The Reaper’s Legion

Chapter 59

Gauntlet of Salt

There was a collective moment where we stood there, absorbing the prospect of what was just ahead of us. No one in this group had been with me in the Delve, had seen the first raw, horrible gem that this place had been.

I felt tense, remembering how many people we’d lost here, perhaps one of our worst operations to date. The only thing that I could think of that was worse was Wolven, and that had been a living calamity.

Even after having lived through some horrible things, even after having my memories shattered, there was a certain quality to the disquiet down here that I couldn’t shake. The only sounds that came back to us down here, waiting at the entrance, was the drip of water.

Finally, Daniel broke the silence, “It’s dark as hell down here.”

A nervous chuckle came from Fran, “I’m sure we can deal with this down here.”

“I’ve never actually come down here,” Alice warily stepped forward, straining her senses, visor concealing most of her face. Her jaw was set, stance forward as though she expected to have to move at a moments notice, “It feels wrong, somehow? Like I opened a box expecting to see a gift and found it full of angry bugs, instead.”

“Quite the picture,” Richard murmured, moving to flank her and scouting the other side, “I can’t get through these walls with my thermal vision.”

“My sound is a little rough too.” She frowned, “I can still kinda tell that there’s something on our left, but it’s far away.”

I focused on that direction as she spoke, unable to sense anything with my equipment. “It could be lying in wait. They did that a lot last time.”

“Right, you were here.” Terry spoke as he performed some adjustments to his weaponry, “I heard it was bad?”

“It was,” I replied, wanting to not cover that topic, “Keep close, Daniel will take up the rear. I suggest you pick up that mine cart to act as cover since you’re too big of a target otherwise. I’ll take point this time, Terry and Fran will be core, while Alice and Richard will be flanks. If this is like it was in reality then what we’re going to need to be ready for is constant harassment from behind us and the hallways.”

Looking around, I noticed that there was a stenciled designation for the floor that we were on. It seemed to be the lowest floor, so if nothing else I imagined that we wouldn’t have to get into another elevator to go down another floor. “Mine entrances as we go, if you have enough of them. Even motion sensors will be good.”

Richard patted his side, “I can take care of that. I’ve got plenty.”

I nodded to him, “Lets go, nice and slow. The less noise we make the better this time.”

Together we began to move forward, the murky darkness retreating with the collection of lights that we carried. Floodlights burned through the black, Daniel and terry the bulk source of that light. It was a far cry better than what I’d had my first time through, but we were also much smaller in number than the Delve group.

Minutes later we’d still made no contact with anything. The crunching of salt and light clanking of Daniel’s mech were the only constant noises. Richard had a strange nozzle that spat a small ball of material at the entrance of each hall that we passed. I wouldn’t know what that did until later on, but I guessed there was some kind of explosive in it to project acid outwards.

“Stop. They’re here.” I glared at the hallways running off on the sides from the main cutout. Alice listened, and surprisingly only picked it up a few seconds later.

“I think I hear them moving. That’s quiet.” She knocked an arrow, coming into position to my left. Richard shook his head and settled in to the right.

Then shards of metal drifted through the air, long feathers that I’d recognized time and again from Fran’s attacks. They collected in front of us, forming several barriers that we could hide behind.

“They can take a few hits,” Fran warned, “But don’t rely on them too much.”

I nodded gratefully, having more time to kill them without worrying about being hit or them hitting the others would be much easier.

“I’m not getting anything back here ye-Shit!” Daniel started, before shouting in surprise as he hefted the arm that was holding the minecart up. Distant snapping noises resounded as barbed reinforced salt spears pierced into the metal. There were three, and in retort Daniel fired off a few quick round bursts. I didn’t wait to see what happened there, drawing two hand-cannons and aiming down the range.

I could see, even in this extremely low light, and as the beetles exited into the hallway I took a stilling breath and aimed.

They were far away, far enough to be out of sight in the light. I already knew that they were highly accurate even at those distances, but so was I.

As their wings flared, twisting to the sides to expose the organ responsible for firing their deadly payload, I finally fired. There were four of them, and with each shot I tore through the soft tendon structure that acted as the string for their fleshy crossbows.

They chittered madly, each shot tearing through the air in an instant after the next. I didn’t stop there, though, turning my guns to a single target then. I fired several more shots, tearing into the gaps in legs to reduce mobility. These handguns weren’t as potent as the mag-rifles, but their bullets were dense slugs with the experimental explosive load.

