159
Ep. 159
'The engine was disabled earlier and the communication cutoff was just completed. 'It's a good start.'
The broken communication facility in front of me gave out its last spark and ceased operation. I scattered the bundle of cables and wires I was holding on the floor.
Thanks to a request from No. 26, who was hiding in the garbage disposal, I was able to easily neutralize the security of the communication room. Due to the EMP effect, the security androids took advantage of the momentary pause to sneak into this place.
'No. 26 can maintain its power.'
The reason he is running around like this is because there is a possibility that enemies will track the traces of the psychic power he used. APD alone has a tracking function as an auxiliary function in addition to the function of blocking psychic power.
The hiding place will be discovered at some point, but it is not good to be discovered already.
After destroying all the machines, I opened the door to the communication room and came out.
The androids that had not yet normalized due to the EMP effect were standing with their heads hanging down.
The psychic power fired by No. 26 produces an effect similar to EMP and is not an actual EMP. It will be back to normal in a few minutes.
Of course, I will no longer be there by then. I took steps toward my next goal.
Originally, I had planned to destroy the engine and then hit the drone management center, not the communications room. This facility is a Star Union unique facility that does not exist on ships of other races such as Megacorps or Cults.
'Because Star Union uses a lot of machines.'
On the Star Union ship, which looks like a rectangular box with jagged spikes, the longest cylindrical spike near the top or bottom center is the drone management station. As the name suggests, it can be thought of as a control center that manages drone Android.
Destroying the facility will not stop all drones and androids. It's the ship's central computer that manages them.
However, it may interfere with the behavior of drones and androids. In other words, if the drone management station disappears, it will be easier to take control of the ship.
So, I tried to make the engine my next target, but the situation changed suddenly.
While hanging upside down on the ceiling and heading to the drone management center, I sensed that the movements of the drone and the android had changed. Aren't the machines outside the ship coming in one after another?
There is only one reason why drones that should be busy with repairs return while the battle is in full swing.
The end of the battle right away. In order to return to where you came from after the fight, you must enter a faster-than-light navigation state, so all the drones must have been collected.
'It ended surprisingly early.'
As soon as I realized that, I turned and quickly crawled towards the communications room. If you give a signal to No. 26 on the way, it will send a wave to break down the ship's machinery.
'It was the right timing.'
Before messing with the communications equipment, I checked the communications records, and the last record was a contact with the flagship. It was probably a report that the faster-than-light engine was broken.
'If the communication interruption had been even a little later, I would have definitely requested assistance.'
The uniform vibration felt in my hands and toes and the much more intense heat than before showed that the thrusters on this ship were moving furiously.
It was clear that they had chosen to move to the safest possible star system and perform self-repair.
'That was the captain's biggest mistake.'
Rather than requesting a repair ship or reinforcements, he said he would repair it himself. That choice decided the fate of this ship.
'Contact with the outside world has been cut off and means of transportation are limited.'
It's a good environment for me to run around and play.
–
"Do you see it? This is not damage caused by a collision."
"Captain, it looks like there is something else on this ship other than us."
"…."
Kayns Q groaned as he checked the video transmitted through the cable.
'Following the engine, communication facilities and even the drone management center were invalidated.'
He knows what that fact indicates.
Ship number 98 is being attacked by an unidentified entity. And that too, not from the outside of the hull, but from the inside.
"Can't it be restored somehow?"
"Is that circuit an acidic solution? I completely melted because of this. It can take anywhere from 6 hours to 12 hours for the drone management center to return to normal.
"What about communication facilities?"
｢Similar here.｣
If you are unlucky, you have to remain foolish for 12 hours. Fortunately, the thruster was not damaged, so there was no problem moving to another star system, but we cannot be reassured.
I don't know what purpose the beings on this ship are doing this for, but it seems clear that they have clear hostility towards them.
'Damn, I was so complacent.'
I can roughly guess where that being came from. A biological ship that is the reason why the Nemean Fleet, to which ship number 98 belongs, came to the JP-99 star system. When it collided with it, an uninvited guest must have boarded his ship.
