TBoB - Book 7 - Chapter 62 - Snakehead (Patreon)

The tendrils shot forward so impossibly fast that I didn’t have time to dodge, not while my movement was so restricted by the water, so I did the only thing I could and turned my rifle sideways and tried to use it as a shield. 

The rifle wasn’t just grabbed; it was practically enveloped by the disgusting feelers before being ripped from my hands. 

Of course, things could never be that simple. Even after sacrificing my weapon, I wasn’t able to get away scot-free. Two of the smaller tendrils shot around the rifle and wrapped around my left arm. What’s worse was that these two smaller vines were still unbelievably strong, and when they wrapped around my arm, they constricted so tightly that both my armour and arm bones shattered. 

Somehow I managed to reach down with my free hand and grasp the axe on my belt. As I was hauled off my feet and towards the creature’s open maw, I flipped the switch on the handle, engaging the blade and swept it through the tendrils wrapped around my arm. 

As I slowly plummeted towards the ocean floor, I could already tell that there was no way I’d get away from this thing, at least not without help. [Spooky, I’m going to have to cut comms, do whatever you need to in order to BURN this fucking thing,] I ordered over the command network before recalling the two otters waiting above. 

The first came shooting down, pushing its maneuvering jets as hard as it could in order to pick up speed before slamming into the creature’s head. The snake-like head swayed slightly at the impact, moving about a foot in order to compensate for the impact; however, the creature seemed completely unconcerned by the sneak attack, and remained focused on me. 

As it opened its mouth again, spitting out the shattered remains of my weapon, the otter swam around to the side of the monster’s head, put its gun against one of the creature’s eyes, and pulled the trigger. The bot didn’t let up, sweeping its weapon back and forth, blowing huge chunks out of the Antithesis’ face and completely destroying the creature’s eyes. 

Despite all the damage, the monster still didn’t seem interested in changing targets, and shot its mouth tendrils at me again. Thankfully, it seemed the creature relied, at least in part, on vision to hunt, because when it spat out the writhing mass, it missed me. 

The vines smashed into the ground just inches away from me, spreading out and grasping at whatever they could. I swept my axe through the fibrous bundle while backpedalling as I could; If the creature managed to get a hold of one of my legs and crush it just like it had my arm, the other heads would have no problem finishing me off. 

As I jumped back, trying to make room between the Antithesis and me, the second otter streaked in, grabbed my arm, and ripped me off my feet. 

I hissed in pain as it carried me away from the creature, ducking behind an outcropping before letting me go again. “Fuck! I know it was an emergency, but I regret having you grab my broken arm,” I growled, before glancing down at the wound. The plates around my lower arm had not only been crushed but twisted so large sections had been shoved under the intact armour, and deep into my flesh. Even though there was blood seeping out between the cracks in my armour, and I couldn’t move my fingers, I left the wound alone. My immune system would stop the bleeding soon, and I didn’t want to take the time to remove my armour to dig the shards out while in the middle of a battle. “It’s a good thing you grabbed me under my armpit, instead of the wound, because I don’t think I’d be able to handle that much pain, even with my enhanced tolerance.”Tucking the axe back into my belt, I half-swam to the corner of the outcropping and stuck my head out to see what the situation was. 

I only managed the briefest glimpses because as soon as I stuck my head out, the area around me was filled with laser blasts and harpoons. I used my right arm to propel myself away from the rock, then began retreating as fast as I could in order to avoid any torpedoes as I tried to make sense of what I just saw. 

The creatures were moving towards my location, and in the brief moment that I’d peeked out, I’d seen four samurai suspended on its gangly limbs. I’d already seen three of their weapons; that meant the creature probably had a couple of other surprises for me. 

The biggest problem was that all of them were headed right for me, ignoring both the remaining otter and Sharron. It wasn’t like they weren’t doing damage either; from what I could tell, Sharron was systematically working her way down one of the necks, cutting it apart while the otter blew holes into another.

I was probably the least threatening thing on the battlefield right now, so why were they focusing on me? It didn’t matter; what I really needed to figure out was, what now? If I wanted to retreat further, then I’d have to leave cover and dive into the oily chaff. I could probably make some space, but I couldn’t see any more rocks out there to protect me from incoming fire. What’s worse was that if I did lure it away and the Redemption provided fire support, it would most likely miss.

“I need some heavier firepower, or at least a more reliable way of contacting the surface,” I muttered. “Nyx, you have any ideas?”

For weapons at your current level, which can actually do serious damage to that thing, which you can carry in one hand? I can think of a few things, but nothing in your catalogues, Nyx replied. You could probably use handheld missile launchers to cause some damage. However, they’re heavy enough that you’ll have trouble maneuvering them with one arm. As for communications: I could probably whip up a cheap comm drone with an attached tether. While the chaff may cut off radio communications, it can’t cut off physical hard lines.

“Then let’s start with that. Getting the big guns targetting data is more important than me firing a couple torpedoes at those things,” I replied. I tried to flick my hand in the direction of the oncoming Antithesis, only to have it flop lifelessly. “Uh… you wouldn’t happen to have anything I could use to get my arm into fighting shape again, without digging out all the shards?” I asked, before frowning. “Seriously, why are all the Antithesis targeting my left arm lately? I just stitched the entire thing back on a couple days ago.”

You stitched it back on? Nyx asked.

“Well, you stitched on,” I conceded, picking up my messed up arm and cradling it. “The point is that I just got it ripped off by the Tender recently.” I shook my head, “Not important now, we’re on a time limit. Where’s the drone?”

Right in front of you, Nyx replied, as something that looked like a small, squashed submarine materialized in front of me. Below it was a long wire coil that ended in featureless plastic box. I just stared at the thing for a second before kicking the bot. “Get going already!” 

The impact seemed to be just what the bot needed to activate, because the lights on the front lit up and it started rapidly ascending towards the surface. 

As it did, the entire are lit up with an ominous red glow. If I hadn’t been looking up, following the drone’s ascent I wouldn’t have seen the red orbs come streaking in, pass through the surface like it wasn’t even there, and disappear behind the rocks I was using for cover. I started heading towards the ridge, trying to figure out what had just happened but before I could get there a second flash occurred, and then a third. 

I ducked low, and stuck my head out from a different point on the formation so I could get a look without immediately getting impaled. 

The furthest head, along with two of the samurai bodies were just gone. It wasn’t like they’d been ripped apart, or decintegrated, there wasn’t the slightest hint of remains just empty ocean. The two heads which had been the farthest forward seemed to be screaming, even though I couldn’t hear anything, and as I watched the part of the creatures which had been cut off grew forward, advancing quickly before connecting to the jagged stump at the rear of the cut off creatures. 

“Uh, that’s extremely concerning,” I muttered. “I’ve seen antithesis regenerate, but this is ridiculous.” 

Once they’d reconnected, the snakes immediately calmed down. The front creature’s head snapped towards me, mouth open, and it spewed the same oily substance that surrounded us. Even though we were underwater, the chemical cut through the space between us in less than a second, just narrowly missing me and slamming into the rock next to me. 

Although I was happy it missed me, that joy quickly turned to horror when I realized that even though it had only spit at me for about three seconds, it had managed to bore through about a foot of rock and begin to cut through the ocean floor behind it. 

What was worse was that once the oily substance dispersed into the surrounding area, it was even thicker than before, leaving me almost completely blind.

I stumbled back, doing my best to take cover behind the little bit of cover I had left. “This is getting out of fucking control,” I muttered. “We need to find a way to deal with these things, and fast. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”