Chapter 344

--OPEN FIRE RED DEVILS-- appeared in Palgret's vision.

"OPEN FIRE, SWORD HOOF!" Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u yelled out.

"Pew pew!" the sarcastic black mantid yelled.

"BRRRT!" the other one yelled.

Palgret glanced and saw the Terran was just standing back with everyone else, swinging his arms slowly, breathing heavily. The sarcastic black mantid was firing his short rifle, every shot a streak of light that caused a bright white flash of antimatter.

Palgret aimed his weapon, pulling the stock tight against his shoulder, looking down the holographic sight, and pulled the trigger. He kept tapping it and letting up, tapping the firing stud and releasing it. His weapon burped out three to five rounds a show.

BRRRRRRT! the roar made Palgret looked over.

The black mantid's abdomen wasn't as thick as Palgret had thought, the top of his armor turned out to be a an armored housing that had unfolded to reveal two quad-barrel miniguns that were spitting fire and smoke, the barrels already red. 281 was on the back of the setup, doing something, Palgret had no idea what.

The corridor filled with explosions as two solid bars of light jumped from the mantid's back to down the hallway. The bright white and blue flashes of antimatter rounds slamming into the clankers filled the hallway.

Palgret let off his trigger, just watching as his holo-sight overloaded and his visor's light amplification overloaded. His armor struggled for a moment, then compensated for the visor, but his holo-sight stayed overloaded.

"BRRRT! BRRT!" the mantid yelled. "BRRT BRRT!"

Palgret saw the other three Maktanan had stopped firing as well. Even the Lieutenant had stopped firing, just staring at the sheer firepower going out.

--FIRE IN THE HOLE-- 030 broadcast. He triggered the small missile launcher, no longer than the width of Palgret's hand.

The two black mantid stopped firing as the missile, no bigger than Palgret's finger, flew out and into the tunnel.

The whole tunnel went white, lighting the entire chamber the shrieking array had been in. Debris blew out of the tunnel as 030 cocked the rocket launcher, feeding another missile into it.

Palget just blinked, staring.

"Cease fire," Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u said in the suddenly silence.

"No movement further back. All my sensors for about three hundred meters are gone now," the sarcastic one said.

--head on swivel-- 030 ordered.

"Check your weapons. Look for barrel, coil, or shroud stress," Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u said. He followed his own instructions by disassembling the forward hand-grip and giving the components a quick Mark 1 Eyeball. "Remember to check the connectors between the power bar and the last magnetic ring."

281 scurried over, climbing up on the damaged piece of machinery and motioning. --let see--

Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u held out the weapon. 281 looked at, then tapped a few spots. --can fix ten mikes--

"Um, all right," the Lieutenant said. He turned to his troops. "One at time, come up and get your weapon adjusted. They'll be here soon."

281 moved over the black mantid with the gunnery harness that held the two snub nosed quad-barrels, making some adjustments.

"Penetration wasn't that good. See if you can up the armor penetration on my rounds, will you, 281?" the black mantid asked.

Palgret just knelt down behind his makeshift barricade, watching.

"No signals yet," the sarcastic one said.

Palgret couldn't remember his name for the life of him, and all it said on his visor was "L98-A Three" and that was it. Palgret found it odd that the other Maktanan and the Lieutenant were listed as "L98-A Auxiliary" with a number.

When it was his turn he watched 281 replace several parts in his rifle. Two of the coils of his rifle looked fine to him but the little mantid put them to the side.

"I couldn't see when the miniguns opened up," Palgret said.

281 opened up the sight, looking at it, then told Palgret to stay there. He came back a minute later with parts and replaced the chipset in the sight. After Palgret moved back to his position the little mantid replaced everyone's holosight molycircs.

"Getting movement. Looks like at least a dozen. Judging by interrupt time, they're the size of ground cars," the sarcastic one said. "They didn't trigger all of them, looks like they came off a side corridor since they triggered the entry detectors."