"First, send the available repair drones and androids there."
｢Thank you.｣
"And is there anyone who got caught in the surveillance system?"
"What's really strange is that there was nothing captured on camera, either in the communications room or the drone management office."
Star Union officially pursues atheism. Because the afterlife has no meaning to an android made up of metal parts and muscle fiber modules instead of fleshy muscles.
Even Cains Q, a cyborg, doesn't believe in ghosts or such superstitions, but at this moment, he felt like it was really a ghost doing it.
"Number 98. "Have you confirmed where the EMP was launched?"
"It is impossible to confirm because there are too few traces and information. "We can only confirm that it occurred internally."
"It means it's somewhere inside this ship. "Make it a mix of cyborgs and android drones to stand guard."
｢Not enough cyborgs on the hull.｣
"…Tsk, fill in the gaps with Screamers."
｢Confirmed.｣
Let's hold on for 12 hours. Keynes Q thought so.
It was three hours later that I realized that that thought was a misjudgment.
All cameras and lights in the hallways of the ship were turned off.
"shit! Only the camera and lights were turned off? "I'm sure the ship's reactor wasn't attacked, right?"
"There is no problem with the reactor. An error occurred in the power line equipment. It is presumed to be due to external factors."
"But it wasn't caught on camera at all? Does that make sense?"
I couldn't understand.
There are more than hundreds of cameras on this ship. It is a high-performance camera equipped with not only general surveillance functions but also various viewing functions, including heat detection.
Among them, special attention was paid to cameras placed near important facilities to avoid blind spots.
Still, it is absolutely impossible not to get caught.
He was trying to somehow understand this incomprehensible situation, but the true disaster had just begun.
｢Cyborgs 31 to 35 stationed in the electric wire equipment area lost contact. No response to vital signs.
"What?"
He hurriedly uploaded information related to the cyborgs' biological signals. What computer 98 said was true.
The signals of five of the cyborgs had a black light on.
An uninvited guest had launched a full-scale attack.
–
｢All alerts be prepared for an attack! You can use all the weapons you have, so kill him somehow!"
"Holy shit!"
"View change complete."
"Defense ready."
As soon as the command was given, six combat-type androids responded immediately.
They looked much more mechanical than Megacorp's androids, and their performance was also good.
Unlike Megacorp, which had fears about robot development due to the machine rebellion, Star Union had no such restrictions, so improvements were made continuously.
A model that walks on four legs, a model with five arms and two heads, etc.
They moved away from the human form and activated weapons equipped with models optimized for combat. They were commonly equipped with equipment called the Heavy Launcher, which dramatically improved the firepower and rate of fire of the Storm Gun.
The heavy launcher, which resembles a multiple rocket launcher, is a weapon that unleashes tremendous firepower in an instant with multiple muzzles, but it has the disadvantage of low accuracy. Cyborgs that have not been modified to a large extent are difficult to control, so the heavy launcher is mainly used by Star Union androids.
However, in a battlefield like now where there are only corridors and one-way streets, it is difficult to say that the low accuracy rate is a disadvantage.
"If you see him, shoot him right away!"
"check."
Two cyborgs, three on each side of the hallway, operated the drone control terminals. Originally, they would have gone into battle together, but in this situation where there was a problem at the drone management center, that was impossible.
To control the drone precisely, you had to operate it while checking it with a terminal like you do now.
As the cyborgs controlled the terminal, spherical drones with three guns on their bodies rose into the air.
This is Star Union's support drone. It can be useful for detecting invisible enemies or assisting the android's vision.
Finally, they adapted their eyes, which they replaced with special cameras, to convert them into heat-sensitive vision. This was because the lights in the hallway were completely off and nothing could be seen.
After all the preparations were completed, the two cyborgs looked at the front and back in a tense state.
Not a single ant baby was visible on the gray-colored corridor unique to heat detection vision. The hallway was so quiet that it was hard to think that someone was targeting them.
