Chapter 522
Chapter 522
The turret mounted on the side of the living vessel was already charging for another shot. Blue energy swirled within its barrel, growing brighter with every passing second.
With a mental command, Jake summoned several wyrmcallers, instructing the nearest one to come to him. The winged beast banked sharply through the sky before descending and landing on a rooftop not far from Jake. Its claws dug into the organic matter as it folded its wings. As for the others, he mentally ordered them to stay near the Kaiju and support it however they could.
Just as he dashed toward the winged creature, another energy bolt slammed into the Kaiju’s chest. The impact erupted in a flash of blue light, sending a shockwave rippling through the entire building. The huge beast staggered backward, a pained roar shaking the air. Enough was enough. It was time to take care of the turret.
Jake leaped onto the wyrmcaller’s back and immediately merged with the creature, becoming one with it. Instantly, he felt the rush of wind through its scales. He spread his wings wide and launched into the air in a powerful leap. Twisting in midair, he bolted toward the bio-ship above.
The enormous living vessel loomed over the city like a floating mountain of flesh and metal. As he flew toward it, he noticed its massive mouth opening once again. Layers of armored tissue peeled apart, revealing a cavernous interior, from which flying creatures began pouring out in droves.
Some of them were familiar types he and Owen had already encountered, the synth stalkers. Their sleek forms darted through the air like squids through water. The others, however, were entirely new. Some possessed long, blade-like wings that shimmered in the sunlight, while others resembled armored insects with clusters of glowing eyes. A few were so strange that Jake couldn’t immediately tell where their heads were.
But it wasn’t the time to study these new varieties of synthetic monsters more closely. He mentally instructed several of his wyrmcallers to deploy wingclaws. The command spread through the link instantly. While the winged creatures carried out his orders, releasing the aerial predators into the battle, Jake focused entirely on reaching the enormous living warship. By now, he had gotten so close that its side filled his entire field of vision, blotting out much of the sky.
He glided through the air for several more moments, carefully judging the distance. The surface of the bio-ship was a grotesque blend of organic tissue and metallic plating, pulsing faintly as if alive. Once he was close enough, he detached from the wyrmcaller but clung to its back for a moment longer.
Then he morphed one hand into a grappling hook and fired it toward the bio-ship ahead. The hook streaked through the air, trailing a cable of living biomass. A split second later, it punched into the vessel’s hull and locked into place. As soon as he felt the connection tighten, Jake pushed off the wyrmcaller and swung toward the living vessel.
A moment later, he slammed into the side of the warship and clung to it with Adhesive Secretion. The impact rattled him, but he barely noticed. He wasted no time crawling toward the turret that kept firing at the Saurian Prowler below. The surface beneath him flexed slightly with every movement, reminding him that this wasn’t merely a sky ship but a living creature.
As he moved across the side of the warship, he kept an eye on the battle unfolding around him. The wyrmcallers had already deployed two dozen or so wingclaws, and the winged creatures had engaged the enemy. All around him, aerial combat erupted. Wingclaws tore into synth stalkers while bolts of energy and fragments of bio-metal flashed through the sky. The battlefield had become a chaotic storm of claws, wings, and explosions.
Despite the chaos, Jake pressed forward. Within moments, he reached the turret just as it finished charging another shot. The weapon rotated slightly, tracking the Saurian Prowler below. A second later, it unleashed another devastating bolt of energy.
Time to finish it.
Morphing both hands into drills, Jake drove them deep into the turret’s armored housing. The spinning drills tore through layers of synthetic metal and living tissue alike. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, spreading rapidly from the points of impact and creating a weakened spot. Jake immediately capitalized on the damage.
His drills shifted into massive smashfists, and he began hammering the turret with brutal force. Each punch landed like a battering ram. Armor plates buckled inward. Chunks of material broke free and tumbled toward the city below. His fists slammed straight through the weakened shell, leaving behind ragged holes and exposing glowing internal components.
It didn’t take long for him to put the turret out of commission. Yet despite the extensive damage, the weapon stubbornly attempted to fire again. Only instead of launching another bolt of energy, something else happened.
Wisps of blue smoke began pouring from the holes he’d created. Sparks danced across the fractured surface as the entire body of the turret started shaking violently. The vibrations rapidly intensified, causing the surrounding hull to tremble as well.