--repositioning-- 030 said. --everyone to rear exit--

"They might have prisoners," the Lieutenant said, his tendrils curling with anxiety.

--affirmative-- 030 said. --will kill us we hesitate--

"True," the Lieutenant said. "Why to the back?"

--if pull back pull back deeper in-- 030 said.

"Our reinforcements?" the Lanaktallan asked.

--not here yet-- 030 said.

Palgret followed as everyone repositioned past the destroyed shrieking array, walking around the thick ash that had once been living people as well as the equipment they had been connected to. At the rear of the room the big human grabbed large pieces of equipment and placed them at 030's direction to provide cover.

030 motioned at the big human to come over. Palgret wasn't privy to the conversation but the human moved over to the side, crouching down beside a huge piece of equipment that went two third of the way up to the ceiling.

--all personnel hold fire until orders-- 030 said.

"They're a two and a half clicks out," the sarcastic one said. "Moving slow."

--go-- 030 said.

Palget watched 281 streak across the room toward dark hallway.

The quieter one, L98-A-2, moved position, crouching down, the guns on his back pointing at the entryway.

Palgret tabbed up another piece of stimgum.

281 came streaking back, his jet firing with enough power it was making noise, the shimmering of a graviton generator beneath him. He banked hard, moving up by the ceiling, then cut the engine, spiraling down.

--light combat vehicles-- 030 told everyone. --the SIA knows we here--

"Pew pew," the sarcastic one said, hefting his rifle. He cocked the attachment on the bottom. "Might have to move to something heavier."

A low growl sounded through the chamber.

"Do they have prisoners?" the Lieutenant asked.

--not applicable-- 030 said. --combat vehicles--

Palgret had served under Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u long enough to tell the officer was distressed, but also knew why the Lanaktallan stayed silent.

Precursor vehicles were tough. Inches of battlesteel, usually with battlescreen, point defense, antipersonnel, rockets, missiles, multiple weapon systems.

And Palgret knew nobody was carrying anti-vehicle weapons.

"Remember, men. Let the Confederate troops handle the vehicles. Provide support by aiming at weapons, antipersonnel strips, and any running gear. Engage smaller units and any non combat units with priority fire," the Lieutenant said. He pointed at Culvit. "Use your grenade launcher when you can. Watch out for the human."

"Yes, sir," Culvit said.

The Lieutenant felt a flush of pleasure at his men using the Terran rank system. It sounded more professional, like the formality that his peers so loved had been stripped away. Like removing the decorations from an overly ornate weapon to find a wholly serviceable mag-rifle beneath the opulence.

"There's more coming. It's steady. He knows we're here," the sarcastic one, Three, said. "I've got a hundred and counting."

--wants us bad-- 030 said. He jumped off of Palgret's shoulder, taking cover next to where Palgret had his rifle steadied. --let him come see the red devils-- He checked the rocket launcher with the small round ball on the side.

From behind the equipment the human gave a low growl that echoed through the room.

"Sixty seconds. They've slowed down," Three said. "Looks like the vehicles are waiting for their support."

The human knelt down, one fist against the chamber floor, the other fist pressed against his forehead. Palgret could see the human was whispering to himself. At the end of whatever he was saying he opened his hand and slid his flat hand down his face like he was wiping it off. He then straightened up, stretched, and gave a low growl, one hand on the top of the equipment.

Has he gotten larger?

"Ten seconds, they'll be inside the room," Three said. He spit his cigarette out of his mandibles and onto the floor, his helmet unfolding and covering his head again.

Palgret saw the red eyes come around the corner. He leveled his rifle, licking his lips. His mouth was dry and he suddenly had to urinate. His arms, his trigger finger, suddenly felt tired.

--hold--

The eyes widened into large IR sensors.

--hold--

The vehicle came into the room. It was tracked, only a little taller than the human, twice the width. It was followed by two more.

Palgret licked his dry lips as three more came in. All were tracked vehicles, bristling with weapons. They started moving into the black ash. Palgret could see their IR laser ranging devices probing the room, looking for whoever had destroyed the shrieking array.

