Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Four: Claws that Catch (Patreon)

“Shuttle doors opening,” Miller informed us. “Something’s coming out.”

Indeed, one of the leading shuttles had its doors opening - ahead of the others. And what emerged was a figure both familiar and terrifying.

The Greater Carnotaur that stepped out from the shuttle was shorter than Ehu-tu-Vettorak had been. Maybe ninety feet instead of a hundred. Not that it mattered - much.

“Ear protection!” barked Pemberley, even as the creature Roared.

The first time I’d heard the Roar, the world had trembled.

Now, I was much closer, and with no buildings in between us.

AREA EFFECT APPLIED: ROAR OF THE CARNOTAUR.

THE CARNOTAUR’S ROAR IS A DEVASTATING FORCE. AT ITS SOURCE, IT UNLEASHES 230 DB OF SONIC ENERGY, CAPABLE OF SHATTERING WINDOWS, DENTING ARMOR, AND KILLING UNARMORED HUMANS OUTRIGHT. THE DEGREE OF DAMAGE REDUCES WITH RANGE, WITH MOST OF THE ENERGY BEING CONVEYED VIA HIGH-FREQUENCY SHOCK WAVES. 

DUE TO THE HIGH CALORIFIC DEMAND IN USING THIS WEAPON, ONLY A GREATER CARNOTAUR CAN USE IT, AND ONLY ONCE IN 2 HOURS. 

LEVEL 6 JAMMING FIELD ACTIVE.

BLOCKS EM, ACOUSTIC, GRAVITIC, LASER, OPTICAL FIBRE, THERMAL, RADIO TRANSMISSIONS. JAMS ALL BEYOND VISUAL RANGE SENSORS.

ONLY FOLDSPACE TRANSMISSIONS UNAFFECTED.

The force of the Roar slammed me backwards, almost sending the Shadowcat tumbling. 

Almost. 

There are advantages to a Dexterity score of 56. What would have been a fall turned into a minor stumble.

Most of the Rapid Response Division were not so lucky. Even as I stabilized myself, the men and women of the infantry element - both in nanofibre weave and Boar armour - staggered, some knocked down where they stood. 

From the skies, the Air Wing’s drones came crashing down. A hundred and twenty of the most advanced unmanned aircraft humanity could field, falling from the skies like confetti. 

<Nanocloud>: Communications are down.

<Belessar>: You don’t say. Are you ready?

<Nanocloud>: Fully prepared. My nanobots are in position across the Division. Pemberley’s with me and already issuing orders.

<Nanocloud>: Air Wing is grounded for now. Tanks are intact. Artillery took a beating, though - many of the guns are offline, and some of the men were caught in the open. 

<Nanocloud>: We need a few minutes to catch our breath. Reinforcements are coming in.

<Belessar>: Got it. I’ll get you the minutes.

<Nanocloud>: What’re you going to do?

<Belessar>: I’m going after the Greater Carnotaur.

The Shadowcat bounded forward, in long, easy strides.

I’d faced Ehu-tu-Vettorak in a Greyhound suit with five thousand Armour Points. Now, I was going up against his peer - or so it seemed - in a Shadowcat with a hundred thousand.

The Greater Carnotaur was still five times my height, but it didn’t matter.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.

A portal shimmered in front of me, three thousand MP burning away at once. Enough to bridge the three kilometres between me and the edge of the Hierarchy’s shield, behind which the Carnotaur lurked.

I pushed through the shield, the edges parting like warm taffy. 

A Grizzeloid patrol was the first to notice me. They shouted something. 

I returned their attention with a barrage of MDR fire.

The Mass Driver Rounds, launched from my rifle at several times the speed of sound, struck the patrol before they could react. 

6x GRYZELLOID WARRIORS DEFEATED! +4500 XP!

HIERARCHY SHIELD TOWER -1000 HP!

One of my shots had hit the Shield Tower the Grizzeloids were surrounding. Another twenty-four would have taken it down, but I didn’t have time. 

