Gravity Fluctuation (10)
After obtaining the military power loader, we searched to see if there were any additional parts for it. Since we had started exploring anyway, we figured we might as well get as much as we could.
So, while dealing with the hiding Lampreys, we gathered containers and managed to secure some spare parts. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to assemble a second complete unit.
We could have finished one by disassembling the infected power loader that had its cockpit blown off by the polar impactor, but that felt too unsettling, so we dropped the idea.
In any case, even if we did have another one, there wasn't anyone else who knew how to operate it, and we decided to settle for simply attaching the orientation control thrusters.
"Carry, you take this from now on."
I handed the polar impactor to Carry. Although it wasn't strictly exclusive equipment for the power loader, given that it was made to those specs, it finally looked like it fit properly.
「ヾ(≧▽≦*)」
Carry inspected the polar impactor from various angles before assuming a ready stance. Maybe since it'd seen me use it so many times, it didn't seem awkward for it at all.
'One less thing to worry about.'
I was already having a hard time switching equipment around and dealing with things all on my own.
Even if I swapped quickly, the delay was never zero. Now, even if an infected power loader appeared, I wouldn't have to take care of it all by myself. Carry, also piloting a power loader, could deliver strong output, and now it had a weapon capable of taking something down in a single blow.
Even if the power loader got damaged, it wouldn't be a problem beyond simply losing the machine. There was an emergency escape function for just such situations.
The multi-legged tank couldn't be brought along, as it was too badly damaged from continuous battles to be repaired in a short time, but that firepower was unexpectedly replaced elsewhere.
"That's reassuring."
Kanna looked at the power loader—no, now a heavy machine that had become Carry—standing sturdily at the front.
There's a saying that something gets more than twice as strong when it switches from ally to enemy, and weaker again when it comes back to your side. But that didn't apply to Carry.
Whether friend or foe, it took whatever part it could to enhance its own performance. It's just that the parts were so massive they were nearly a complete set.
"Hyun-woo, I'll take the lead now!"
"No, you can't."
"Why not...!"
When I shut her down immediately, Nadia glared at me. With my next words, however, the glint in her eyes softened.
"The front windshield of the cockpit is missing because of your custom modifications. With it so wide open, you'll be an easy mark for a Spitter. The Lampreys would go straight for the cockpit too."
Honestly, since there was glass on the sides, it wasn't wide open. Nadia knew I was exaggerating but stepped back anyway, understanding that I wasn't completely wrong.
Kanna, watching Carry move so naturally, asked me, "If Carry can move by itself, does it even need a cockpit?"
"That's mostly Nadia operating it. Carry doesn't have zero authority, but the basic control was designed to be with Nadia. Right?"
"Yeah!"
Nadia replied, moving the control sticks in the cockpit. Carry was essentially acting as a hub to help the power loader interpret Nadia's commands. Kanna clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"Let's go then. It's a long way to the special storage bay."
"Right."
Roxy radioed that the resupply was going to take a bit more time. Whether it was because word had already gotten out that we were looting the military base Keter, or because of a strange coincidence, the pureblood supremacists' shuttles were circling nearby airspace.
Time kept flowing. The armored Griffin itself was unlikely to be taken down by a mere patrol shuttle, but if we got spotted, reinforcements would keep pouring in, which could become a major headache.
'He told us not to worry, so we just have to do our part.'
We left Storage bay 3 and stepped into the access corridor to our next destination, the armory. The armory. At first glance, it seemed like there might be something new to acquire there as well.
However, Kanna said that the armory was likely the first place to be looted, which made it different from the situation with the hard-to-handle power loaders that remained.
'Well, if the power loaders had been easy to use, I guess none would have been left behind.'
I'd seen the pureblood supremacists loot all the military weapons and arm themselves, but I'd never seen them actually pilot a power loader.
I figured they'd keep a few licensed pilots alive to use as slaves, but they either killed them, or didn't care about such things to begin with—maybe they only realized they were engineers after they killed them.
I thought it was probably the latter. The Mimic that infected the machines filled in the gap.
Thud—
With the increased weight, the heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor. Since we'd cleaned up the area when organizing the storage bay, there were no more reactions from hostile creatures.
Under the corpse of a ghoul whose head had been blown open by a pulse rifle, there were traces of a large group of mutants having passed through. There were even signs on the ceiling, implying that some mutants could move along the walls.
"Carry, if these things appear, use what I gave you to wipe them all out. Got it?"
「( ⚆ _ ⚆ )」
Carry averted its gaze. Even if it looked reluctant, I knew it'd come through when it mattered. As we passed through the access corridor, the armory soon came into view, along with other facilities as a bonus.