The first two beetles were down with two sets of legs utterly useless, destroyed and hanging on by strands. Two pairs were left, their scything pairs, and they helplessly attempted to drag themselves away, or forward towards their aggressors. The third turned, and with clinical accuracy I took aim and blasted the legs on that side of its body. The fourth, however, was just fast enough; Only one of its legs was removed.

The three chittered madly as they floundered. I turned my attention to the flanks, Alice having detected where the beetle was coming from had sent a pair of arrows into its compound eyes, both of which were now smoking holes. The beetle was still alive, thrashing and moving in the general direction of its assailant. A salt spear protruded from the layer of metal in front of Alice, her cover serving its purpose quite well.

Richard, on the other hand, seemed to have a much easier time here. There had been two on his side, but neither was able to move well, or see. On closer inspection, a layer of goo sizzled rapidly through armor and tissue, a gas similar to what he’d used on the wolves clinging greedily to their armored bodies. The spears had gone wide, hitting the ground and shattering, and it was clear that as they’d tried to approach, he’d simply pelted them with some kind of sticky concoction.

It hardened rapidly, leading to their current predicament. They were strong, but the resin hardened rapidly, and it seemed that there was no small amount of acid present in this form of attack as well. Richard fired a pair of darts, each one burying deep into softened armor.

A few seconds later, the beetles stopped moving.

“That’s potent stuff.” I commented, seeing the biotics easily dispatched by the poison user something sobering.

In the back, though, I saw that Daniel had less than a stellar time. The minecart he’d been using had fully eight spears in it, and it seemed that there were three in his mech. Luckily, they didn’t get through far and had mostly shattered on contact with the hardened material.

“That sucked.” Daniel complained, “I don’t think that killed any of them.”

Fran hovered over his shoulder, looking down at the damage, “Doesn’t look like anything vital was hit. I forgot how much of a punch these things pack.”

“I might have to invest in a shield at some point,” Daniel sighed.

Terry chuckled, “Let me come back there and help, I think I might have something.”

I watched the pair of mech users crowd the back side of the group before turning my attention back forward. As we approached, I noted that there was a much more definite air of tension, the realization that the beetles were far hardier than the wolves and much more dangerous brought to the fore once more.

Passing the three beetles I’d brought down before, I fired the pistols into their heads as we walked, ending them swiftly. The others spared me a second glance at that, but said nothing.

Another six ambushes went this way, each one larger than the last. Terry fired a large gun that looked more like a tesla coil down the tunnel each time a sensor went off, filling it with what I could only describe as lightning. He deployed small rods as we went, each one helping to keep the electricity on course. Anything close to those rods, of course, would quickly expire.

Of the lot of us, Richard and Terry both had weapons that were rather suited to destroying these types. Fran continued her mobile defense trick, occasionally bringing her feathers back to assess their damage. We weren’t terribly worried, even if they were broken in half, she could still use them, and she did have replacements in another container.

What truly surprised me was the fact that Richard never seemed to run out of the spheres, planting them at every cross section, even taking over Alice’s side when she began to run low.

In front of us, with Fran’s armor, I could take eight of the beetles before they had a chance to fire. Only when there were more than that would one be capable of firing before I destroyed their ballista organ.

By then, though, we were nearly through the easy part.

“Alright, looks like that’s it for the hallways.” I said, “Now we have this godforsaken cavern.”

“Oh, finally,” Terry breathed out a sigh, “I was starting to get claustrophobic.”

“Keep your eyes open here, the Hive Guards are much stronger.” My warning came a moment before I noticed movement ahead of us.

I sneered as the mass charged forward, blowing through a smaller stalagmite as it set itself towards me. Whereas the previous beetles were the size of a van, these were more akin to a truck. White armor with emblazoned lines filled my vision quickly as I stepped forward, running at it. There were several jagged portions to the armor, and the wings on these were designed to be able to swing forward like huge axes to cut and crush anything beneath them.

It raked its head upwards as I neared, attempting to skewer and gouge me.

My awareness was far greater this time around, though, and as fast as these were in charge, they were far from what I would call lithe. I stowed my pistols as I moved, putting one foot just behind one of the horns of the bug. As it threw its head back, I rolled, tightening myself as its wings flared upwards.

