centipedes. So far the three of them had made it by them. And the others were staying out of range, using all their skills to keep being the threat. Something about all of this bothered him, something he couldn’t see. He had felt this before, and he thought he knew what it meant. He had all the angles, he had all the facts that he needed. He was just having some trouble putting them all together.

“[Is everything okay master Olv’xic? Your heart is spiking],” Ar’thor asked and Olv’xic almost stumbled.

He looked back at the prince and his guard and barely kept from speaking. The fact that the prince could see his vitals was still something he wasn’t sure he was. The boss could, but their protection target too? If they died defending him, he would see it in real-time through his mask. And that was something that would destroy the boy’s morale.

“[We are fine oh Prince. We just need to move a bit faster. Think you can handle it Kon’gric?” Olv’xic asked and Kon’gric nodded.

“[You move, I’ll follow at your speed. But are we safe]?” Kon’gric asked with a strange note in his voice.

For a moment, Oly’xic looked at him. There was something there, somehow he just knew it. He let it go, they had to focus on the threat first.

“[As safe as we can be],” Oly’xic admitted as he looked at the other side of the chamber. So far, the plan was working. The centipedes were fighting the others and they were a bit farther to the door. When they left, he had slaved Kon’gric and Ar’thor’s masks to only his, and that kept their coms short range. He didn’t know why he should do that, but something within him told him he had to. It was strange, it was there at the edge of his thoughts. He could feel it but he didn’t know just what it was.

“[The way ahead looks fine and clear. Shouldn’t we use Aether to shorten our passage]?” Kon’gric asked.

“[Maybe we should...... NO]!” Oly’xic exclaimed as he suddenly stopped. He felt his heart stop beating as everything suddenly connected. He cursed as he realized what was bothering him. To his shame, what he realized just was possible it was probable! And that made everything suddenly that much more dangerous.

“[Sir Oly’xix]? Ar’thor asked with a note of worry and shock in his voice. “[Your vitals just spiked. Is everything alright]?”

Oly’xic looked at him and Kon’gric and saw just how they would die if they didn’t understand.

“[I just realized what was bothering me o Prince. This place, I suggested it was for bioweapons right]?” Oly’xic asked as he felt sweat form on his face. He saw Ar’thor nod and Oly’xic had to say just how deep they were into a trap. “[And the Firstborn, their robots. Don't some of their most advanced robots can use Aether to power themselves right? Then how possible is it that these things can detect Aether use]?”

“[By the stars! The Firstborn could do that]!?” Kon’gric exclaimed in shock.

Oly’xic ignored the cry of surprise and looked for his drone with his mask’s infrared. When they had set out he had sent orders for it to kill its searchlights and hover. But if these things hunted by hunting Aether, then he had just the thing to help the others out! Once he found what he was looking for he pointed his arm upwards and sent a laser message to it. looking back a Kon’gric he nodded. “[No Aether, run as fast as you can! Follow my steps]!”

Without waiting for a reply, he took off at a run. He looked down at the floor, searching for any holes. He hoped that he was right about everything, but something bothered him. If these things hunted each other, then how did they spawn? And why did he feel that when he found the answer, he wouldn’t like anything about those monsters.

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As he followed Oly’xic, Kon’gric was tempted. All he had to do was fire one Aether attack and then he and the Prince would be dead. Killed by one of the monsters. And no matter how much he just wanted this all to be over, he couldn’t. He didn’t have a time limit, and that was all that kept him going. And the Empire must have found out about the missing ship by now. The fact that the lifestones were still active was proof of life for Emperor. And if he knew that the prince was alive, then Kon'gric's forced Patron would know that the Prince was alive as well.

But no matter how he thought, there was no way out. They were stuck here and he would most likely die here. But that was enough, if he did then that meant that the Empire would keep looking for them. And that meant that the one who held his family’s life might not kill them! They could play this off as the Federation capturing the Prince. Say something about killing their own to get an advantage for germ warfare.

As he looked at the monsters, he saw one of them rear back and try to hit one of the others with its acid. It would be so easy to explain if he attacked one of them. Say he reacted before realizing what he was doing, anything that a Guard would do. But before he could even think about it, Oly’xic cried out.

Looking up, Kon’gric stared. Ahead of them was a large hole at least five feet wide. Looking down he saw it was only five feet deep. But the thing about the hole was it went into the wall, far into it until it slopped down out of their sight.

“[What could have made this]?” Ar’thor asked in shocked horror.

“[Don’t now o Prince. But this is too small for the beasts here. What could it be]??” Oly’xic muttered softly.

“[How are we to get around this]?” Kon’gric asked more to himself than the others. But there was something about this that was familiar to him. He couldn’t say what it was, but it was there. This one hole made him think of something, something that almost caused him to want to hunt down what made it.

For a second he almost took a step, but he stopped as he felt Ar’thor’s hands on his shoulder.

