Chapter 502
Chapter 502
Just as he looked up, he saw two more creatures step from the teleporter. They all looked identical. Each was humanoid, about six feet tall, with two legs and two arms. But there was nothing human about them. More than anything, they looked like weird bipedal insects.
Jake gave one of the creatures a quick once-over. Its body was encased in a chitinous carapace, and its head had mandibles and two large multifaceted eyes. One arm of the creature ended in a hand with three sharp talons. As for the other hand, it was missing. In its place was some kind of energy gun, fused seamlessly into the chitinous exterior and looking like a natural extension of the creature’s arm. The other two creatures looked just like it, with the same kind of energy gun replacing one of their hands.
Jake summoned the description of one of the creatures and learned that it was called a Mantid Soldier and that it was about the same level as the synth stalkers and phantoms they had fought earlier. Other than that, no additional information was displayed about these insectoid creatures.
It was hard to tell whether the mantids were intelligent beings who had created the airship or just another type of synthetic creatures. While they were humanoid, they had stats like regular monsters. Then again, every human survivor also had general stats, like their name and level, that he could assess with a thought, just like any survivor with their PDA could.
Still, Jake was inclined to believe that the three mantids weren’t intelligent and weren’t the true enemy. While the three mantids looked unlike the synth stalkers and phantoms, the fact that they had a weapon grafted into their flesh indicated that they had also been artificially created, just like the stalkers and phantoms.
Somebody had created all these creatures, fusing them with various tech and weapons and turning them into combat units. The same individual, or likely a group of individuals, had created this airship, making it out of some weird living organism. But whoever was behind all this clearly preferred to stay out of view, at least for the time being.
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in a fraction of a second. He was still lying prone on the floor, and the first mantid, which had fired a shot at him seconds earlier, aimed its energy cannon at him again.
However, it never got the chance to fire another shot. Owen lunged at the insectoid, sprouting two scythe-blades from his shoulders and simultaneously swinging both of them at the creature. One blade sheared right through the creature’s elbow before the mantid could fire a single shot.
The severed energy gun dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Greenish-yellow fluid spurted from the stump of the creature’s arm. At the same time, Owen’s other scythe-blade thunked into the middle of the creature’s insectoid face, emerging from the back of its head in a spray of ichor.
The now dead creature dropped to its knees. Owen braced one foot against the mantid’s body for leverage and ripped the blade free. The other two mantids had their guns aimed at Jake as well. However, upon witnessing Owen take down the third one, they pivoted to face him, pointing their guns at him.
They opened fire simultaneously. Energy blasts punched holes in Owen’s armored body, each impact forcing him to take a step backward. As another bolt of energy slammed into his knee, it buckled and Owen went down, losing his footing.
Jake extended one arm toward the mantids, morphing it into a rotary blade launcher. One by one, he fired several saw blades in rapid succession. They screamed through the air toward one of the creatures, slamming into its chitinous carapace.
While those creatures were armed with pretty powerful energy guns, their natural armor was definitely lacking in durability. The saw blades cut through the creature’s exterior, embedding themselves deep in the flesh within. Just as the creature wheeled toward him, he fired another saw blade, and this one lodged itself in the creature’s throat.
The mantid went down on its knees, then pitched forward onto the floor, dead.
Enemy Killed. +3,345 XP
XP: 239,012 / 262,800
The last remaining mantid let loose a volley of energy blasts at Jake. Only he was already back on his feet and darting away, so all the bolts went wide. Before the creature could correct its aim, Owen finally recovered and threw himself at the insectoid.
He crashed into the creature with the force of a freight train, and they both went down, with Owen landing on top of the enemy. He immediately drove his fist into the side of the creature’s head, smashing it into greenish-yellow wet pulp.
All three mantids were now dead, but more could still be coming. Owen had to be thinking the same thing because he vaulted over the bodies of the fallen enemies and charged toward the teleporter.
“Owen, what are you doing?” Mick’s voice came from the control console. “You don’t have time for messing around. You guys need to keep moving!”
