NOVEL NEXT Chapter 107: Chapter 107
---Evening---
While the dungeons in our homeworld devoured organic material and used inorganic items as loot in chests, this place was completely different. As we made our way through the labyrinth, we discovered countless corpses of different eras, genders, and races scattered throughout the various corridors. Having been left to rot away with their items still intact, the Tech-Priests, Zapdakka, and I looted anything of interest we saw as we passed them by. A few hours into our trek, the corpses stopped appearing, giving the others hope that I indeed knew where I was going.
"How are you able to maintain the spell so easily without over taxing yourself?", one of the Eldar inquired, "Surely you must be getting mentally exhausted from constantly using it."
"The magic of our homeland is not based on the power of the Warp. It is nearly identical to the magic found in the Algrand Empire, have you heard of it?", I asked, glancing back at them.
"We have, but our people have never been there before. Unlike the Imperium and other races, our means of transportation are limited to this galaxy exclusively.", the Eldar Warrior answered, with a regretful look, "Our people are looking for alternative methods of space travel, though we have not made much progress since the Fall of the Eldar. All our resources have been focused on protecting ourselves from our sworn enemy, and with how rapidly they are growing in power, we have little time for much else."
"Hmm…when this is over and done with, I would like to sit down and talk to your leader about forming an alliance. Your people are certainly more scientifically and technologically advanced than me in some regards, in others I hold the edge over you. If your leaders are willing, I would propose we exchange notes to help one another grow further.", I commented, "Do you think your leaders might approve of such a request?"
Looking at his colleagues, the male Eldar wanted their input on this. Switching to their native tongue to discuss the subject, believing I could not understand them, they were evenly divided on my proposal. Half of them saw this as an opportunity to escape from this galaxy and resettle in a more hospitable place in the universe, while the other half were wary of sharing their knowledge with a human. While they acknowledged I was far more tolerable than the Imperial Humans, they did not know enough about me to trust I would use the information wisely.
"I am sorry to interrupt your conversation, but we should start thinking about setting up camp soon.", Samus said, looking at the time, "It is nearly eight o'clock already and we have all been walking nonstop since around lunchtime."
"Yeah, I am gett'n' hungry!", Zapdakka agreed, as several other people's stomachs growled as well.
"Alright, let me have my drones look for a chamber for us to set up camp in.", I stated, sending them out further ahead.
Pressing on while the drones flew out of view, three thousand feet ahead of us they encountered a massive, ornate chamber. Far different from everything we had seen before, the chamber reminded me a lot of the one I fought a Leviathan in during my first solo dungeon dive. While the chamber would likely be a safe place to hunker down for the night, once the boss was slain, I was uncertain what monstrosity would manifest to challenge us.
"Is everything alright?", Mylene asked, noticing my worried expression.
"We appear to be approaching a Boss Room.", I advised everyone, "We should be able to safely camp there, after defeating the boss, but I am uncertain what to expect. It could be a powerful Daemon, an ancient machine built by the Old Ones, or a horrifying combination of both. How do you all want to proceed?"
"What is a Boss Room?", Ionica questioned, having never heard the term before.
"It is a location within a dungeon or labyrinth where an incredibly powerful foe spawns to fight you. Once we enter, we cannot back out till the entity and any allies it has have been slain.", Lucoa answered, as the chamber came into view, "For reference, typically a Boss is ten to thirty times stronger than normal creatures within the same structure. So take what we have been dealing with up till now and increase their power by a factor of ten, at bare minimum."
Stopping just outside the Boss Room, we took a moment to discuss how to proceed. Arguing the pros and cons of our predicament, most people saw no difference between fighting the boss now or tomorrow morning. Believing we were in good enough shape to fight it right now; they did not want to backtrack to another chamber when this one was right in front of us. With the decision made to fight the boss now and then make camp, I began giving out orders to my troops.
"Since there is nothing to use as cover in the next room, as soon as we enter, deploy all the Heavy Shield Units (HSU).", I ordered, the Helldivers, "Ranged and Support units take up positions behind the shields and assist the Vanguard to the best of your ability. Vanguard will focus on attacking and drawing the enemy's attention while keeping them away from the Ranged and Support units."
"Got it!", everyone acknowledged, agreeing to my plan.