With inches to spare, I slipped through the gaps between them. Before it could realize what had happened, I drew my blades.

They hummed to life, heat billowing off of them as I drove them downwards. I arrested my momentum on the beetles less protected abdomen. I cut backwards after that, feet planted firmly as I severed the taut tendons that would have allowed it to close its wings upon me.

In seconds I shredded through the rest of the tissues, the beetle thrashing, unable to shake me from its body.

It fell unceremoniously as I cut through another swathe of tissue, silvery blue blood covering the bulk of my armor.

“Much more durable,” I commented, stepping out of the soupy mess and studying the nonplussed expressions on my companions faces.

Alice cleared her throat, “That’s kinda gross.”

Richard snorted before receiving a cutting glare from Alice, “Ah, no, I mean totally gross. Yeah. That’s what we’re focusing on.”

Terry leaned in and whispered something to Daniel, who then boomed with laughter. I tilted my head at that, to which neither of them filled me in. Helplessly, I shook my head and turned my attention deeper into the cavern.

“The last time we did this, we left a team in this area to draw attention in a well defended spot. Is that still how people do it?” I asked.

“Most usually leave half the team outside the entrance to the hive cavern and have them make a distraction to draw the rest of the hive.” Fran then supplemented, “It’s usually the easier job, from what I’ve heard.”

“It probably is.” I agreed, “We’re going to all-in the hive core. I brought something along that should hopefully make that easier.” Idly I patted the launcher on my back.

“I could just hose the hive crystal with heavy firepower until it breaks?” Daniel suggested, “It’s not like we even have to enter the room at that rate.”

I shook my head, “I think it’s fairly well defended, might take too long. If the way I want to do this goes well, we’ll be in and out pretty quick. Ah, but everyone should be ready to unload some heavy-hitting payload. I am not interested in fighting that thing in a melee.”

“That thing?” Richard frowned as realization dawned on him, “Ah, right, the Queen.”

“Let’s get to it.” I nodded, moving through the cavern. We stuck to one side, forcing anything that wanted to charge us to come from the side.

A pair of Hive Guard charged us, backed up by a half dozen beetles. This time, with pillars for cover and more space to work with, Fran directed her attention to the soldiers. Daniel unloaded his vulcan into the first Hive Guard, and after three seconds of sustained fire from a single gun, there wasn’t much left but sludge. Terry surprised me here as well, firing a pole into the second Guard and turning on the power. Electricity arced to the pole, and it charged forward only to slide across the ground another three meters as it flash fried.

The soldiers couldn’t get good shots off with the additional cover, and Frans feathers burrowed into parts of them, moving their postures constantly, preventing them from moving well.

“If I had my updated weapons, this would be easy,” Fran tutted, “Well, I suppose this is good manipulation practice.”

“Fran’s got a scary face on again!” Alice mock complained, “Daaaaad!”

Daniel laughed hysterically at that, and Fran blushed, “You’re not even that much younger than me!”

“It’s the maturity,” Terry called out, then stopped as he saw the raised eyebrow from Alice, “Not to say you aren’t mature?”

“That sounded like a question.” Richard grinned conspiratorially.

“Nope. Definitely not.” Terry replied.

The banter went on for a bit longer before we pulled it back in, redirecting out attention to the hive room. The salt covered cavern, excavated primarily by biotics, had scratch marks all over it. In this area alone, however, did they take on a uniform, almost designed appearance. Similar to the guards, there were designs carefully built into walls, almost like some kind of written language.

It didn’t seem possible, though, and certainly they’d never exhibited any kind of advanced intelligence outside of tactics.

“Alright, let me lead,” I pulled out the launcher on my back, “After I get a hit, it’ll have limited mobility. Cut its wings first, and then drill it down. Don’t go too far into the room though, there are pit-falls that are…” I paused, remembering what felt like another life, where Zeik had died, Yomar almost alongside him.

I blinked the memory away, “They’re dangerous.”

No one said anything, but I could practically feel the sympathy radiating from the others, “Whenever your ready.” Fran nodded, hovering a few inches off the ground here.

I turned, taking a deep breath. ‘Now, if I remember, this particular pain in my ass likes to open its fights like…’ I charged and dove through the entrance, and felt an immense shift in the air as a stinger scythed into the ground. ‘Yup! Just like that.’

