Chapter 10 - Blood Haze
Does your husband let you pet him?
Great question and yes, my husband is like a big dog, it’s so cute when I ask he’ll lie down and allow me to pet him, all my stress disappears. Next question? - Public interview with Samurai “Wolf Queen” 2024.
Running full tilt again, dropping to being quadrupedal, I was rapidly closing in on the six in front of me. It lowered its head again. I wasn’t going to misjudge the speed again.
As it got within a few feet of me, I put all the power that I had into my legs and pounced. I passed over the six’s back and first set of shoulders, extending my right arm. My claws raked through the plant's carapace and tissues until they caught on the antithesis equivalent of bone, making up its second set of shoulders.
My claws violently arrested my full momentum. I swung around on the pivot of my arm and shoulder, pulling my joint out of its socket. After I’d done a rotation, I sank the rest of my claws into the things back to stay on.
The bionanites were already at work pulling my shoulder back into its socket, so I dug my legs into the six’s flanks to hold on as if I was riding a bull. Once I was somewhat stable, I began tearing into the back of the six, beginning the process of excavating my way towards its internals. My impromptu mount wasn’t too happy about the situation it was currently in and started bucking like a bull.
After a bit of scratching at the carapace and flesh, it started to come away from the six’s back in chunks, especially after the bionanites managed to realign my shoulder and push it into its socket. My stomach was growling the entire time I was on top of the six.
I heard a whoosh to my right as the six bucked again and then a second later, I felt my leg get peppered by half a dozen quills. The rest either hit the six or bounced off its armour.
Looking over, one of the fives was definitely worse for wear, with the majority of its rear half missing; the rest of them were in pieces around it. It would die soon, so I ignored it, continuing with my single-minded mission to get into this six’s internals.
I broke through the faux bone of both its shoulders and my scratching post slumped forward, both sets of legs going out from under it. Another barrage of quills hit, digging into my leg again and a couple pierced into my abdomen.
Not caring, I dived headfirst at the exposed internals of the six and started shovelling all that I could down my gullet. I needed a replenishment of biomass to keep this up and this was exactly what I needed, since my store of usable biomass was running very low.
The hunger pangs weren’t subsiding anytime soon. The six was still thrashing about slightly as I burrowed further into its organs. It finally stopped moving after I gulped down the third set of heart and lungs. At this point, I was buried in the main cavity of the six with only my legs sticking out of the hole I’d made.
Where is the next meal was the only thing currently going through my head. As I tried to move my legs, they had gone completely stiff and refused to move.
M… Hou… you..
I was hearing something as if it were miles away.
ALEXANDER!
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I heard Anand shout. She sounded incredibly concerned.
You need two cleanse injectors. The amount of neurotoxins in your system will be enough to kill you in the next minute. Your bionanites cannot keep up with the damage to the tissues they are causing and it is spreading fast. It has reached your diaphragm and is in the process of shutting it down.
Ok, that wasn’t good. I’d rather not suffocate to death, not a good way to go.
“Ok, a cleanse Anand, please.”
——-
New Purchase
Class I - Cleanse x2 - 10 points
Current Point Total: 2,603,900 Points
——-
Two injectors popped into existence and dropped onto my chest. I reached up and grabbed both, then injected them into my abdomen.
The injectors emptied and I felt a slight chill travelling around my whole body, clearing out the toxins. It was also clearing out my combat stims, so I was beginning to get pain again across my body and realised I’d let myself take too many hits. I was majorly out of practice in controlling myself when in battle.
“How am I looking now, Anand? How much of a scolding are you going to give me?”
You will live. Those cleanses have cleared out the neurotoxin, the quills are currently being pushed out and the tissue behind that is being healed.
That was good news.
But.. we will have words later.
That wasn’t good news. She was going to kill me before the next swarm of aliens got the chance.
When feeling returned to my legs, I crawled my way back out of the six’s innards, looking down at myself, I was stained green from the blood.
Most of the swarm was now dead on the ground, but the strike force was starting to pick their shots, so they must have been running low on ammo. I could also see a couple of the men up on top of the MATVs loading new ammo belts into the RWS systems.
Deciding to finish off the remaining antithesis to preserve the ammo and get a few more points on the side, I shot forward again.
——
After I finished the last Model Three, I got a readout of my gains for the day. Anand was always very efficient when it came to this.
—
Targets Eliminated
Model Three HS Variant x 57 - 570 Points
Model Five HS Variant x 3 - 60 Points
Model Six HS Variant x 1 - 30 Points
Current Point Total: 2,603,900 Points
—
After the readout, Anand appeared in the centre of my vision, a beautiful, alabaster-skinned, ginger woman wearing a long blue dress and shawl, which both featured Celtic knots woven along the edges. My ears and tail immediately drooped since I knew a lecture would follow.
You have been reckless beyond belief. Although Badb encourages this.
She spun and pinned a part of my vision with a look of sheer motherly disapproval.
I saw a crow fly down from above that spot. In a flutter of feathers and smoke, Badb appeared with the same face and skin tone, but with raven black hair. Wearing a cloak entirely formed of raven feathers, she also had black smoke flowing around her eyes like a mask; she wouldn't ever appear like this by choice, but annoyed big sisters are not to be denied. Although normally intimidating looking, standing there looking like she wanted to shrink in on herself, it didn't come across.
Turning back to me, Anand levelled the same disapproving stare at me, then continued.
I do not appreciate seeing you rush into danger in this manner. It is completely foolish not to assess the threat first; on top of that, you decide to face multiple variants that you have never seen before without any preparation.
You have a couple of million points. If you thought about the situation first, you would have been more readily able to control the battlefield and would not have taken near-fatal damage from a low-tier toxin.
I saw her sigh then look at me with a more proud look.
Other than that, you did well for being so out of practice. I still regret suggesting a set of catalogues allowing for this sort of reckless abandon to your own health, but I digress. Now go catch up with your new comrades and find out what is going on.
She gave me a wan smile and a slight shooing motion with her hands.
