Existential Threat: Chapter 13 Part 3 of 3 (Patreon)

Adraxi dead lay from the opening towards the offices in the corner, more through the one doorway beside the repair bays.

“Kaalim is up in the offices with the medic,” Osbourne said, sat up against a stack of mover tires one leg had been blown off, nanites working to re-attach it as he watched the doorway. Picking up a piece of Adraxi and tossing it into the factory next to him.

Luke grabbed the factory off of his back, putting it down and hitting the unfolding mechanism. The factory expanded.

“I’ll use this as a CCP location.” Shiro put a marker on the map securing his rifle and pulled off a medical kit.

Luke kicked over scrap and Adraxi material to Osbourne who shoved it into the factories.

He grabbed it off as Shiro moved around the movers.

“I’ll use this as a CCP location.” He secured his rifle and pulled off a medical kit.

“Coming down,” Kaalim said.

Luke tracked movement in the offices, hurling Adraxi over to the factories, clearing a path through the carnage.

Weapons fire cut out, rising in tempo.

“How we looking out there Fox?”

“Got some runners and survivors, they’re all messed up. Permission to push out more?”

Luke chewed on the side of his mouth.

“Hotel, how things looking back there?”

“We got the camp set up and the turrets roving, not much materials here though. Built three bots and repaired the old ones.”

“Send up the replacements for the bots missing up here, once you got five bots there head up here to support, bring the factories.”

“Will do.”

“Fox, once we’re all back to full strength we’ll push the advance.”

“Copy.”

The wooden stairs creaked under Golf’s medic’s weight, carrying a broad Orkaran.

Kaalim followed after, talking to two others holding what appeared to be a rifle and a grenade launcher. Luke stepped out the way of the medic, kicking some Adraxi part out the way as she ran her patient over to where Shiro had nailed down a plastic sheet, hooking up his medical kit to the side of the mover, magnetically locked to its side and rolled down.

“Shrapnel to his side, blood loss, possibly punctured lung.”

***

Ken’Lur’Soo held onto his rifle tightly, as one of the larger symbiotes stepped up.

Not a symbiote the Aer use Symbiotes, these are human bots. One of the small and large bots putting Dur on a white sheet as they started to work on him.

“They can heal him?” He asked.

“They’ll do their best, but if you have healers that would be best, we can do what we know.” The one named Kaalim Golf Leader said.

“This is Luke, he’s in charge of our group. This is Ken, his sister Per and that’s Dur over there.”

Ken nodded, his eyes pausing on the small symbiote pushing an Adraxi body into a funnel out the side of a box, parts falling out the other side, brand new and fresh. A factory?

“Ken, good to meet you,” Luke held out his hand.

Ken tilted his head at the gesture.

“Ah, sorry, yeah guess that’s not normal around here,” Luke cleared his throat.

A massive gun with a linked belt hung from his back, his face unblinking eyes.

“We’re going to setup a resupply point here and move through the facility. We’re hoping to help as many of your people as possible.”

“Why?”

“So the Adraxi don’t get to them.”

“Why help us? Your shuttles they all got broken in the air.”

“We didn’t think that the Adraxi would have such good defense against orbital insertion.”

“What do you want for helping us?”

“Nothing.”

Ken looked at the man. “No one wants nothing.”

“We know what these creatures will do to your planet if they get enough time. They’ll churn out more fighters, tanks and warships. They’ll use all of that to attack us. We don’t want you and your people to be wiped out by them and turned into their base of operations.”

“So you wish to harm them,” Ken nodded, that was much the same reason he allied with the other resistance leaders. He might not agree with everything they said, but they would stand and fight with him against the Aer and that was enough.

“What do you plan to do?”

“Move through the facility secure it and help the people within, set up a defense. Then we’ll start evacuating the people in the nearby cities and towns.”

Ken pressed his fingers to Dur’s repeating rifle, his ears lowering partway. The rolling detonations tearing through the facility.

None of the Aer had showed those abilities before. They’d done live demonstrations with their warships and their weapons, to assure the Lur to rise up was to die.

“Okay I can take you to the locations where I think more of my people are.” Ken straightened up.

“We’re going to be throwing around some serious firepower, its not going to be very safe.”

“We haven’t been safe for a very long time Luke.”

Luke studied him and Per. “Very well, but I’m not letting you go out there without something better than those rifles and your home-made grenade launcher.”

The large bot that had been working on Dur walked up.

“Got some nasty blood loss, his rib rings are broken giving him trouble breathing. Sally had the medical profile, we were able to clean the wounds, pull out the crap, disinfect and wrap him up.”

Luke nodded.

“Good stuff. They need you over there?”

“No, what you got for me?”

“Print up a rifle and a set of armor-“

“Two,” Per stepped forward.

Luke glanced over.

“Two sets of armor and rifles. Get them up to speed on how to use them.”

“Got it boss,”

“Kaalim,” Luke waved the other bot over.

“Alright, my name is Shiro and I’m going to be teaching you how to fight. We’ll have your gear made up in a few minutes, get some food and water into you. Dur’s on painkillers so he’s a little out of it. My friend is watching over him. Come with me,” He brought them over to the mover, they sat, eating and drinking. The one who’d had a popper go off on his leg walked around without a problem, stuffing Adraxi and parts into the factories.

“Let me borrow your rifle for a second will you?” Shiro asked the feeder.

“Sure, just give it back in a hurry huh? Loaded on safe.”

“Can do, can I get two of your mags as well?” Shiro stuck it to his chest.

“Sure,” He pulled them off his legs and passed them over, turning back to his work.

Shiro grabbed two rifles from the factory, slapping metal blocks to his armor and walked over to Per and Ken. They tensed as he held them out.

“Basic rifles, electromagnetically accelerate an Armor Piercing, High Explosive round, basically punch into an Adraxi and then detonate inside.

Per took it.

He pulled the weapon on his chest off. Facing them so they could see it.

“This is like your bolt, pull it back and it clears the round that’s inside the weapon, this here is your safety, makes it so you can’t fire or it goes off randomly, always try to be on this. This one here is your semi-auto, every time you pull the trigger you’ll fire a round until you run out, this is fully automatic. You pull the trigger and it’ll fire till you run out of ammo.”

Ken was riveted as Per glanced from her weapon to the big symbiote’s mimicking him.

“Whenever you come up on a gun. Withdraw the magazine,” He pressed a button and pulled out the block filled with rounds, “Make sure the weapon is clear,” He pulled the bolt-not bolt. “And check there’s nothing inside.” He emphasized looking inside.

“Then reload, Magazine in the mag well, pull back on the charging handle put on safe, you’re loaded and ready to lay down some pain,” He went through the motions and pointed the gun at the ground. Ken noticed that while he was massive, his hands were sized the same as the smaller symbiotes, allowing for greater fine control.

“You point a gun at anyone not a target and I’ll kick your ass to Jupiter,”

“Osbourne,” Shiro passed it over. “Loaded on safe.”

“Thanks.” Osbourne put it back on his chest.

Shiro looked at them both. He pulled the two magazines he’d got from the feeder-bot, passing them to Ken and Per.

“Now lets see what you actually learned.”