My opponent seemed to almost expect me. It slammed its foot on the ground, releasing a minor tremor. 

The expression on its face … was almost eager. 

Memories of my fight with Ehu-tu-Vettorak raced through my head, even as I surged forward. The Greater Carnotaur’s abilities were deadly in a straight-up fight - and I didn’t have the momentum of a falling star. 

Observe reconfirmed the danger.

NASU-TU-ZEKKAMOTH

GREATER CARNOTAUR

LEVEL 100

HP: 10 MILLION / 10 MILLION

SHIELDS: 10 MILLION / 10 MILLION

HARDENED SKIN: 75% DAMAGE REDUCTION TO EXPLOSIVE/KINETIC PROJECTILES. 95% RADIATION RESISTANCE. 

FIREBREATHER: +2,500 FIRE DAMAGE FROM EQUIPPED FIREBREATHING APPARATUS (THE LITTLE THING BENEATH ITS CHIN, IN CASE YOU FORGOT FROM LAST TIME)

CLAW SWIPE +4,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE

TAIL STRIKE +8,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE

GROUND STOMP +20,000 PHYSICAL DAMAGE + CHANCE TO INSTAKILL ANY COMBATANT WITH LESS THAN 100 STR (BY STEPPING ON THEM).

The MDR would barely dent the shields, and I had to get through the armour after that. And if the thing stepped on me, there was a small chance that my suit integrity would randomly fail - and I’d be flattened like a pancake. 

No pressure.

Three hundred feet, and I launched my first Starfall.

GREATER CARNOTAUR SHIELD -5,000,000 HP! 

SHIELDING AT 5,000,000 / 10,000,000.

The warhead detonated in a blaze of heat and light. 

The Greater Carnotaur blinked. A normal, expected reaction. 

However, in the middle of combat, closing your eyes is a bad idea. 

Which was punctuated by the second Starfall blasting apart what remained of the Greater Carnotaur’s shield. 

GREATER CARNOTAUR SHIELD FAILURE!

The second missile knocked the Greater Carnotaur backwards, the force of the blast sending it reeling. 

I followed up with that old classic: Powercharge.

Powercharge is one of those skills which works best with heavy armour. The damage done is four times the sum of STR, DEX and VIT, but it gets modified by the properties of the armour I wear.

Shadowcat, for example, added a bonus 50 to effective STR for skills such as Powercharge. Which meant that when I slammed into the Greater Carnotaur, I did so for 764 damage.

The Carnotaur, already reeling, was knocked backwards.

In a battle, to lose your footing can be deadly. Imagine a hundred-foot tall city-destroying monster. Now imagine it being knocked down by a creature one-fifth its height. 

Momentum is a wonderful thing. 

The Carnotaur, slightly disoriented, pushed its arms backward, attempting to leverage itself up. Not fast enough.

My Nanothorn Kukri was out, doing its deadly work.

DEADLY BLOW! GREATER CARNOTAUR -37,180 HP!

The Greater Carnotaur roared in pain as I sliced into its foot. A tiny trickle out of its massive health pool, but still not enough.

Luckily, I had another trick up my sleeve.

The Greater Carnotaur’s permanently Hardened Skin gave it a 75% reduction to explosive and kinetic damage, though not to edged weapons. Of all the tools in their arsenal, Hardened Skin was the one that made them durable. Missiles, cannon fire, and even machine-guns had only a quarter of the effect on a Carnotaur. 

There was, however, a counter to this skill - Shattering Strike. For the low, low price of sacrificing my current weapon, I buy fifteen seconds of vulnerability for the Carnotaur.

Sacrificing the Nanothorn Kukri, however, wasn’t a great idea when surrounded by enemies - and with more Carnotaurs to come. 

Fortunately, I’d prepared for this moment. 

The Mass Driver Rifle went back into inventory, and my latest weapon slotted into my hand. 