Having the Helldivers charge in first, to give them a bit of extra time, the rest of us took a few moments to enter the space and prepare ourselves. As the last member of our group stepped through, an energy barrier constructed itself behind us sealing us in. Getting into our respective positions, as a hidden teleportation pad in the floor came to life, a brilliant light flooded the chamber temporarily blinding a few of us. Feeling the ground begin to quake as the enemy teleported in, a charged particle beam cut through the light causing all of us to duck our head. Cutting a deep rut in the nigh impenetrable wall, the machine that fired it stepped into view as it scanned all of us.
'You have got to be fucking kidding me! That is a modified Metal Gear RAY!!', I thought, as four smaller mechs sauntered out of the light, 'And it has four LQ-84 Fenrirs in tow…great…'
Fixing their railguns on us, I ordered the Vanguard to spread out and engage the enemy while moving. The Holtzman Shields were not nearly powerful enough to resist a direct strike from anything these mechs were equipped with. The HSUs and my family's shielding could weather most attacks, but a direct blow from the RAY's superheated blades or its charged particle cannon could prove fatal.
'Since these mechs were probably built by the Old Ones, using the Phase Shift Generators will not help us. The Necrons have similar tech, it is reasonable to assume these were built to counteract that ability.', I thought, seeing no alternative at the moment but to dive headfirst into the fray.
Drawing my two lightsabers, I rushed headfirst toward the enemy with Lucoa and Roxanne backing me. Wanting to take out the Metal Gear RAY first, as it posed the most danger to everyone here, the two women broke off as we drew close. Attacking it from three different directions, our energy weapons bounced off the mech as its shielding repelled our blows. Stomping its feet into the floor, trying to squash us like bugs, Lucoa switched to magic for her follow up attack.
"Fus Ro Dah!", Lucoa shouted, trying to knock the mech of balance.
(AN: I am sure most people know this one, but it means Force, Balance, Push.)
Staggering ever so slightly, the mech responded by whipping its tail into her. While the shield protected her from the deadly impact, it did nothing to stop the momentum behind the blow. Sending my wife flying, I caught her with the Force before she crashed into the wall and pulled her back to me.
"Are you okay?", I asked, firing upon the machine with a repulsor minigun, "Any broken bones or other injuries?"
"Thanks to my armor and shielding, I am fine, just a bit dizzy.", Lucoa stated, as Roxanne peerlessly avoided the RAY's biting and stomping, "Do you have a plan to disable its shielding?"
"It resisted the energy disruptors in my lightsabers so that is not an option. Our best bet is attack where its shielding is being projected from and the furthest point from that.", I shouted, as we rejoined Roxanne.
"That is easier said than done, Jarvis!", I responded, hearing the screams of my men.
Glancing over to where the sound came from, three of my Helldivers were bleeding out on the ground while ten others were trying to pin two Fenrir to the ground. The Sisters of Battle and Samus were faring no better as theirs were using hit and run tactics to chip away at them.
"Ranged units, focus on slowing the Fenrir down by damaging their joints!", I ordered, readying a bunker buster missile on the RAY.
Noticing what I was about to do, Lucoa and Roxanne fell back while I took aim. Focusing its attention on me, the mech lunged at me with his jaw wide open.
"Eat this you bucket of bolts!", I growled, firing it straight into its mouth.
Exploding only twenty feet away from me, I was sent sliding backward across the metallic floor while a painful metallic crunching sound echoed through the chamber. Noticing sparks arcing in the dust cloud the missile created, for a moment I thought the missile had disabled the shield, but that proved to be incorrect moments later. Staggering out into the open, I realized the sparks were coming from the now heavily damaged sensor array on its head.
'…shit…that is not good.', I thought, regretting my decision to aim for the face, "EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!"
Effectively blind and deaf now, the Metal Gear RAY went into a frenzied state. Firing its charged particle cannon, gatling guns, missiles, and railguns without discretion, most of us did our best to avoid the onslaught while the Ork rushed in without hesitation. Quite amused by what he was seeing, Zapdakka told everyone to let him fight it as the Boss looked entertaining. Firing his gun and laughing like a maniac, he was not the least bit concerned with dying here.
"DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!!", he shouted, leaping onto the mech.