Chương 185: Nova Wars - Chapter [ERROR BUFFER OVERRUN]

They were the finest bastards I ever knew. - Volunteer Grade Three Parki'it, from In Defense of Our Tyranny, the Kra'at Systems Siege - A Documentary Victory or death. Either is fine.

"She, and we, are bound to Murdered TerraSol. Soldiers of the Combine and Imperium, led by Daxin the Unfeeling who became Osiris of the Warsteel Flame, touched and reborn by Vat Grown Luke who became Legion, nurtured and guided by Bellona the Grave Bound Beauty, shown the way of truth and beauty. They are our children, the Kawaii Neko Marines, the youngest of us, the oldest of us, and they await, with open loving arms, all of us who fall from the Digital Omnimessiah's grace.

She will seek out the enemy, consumed with rage, and seek to wipe them from the universe.

"She will be the champion of those without hope consumed with wrath and fury," Sister Dargetta, Second Precursor War On the facility floorplan it was an auxiliary dining hall, to be opened if the population reached 300, 000 after a 10-20 period of facility occupation. However, it had been opened and redesignated as a child care center. There were nests of cushions, blankets, and padding taken from crates whose contents were put to use.

Inside each nest was a small floof of littles, some young enough they hadn't even opened their eyes. At the center of every floof was a Kra'at Descent Human, Feline, or Canine. Their high body temperature, flexibility, and softness made the others feel more at east. Lanaktallan colts, as large as most species adolescents, were usually in their own groups with a young Kra'at Descent Human or two. Around each floof-nest were the females or caregivers.

The Pukan males scurried back and forth from the snack cafes, bringing drinks, nibbles, or just something to chew on for the ring of females and care givers that surrounded each floof-nest. Caregivers who were tired but chose not to return to their dorm bay or their cot often slept in the ring, laying their head in the lap of the caregiver next to them. The scene was repeated over and over throughout the twenty-level heavily armored shelter.

On one floor a Lanaktallan Dame was laying on her side, her head in the lap of a Kra'at Descent Rigellian duck, who was making 'bee-bee-bee-bee' noises at it slept. She was awake, but she had a half dozen littles laying against her lower flanks. She was awake enough to see her daughter come running in, narrowly dodging two Kra'at Descent Telkans carrying a heavy cable, jumping over a cleaning robot, and ducking underneath two Lanaktallan carrying pipe fittings.

"Mama! Mama!" her daughter called out.

"Shh, you'll wake the littles," the Dame called out as he daughter slid to a stop.

"Oh," she covered her mouth, her eyes opening wide.

"Sorry." Still, she knelt down and held out a video repeater. Most of the kids had them, they were tuned into the shelter's video channel.

"Mama, look.." she said, and turned on the video. The thing that floated out of the haze, smoke, and airborne debris was a horror show. It was, at the center, a large greenish-black orb covered in bumps and ridges. The forward part had a huge mouth, nearly a meter wide, full of serrated triangular teeth, with a red glow blocking any view of the meat inside the mouth. Surrounding the lipless mouth were red eyes with plus-sign shaped pupils.

Extending from multiple points on the body were sectional arms, made up of bumpy flesh marred here and there by skeletal protrusion. At the ends were serrated blades, pinchers, claws, and pointed spikes. It floated toward where the view had a large Lanaktallan wearing a roughed up and battered uniform, the hard plates scarred, gouged, and marred as well as a Kra'at Descent Human down on one knee. The view was also sideways, obvious by the display mode, even though the projector AI righted it.

"Oh no," her daughter breathed.

"Momma, it's Azzy!" she blurted out, sounding next to tears.

"No, no, no, he was winning." The creature floated forward, pushing side two garbage dumpsters with the tentacles. Sergeant Breaker managed to straighten up slightly, to stare at the creature as it moved forward. He could feel the waves of phasic energy, feel the psychic command to go still, to be still, emenating from the creature in waves. He snarled at it, lifting his lip in instinctive refusal. He started to get to his feet. Beside him, Vee Azzy shook his head like he was trying to shake off buzzing insects.