GIANT METAL SPEAR (ALUMINIUM)

A MIX OF ALUMINIUM, NANOFIBRE CORD AND FULLERSTEEL, THE GIANT METAL SPEAR IS A FIFTEEN-FOOT LONG SPEAR INTENDED FOR STABBING GIANT MONSTERS. DUE TO ITS LOW COMPLEXITY, IT CAN BE MASS-PRODUCED BY ANY FACTORY IN THE WORLD. 

THE PERFECT WEAPON FOR GIANT ROBOT AND KAIJU BATTLES. 

BY USING HEAVIER AND STRONGER MATERIALS, THE DAMAGE CAPACITY AND DURABILITY OF THE SPEAR CAN BE IMPROVED.

COST: 400 KG ALUMINIUM +25 KG FULLERSTEEL + 100 M NANOFIBRE CORD

WEIGHT: 430 KG

DAMAGE: WEIGHT X STR

CHANCE OF FAILURE: 50% PER STAB 

The Giant Metal Spear was heavy. Even when made mostly out of aluminium - one of the softest metals - it took up almost half my carry capacity in the Shadowcat. Which was why I could only carry one at a time. 

And with the relative softness of the aluminium core, there was a 50% chance it would break upon a single stab. 

But with Shattering Strike? Which had a 3-70% chance of destroying the weapon used?

It didn’t matter. 

What mattered was the effects of the thrust.

SHATTERING STRIKE! GREATER CARNOTAUR -68,476 HP!

CONDITION INFLICTED: HARDENED SKIN NEUTRALIZED! TIME REMAINING: 00:15.

GIANT METAL SPEAR DESTROYED!

And with that, my final move came into play.

Fifteen seconds. 

From my hardpoints, the last two Starfall missiles launched.

GREATER CARNOTAUR - 5,000,000 HP!

GREATER CARNOTAUR - 5,000,000 HP!

GREATER CARNOTAUR DEFEATED! +250,000 XP!

BLAST EFFECT: OVERPRESSURE WAVE!

When two Starfall missiles detonate at very, very close range, there’s going to be an impact on something as light as a two-ton Shadowcat armoured suit.

The ‘impact’ came in the form of a shockwave, radiating outward from the Greater Carnotaur’s form. 

It slammed into my suit, lifting me up like a giant invisible hand and sending me hurtling through the air.

For a fraction of a second, the Shadowcat was flying. And then we hit ground. 

FALL DAMAGE! -1,876 HP!

… Could’ve been worse. 

Something splattered on the visor. Something red, bloody, and very, very dead. 

More ‘things’ began to hit me across the suit. Chunks of dead Carnotaur, impacting the Shadowcat at high velocity. 

CHUNKY SALSA IMPACT! DAMAGE NEGATED BY SHADOWCAT ARMOUR.

Aaannnd the bits of burning Carnotaur were hitting me.

CHUNKY SALSA IMPACT! DAMAGE NEGATED BY SHADOWCAT ARMOUR. 

CHUNKY SALSA IMPACT! DAMAGE NEGATED BY SHADOWCAT ARMOUR.

…..

CHUNKY SALSA IMPACT! DAMAGE NEGATED BY SHADOWCAT ARMOUR.

At least they were doing less than 500 damage, which meant Negation stopped them. Otherwise the Shadowcat would be a lot more battered and bloody, instead of just bloody.

<Nanocloud>: Are you okay?

<Belessar>: Just getting splattered by bits of dead Carnotaur. 

<Nanocloud>: Yeah, I noticed. You properly disintegrated that thing with the Starfalls. I remember the last fight being a lot harder.

<Belessar>: Yay for level-ups. 

<Nanocloud>: … ANDREW DODGE!

I rolled right.

Not a second too late, as a massive foot slammed into where I’d been a second ago.

A foot attached to…. 

A hundred feet of malevolent, eager, hate. 

KEVA-TU-HATTAMAGOTH

GREATER CARNOTAUR

LEVEL 100

HP: 10 MILLION / 10 MILLION

SHIELDS: 10 MILLION / 10 MILLION

Another Greater Carnotaur? 