'The creep's gotten thicker.'
Up till now, stepping forward meant the creep would get squished and pushed aside, revealing the floor underneath. But the further in we went—specifically, the higher up—the creep had grown thicker and tougher, making it feel as if we were walking through a mud swamp.
Environments don't change without reason. If something has changed, there's definitely a cause for it.
In front of the armory, all the lights had been shattered, leaving the area in near-complete darkness. I shone my flashlight upwards.
〈Armory No. 5〉
「Multiple system stoppages detected. A firefight has occurred. In accordance with combat procedures, weapons are being issued. ERROR. No loanable equipment present.」
A holographic message let us know that there was more than just one problem. I swept my flashlight over other nearby areas.
〈Officers' Quarters〉
「Entry prohibited except for personnel in charge. Internal contamination detected. Please commence contamination removal immediately.」
〈Shower Room〉
「Warning. Water purification system is offline. Serious contamination of water pipes detected. Please call the engineering team and take appropriate measures immediately.」
The scenes beneath the various holographic messages from different facilities were unspeakably gruesome.
The officers' quarters were especially bad. Maybe because the large space was packed tight with people, it was filled with especially virulent active creep, even more than other areas.
'"Entry prohibited except for personnel in charge"? Yeah right. It's like everyone here was 'in charge'.'
No matter how you looked at it, given the era and the fact that this was a key military facility, this barracks arrangement made little sense.
I wondered if I was just ignorant of how the world worked, so I checked the others' reactions. I wasn't the only one who found it odd—everyone but the military personnel thought so too.
I found my gaze unconsciously shifting to Kanna. She mumbled defensively, "Since this base was parasitically built into a giant upside-down icicle, there wasn't much choice about the structure. It may not look like it, but men and women lived separately, and a number of people were frequently away on missions, so it wasn't as cramped as it appears."
"I didn't say anything."
"Sometimes, silent glances hurt more than words. Still, it wasn't all inconvenience. The food was good."
Kanna gestured toward the now shuttered mess hall at the end of the corridor. When I focused my attention, I could read the holographic display.
〈Cafeteria〉
「Today's Menu: Butter-grilled steak, baguette topped with shredded chicken, breaded deep-fried pork, hearty meat broth with noodles.」
"It's all just meat."
"You can see that from here—well, anyway, that means it was decent enough. Just being able to eat all you wanted without worrying about money on a remote satellite like this is a blessing. The training itself was grueling, too."
Kanna added that weak vegetarians could never survive this place, then resumed walking. I shrugged and followed.
We'd only gone a short distance with the rattling sounds of the power loader when, preceded by a long, drawn-out shriek, a Cramper suddenly leapt out from a spot just outside the detection range.
Its charge was so fast, by the time the detector reacted, it was already practically on us.
"Not so fast!"
Nadia and Carry reached out and intercepted the charging Cramper.
Kiaaaak—!
Since the momentum was tremendous and the Cramper itself was a ghoul of great strength, for a moment I thought I saw the power loader's arm being pushed back. Still, it was military grade, so there were no snapped arms or losing the struggle.
「Kiyaaaargh!」
While Carry scorched the rampaging Cramper with lasers from its support arm, Nadia continued operating the controls with a determined look.
Using the full output of the power loader, Nadia began squeezing the Cramper. Of course, the Cramper thrashed to escape the grip, but all its efforts ended in failure.
Crack. The sound of something crushing and breaking was chilling. As the power loader applied its full force, the Cramper soon fell silent. We all went quiet as we saw shards of blue crystal and blood dripping from beneath it.
Was it really necessary to kill it like that? There were easier, less gruesome methods.
Oblivious to our feelings, Nadia beamed, her face spattered with blood. "Carry, this is our power. We'll take care of the rest of these monsters too."
「(((ꎤˋ⁻̫ˊ)—̳o」
Nadia and Carry gained confidence from making such short work of the Cramper. As Kanna moved to follow, she spotted the Cramper's head on the ground and let out a sudden sigh.
"Ah......."
"Was that someone you knew?"
"Yes. A comrade I trusted a great deal. ...... Well, not anymore. Looks like he died heroically defending this place."
Kanna couldn't hide the heaviness in her expression. The soldiers following behind us were the same. But they quickly pushed aside their complex emotions—this had always been a likely outcome, and mourning could wait until survival was secured.
We continued onward. I'd assumed we'd get blocked by swarms of mutants, but the numbers were surprisingly small.
Whenever enemies did appear, Nadia took them all herself as practice with the power loader. She'd punch through them with the polar impactor, beat them with fists, knock them over and stomp them.