He could taste the faint taste of berries on his tongue. The creature moved closer, the command, the order, the waves of phasic power increased.

"GET SOME!" The horror creature exploded, unburned fuel spewing out of the explosion in white-cored red and yellow tentacles. Sergeant Breaker came up to his feet with a roar of rage. Azzy managed to get to his feet. Vee Yee stood there, waving her rocket launcher, Sergeant Breaker's helmet still on her head, but skewed slightly so it covered one of her eyes. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"PUNTIMAT POWER!"

she laughed, her right eye bloodshot and blood seeping from her nostrils. Breaker started shooting as Azzy shook his head again. He couldn't see out of two eyes, his rear left and his right side. One of the Mar-gite climbed up onto the middle dumpster and Azzy swung his ammo belt, knocking it down, where Vee Pee put a round through its center mass, penetrating blowing apart the nerve clusters.

It was still hard for Azzy to believe that the Mar-gite didn't have brains, just long strands of neural tissue down each arm and a series of five 'knots' of neural tissue around their stomach. For a long moment nothing happened. Vee Diggy slowly got up, shaking his head, one hand reaching for his medical kit. that he had all of twenty minutes of training to use.

"All right, lets start repairing and fortifying. Clicker, how much time do you need?" Breaker asked, wiping the blood off his face. --things worse need longer five maybe six hours maybe more-- 7782 replied. --main shaft has crack bigger than dick have to epoxy it all the way down outgassing will get worse outgassing have pheromones now--"No helping it then," he said. He put his thumb to his temple and the tip of his finger against his lower lip.

"Command, this is Victor Foxtrot November Six Six Tree Tree Actual, updated sitrep incoming," he said, moving away. Azzy went over, looking around until he found the two halves of his M240b. He moved over to where Vee Hutch was sitting on the bed of Count Trucula, looking at his missing hand and shaking his head.

"Can you still run the forge, Hutch?" Azzy asked Volunteer Base Class Hut'chasen. Hutch nodded.

"Got my fifteen minutes of Armorer's School, lemme see what I can do." Azzy moved away, helping to put new sandbags up. At one point a bunch of metallic spiders, black bodies, spindly legs, bright malevolent eyes, rushed out and into the parking lot, squatting down and vanishing.

"Minefield," Sergeant Gee said. Azzy just nodded, helping put the stake into the sandbags at an angle.

"Coming in!" sounded out and Azzy turned around, pulling a pistol. He was slightly embarrassed that he remembered throwing one of his pistols had ran dry so instead of reloading he had just chucked it into the gaping maw of one of the Mar-gite and when the teeth and mouth puckered he'd whirled and kicked it into scraps of burnt meat. Five guys in volunteer uniforms, one with a green mantid sitting on their helmet, were trotting down the hazy street.

"At least we can tell pretty easy who is on our side," Sergeant Gee said. Azzy just nodded.

"Coming in!" another group called. This one was only three and a wounded green mantid. Azzy was told by Yee to get some rest and he staggered over to Count Trucula, laying in the makeshift 'cot' and closing his eyes. Part of him felt like he'd never get to sleep. His nerves were wound tight and singing. His whole body trembled with readiness. He was prepared to go toe to toe with anyone and anything. He sat slowly down and closed his eyes.

"FIGHT! GET UP AND FIGHT!" was roared out and he came to his feet, reaching out and grabbing up Uncle 240 from where he was propped next to Trucula. There was the screaming whistle of artillery. It hit the streets, driving into the pavement before erupting in a shower of Mar-gite flesh, tarmac, ferrocrete, superconductor cable, and whatever else was in the street. The Mar-gite started screaming.

"CRACKER OUT!" Breaker yelled, hucking a grenade up into the air. It went off with a purple flash and Azzy tasted glitter covered taggleberries on his chewing teeth.

"GET SOME!" Yee screeched back, firing her rocket launcher. She'd been shown how to adjust the variable warhead and it exploded into a wave of spooky thermite enhance plasma wave formed napalm that covered the first two hundred meters of Mar-gite in burning hellfire.

