chapter 126
“Start the mana tech devices,” I ordered through our communication network. With my mana sense, I could feel multiple different devices powering up, giving off their unique signatures. Soon, everything melted together, hiding what exactly was being used.
“The mana batteries are actually able to absorb more mana from the environment than they’re using. That’s really nice,” Lola said, and so our discussion started in ways we could leverage that to our advantage.
“We could also make some credits by charging mana batteries down on this planet. It would be a lot faster than on the moon. But I don’t think it would be that profitable,” Bob eventually said.
“Clear communications,” I said to everyone as we were starting to get more pings from our scouts.
It would make sense that the monsters who have survived have the ability to sense mana. Otherwise, they wouldn't have survived this long, as knowing when to run away was paramount to survival.
Unfortunately, it seems that our mana tech isn’t something they’re afraid of. Instead, they are a call to a feast.
“We were expecting this, but I really had hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” Dean said, and I completely agreed.
It wasn't too long after that when we started to hear our outer defences engaging the incoming monsters. Some of them tried to get through our defences, but we made them as strong as we could. They did have a clear path to the ship, with many of the monsters quickly choosing to follow it.
Of course, this pathway was lined with heavy weaponry operated by Sam and Dean’s squads. Even then, the monsters got closer and closer as there were just so many of them. Fortunately, all of this was happening close enough that I was using my looting ability to keep the pathway clear so no one would try to find another way in.
Like the mana batteries, I was also able to regenerate my mana faster. It was needed, as the number of monsters was ridiculous. The fabrication capabilities of the ship were currently being used to make more bullets, but even now we are barely keeping up with what we were currently using up.
Drones flew from the ship to the defensive positions, constantly bringing more ammunition, while other drones loaded and kept the weapons at the right operational condition. It was so nice to once again work inside an atmosphere, as dealing with overheating was a lot simpler here.
It took hours, but eventually the monster surge started to slow down. A curious thing was that some of the monsters stopped rushing in and instead started grabbing as many cores as they could and then fleeing away, as the ground was literally filled with them.
It was the only thing that I kept with my looting ability, as I really didn’t have time to think through every monster to see what I wanted to keep. It was so much easier to just keep the mana, the soul, and the core. That also meant that there were a lot of valuable metals on the ground.
“Status report,” I queried, getting a lot of data almost instantly. Quickly going through it, I was confident enough to proceed to the second phase.
“Are you ready, FH?”
“Yes, Captain, more than ready.”
“All of you heard her. Let’s get more of the bio-cybernetic neural net online.”
What we did next was just double up on a lot of the currently run lines and make a few larger clusters near some more important stations. It didn't take long before her flame stabilised.
There was a moment afterwards where nothing happened. This worried me quite a lot, as everyone else immediately started absorbing mana. This moment stretched like it was a few eternities longer before finally, I could sense it, mana started to flow towards the ship.
“Activate the rest of the mana tech; let’s try to obfuscate what’s happening.”
All of the interference made it hard for my mana sense to actually understand what was happening, but one thing was clear, more and more mana was flowing towards this location. With every breath, it seemed like the mana density around here doubled.
"This might become a problem," I said out loud to no one in particular. Through my bond, I could feel that everyone was getting a bit nervous.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Get our defences to full readiness,” I ordered everyone. It was kind of funny to see, and helped relax me a bit as all of my crew members took up defensive positions with their new and old bodies.
Bob had been remote controlling his old body when we offloaded the cargo, as we didn't want to reveal anything about our upgrades just yet. While these bodies would not work at 100%, they were still better than most of the other droids, and they only had to shoot at one location, so it wasn't like it was something difficult to do.
I would guess that we were basically a beacon right now. The vast amount of mana rushing towards us and being absorbed by the ship was something I’ve never experienced before. If the other crew members pulled mana towards them like they were huge magnets, then FH was currently like a black hole.
In fact, for the first time, I also saw mana movement affect air currents. Slowly, the wind picked up, rushing in towards the ship and then disappearing like it was never there.
In the distance, we heard roars, screeches, and every other kind of imaginable noise that was meant to make you shake in your boots. Dozens of minutes passed in this tense standstill until the perimeter alerts started to go off until they were a constant and steady background noise.
Then we heard heavy thumps from the outside, enough to shake this entire place. Some of the bigger monsters must have arrived. A few of those attacks seemed to even dent our walls, but it was sturdy enough to hold up.
Already, the noise of gunfire was deafening, but it didn't take long for this new wave to find the entrance. The noise level jumped up as everyone opened up.
The amount of firepower we were currently using was strong enough to cut through tanks, yet some of those monsters pushed forward like we were just inconveniencing them.
The four heavy droids opened up with their main weapons. The heavy lasers finally started to do some damage, but I don’t think it would be enough. I shouldered my own weapon and fired.
