TBoB - Book 7 - Chapter 62 - By Wire (Patreon)

Even though there was a massive chunk of rock between me and the oncoming Antithesis, I wasn’t feeling as confident about my situation as I had been just a few minutes earlier. I could hear a low-pitched grinding noise coming from the other side of the outcropping, which probably meant that at least one of the creatures was attempting to dig straight through the formation.

Not that I could see it.

From what I could tell, my purifiers were working properly; it’s just that these massive Antithesis were spewing so much of the oil that the area around me was completely saturated, and the substance was distorting my vision so badly that I couldn’t make out anything more than five feet away from me. If something tried to flank me, I’d never see it coming. 

I couldn’t afford to stay here for long; if I did, the snakeheads would eventually dig through the rocks, flank me, or shoot me down with their samurai puppets. The problem was, I didn’t know which way to flee. I couldn’t see where anything was, and if I got caught out in the open when one of the creatures unleashed its breath attack, I’d get cut in half. I could drop down bear-a-cades to cover my escape, but which direction? 

I was still trying to figure out what to do when my comms crackled to life. [...re you ther…? Come in.]

[Wait, did someone figure out how to cut through the chaff?] Sharron asked.

[I launched a comm repeater, but I didn’t think it was working. With the amount of fucking oil in the water over here, I didn’t even bother checking if I still had local comms; I just assumed they were cut off,] I replied. 

[I think the interference was coming from the chaff, not the oil,] Sharron replied

[I’m so glad to hear your voices!] Alise declared, her voice no longer distorted. [We got the message you sent through Spooky, but Claire and I didn’t like just sitting around waiting for the interference to clear up, so we invested in both new comms equipment and ECCM systems. What’s the situation down there? Have you found anyone else?]

[In a manner of speaking,] I grumbled. [There’s a new Antithesis strain down here that seems to be able to control dead bodies, and they’ve managed to get their tentacles on a handful of bodies. I counted four before they almost took my head off.] 

[Are you okay?] Claire asked, cutting in to the conversation.

[Not really. These things fucked up my arm, and have driven me into cover. Now they’re flooding the area with more oil so I can’t see shit!!] I growled. [I think they’re closing in on me, and I have no idea which way to go to fight back, or take cover.] 

[Did the bombardment help?] Alise asked.

[I’m pretty sure it killed one of the creatures, but I didn’t get a good look,] I replied.

[It did,] Sharron confirmed. [There are three heads, and three dead samurai left.]

[You can still see them?] I asked.

[They’re completely ignoring me for some reason. I’m doing my best to cut one of the heads apart, but it has such insane regeneration that I’m not making much progress, even with my heavy cannon,] Sharron replied. 

[How far are those things from me? Can you direct me to another safe location?] I asked. 

[They’re about thirty feet away, and the closest one to you has stopped to bombard your location,] Sharron replied. [Unfortunately, I don’t see another place for you to take cover from here.] 

[Well, shit,] I muttered. 

[Can you provide precise targeting data?] Warspite’s gruff voice cut in. 

[I can’t,] I grumbled.

[I was talking to Humboldt,] he instantly replied, causing me to pout slightly.

[I’m unable to get you exact coordinates due to the interference,] Sharron replied. [I could direct you in relation to the relay drone, but that’s the best I can do]

[How do you know where the drone is?] I asked. [I don’t think I mentioned launching it to you.]

[Evelyn… your drone has a steel cable and a bobber hanging from it. From where I’m standing, its existence and location are extremely clear.] Sharron replied.

[How was I supposed to know that? I can’t see it!] I huffed.

[Could you maybe have this discussion later?] Claire snarled.

[Right… sorry,] I muttered.

[If you want to take another shot at these things I can open a private channel and provide you with my suit’s realtime sensor data. That way you don’t have to ask for updates,] Sharron said.

[What about the orbital weapon platforms, could we use them here?] I asked.

[The subspace rift cannon from the orbiting battleship is a precision weapon with a long cooldown, so it won’t be ready for a while yet,] Claire said. [I’ve requested additional orbital weapons, however there are still a ton of problems from the moon fall and most of the Family considers our situation low priority.] 

[How can they possibly think that?] Sharron asked.

[It probably has something to do with the fact that we have three samurai command ships, and an orbital battleship dedicated to this fight,] Warspite said.

[That’s a pretty good reason,] I agreed.

[Humboldt, I’m sending you a comm frequency to send your telemetry to. You can also use it to connect directly to my private line,] Warspite said.

[I’ll connect to it in a moment,] Sharron replied.

[As for me, I’ll probably disconnect from chat for now. I need to figure out how I’m going to get out of my current situation. If I don’t find a way to secure my location soon I probably won’t survive until the next bombardment,] I said. [Send me a ping when you’re ready to fire.]

[Good luck!] Alise chirped. 

I silenced the channel and tried to figure out how to prevent the snakehead things from cutting through my cover or, barring that, at least figure out which direction I could fortify. It took me an embarrassingly long time to remember the otter with me, and when I tried to connect to it I discovered the second otter, which I had thought had sacrificed itself so I could escape, was still alive. 

It had run out of ammo, and was futilely pounding on the side of one of the heads with a rock, so I ordered it to back off a little so I could get a good look at the situation.

The front head seemed to be constantly spewing that strange oily substance at my cover, slowly sweeping back and forth as it tore away at the rocks. This was spreading the substance over a wide area, and obscuring the rocks, so there was a chance I could make a run for it and use the oil as cover to escape, however I was concerned that these things might have senses that allowed them to detect me through the oil. Yeah, better to not risk it.

The second head, along with the remaining samurai bodies were pushing forward, and were close to overrunning my cover. The bodies were being carried around the side of the outcropping, while the head was about to crest the top.

“I hate uninvited guests,” I muttered, backing away from the rock. “Now I just need to figure out how to encourage you to leave me alone long enough for my friends to deal a fatal blow.” I watched as the creature’s head just began to crest the formation and frowned. “The sooner the better.”