As I rolled, I came to see the angry chattering bug, glaring accusingly at me with its compound eyes. It seemed almost to be insulted that I’d dodged, and in the next moment its wings flared, ready to take it elsewhere as it let out a high-pitched screech, the call to the rest of the hive.

Then I fired, before it could get further away. The tub exploded at both ends, a tangled, writhing mass of cords with powerful adhesives latched onto the Queen’s spiked limbs. The other end fired a stiff, barbed harpoon deep into the ground. The blast itself rocked my shoulder, and if it weren’t for the power armor, I’d probably have a dislocated shoulder.

The screeching took on an altogether more alarmed and angry tune as the Queen began to panic, pulling and tearing at the steel strands.

“Now!” I shouted, switching to a pair of shotguns, similar to the trench gun I’d ones used against her.

A trio of rods sailed through the air, the Queen batting two of them away while the third found purchase in her midsection. Several spikes of metal cut into her wings, shallow and not enough to rend through all at once.

Then Alice fired a pair of arrows, both exploding before they reached the biotic, an additional layer of netting expanding over and ensnaring the biotic. This was augmented even more by the sickly white fluids that exploded from small canisters that Richard threw, both foaming up quickly and hardening like concrete.

“Clear!” Terry sent a jolt of electricity through the line, and suddenly the organized movements of the dump-truck sized abomination grew spastic. It fell to the ground, and electricity arced from it to the ground beneath.

Daniel made no announcement, the spinning of both barrels and the sudden belching firepower of large anti-material rifles filling the cavern.

In a heartbeat the wings of the Queen were shredded, Fran’s spikes working deep into tissues that now bore rents and tears from the combined assault.

It struck me profoundly that we were able to take care of this so easily. I remembered the pain and edge-of-life that I’d been at, but truly preparation seemed to be key here. It was a lesson that I’d taken to heart, but even so, seeing the difference was… bittersweet.

Instead of joining in the combat, I dashed through the hive, knowing that soon we would have to deal with a great many more visitors if we didn’t take care of it. As I approached, the receptacle for the hive crystal came into view. It was unlike when I’d found it previously, fully encased in what appeared to be an amber hexagonal assortment of mineral.

Assessingly, I fired off several rounds from the trench guns, watching as small chunks of the material fell away.

I whistled to myself approvingly before stowing both of my weapons. Instead, I planted six of the mines I’d brought with me, ringing them on the sides of the formation. Stepping away, I felt for the mental connection to the detonator, issuing the command.

Each mine sounded a low tune, before the discs expanded to double their size. An upper layer spun, mixing chemicals and air, and then condensed, squeezing the mixture to half what it had been before.

The explosions were far greater than what I’d witnessed in the labs, scaling them up resulting in even greater returns. Glistening orange bits of amber flared in the fire light, the percussive wave hitting me in the chest like a mule kick. I stood strong in the face of it, but made a note to never use this near people that weren't in full power armor at a minimum. There was very little smoke, luckily, and I could see the core within, no longer sheltered.

It was unharmed, mostly, though that would change now. I put a hand on it, feeling with my senses, knowing that the system likely couldn’t explain exactly what transpired when this was done in the real world.

Instead of me being able to interact with it, the crystal simply changed to pure white, the marble mix of black, silver, and white disappearing.

[Floor Cleared! The Reaper’s Team ‘Alpha’ has cleared the 3rd floor. ‘Alpha’ has acquired 1st place in ‘Extermination, Gauntlet’ condition for time and would acquire 1st place in ‘Extermination, Classic,’ congratulations!]

“That thing was way too tanky.” Daniel shook his head incredulously, “That was ridiculous.”

I glanced over to the body of the Queen, no longer even vaguely resembling what it was before.

Alice looked to me, “What did you do with this the first time?”

I paused, feeling the memories there, and feeling the tenseness ease away. It was somehow relieving to know that we had come so far.

“I almost died,” I said, “The lot of us almost died.”

“Sorry.” Alice apologized, regret on her face.

I smiled, “It’s alright. I’m glad we’re moving forward. I just never want to see this damn thing again, so I hope nobody breaks the record.”

“That’s a fact.” Terry shivered, “That was crazy. That was the most voltage I’ve pumped into something since Wolven. Nuts.”

“And, speaking of,” Fran had an uncharacteristically vicious grin on her face, “We have a rematch to get too.”

Her grin was infectious, “Indeed we do. Let’s go kill a nightmare.”