The only sound was a subtle metallic sound and faint noise coming from the hull. Is it because of this atmosphere? Somehow, the sound felt unfamiliar.
'Noise for a moment?'
Cyborg, who was on guard at the rear, wanted to focus on the guard, but the unknown noise kept getting his attention. A warning was coming from somewhere in his remodeled brain, as if he should not miss that.
In the end, he slightly adjusted the system responsible for hearing.
Thanks to this, the sound is louder than before. It sounds like something soft hitting a hard metal plate.
'This?'
He recalled the sound he used to make when he walked barefoot on the floor before his legs were remodeled. As his eyes turned towards the direction of the sound, a colleague in front suddenly hit him on the shoulder.
"what?"
"Shh."
My colleague extended his finger and pointed across the hallway. A hallway where there should be nothing visible except darkness. The heat radiating from the creature was emanating faintly from the end.
Soon, dozens of small hot balls began to quickly approach this direction.
"shit! "Start shooting!"
"Heavy launcher activated."
A huge amount of bullets rained down from six strange-looking androids. They were ravaged by a terrifying weapon that fired out hundreds of powerful depleted uranium bombs one by one at the rate of one second.
"Beep, enemy bypassing discovered."
"Response complete."
The guys, or rather the guys, were sticking to the walls and ceiling and moving while avoiding bullets.
However, drones were deployed to prevent this. Support drones floating in the air relayed their movements to the android in real time as they fired.
The battle ended quickly. After confirming that the enemy was annihilated, the androids stopped shooting and the two cyborgs stepped forward.
"I was trying to see what kind of guy he was, but this is what happened."
"I know."
The heavy launcher makes the head and upper body disappear when it targets a person's head. Among those who were hit by that weapon, none left any traces.
The biggest part was the upper body of one of them.
"It's a fucking looking bug."
"For a bug, the teeth are overdeveloped. Look at this fierceness. "It's not like some person's teeth."
"I'm afraid you'll appear in my dreams."
After examining the corpse fragments, the two were disgusted by the hideous appearance.
"There might be more of these fucking bastards. Let's report first…"
Cyborg, who was about to report to the captain, stopped talking.
Because I heard that noise again. His gaze went towards the ceiling where the noise was coming from.
'You don't have a drone…?'
It was not possible to see where the three drones that had been there a little while ago had gone.
He quickly turned his head to inform his colleague of that fact.
The moment he turned his head, some warm liquid splashed onto his face.
"Cough?"
And the sound of a colleague coughing. His companion, visible in his thermal vision, slowly rose into the air and was cut into three.
"Kill that guy!"
At that sight, the cyborg was frightened and retreated behind the androids.
However, the androids did not respond at all to his commands. It looked so docile that it was hard to believe that it was a killing machine that had been pouring out firepower indiscriminately just a moment ago.
"Shoot! "Shoot him and kill him!"
"No enemies found."
"Shooting fire…gwaaaaa."
Subsequently, the androids met the same end as his colleagues. Something invisible tore the android to pieces mercilessly.
As the five-armed android's arm was torn off, synthetic oil flowed to the floor, and the upper and lower body of the quadrupedal android was separated and thrown against the wall and ceiling.
The wide hallway, which had only smelled of metal, was suddenly filled with the smell of blood and petroleum. The pungent smell awakened the panicked cyborg.
'You have to run away too!'
He ran down the hallway to get as far away from the guy as possible. While running, his ears heard a faint sound from far away.
It sounds gross.
Something similar to this may be happening elsewhere.
'Soo has to hide!'
A door on one side of the hallway caught his eye. It was a food warehouse that stored combat rations for cyborgs. He quickly opened the door, went inside, and hid in a corner.
'It'll be okay here!'
Combat rations for cyborgs have a very unpleasant smell as well as a unique tire-like taste. If it smells like this, it won't catch you.
As I crouched down and held my breath, I felt like I could hear the sounds outside even more clearly. The gunshots that I heard before I came here still haven't stopped.