A laser bolt flew through the air, making a unique kind of noise as it hit, it penetrated, truly damaging this monster that was way too tough. Even if I tried to use my mana sense to figure out what rank it was currently, it would be of no use, as the mana was so turbulent I wouldn’t be able to sense anything properly.
The weapon in my hands wanted to start melting down, but my minor repair fixed the small problems, and I once again fired, finally taking down this monster. Its body could easily have blocked the entrance, but my looting ability was our saviour here.
With the body of this monster disappearing, new monsters continued to rush in. We never stopped firing. Each time I needed to fix my weapon, but I only shot when it was truly necessary.
I simply couldn’t keep up the minor repair and looting ability being constantly used, and while my weapon’s damage was crucial at some points, it was more crucial to keep the pathway open.
This didn't mean that some of the monsters didn't try to get in through other ways, with Dean having to pretty often disengage to attack some monsters that had gotten in using some movement skill that allowed them to get through our walls.
Fortunately, some of the bigger monsters and a hefty percentage of the smaller ones seemed to have found that others who had come here were also good targets. While there was still a surge of monsters trying to get to the ship, plenty were now fighting with each other, taking some of the pressure off of us.
This continued for hours, and we were barely keeping up with the necessary firepower. FH still didn’t have enough mana to start her rebirth, so right now the factory was still pumping out as much ammunition as possible.
It was at this point that we started to hear scraping from down below. It seems that the diggers had showed up. For a moment I wondered if they were the monsters we were here for, but I didn’t have time to confirm anything as I was barely able to keep up with the death all around us.
Then it happened, the constant communications ceased as FH and the entire ship fell unconscious. Fortunately, it seemed that the body, the ship itself was still working, so a lot of the ship functions remained online, but all of this wasn’t important because everyone had stopped.
Outside was eerily quiet. No monsters were trying to rush in. But it was only for a moment, and then they came more vicious than ever, barely fighting with each other anymore. I think before they were trying to get a tasty meal, but now they knew what had happened and knew that whoever was in here, after she woke up from her rebirth, none of them would survive.
“I need the best you all have, and I need it right now!” I yelled, watching as everyone aimed a bit straighter, making every shot count.
It didn't take long before I could barely understand what was happening, as everything I was doing was just too much. As I now needed to help coordinate drone tasks. My mana reserves were constantly falling as I did my best to loot everything, although sometimes I lost control and simply turned everything to coins.
I had the worst case of tunnel vision of my life, but whenever a monster seemed to get too close, I fired, then fixed my weapon. This continued, and I was getting more and more tired. Everyone around us was fighting; a lot of the droids and drones were fighting monsters that had gotten inside and were trying to damage the ship, barely leaving a scratch on its armour.
The wall itself now had holes in it as skill-powered attacks finally started to chew through it. Still, we never stopped fighting. Currently, we had lost about 35% of our fighting force, with the outer turrets all being destroyed.
It seemed that every next moment, another one of our inner turrets fell, but I was guessing it was a longer period of time than I was registering. Explosions started to go off, that meant we were on our last stretch, or something really big had gotten through someplace.
My core was ready for a breakthrough, but I couldn’t focus on that right now. Finally, my minor repair could no longer fix my gun, so I pulled out my backup, but that wouldn't do against the gigantic monster trying to get in.
It had two heads, more legs than any monster of that size should have, and it was strong enough to bend our reinforced walls as it was pushing itself through the opening. Only two of the heavy droid lasers were still firing, trying to aim at that monster’s eyes.
The other two heavy droids were helping Dean hold a breach that had appeared at the back of the cave. We wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer. Slowly, I started to regain my mind as we had lost so many drones and droids that the burden on my mind had eased.
That big monster was going to get through in about five minutes if it kept going at that speed. More and more holes were being made in the wall, and I now understood why, that big bastard was blocking the way in.
For a moment, I thought about using an atomic bullet, but the blast would be way too close. Then it happened, another disturbance with the mana, and everything stopped. The ship started to come in line properly again, and I heard FH’s voice once again.
“I am back, Captain.”
The relief we all felt was truly immense, and it seemed that the monsters all around decided to give up. Even the big guy who had pushed quite a ways inside now tried to back off to escape.
With the ship’s weapons now properly online, they started to clear away the remnants of the monsters that were still inside, and we were getting reports of almost every monster trying to escape as far away from here as possible.
“Good news, Captain. I was able to ascertain my own status page using the reading crystal.”
Name: FH
Age: -
Species: Bio-cybernetic spaceship
Bonds: To Remi Graves
Items: None
Body: rank G
Mind: rank G
Core: rank G
Innate ability: Staffed Station
Affinity:
Spaceship: rank G 0/68
Skills: None
It actually worked. “Well done, FH.”