But Owen clearly wasn’t happy leaving the teleporter intact for fear it could spawn more enemies behind them as they escaped. He launched a flurry of punches at the discs at the top and bottom of the teleporter’s interior.
Luckily, the device wasn’t nearly as durable or damage-resistant as the rest of the aircraft. It took him just a few punches to smash through the transparent housing around the discs. As for the discs themselves, whatever they were, they were even more fragile. He turned them into a mishmash of mangled metal with just a couple of punches. The machine was clearly out of commission now.
After that, they continued to race down the passage. They traversed a few more corridors without encountering any enemies. As they went through another door Mick opened for them, they heard his voice coming from the door’s control console.
“Guys, I’ve got only a couple more minutes before I’m locked out,” he said in an urgent voice. “Hurry!”
They tore down another passage and through another door. After they passed through it, they found themselves at a four-way intersection. Each of the three corridors branching out from the center of the junction stretched for about twenty yards before ending in a circular closed door.
Jake and Owen paused briefly, waiting to see which door Mick would open. According to the mental map of the airship’s interior his mind had been creating, Jake knew they should take the forward passage to keep moving toward the back of the vessel. However, considering they hadn’t been moving in a straight line but had been taking a convoluted route, it was possible they might need to turn.
Just as he thought that, there was a hiss on their right. They immediately spun in that direction in time to see the circular door spiral open, breaking up into multiple sections that rotated smoothly into the walls.
But before they could take a single step toward the opened door, they saw two mantids on the other side. Both looked identical to the previous three they had taken out earlier.
There was another hiss of a door opening, and just as Jake glanced over his shoulder, he saw the door at the end of the passage behind them open to reveal two more insectoids.
Then the door at the end of the passage Jake had initially assumed they would need to take also spiraled open to let in another pair of mantids. They were surrounded from all three directions, and it wasn’t even clear where they needed to go now.
The only way clear of enemies was behind them, and for a moment, Jake thought perhaps they should retrace their steps so Mick could calculate another route for them that was clear of enemies. Sure, it would cost some time but maybe not as much as dealing with a fresh bunch of insectoid enemies.
However, Owen must have had a different opinion because he suddenly barreled toward the two insectoids in front of them. A moment later, the enemies opened fire all at once. Jake did a one-eighty and jumped up. Clinging to the ceiling, he crawled along it toward the two mantids on the opposite side of the corridor.
Owen kept barreling forward. He managed to dodge the first shots fired at him from the front. However, those fired from behind drilled into his back, causing him to stumble. Still, he managed to keep his balance and kept moving toward the pair of insectoids.
The other two mantids, the ones Jake was moving toward, turned to him, directing their fire at him now. However, he moved far too fast for them to get a clear shot, and all the energy bolts they fired slammed into the ceiling behind him. A moment later, he reached the two insectoids and dropped right on top of them.
He tore into them with his claws and bladed tentacles, dealing with both in mere seconds.
Multiple Enemies Killed. +6,690 XP
XP: 245,702 / 262,800
Just as he turned around, he saw that Owen had just finished off his own pair of enemies. As for the last two insectoids, they ran to the center of the junction a moment later, and Jake and Owen charged at them from two different directions. Those two mantids never stood a chance. Owen killed one, Jake the other, earning 3,345 XP and bringing his total to 249,047.
Before Jake could figure out which of the three newly opened doors they should go through, Mick’s voice rang out from the one at the end of the forward passage.
“Guys, through here,” he shouted. “Quick, quick!”
Jake and Owen sprinted down the passage and through the doorway. Beyond it lay another corridor ending in yet another door. It spiraled open as they approached, and the moment they stepped through, they found themselves in a vast chamber resembling a cargo hold. The two of them didn’t immediately move from the spot, staring at what was in front of them.
“Ignore that thing, guys," Mick said, his voice coming from the control console behind them. “Just go around it and get to the back of the cavern. I’ll open a door there for you, through which you’ll be able to finally escape the ship.”
The “thing” Mick wanted them to ignore was a huge monster. It was massive, and it occupied the center of the cargo hold. Jake had a strong feeling that passing around that monstrosity was going to be a big problem.