“[Kon’gric, are you alright? Your heart is speeding up]!” Art’thor’s asked, and Kon’gric could hear the worry in his charge’s voice.

“[I’m fine my prince. Just something about this thing],” Kon’gric said as he looked at the hole. Something about it was calling to him, something he would ignore. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t. He might be in a terrible situation, but he would keep fighting. What will happen will happen. But until he had to make a choice, he would keep protecting his charge.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“[There, follow me. Move quietly, we don’t want to wake anything],” Oly’xic voice caused Kon’gric to look up and see what Oly’xic had. And for a second he almost thought that his time torturing himself was over. For the young one was going to lead all of them to their deaths with what he was planning! “[Are you for real]!?”

“[Yeah, just give me a minute. I need to give my Searcher her final orders],” Oly’xic said as he pointed his right arm towards the door.

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“[Keep up the fire and keep dodging]!” Je’ndra bellowed as she fired her augmented rifle. So far, Blasts and Freeze have been working on these monsters. But then the Flame augment of Ken’tricx was doing nothing. The only thing that Ken’tricx had going was that his Explosion augment was knocking the ones he hit out for a few moments.

So far, they had made it at least halfway to the other side. But they were trying to fight them off here to keep their attention. All that mattered was the Prince and Oly’xic made it to the door. Oly’xic would be able to get it open and protect the Prince alone if he had to. That kid was one of the most dedicated Warriors she had ever seen, but he also had the most secrets.

“[Boss, I don’t know how much longer these things will keep hunting us! I mean, we’ve already killed five of them! Shouldn’t they have turned away by now]?!” Ken’tricx demanded as he dodged another blob of acid.

As much as she wanted to reassure him, Je’ndra had to admit that Ken’tricx was making sense. These things weren’t acting at all like the kind of mutants that she had seen before. The data showed that all animals turned tail and ran away if enough of the pack was killed. But these centipedes kept attacking like….. she almost went still as she realized what she had missed. They had thought that this thing was the Ruin of a bioweapon factory. These things had to be escaped bioweapons!

“[Weapons don’t give up! Team, keep killing them]!” Je’ndra exclaimed with horror in her voice.

“[What are you talking about…. No, you can’t mean]!?” Tar’lroia asked a hint of worry and understanding in her voice.

Je’ndra snarled as she fired a bolt and hit a glob of acid. Say what you will about her friend, she had a mind like a trap. From that one word in her sentence, she understood what Je’ndra was thinking about. But then these things had a great range attack. It must have been in their design, that was the only thing that made sense. These things must have been created as living artillery! “[This place is a bioweapon Ruin! These things must be some of the weapons! They must have lived after the Firstborn fell. They must have been programmed to keep attacking their targets]!”

Ken’tricx meanwhile kept firing. “[So just like the bots we find in the Ruins then? Nice! I love the smell of broken metal almost as much as I do burnt monsters! And we have a lovely target-rich environment here]!”

All Jen’dra could do was keep from laughing by the skin of her teeth. The one thing that she could count on was for her team to laugh in the face of danger. But as another of the centipedes came out of a hole, she felt that maybe this time they were running towards their deaths. Suddenly all the centipedes turned towards the tunnel away the group had come from and they all roared.

As they started to fire their acid at something, Jen’dra saw the chance that this was.”[Team! Run now! None-Aether]!”

As one the group all stopped firing their weapons and ran, keeping their Aether down.

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As Oly’xic led the other two around the tunnel hole, he grinned as he saw the centerfields react to his drone. The fact that he was right and worrying. On one hand, it worked. On the other, this said nothing but terrible things were in their future. All he could do was hope that they could handle what was ahead of them.

If one of those things could hunt Aether, others could as well. And that chance was even more likely because the monsters were designed by a sentient being. He hadn’t been one to even think this was possible, that people could find a way to program an Aether Skill into a created creature. But it made sense, it made so much sense.

Looking up, he smiled as he saw that they were within twenty feet of the end of the holes. They were home free, nothing could stop them now!

A screech from behind made him turn and see another of the centipedes rear up out of a hole. He went still as he saw that this monster had its back to them all. He gripped his weapon as he looked up at the monster, trying to keep his cool.

He suddenly remembered what he figured out about these monsters and felt the blood leave his face. He looked at Kon’gric who was slowly moving his arms up. He felt his heart stop as he realized what was going to happen if he did that. “[Kon’gric, don’t! That uses your own Aether to generate the shield! All you’ll do is let that thing know you’re there]!”

“[And if I don’t]!?” Kon’gric snarled.

“[It’s facing away from us! Trust me]!” Oly’xic said with a note of panic in his voice.

Finally, after a long moment, the centipede slowly went down into the hole.

