Chapter 81: Chapter 80: Tagged-In
Klaire had decimated everything down to the base of the ascent in minutes, then Klaire and Levi started moving forward, the heat from Klaire’s rounds left the usually hard as steel exoskeletons brittle and they were crushed beneath her feet as she walked.
The expressionless face she wore sending a message The Carrion couldn’t interpret, that this was a disappointment to her, she had come seeking a furious battle of vengeance, but they weren’t even able to overcome Levi’s paralysis.
"Levi, tell Majesty to have her soldiers move up to the frontline and start killing again. I want everything on the second floor dead by midnight, but I kill those new units, if they have to choose between killing them and dying, they die."
"Mum, you’re being scary..."
"They hurt your Dad, don’t be afraid to get angry about it Levi, just don’t let it make you reckless."
Levi gave the order to Majesty through the closest guard, then shrank down and wrapped around Klaire.
"Mum, hate to say it, but if I ran off and got angry they would overwhelm you and I would rather make you feel better than get angry myself."
Klaire, paused and petted Levi as the royal guard got to work, then swapped to her arm-blade and resumed the slaughter.
The one-sided massacre against foes that couldn’t move was entirely unsatisfying, Levi could sense Klaire’s anger stagnating, unfortunately she knew that wouldn’t diminish it.
"Mum, did you want me to let you work with the Carrion-hunters? This isn’t improving your mood at all."
"You’re right..." Klaire sighed. "Screw it, paralyse everything and fly us around until we find these "gunner-types" your dad named to annoy me."
Levi, relayed the new plan to Majesty before enacting it, but it took considerable time to locate them. Klaire found it surprising, the general consensus was that the new type was created to push back against the attacking force, yet they weren’t moving towards the ascent at all.
’So why make them? Just to act as ambush units, or to test our strengths maybe...’ Klaire thought about it as she observed their paralysed forms from Levi’s back.
Klaire jumped down and pulled out her slate to start recording, she was standing about a hundred and fifty metres away, the tunnel cleared of any other drones that might have been caught by their fire.
"Maybe we need some kind of recording device as part of basic equipment." Klaire mused before the real question. "More importantly, why aren’t they firing, is it range, paralysis or something else?"
"I’m going to kill all but one, they shouldn’t be able to move, so move to the left side and I’ll kill that one first." Levi moved immediately and Klaire swapped to her marksman rifle.
She scanned over it with the scope, deciding on what point would be best to shoot, she also disabled her starlight rounds to use the standard mana rounds she used before her upgrade.
She finally sighed, annoyed by the thought that shooting them might cause a reaction and then she was struck with inspiration as she observe the heavy armour on the creature’s fore legs.
"Levi, reckon I can ricochet of the shoulder plate and get behind the skull plate?"
"Of course you can Mum, whether or not you manage to is a different story." Levi quipped as she waited patiently from behind them.
The sound of the gun shot rang out through the tunnels, catching Klaire by surprise after she had grown used to the much quieter starlight rounds. Almost as if she anticipated the coming flinch however, the round found its mark and the creature slumped.
The others immediately began to glow and Klaire went from her laid down firing position to a full sprint immediately, getting behind them before the first round even fired. Her instincts were correct, unlike the small rapid fire blasts that Carl reported, they each released some kind of high density emission.
Klaire recorded the scene as she stored the corpse of the dead unit, then she and Levi immediately retreated to a safe distance. Her experience with other creatures that could release similar emissions, made her all too aware that their very bodies can be weaponised.
Looking at the area where their release exploded, the resin lining the tunnel was still glowing with heat and the fact that the gunner-types were still glowing made her nervous. She kept backing up, counting how long they stayed glowing, all to calculate the radius for the next explosion.
In the end she shot one in an attempt to cause a premature detonation and it worked exactly as she intended.
This time, it was strong enough to completely destroy the resin and cause both the ceiling above them and the ground beneath them to collapse.
Being correct didn’t reassure her however, in fact the only thing that she could think about was how the hell she measured it so accurately.
"Wow, Mum! How did you know how big it was going to be?"
"I wish I knew Baby... I think I’m starting to see why Dad was so upset, it’s kinda scary knowing things without knowing how and he’s making living creatures..." Levi nuzzled her in response and Klaire petted her half-heartedly.
"Did it make you feel better killing them Mum?"
"No, it never does, I’m just being childish. Let’s start heading back, though we will have to find a new way back. I think I’ll let the girls stretch their legs for a while, there should be plenty of souls for them to feast on."
Klaire took a deep breath then howled, letting the soul wrenching wail echo through the tunnels, then Levi wrapped around her again and she began running until she came across the first soul.
"Mum?"
"Levi, have you eaten a soul yet? I’ve got to admit, I’m kind of curious, the girls seemed to really enjoy the dragons."
"Err, no and I’m not sure I want this as my first taste..."
"Come on, we’ll both take a bite."
"Mum, no. Let’s find something a bit more appetising."
"Like? Have you thought about what you want to taste?"
"A bit, Margo was my first choice, but Faylorna said eating souls will make me stronger and I’ll need to get much stronger before I eat him."
"Yeah... How about a dragon? Think Tiamat will let us try one?"
The conversation about what soul they should try as their first nibble, went on long enough to leave them a little embarrassed.
When they finally made it back to the ascent up to floor one, Levi passed on Klaire’s orders to send half the first floor forces to the second floor ascent tunnel and hold there until further notice.
She then relayed that any of the royal guard who attacked a banshee would be the reason they all died, then she opened the portal and beckoned the banshee out.
"The creatures on this floor dared harm my husband, drain every ounce of life from them... Only harm the ones that look like this if they attack first, they are my husband’s creations, I won’t kill them unless I need to."
The banshee moved like a tired of absolute darkness through the already light deprived tunnels.
The howls of the banshee echoed through the underground, a haunting serenade to harvest the countless souls of The Carrion.
A portal opened next to Klaire a short while later, one through which Faylorna arrived. "You’re certainly getting the hang of opening the portal and taking full advantage of your new position. Glad to see at least one of you is happy to use all the weapons at your disposal."
"What do you mean by that?" Klaire growled, sensing the imminent criticism of her husband.
"Don’t get like that girl, I simply mean you should think about it. Thes bugs he made are a marvel yes, but look at Levi, at Squidge, at the dragons and even little Ki-ko... A dozen of any of them could have wiped this hive clean."
"I know Faylorna, but Carl isn’t the type to send his children off to fight and I would be furious if he tried to."
"Tch, of course you would, you like being the strong one." Faylorna’s words crossed the line and Klaire shot her ancestor with starlight, though it only grazed and angered her.
"No, I just don’t want him to stop being the man I love, not until he has to. The part I don’t like is he refuses to do anything with his other abilities to compensate." Faylorna slapped her round the back of the head.
"Sill girl, it is the way of men to push forward, an idle man is a thoughtless one. It is the job of women to step back and notice what they miss, why do you think your abilities are ranged?"
"I see your point, but please stop using coincidence as undeniable proof. Your saying I should be telling him this, you’ve been training me so I could see where he’s going wrong and redirect him..."
"Exactly, see how well you think when you stop and think? Don’t obsess over his flaws so much they become yours."
"Don’t push it Faylorna, only I get to call him an idiot, because he’s my idiot." Klaire huffed.