Gravity Fluctuation (9)
Once the commotion had begun, there was no stopping it. No, there couldn't be. We immediately moved out, maintaining formation as we crossed the sector.
I ran at the very front, filling my entire body with breath. With every fierce stomp, energy surged through me.
The first mutant to block our path was a Cramper, a new variant type of Ghoul. This creature, having fused with a combat suit, had gained such blistering speed that its afterimage lingered in the air; it shot out at us instantly, as if intent on eliminating the intruders right away.
「Kraaaaa-!」
It charged with a ferocity that would chill anyone's blood. The Cramper moved with reckless abandon, not caring for its own body or safety, prompting the soldiers' pulse rifles to blaze with fire aimed directly at it.
Thud-thud-thud. Electric reactions sparked and popped as countless rounds sliced through the air. Their aim was superb, but the Cramper was faster still, causing most shots to miss.
Even the wave fired from the suppression wave emitter couldn't halt its movement. The force designed to push it back merely dissipated into nothingness.
'It's fast. So fast, you'd hardly believe it belongs in the same category as other Ghouls.'
But to me, that was all it had. I grabbed the new close-combat weapon Kyle had crafted for me. I remembered little about the military-grade heat system installed in this weapon, except that its output had been significantly increased.
'I remember one more thing.'
Due to technical limitations, it couldn't be used for long periods, and if the blade melted, it'd need to be swapped out for a new one.
'Higher output means better survivability!'
Higher output raised survival rates—that was an undeniable truth.
"Move aside!"
At my shout, the blade was lit with a piercing blue glow. I swung it.
Shhhk!
The high-temperature plasma slashed right through the Cramper. Whatever it thought in its last moment didn't matter—the attack ended with the Cramper basically sacrificing itself, hurling its body at me.
The Cramper, together with its combat suit, was neatly bisected. Perhaps because the cut was so clean, or perhaps because its speed was already so high, the creature barely lost momentum and slid past us, nearly flying along the ground.
The Alpha series finished off the tumbling creature with their rifles. Once their actions became systematic, our weapons' power was undeniably more effective. My blade was still flaming brightly, showing no sign of wear.
But all I'd done was take down a single Cramper. We still had many more to kill. Next, a wave of Lampreys attacked.
These hunters leaped through the air, relentlessly targeting our vulnerable spots, snapping their many-toothed jaws at empty space.
"Just clear out the Lampreys! I'll handle the Crampers!"
"Yes!"
There were too many Lampreys for me to handle individually—it was more efficient to use area firepower.
Eric and the soldiers' pulse rifles, along with Carry's flamethrower, each showed their power, suppressing enemies attacking from all sides. Once our fire network was arranged, barely any creatures broke through.
If any did slip by, Celestia's smart pistol did not miss even one.
Thanks to the rear support, I could clear the way so those following me wouldn't be forced to stop.
With each ground-pounding step, sticky creep splattered up. Whenever a blue afterimage flashed through the air, the Crampers' limbs followed suit, flying through the air. Disgusting bodily fluids sprayed along the arc of each strike.
These creatures spared nothing of themselves in their quest to kill us—mutants would cling on even when dismembered, clutching at us with brute hands that could easily twist an ankle, grabbing at the ground.
While the flamethrower seared them, making them falter, rifle fire concentrated on their forms. Some had their cores totally smashed and ceased moving, but many managed to narrow the distance during the soldiers' reloads.
Lampreys pierced by rounds bored into Cramper bodies, stubbornly refusing to die, making them annoying to deal with.
I was considering detonating the Alpha series in a suicide run when the base's broadcast blared to life.
「Warning. Temporary gravity fluctuation detected. Stabilizers running at maximum capacity.」
As I tried to step down, my foot scraped not the ground but just above it. My body suddenly floated off, unable to touch down.
If we were airborne, so were the mutants coming at us from all directions—the horde of Lampreys and Ghouls on the floor were floundering just as helplessly as we were.
This was a chance. While afloat, we could surely blow them back with the suppression wave emitter.
"Alpha! Clear a path!"
The Alpha series leapt ahead. Their entire frames glowed crimson—all at once—as they released a full-body shockwave using core overdrive. A deep, ominous hum swept through their frames, and right after, an energy wave crashed out.
The shockwave radiating outward in a semicircle blasted away every monster unable to resist its force. We were affected too, but we'd preemptively anchored ourselves with wires, allowing us to hold fast.
A clear lane opened miraculously before us. Beyond, the way branched in different directions, but the sector navigation holograms were off, making it impossible to tell which path led where.
"Which way now?!"