Knowing what was about to happen, Jake flattened himself against the bio-ship’s hulk. In the next instant, the weapon blew up.
A blinding flash erupted from its core, followed by a thunderous boom that echoed across the battlefield. Jagged pieces of metal, circuitry, and biological matter shot through the air in every direction like shrapnel. The blast wave rippled across the side of the living vessel, nearly tearing Jake loose from the hull as debris rained down toward the city below.
Jake then took a quick look around. The air battle still raged on all around the living vessel. Some of his wingclaws had fallen in battle, their bodies tumbling through the sky, but he was pleased to see that the synthetic monsters were taking serious casualties as well. Several synth stalkers had already been torn apart, while some of the unfamiliar enemy variants were locked in vicious dogfights with his aerial units.
He then mentally ordered some of his wyrmcallers to land on the living vessel and deploy several crawlers. The winged creatures immediately obeyed, descending toward the bio-ship’s broad upper surface. Moments later, the riftmaws opened, and the huge arachnids emerged onto the vessel. Their many legs dug into the living hull as they spread out across it. Once they were in position, Jake ordered them to destroy the other turrets as well as the vessel’s engines.
The crawlers immediately got to work. Some charged toward nearby turrets while others headed for the large engine structures protruding from the sides of the ship. Explosions and flashes of energy soon began appearing across the bio-ship’s surface as the arachnids launched their attacks.
Jake glanced back down at the rooftop where the Saurian Prowler stood. The Kaiju kept using its Void Siphon ability on the enormous living ship, pulling it downward little by little. Transparent energy swirled between the two creatures as the vessel struggled against the greater force dragging it closer to the city. Jake was pleased to see that the bio-ship had gotten close enough to the building’s roof for the Kaiju to reach it with a leap.
He waited a few more moments, carefully judging the distance. Then he ordered the Kaiju to stop using Void Siphon and leap toward the vessel.
The Saurian Prowler bent its knees and lowered its body. Muscles rippled beneath its scales as it gathered strength. In the next instant, it launched itself upward with the force of a released spring. The rooftop cracked beneath its feet as the enormous beast shot into the air. A moment later, the saurian creature slammed into the warship’s side, making the entire vessel shudder from the impact.
The Kaiju immediately dug the claws of its hands and feet deep into the living vessel’s flesh, anchoring itself firmly. Chunks of organic material tore free as it secured its grip. Jake then ordered the Saurian Prowler to attack the vessel.
The Kaiju unleashed a flurry of slashes across the side of the bio-ship, leaving behind long, deep furrows. Flesh and synthetic material alike were shredded beneath its claws. The saurian beast then took a huge bite out of the ship’s side and ripped away a massive chunk, creating a large hole. Torn tissue hung around the opening while dark fluids spilled from the wound.
As Jake crawled toward the opening and looked inside, he saw that it was deep enough to grant access to the vessel’s interior. Beyond the damaged outer layers, he could make out corridors and structural supports running through the ship’s interior.
He ordered the Kaiju to keep damaging the living vessel and then took a quick look around to make sure his wingclaws were still locked in combat with the synthetic monsters while his crawlers handled the ship’s turrets and engines. The aerial battle remained intense, but his forces were holding their own. In several places, he could already see damaged turrets and burning sections of the ship where the crawlers had begun their assault.
It was great. Having an army of combat units at his disposal was immensely beneficial. While they dealt with the bio-ship and its combat units, he could focus entirely on the main objective. Without wasting another second, he leaped through the hole the Kaiju had created. A second later, he landed in the middle of a corridor.
Its walls seemed to be formed from numerous rhombus-shaped segments filled with small lights. The corridor stretched in both directions, disappearing around gentle curves deeper within the vessel. Unlike the previous time he had been aboard a similar bio-ship, the lights weren’t different colors. Instead, they were all bright red, flashing every two seconds and clearly indicating that the vessel was under attack.
The occasional tremor shook the corridor as the Kaiju continued tearing into the ship from outside. Somewhere deeper within the vessel, warning sounds echoed through the passageways. It was time to finish it. Jake quickly glanced both ways down the corridor, picked a direction, and took off at a sprint.