Ready to assist anytime things got really dangerous, I waited nearby and noticed a trace of excitement flicker across Nadia's face each time she fought.
Small in stature and not very strong, she had supported from the rear in the past, but now, experiencing the thrill of wielding real power after boarding the power loader, it was clear she was getting drunk on that strength—her tail fluffed and her ears stood tall.
I began to wonder if this was really okay, and perhaps I was a bit scared, but I couldn't stop her. I'd already tried once and was met with a wild look in her eyes. To her, it was probably nothing, but my heart had dropped from fright.
'...... It'll be fine.'
I tried hard to reason with myself. She wasn't fighting poorly, and her skills as a power loader pilot were clearly improving. If it really became dangerous, I could step in then. I was always right beside her, so I wouldn't be too late.
After a while, like soldiers smashing through a war with their lamprey warhammers, Nadia killed everything in tough fashion, then announced in a solemn voice, "The party's over. Everyone, go home."
Blood dripped between the power loader's fists, looking chillingly deadly. Many had things to say, but no one spoke up.
'There's no home to go to...'
What was she talking about? Thanks to Nadia, we'd made it through easily, so I just tapped the elevator button to take us to the next area and knocked the back of the power loader.
"Drop whatever you're holding, it's scary. Just get in the elevator. It'll be a short ride to the special storage bay."
"Okay!"
Nadia tossed aside the Lamprey corpse she was holding. No matter how carelessly she threw it, the remains would likely disappear soon anyway—the creep had already started attaching to the organic matter.
"You got here quicker than I expected."
"Yes. I didn't know Nadia could pilot the power loader this well."
At Celestia and Eric's conversation, Nadia's ears perked up. She tried to act like she hadn't heard, but I could see right through her poker face.
Carry was purely delighted, even tapping its support arm rhythmically. When Kanna and the soldiers chimed in with compliments, the tempo increased.
Unable to hold back any longer, Nadia declared, "I'll wipe them all out! You saw what I did to the Cramper and Lampreys, right? Smashed 'em good!"
"That was awesome, Nadia."
Celestia gave her a small round of applause, making Nadia's tail sway. The mood relaxed for a moment, but no one dropped their guard. As the steadily rising elevator neared the desired floor, tension returned.
This time, we emerged into a space partially exposed to the outside. Rectangular bands of artificial light from outside stretched across the floor.
One more sector to pass, and we'd reach the special storage bay where Albatross was kept.
Thwup—
But as soon as I stepped forward, the ground gave way beneath me. The thick creep had turned completely into a swamp, sucking in my foot.
At almost the same time, with a screech—! something skittered across the creep.
"Combat ready!"
At Kanna's command, rifles were raised. It was too fast to see, but everyone sensed its presence. Celestia, aiming her smart pistol at where she guessed the disturbance had come from, asked me,
"... Hyun-woo, did you see what that was?"
"I did, but......"
I trailed off. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, what had just flashed by looked like a Lamprey-type mutant. But it wasn't a Lamprey. It only looked similar—the size difference alone was significant. I had to consider it a different creature entirely.
"What was it?"
"......sort of—no, a way, way bigger Lamprey?"
"What?"
Just as Celestia frowned and asked again,
「Krreeee!」
A new mutant, similar in structure to a Lamprey, emerged through the creep. As chunks of creep blasted into the air, its glowing red eyes and monstrous face came into view.
Its body looked as if it was violently pieced together from countless corpses, and to prove it was a true monster, a blue crystal core shone in its head. A mouth lined with pincer-like teeth that stretched over ten meters, thick hide segmented like a worm.
If death itself had a worm form, this would be it.
"... Nadia, I'm counting on you. It's your time to shine."
"O-Okay...!"
Swallowing hard, I urged, and Nadia forced herself to bring the power loader forward.
「Kiiaaagh!」
Nearly at the same moment, the oversized Lamprey—no, deathworm—threw a fit, spewing out corrosive fluid in all directions just like a Spitter. The already badly corroded facility got doused in acid, completely destroyed.
Sssssss!
The vaporizing sound filled the chamber. It looked far stronger than the Spitter's acid. If that hit directly, even a power loader would probably melt through the frame.
Even an emergency escape was no guarantee of safety. Highly acidic mist sprayed into the air—if it touched a suit, it would burn right through.
All the confidence drained from Nadia's face and she went pale. Her voice shook.
"... Hyun-woo, sorry. I don't think I can do this. I'll get wrung out in reverse. Actually, I'm sure of it."
「(ﾟдﾟ；)」
Carry agreed vehemently. Even before Deathworm began spitting acid all around, she was cowed by its horrific appearance.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【(ᐡ ⩌ ⩌ ᐡ)】