"Left! Turn left! At every corner, once right, once left! At the end, you'll reach Storage Bay 3! You have to pass through there to get to the next sector!"
Storage Bay 3: the facility where the power loaders and their related machinery were stored. I knew that mimic-type mutants could infect inorganic material and control it at will.
Even if Roxy's diversion had lured most of the base's mutants away, as we'd just seen, a few were bound to have stayed behind.
A sense of foreboding came over me—there might be an infected power loader in the storage bay. That premonition, unfortunately, proved all too accurate.
「Notice. Gravity anomaly corrected. Prepare for sudden drop.」
We had been propelled forward at speed by venting oxygen when suddenly a force yanked us downward.
We'd just neutralized a swarm of mutants and followed Kanna's directions. We were almost at the door of Storage Bay 3.
Just as Kanna tried to open the sealed door with her authority—
Bang!
An infected power loader smashed through the door and wall, hurling debris dangerously close to us. At least one had remained after all.
'Bad hunches are never wrong!'
It must have been immobilized by the gravity anomaly and sprung into action the moment gravity was restored.
A massive frame, blue crystals jutting through the outer shell, tentacles snaking through the frame, a cockpit overflowing with, and even leaking, bundles of living tissue,
And in the midst of it all, a pair of eyes brimming with murderous intent.
「Kyaaaah-!」
"Fire!"
The infected power loader, appearing so robust, took the full barrage of incoming fire on its frame. Even though the pulse rifles packed a punch, they could barely faze it—only scattering scarlet sparks in all directions.
"Cease fire! Stop! You won't kill it with that!"
Sure, inflicting it with debuffs using weakening devices and accumulating damage would kill it eventually, but it would take too long.
If we didn't destroy the core in the cockpit, the mimic could stick it out on the power loader's monstrous strength, enduring as long as possible. As always, we had to end this in a single decisive blow.
To me, infected power loaders were practically trauma-inducing. This wasn't the very one that had seriously injured Nadia, but since it was the same type, I couldn't help but recall that day vividly.
'I'll never let that happen again.'
Holding Nadia's chillingly cold form in my arms was something I never wanted to experience again. As I received the polar impactor from Carry and charged in, the missile pod attached to the power loader's shoulder clicked open.
It was about to launch, black spikes wrapped in living tissue clenching tightly. That was when Nadia stepped forward.
"Not a second time!"
As she reached out, suddenly her backpack popped open, revealing a hand with a familiar shape. The hand aimed exactly where Nadia herself was pointing.
It wasn't an industrial-grade artificial gravity chain connector—nicknamed Big Hand—but an imitation, downgraded and modified to suit Nadia's biotech circuit limitations. Still, it was effective.
「Kyaaaaak!」
A ripple spread overhead, then slammed down on the infected power loader below. Unlike the original, which could force it to its knees, this one only restricted its movement for a moment—but that was enough. Targeting a stationary foe was the easiest thing of all.
To ensure a clean kill, I activated the weakener, tagging the mimic with a debuff. The extra gravity made the infected power loader drop to a knee.
It lowered its height for an easy shot. Missing this would be unforgivable.
As the spike of the polar impactor charged up, it drove forward, pulverizing not only the cockpit but the core inside.
Through the gaping wound, fine parts and shredded organic tissue spilled out. Just beyond was Storage Bay 3.
As I caught my breath, Nadia's voice, a mix of pride and satisfaction, rang out.
"Hyun-woo, how was it? I took apart Big Hand and remade it myself. Not bad, right?"
"Not bad? It's seriously good!"
"Really? Thank goodness!"
Nadia tucked away her downgraded Big Hand again and stared intently at the inert mimic.
In some ways, I realized Nadia had an even deeper trauma than I did—she herself had been gravely injured by an infected power loader.
But there was no fear in her eyes as she looked at the dead mimic. Only trust in me. Seeing that, I felt reassured too.
Relieved inside, I reloaded the impactor and looked back. The soldiers wore dazed expressions from the abruptly finished battle but were still making sure to confirm kills on incoming monsters behind us. They were more shaken than they let on, but doing their jobs nonetheless.
"Let's go."
"Yes...!"
We stepped into Storage Bay 3. After the sweep, only a few mutants remained, mostly Lampreys hiding in corners.
'Area firepower really is effective. With more troops comes more response methods.'
Knowing that others could handle the mutants on sight had greatly reduced my burden. As I considered whether to move straight to the next sector, Roxy requested a comms connection. I patched him in immediately.
"Roxy."
- Friend. Did you make good use of the time I bought you?
"Of course. Thanks to you, we advanced much farther than expected. If we traverse just two more sectors, we should reach where the Albatross is docked."