“[Move, don’t even stop. Just run],” Oly’xic said bluntly. He watched Kon’gric move past him, and then he looked towards the others. His mask found that the others had made it to the first raised structure and he swallowed. With a last look towards his drone, he sent a single order to it on a tight beam and turned. He ran towards the others, the cries of the monsters behind pushing him faster.

As he reached solid ground, he ran after Kon’gric. When he ran into the first doorway he could reach, Oly’xic followed him into it. After a minute of running, he found the others. Looking up he saw Kon’grix standing there as Ar’thor looked around. “[Good hustle back there, really. I’d take you into the field at any time! But why’d you stop here]?”

“[Look around],” Ar’thor said with shock in his voice.

Frowning, Oly’xic let his gaze wander around. At first, nothing seemed to be wrong, but as he inspected the walls around the chamber, something did seem off. The more he looked around, the more that feeling of wrongness grew. But no matter what he thought of, nothing just jumped out and told him what this was. “[What do you see o prince]?”

“[This wasn’t made by the Firstborn],” Ar’thor said with shock in his voice.

At this Oly’xic went still and looked around, seeing what the Prince had. The wall might have been the same color as the outer walls, but there were strange signs here and there. From the tattered remains of what looked like a cloth banner, he knew something was wrong. This whole place had more signs, signs that showed that someone had lived here recently. Maybe within the last five years at most.

“[He’s right. But what could have made this place, and why]?” Oly’xic asked in wonder as he looked around.

“[And does this place extend to the door? Is it already open]?” Kon’gric asked as slowly turned to gaze at the chamber.

All Oly’xic could see was that this place was meant to watch the field of holes out there. Something was wrong here, just why and who made this place?

“[This is Oly’xic to main team. Come in main team. Can you hear me]?!” Oly’xic said into his coms. He waited for a few more moments before he cursed. “[NOVA BURST! These walls must be blocking our coms]!”

All Oly’xic could do was look at the walls with both anger and curiosity. He had been trying to find a place to make something to block coms for a while now. If he had that, then he could block sensors. If he could do that, then he could escape when things went bad.

“[Should we go out there, walk to the others]?”

Before Oly’xic could say anything there was a screeching from outside.

“[Stay here]!” Oly’xic barked before he turned away. With a terrible feeling, Oly’xic ran to the door. When he reached the door he saw that the centipedes were all fighting each other, and firing their acid all over.

“[This is Jen’dra! Oly’xic! Can you hear me]!?” Jen’dra’s voice came over the coms in an instant.

Oly’xic felt relief at that moment. At least the others were alive. “[Leader Jen’dra, good to hear you! This is Oly’xic, the prince is alive! These things are making a mess out here. Got a plan]?”

“[Good to hear Oly’xic! You behind the way those things left us alone]?” Jen’dra asked.

“[Yeah. Boss, I think these things can track aether usage! I mean if they're meant to counter robots that can use aether],” Oly’xic said and for a moment there was silence.

“[So the civil war was so bad that some of them wanted to counter the robots! Great. And who knows what else is here? What did these fools create with DNA]?” Jen’dra with a hard edge in her voice.

Oly’xic nodded and then spoke up. “[How knows boss-lady. But with these things acting out like this, what can we do]?”

“[Let’s explore our hiding places. This place should connect to each other at the door at least! Keep the prince alive]!” Jen’dra said.

Oly’xic looked out at the rampaging centipedes and tried to keep his cool. If those were just a sample of what was here, then he hated this plan already. He fought down the idea that he would protect the prince, his station didn’t matter right now. “[Got it boss! Stay alive]!”

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“[You too]!” Jen’dra said as she turned and walked back into the chamber they had found. With a look at the walls, she frowned again. She heard the sounds of something hitting above her while she was at the door. This place had to have been made out of something that was immune to acid and it blocked their coms. That was all kinds of bad, escpically if it was on purpose.

Putting aside the identity and reason of the construction, was the material chosen at random? Did they know what this stuff could do? And just when was this place made? How new could this place be?

As she was trying to think of anything that might explain anything here, an icon on her mask started to flash. Seeing it was Tar’lroia she smiled. “[Jen’dra here. Made contact with the kid. The prince is alright and I’m heading back to you all].”

“[Great! So we’re ready to walk over to them Boss? Oh, and we’ve found a door back here. It goes into a corridor only about ten feet long before it hits a door. Guess we don’t need it then]? Tar’lroia asked with a smirk in her voice.

Jen’dra only sighed and shook her head. “[Negative, we need it. I’ll explain when I get back to you guys].”

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“The beasts are in a bad mood? Do you think that that something from the outside is trying to get in?”

“Yes but who knows what?”

“Whatever it is, for it to have made it through it had to be strong. And that strength has to be used by someone smart enough to handle it.”

“This great power has to be the property of the worshipers of the Great Beast.”

“To right! Hunting my friends! The first one to sight them gets the first bit of blood!”