Risen: Shatterverse

A Good Idea in all the Worst Ways

Oh shit. 60 percent. Yeah, that would qualify as a defeat, alright.

- Do ... do we know how the shields failed? - I asked even as my uncertainty increased a hundredfold.

- Negative. The information coming over the ethereal thread didn't have details like that. -

Nodding to myself, I fell silent as my thoughts consumed me. 60 percent. According to Max's memories of his time as a soldier, there weren't too many units that could take that kind of punishment and keep going. The level of loss was going to leave the K'ethik campaign severely short on assets, something they would definitely need if they had any hope of winning the war against the k'ethik, which possessed almost limitless numbers thanks in no small part to their rapid expansion and consumption of materials.

The sound and transmitted vibration of something tearing free behind me brought me back to the here and now and my own predicament, fomented by the fact that I was deep in the belly of the metal whale that was the city-sized terraformer, looking for either its heart or its brains. By this point, I knew both the sound and the vibration belonged to the beasts the terraformer was creating out of its own flesh in an attempt to slow me down. So far, beyond the initial confrontation with them, I had managed to travel fast enough through the terraformer's body to avoid running into more of them.

Now, however, they were forming closer and closer to where I actually was. If I had been going even a few meters per second slower, that damn thing would've formed right on top of me. So, either I had slowed down without noticing, likely because I was distracted by that conversation about the KCF's losses with Legion. Or the terraformer was beginning to anticipate my path and was summoning the beasts in an attempt to intercept me.

The furthest scans I could make with both my enhanced neo-shell senses and what was left of the sensor array my suit had, told me that the terraformer was dead in the air, maintaining a height of just under five kilometers from the surface. I would need some time to do the calculations to see just how close to our foothold that put the thing; time I didn't really have. I just hoped that when, and if I could bring this thing down, it wouldn't be right on top of my own guys.

I ruthlessly pushed aside my uncertainty and anxiety to pulse another scan as far as I could reach in front of me. This time, instead of the usual kilometer upon kilometer of metal guts, I picked up a centralized power node some twenty kilometers in front of me.

- In a construct as large as this, that level of concentration can only belong to a power core, - the shard pointed out.

As much as I wanted it different, I had to take the shard at its word. Between me and Legion, the neo-shell knew way more about this kind of shit than I did. So, my determination returning with a vengeance, I changed my angle slightly and accelerated as much as my damaged systems would allow, pointing myself straight at the power node.

- Okay, so tell me one more time what we're going to do when we reach this power node, Legion, - I said, steeling myself against what could only be a monumental task of megalithic proportions that the shard was going to suggest to bring the leviathan down. The shard, however, wasn't the voice that I then heard in my head.

- Well, well, well, - a quiet, yet clearly arrogant voice said. - What do you think you're going to do to my terraformer, metal man? You are an insect, a microscopic parasite compared to my creation. You can't possibly ... -

The rest dissolved into static.

- Did you block that bastard out, Legion? - I asked, wiping aside my shock and surprise to do so.

- I did, Two, - the shard confirmed. - Listening to the alien's mad babbling is counterproductive to our goal here. -

I felt myself relax slightly at the shard's answer. No denying that. Unfortunately, it also meant the Collector was aware I was an unwanted passenger on its construct. Grimly I increased my speed as much as I dared. The sooner we killed this thing and converted it into spare parts, the better. No point in giving the Collector the time it needed to lock in coordinates to beam in an assault team of its juggernauts in an attempt to slow me down, or even take me out.