- That's great news. But I'm afraid I have some bad news as well.
The moment I heard that, I raised my hand. My teammates stopped at once. As I shook my head gravely, they began searching the hole the infected power loader had made, wary instead of proceeding to the next sector.
"What's up? Don't tell me you're crashing right now?"
- What? Pfft! Haha! That would be funny if that's what you meant. Even I couldn't stay this calm if I were mid-crash. And no, I'm not. The defense turrets can't kill me.
"Then what is it?"
- I've used up all the explosives I loaded into the shuttle. I need to return to Griffin to resupply, but it'll take some time—Griffin's out searching for anomalies and is a bit further away.
That explained why I hadn't heard any more explosions. He must have burned through his payload in his exuberance.
Roxy being away meant we couldn't expect air support until he returned. His diversion had drastically reduced the number of mutants we had to face. Without him, crossing sectors would take more time and resources—an unavoidable outcome.
My expression darkened, though I tried to hide it.
"Got it. How's surface status?"
- Most of the creatures caught in the explosions are disabled but will soon recover. I don't know if they'll re-enter the base or stay outside.
Roxy informed me that the infected power loaders and defense turrets were still intact. If the mimics stopped watching the exterior, we'd be in trouble.
If the turret hacking had gone smoothly, we could have used them to draw attention, but progress had been slow. I suspected increased pressure as we climbed higher.
So I brooded over how to navigate this challenge when Carry tapped me on the shoulder.
「(˶˚ ᗨ ˚˶)」
Carry wore an expression like she'd just accomplished something; it caught me off guard and also made me curious. Carry wasn't one to play aimless pranks.
"Did you find something?"
「ヾ(≧▽≦*)」
In answer, Carry pointed with a manipulator arm. There, surrounded by soldiers and Nadia, was a tightly sealed container.
"I understand the situation. We may have found a way to break through on our end—go resupply and don't worry. Nothing else notable on the surface?"
- Ah, one thing: when the gravity anomaly hit, something like an eruption was detected near the base.
"... Eruption? The ground?"
- Technically, what's beneath it—sand, or something, suddenly gushed upward. Just letting you know. No way that kind of phenomenon would happen for no reason.
"Roger. Thanks for letting me know."
- Don't mention it. That's nothing between us.
With a promise to return as soon as possible, Roxy ended the transmission. I hurried to where Nadia and the container were. Upon my approach, the soldiers wrestling with the container explained.
"We thought there might be usable equipment, so we're opening it up."
"Isn't Celestia here?"
Kanna looked troubled, as if to say, 'With her, there shouldn't be a problem.'
"The lock is totally broken. Authority or not, the device won't recognize anyone."
"Ah. So that's it."
I noted the sizable container and continued.
"You don't know what's inside, right?"
"No. If there are explosives inside, we can't even use a plasma cutter."
"What if we just force it open? Are there other security devices that would wreck the contents inside if we open it by force?"
"The container is completely dead, so nothing else would function. Besides, these don't require that level of security anyway."
"How about the possibility that the pureblood supremacists left these on purpose? Could be a trap for people like us."
There was no sign of them at the moment, but it was clear the pureblood supremacists had been here—their traces kept showing up around the facility.
These guys used the base's equipment as if it were theirs. It was unlikely any good gear would have been left. If there was something useful in the hangar, I had to suspect it as bait.
The Albatross, our target mothership, could have been destroyed or infected as well. But since it was in a special hangar, there was hope it had survived, unlike Storage Bay 3.
"That's possible, but I want to look anyway. Right now, Celestia and Eric are recovering all the intact containers with my team."
"So there's more than one, huh?"
"Yes, more than we thought. Maybe we didn't have time to collect them all before. They're all likely in this state."
A container metamorphosed into a vault without a keyhole. After knocking on it a few times, I concluded it was worth a try.
"Nadia, come down. You could get hurt up there."
"Okay!"
Nadia leaped down, and as I stretched in preparation, I noticed Kanna's eyes wavering.
"... Are you going to open it by force? These are military containers..."
"I'll give it a try. It'd be a waste not to. Who knows, there could be something useful inside."
Having loosened up from recent combat, I was much stronger than before. If I couldn't do it—too bad. If I succeeded, all the better.
With that thought, I had everyone else back away in case of explosion or monsters.
At a glance, the container looked seamless, but since it was meant to be opened and closed, there had to be a gap. After careful examination, I found a minuscule crack.
I forced my fingers in, and while it didn't budge at first, as I applied more strength, it started to groan and open up.