<Nanocloud>: Andrew … there’s more of those things coming out of the shuttles! Five - six… you can’t fight them all!

Six more Greater Carnotaurs? 

I’d spent four missiles taking down one.

And now I was on my back, on the ground, and another was trying to stomp me. Well within the range of the enemy.

The new Greater Carnotaur - Keva-tu-Hattamagoth, as it were - lashed out with its tail. This time, I couldn’t dodge.

CARNOTAUR TAIL STRIKE! 8,000 DAMAGE TAKEN! 

ARMOUR POINTS: 90,124 / 100,000

Less than ten minutes into the battle, and nearly ten per cent of my armour was gone? That wasn’t good.

The Greater Carnotaur raced forward, its massive foot stomping down again.

Instead of dodging, I opened a portal. Right above my armour.

The foot went through it…

And crushed the nearest Shield Tower underfoot. 

CARNOTAUR INSTAKILL! HIERARCHY SHIELD TOWER DEFEATED! 

Above us, the Hierarchy’s shield fell. 

<Belessar>: Hit the Carnotaur NOW!

Even as my message went to Nanocloud, I was moving.

Another portal opened up, this one burning nearly 4000 MP. Close enough for me to scramble through, as the Carnotaur yowled about the sharp thing stabbing its foot - and one part of the Hierarchy’s shield opened up. 

<Nanocloud>: Get out of there NOW!

Barely stumbling to my feet, I dived through the portal, as the fields around me exploded with shrapnel.

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I tumbled out amidst our lines.

Even as the portal snapped shut, I could see the effects of the ‘gap’ I’d opened in the Hierarchy’s shield. Every artillery unit under our command had fired, and every missile we could spare had been launched at the Greater Carnotaur.

Its shields flickered, then fell. 

Keva-tu-Hattamagoth wasn’t the only one hit. Another Greater Carnotaur happened to be standing within the gap opened by the shield, and an equal number of shells slammed into it. 

But then, the two Carnotaurs shot us a disdainful look, and hopped back under the cover of the next Shield Tower. 

Hardened Skin, folks. It saves Carnotaur lives. 

Not, unfortunately, human ones. 

<Nanocloud>: Are you okay?

<Belessar>: Bruised but I can still fight. What’s the situation?

<Nanocloud>: There are … a total of nine Greater Carnotaurs in the field right now, including those two. Excluding the one you killed. 

<Belessar>: Nine. As if things weren’t bad enough…

<Nanocloud>: Pemberley is asking the Indian liaison if they have nuclear artillery.

<Belessar>: It’s looking that bad?

<Nanocloud>: Worse. Your estimate of Lesser Carnotaurs seems to be … about right. We’re counting at least a hundred who’ve exited the shuttles.

<Nanocloud>: Also… they’ve got Grizzeloid Stealth Tanks for sure. It looks like your estimate was correct - there are a ton of them disembarking. They’re not even bothering with the stealth fields.

<Belessar>: Why would they? They’ve got us outnumbered two to one in tanks, and each of theirs has fifty times the armour of one of ours. 

<Belessar>: And that’s not counting the Carnotaurs. 

<Nanocloud>: Stratospheric Guard is rushing everything they can. And the Indians are bringing up four tank divisions - a thousand tanks.

<Nanocloud>: Everyone’s scrambling to get what assets they have here, but it doesn’t look good.

<Belessar>: Meanwhile the Division is outnumbered and outgunned by the aliens. Any good news?

<Nanocloud>: We know where the jamming field is.

<Belessar>: That was fast.

<Nanocloud>: It’s a perfect circle spanning thirty kilometres. And the centre of the circle is right in the middle of the Hierarchy formation.

<Belessar>: So… we’re not deactivating it anytime soon, that means. 

<Nanocloud>: Ultras are still trickling in, but we need a plan. Preferably something that doesn’t involve setting off nuclear warheads right next to a town with a hundred thousand people.

<Belessar>: Do we have a plan?

<Nanocloud>: I think folks are expecting you to come up with one.