This probably means that the situation over there is not good at all. He swallowed.
'Please, someone come!'
Did Great Leader Zubaka hear his prayers? I heard the door to the food warehouse open. His eyes turned to the doorway, but there was nothing to see.
'Why on earth can't I see… wait.'
Suddenly an ominous thought came over him. He carefully disarmed his heat vision. Instead, we switched to a mode of seeing objects through vibration by linking hearing and vision.
As his vision changed, a new world unfolded before his eyes.
Combat rations poured out as he came in in a hurry. Boxes stacked neatly. And a tail with a forked end.
'tail?'
His eyes moved to the top of the tail, where the claws were attached.
You can see four sturdy legs supporting the ground along with the tail. Like the tail, it is all covered with a hard-looking carapace and fur.
A thick body and four arms visible above it. Its arms, made up of a hard carapace and strong muscles, had four sharp claws at the ends. As expected, the arms that tore the android and cyborg to pieces were weapons themselves.
And on top of it was a head.
"It" was glaring at him, with an elongated snout resembling a cold blood, a huge head extending out from its back, and six massive horns.
"indeed. "It looks like you can't hide from the vibrations."
Even though an ordinary woman's voice came out of its mouth, he couldn't feel reassured.
"It" that he can see now.
Because it was getting closer to him with its mouth wide open.
–
After eating the cyborg in one go from the food storage, I picked up the combat rations that had fallen on the floor.
'Cyborg taste is not good.'
The quality of the meat itself is pretty good, but because there are a lot of mechanical parts, it feels very hard to chew. It's like eating ribs with lots of bones and no meat.
'How about this?'
I put the combat rations in my mouth without even opening it.
'Ummmm. It's subtle.'
Star Union's combat rations tasted thicker and stronger than the 100% cacao flavor I had eaten before. The taste itself was better than Megacorp's calorie bar, but the texture was worse.
'I'll have to eat this after taking control of the ship.'
Control of the ship will be carried out after planting parasites on the captain and several seemingly useful cyborgs.
There are two reasons why it's such a hassle. First, to prepare in case a cyborg from another ship contacts this ship. Since it was a ship that left due to a breakdown, there might be a call from the flagship in the meantime.
'It's more because I can't use the erosion tentacles.'
Actually, this is the biggest reason. Since the erosion tentacles could not be used, it was impossible to erode the ship into Nightmare Horizon.
'It is not clear whether it is subject to erosion at all.'
To control the ship, you must disable the 'clever weakling' status and then take control with the eroding tentacles. The transformation ability, 'Organic Evolution', has a cooldown of one month, which is not at all short. Therefore, we plan to reduce and control risk factors that may occur on the ship as much as possible.
'Let's go out and clean up the other side as well.'
After leaving the food storage room, I moved down the hallway. From afar, the sound of No. 26 and Aadhai Sky Mother running wild can be heard.
'I guess everyone was bored.'
Once the hallways are cleared, it might be a good idea to gather them together and take over important facilities.
As I was moving around with that thought in mind, I felt the presence of something in front of the hallway. Eventually, it appeared with the sound of heavy breathing.
｢Couuu｣｢Couuu｣
'Screamer.'
I knew from the previous battle that the androids and drones couldn't detect me. However, the cyborg I caught at the end recognized me even before the battle.
'You can't hide sound or vibration.'
'Unknown organism fur' is a characteristic that prevents detection by disrupting observation equipment through the movement of fur. It did not hide vibrations or sounds.
It moves as quietly as possible using its reinforced sucker characteristics, but since it is a living creature, it cannot hide the sound itself.
'What would happen if it were a screamer…'
｢Kuuuu｣｢Enemy found. Eliminated. ｣｢Couuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus (ssssss ( your ( ())
..)
Contrary to my expectations, the screamer watched me with bloodshot eyes.
A monster that was half human and half machine rushed at me, moving its six metal legs rapidly.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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