Celestia, back from scouting the interior with the soldiers, watched my performance with a slight gasp.
Her face shifted from "Can that really work?" to "It DOES work?" in no time. The growing gap quickly became a fully removed metal plate.
"Oh...!"
I was the first to look inside, and an involuntary gasp of admiration escaped me—for what was in there was not a trap left by the pureblood supremacists, but a military power loader.
It was stored, hanging by securing wires, and—best of all—it was uninfected.
"There's a power loader in here."
"Really?!"
"Yeah. Not completely intact, though."
"Oh..."
Kanna's face brightened, only to fall again at my next words. Shaking her head, she sighed.
"We can't use this. The main circuit is missing."
"Without it, you can't control it at all?"
"It won't work, period. It handles functions like an engine starter and auxiliary system—without it, it's just a big hunk of metal. Even forcing it to operate, it'd be just like a regular industrial loader. Actually, it might be even harder to use. I doubt the controller would function."
"Industrial grade? So at least it could move?"
"Yes, but there's no point. None of us have a license or experience. And most licensed operators were on standby at the base and probably... gone since the fall."
Power loader operation was notoriously hard—comparable to controlling Big Hand. Originally, it was supposed to be easy for untrained users, but as they kept being hijacked during crises and turned into weapons, those models were discontinued.
But we had an exception: Nadia, a heavy-equipment specialist. She was unlicensed, but her skill was real.
Nadia and I locked eyes—and grinned, at exactly the same moment. That sense of wordless understanding was always uplifting. Nadia cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"Hyun-woo, I might be able to solve this."
"Excuse me? Do you have a license?"
A surprised Kanna interjected.
"Nope, none. And I don't need one."
"... What?"
Kanna looked baffled but couldn't stop Nadia, who was brimming with confidence—and I was obviously encouraging her.
Maybe, seeing me force open the container so easily, they'd begun to expect Nadia would show them something too.
Nadia called out to the floating Carry.
"Carry, can I borrow your help? Don't you want to know what it feels like to walk? If this works, you might get a new body."
「ヽ(ﾟ◇ﾟ )ﾉ」
Carry reacted, startled, like it was asking, "Really?"
Apparently her excitement wasn't just at the idea of walking, but at being able to interface with the power loader.
Nadia, calming the excited Carry, climbed up onto the loader.
"Let's gather all the containers we found. If anything's useful, we'll salvage it. Hyun-woo, come with me—I'll set up the work area."
"Understood. Everyone heard that—bring them all."
"We shouldn't spend too long—who knows when the creatures will break in."
"It won't take long. Nadia's a pro at this."
As Nadia dismantled the wires holding the power loader and disassembled the container, we recovered all containers scattered throughout the bay.
With Celestia's knowledge of the locations, it didn't take long. Some soldiers guarded collapsed walls, watching for mutants, while the rest devoted themselves to restoring the loader.
The parts we'd gathered were many and varied. Naturally, this being a power loader storage, there were all sorts of related components.
Nadia deftly selected only what she needed—sometimes extracting just a single piece from a massive part, other times using a laser to reshape those that didn't fit.
Kanna worked the hardest, inspired by the feeling that maybe this would work out after all.
Piece by piece, Nadia assembled replacements, and before long, she bounded lightly and entered the loader's cockpit.
"Carry, come on in. I made a space up here—you can climb in."
「(˶˚ ᗨ ˚˶)」
Of everyone, Carry looked the most excited as it climbed up to occupy the upper cockpit. Carry's module became part of the ceiling.
With Nadia tinkering inside for a moment, Carry made a beep of surprise, and the loader's lights came on. Its kneeling form straightened with ease.
"Carry, you're special. You're not a regular transport robot. You can be the main circuit here, no problem. Does it feel weird?"
「Σ('◉⌓◉')」
Carry examined the modular frame it was now installed in, as if wondering, "Is this really me?"
With Nadia having given up partial control, Carry staggered on its first step, then slowly rotated an arm, testing movement range.
I had everyone step back to give Carry space to move freely. It quickly learned how the loader moved, and its movements grew steadily more natural.
Nadia would control it most of the time, but Carry needed to learn the basics in case Nadia ever passed out.
Before Kanna's explanation, I would've chalked this up to the power of learning AIs, but now that I knew Carry didn't even have those features, it felt that much more special. This was something accomplished by Carry's own strength.
I looked up at the now-towering loader—no, at Carry—and asked,
"So, Carry, how does it feel to have a new body?"
「ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)」
Carry clenched and unclenched her fist, then gave a big thumbs-up—as always.
"Titan is ready!"
Nadia cried out joyfully.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】