--NOW-- 030 transmitted --GIVE IT TO 'EM FRANKY--

The human used one hand to vault over the equipment, landing next to the lead vehicle. He took two rapid steps, even as lasers and h-vee rounds bounced off of his warsteel armor, his whole fist and forearm wreathed in snarling electricity and a purplish nimbus. The battlescreen went down in a shower of sparks and the fist slammed into the side, buckling the whole side. The human hit it with his other fist as he began pummeling it. One of the tracks broke free and the human snatched it out of mid-air.

Palgret just stared, his mouth slightly open, as the Terran slammed the track against the vehicle then grabbed it and yanked it inside the room with one hand, revealing the vehicle behind it that was pushing it out of the way. The human began hammering on the vehicle with the track even as electricity started snarling up and down the broken track.

The vehicle must have weighed nearly a hundred tons, but Palgret watched the human grab it with one hand, lift it up a Maktanan's body height up into the air, and sling it into the next one. He jumped forward, slamming his fist into the prow of the fourth vehicle.

All of the vehicles were firing at the human, manuevering to get at his flanks and sides. The lasers either did nothing to the black armor or bounced off and carved molten lines in the walls, floors, ceilings. The high-velocity rounds bounced off of the human's warsteel skin, exploding against the roof or ceiling.

The human paid it no mind, ripping apart the front armor of his victim, reaching inside and ripping out components.

Roaring the whole time.

The fur on Palgret's spine was standing up. It was like watching some kind of monster from a child's class wreck a vehicle.

--cybernetic heavy assault infantry comma monster series comma man sized comma one each-- floated up in his mind.

Monster series.

The jumped off the destroyed one its fists had shattered and the human grabbed the next vehicle and tore it in half.

Is he... getting larger? Palgret wondered.

The Precursors were firing back. High-velocity rounds were bouncing off the human, explosions were detonating against his black warsteel skin, and lasers were playing over the matte black skin-tight armor.

None of it was having any effect except to make the eyes redder and the human larger.

red eyes fight enemies take fright came up in his head.

A boom echoed through the room and Palgret looked over to his right.

--buzz spanky eyes right-- 030 flashed.

281 and the quiet mantid, Three, both moved around a piece of debris.

Another boom, this time from the right.

--wrecker take one go right-- 030 ordered.

Palgret watched as Nanuft went with the sarcastic mantid, Thre, and hurried to the other end of the wrecked shrieking array.

--get ready-- Palgret saw flash on his visor with the private tag.

"DOOR'S FAILING!" Three yelled out.

--they come-- 030 said. --may Enraged Phillip, Unbowing and Indomitable, be with us--

Palgret swallowed around a dry and thick tongue, just nodding.

A welded door blew in with a crash and Precursor machines poured into the room. Some looked like animated loading frames, others trundled on tracks and clacked their graspers, still others were on wheels and waved around fusion torches.

Palgret opened up with his rifle, the hv-rounds blowing chunks out of the endo-steel armor of the ones on the left. The roar of the miniguns started behind him, but Palgret concentrated on the ones in front of him, firing till they went down then switching target.

For every one he killed three more swarmed into the room.

--FIRE IN THE HOLE-- 030 flashed out.

The rocket slammed into the lead Precursor coming from the left, exploding in the whitish blue of an antimatter detonation.

Palgret concentrated on the ones that kept moving forward.

The human's roared was making Palgret's head pound and it felt like a furnace was further in the room. He reached up and smacked his helmet, sighing when the familiar taste of velliberries filled his mouth and his molars tingled.

A vehicle track flew by and smashed into the heavy duty looking robot that looked like a refrigeration unit had been inappropriate with a heavy cargo loader. The robot collapsed in a shower of sparks and flew a good ten feet, the track embedded deep inside of it.

"I AM ENRAGED FOR NEW BERLIN AND MY BELOVED YVETTE!" the human roared. "DEATH! DEATH TO THE MAR-GITE! DEATH TO THE WORLD EATERS!"