Azzy saw that there were a couple of Pukan next to a tube leaning forward on a tripod but ignored it as he ran forward and slammed his chest against the dumpster that he knew was full of a mixture of water, cornstarch, and oatmeal that had been stirred until it was just a thick consistency. He slammed down Uncle 240 and started firing bursts.

"UP HIGH! WE GOT PATRICK UP HIGH!" came the yell. Azzy glaced up and saw them spinning in, arms extended, slight silver nimbus around their calcite shell tips where the eyes were hidden inside armored clamshells. Breaker was standing up, finger by his lip, thumb pressed into his ear.

"... Six Six Tree Tree Actual, we need drones and artillery support," Breaker was saying.

"We may need close air support. We are engaged with the enemy in overwhelming numbers including ariel attacks." Azzy was, at that moment, lifting up Uncle M240 and firing at the spinning Mar-gite as they fell through the air. He had lost his helmet, lost his reticle, and his retinal link was just putting three hair thin lines from the top to the bottom of his vision. But he knew how far to lead them and he raked them out of the sky without mercy.

"How does this work?" a Kra'at Descent Hikken slammed into the dumpster, standing on top of sandbags, a blaze rifle in his hand. Still shooting with his upper arms he reached over with his lower right hand and snapped the safety off.

"Press the button, hit the Mar-gite, win a prize!"

"What prize?" the Hikken asked. Around him flycams darted and hovered.

"A few more seconds of life!" Azzy laughed.

"AMMO! RELOAD!" Vee Pee ran up, kneeling down and using a clenched fist to hammer the end of his ammo belt onto the beginning of the next.

"LOADED!" Azzy raked a half dozen of the Mar-gite out of the air.

"They're not stopping! There's too many!" the Hikken cried out. Azzy slapped the back of his head as he slammed Uncle down on the top of the dumpster.

"We die with honor, Hikken, can you do any less?" he asked. The Hikken started to turn but Azzy grabbed him even as he tried to pull away, still firing Uncle with his upper arms. When the Hikken stopped Azzy let go as the Hikken turned to stare up at Azzy. stayin alive stayin alive ah ah ah ah stayin alive Azzy drew his pistol, putting it between the Hikken's eyes.

"Find your courage or I shall shoot you myself. My beloved family are beneath these very streets somewhere," he stated. The Hikken looked up at the huge muscular Lanaktallan that wasn't even looking at him, just firing the light machinegun down the alley in quick bursts. He stared at the barrel of the pistol and swallowed thickly. He turned and put the rifle on top of the dumpster and started firing. The Mar-gite were swarming, filling the parking lot. Mines were exploding.

There was screams as bladed robots shredded through tarmac and Mar-gite alike. Explosions as artillery started hammering on the streets. A set of strikers came in low, their guns hammering. But the Mar-gite kept moving forward.

"COVER! COVER!" Azzy yelled, grabbing his gunner's bag.

"BUDDY COVER!" Vee Pee yelled, slamming his rifle down and going to full auto. Azzy switched out the barrel, proud of himself that he did it in less than 90 seconds.

"ONLINE!" Azzy yelled, running a full burst through.

".. are being overrun, repeat, we are being overrun..." Breaker called out.

"Repeat, this is Victor Foxtrot November Six Six Tree Tree Actual at grid Niner Niner Two Seven Two Six Tree Six Fife. We are being overrun! Shelter One Fife Alpha Access is about to be overrun." Azzy kept firing, shooting with his pistol too. White light speared down from the heavens, a wide cone of it. It narrowed suddenly into a point. It spread out again into a flickering line-art kind of round image with some lines inside. Azzy realized that, weirdly enough, it was a feline head.

The single word was a roar that shook Azzy to his bones. DOKI? 𓇼𓇼𓇼𓇼 𓇼𓇼𓇼𓇼 ー═┻┳︻▄ξ(✿ ^≗ω≗^ ✿)ξ▄︻┻┳═一 𓇼𓇼𓇼𓇼 𓇼𓇼𓇼𓇼