The human gave a scream that to Palgret sounded like soul deep agony.

"You'll have to hard reset him, Captain," Three's voice said over the helmet comlink.

--he be fine-- 030 answered. --FIRE IN THE HOLE-- Another rocket shot out, hitting a tracked welder robot that was shooting flame.

Palgret was too busy shooting. When the main body was too heavily armored he switched his fire to the limbs or tracks. The endosteel proved unable to withstand more than a shot or two before it fragments and broke apart.

A part of him, far back in his mind, that he was only dimly aware of, was proud of himself for not dropping his magazine when he reloaded his weapon. The heat was still in the yellow, so he kept firing, his visor dimming the antimatter blasts, his holosight still working.

--FALL BACK-- 030 ordered. --AUX FIRST! LT LEAD THE WAY--

It flashed on his visor as 030 scrambled up Palgret's arm and onto his shoulder. Palgret noticed the orb on the side of the rocket launcher was glowing a faint red.

Palgret kept shooting as the others backed into the passageway, Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u trotting down the corridor, firing a grenade just to check to make sure it was actually empty. Part of him wanted to join his fellow Maktanan, but 030 was on his shoulder and somehow that kept him from being afraid.

--red devils pull back-- the mantid officer ordered. An arrow appeared on Palgret's visor and he turned, following it. He hurried after the others even as the two black mantids and 281 joined them.

--FRANKY! FALL BACK OR STAY!-- 030 ordered.

Palgret glanced up at the top of his visor, at the strip that showed him what was behind him.

The Terran looked massive. Like he was made of warsteel, the warsteel moving and flexing with the Terran's muscle, the black spikes and spurs wreathed with the purplish nimbus and red electricity. He tore another smaller vehicle in half and moved across the room in two bounding jumping steps.

Palgret knew it was his imagination that insisted that the Terran had left footsteps in the battlesteel of the floor, deeper at the toes than the heel.

The human was breathing heavy, and this time Palgret knew it wasn't his imagination.

Thick red fluid, steaming, was running out of the human's mouth and down his chin. His mouth was full of jagged teeth.

--scout out-- 030 ordered.

281 streaked away.

"Is he OK? Why is his mouth bleeding?" Jagler asked.

"It's not blood," Three said.

"What is it?" Nanuft asked.

"Warsteel," the mantid said. "Molten warsteel."

"Pain. Pain and death," the human rumbled. Palgret could feel it vibrate his armor. "Pain and suffering to all who dare stand before me."

"Wha... what is he?" Culvit asked, shifting slightly when his armored elbow scraped against the wall.

"A Terran. What, you've never seen one before?" Three said, his helmet unfolding.

"Oh," Culvit sounded doubtful.

"Imagine seeing hundreds, thousands of him coming at you," Three said, lighting a red banded cigarette as they kept hustling down the hallway. "We knew the Mar-gite weren't like us when all they did was screech and rush forward to grapple with the Terrans."

"I'd run away," Nanuft said.

The black mantid gave a chuckle, exhaling smoke, as he put away his lighter. "That's because you aren't a Mar-gite."

"How is the warsteel still molten? I was told it hardens too quickly," Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u asked. "Why is it still molten?"

"For Yvette," the human rumbled, a growl of anger.

Palgret felt the tingle again as his psychic shielding ramped up to 83%.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Three said.

A pair of pumpkin seeds shot back toward the group, slowing down and hovering in place.

MAP UPDATING chirped up onto Palgret's visor.

Lieutenant Mu'ucru'u looked at the massive human, who was quite noticably larger than he had been. "I am ready to believe you."

"Rage. That's it, just rage," the mantid said. "It's running through his veins right now. All consuming rage."

The human growled.

Monster class went through Palgret's mind.

The only sound in the hallway was the rustling of gear on armor, the booted footsteps of the armored troops, and the sound of Palgret's breathing in his own ears as they moved deeper into the body of the wrecked Precursor vehicle.

They make monsters.