Book 4: Chapter 210: Clash of Hives (Pt. 2)

Book 4: Chapter 210: Clash of Hives (Pt. 2)

USD: ~12 Hour contact mark with Hadenic forces.

Location: Nu Crateris, Hades, Heavens Fire II Landing Zone, Tunnel Breach

The heavy mining machine slowly rolled back as the last meter of rock was reached. Heeler watched as engineer brothers quickly packed the end of the tunnel with shaped charges, explosives designed to blow the rock into the compartment and clear a path for the last assault.

He lowered a tentacle to the ground. The thrum of the enemy on the other side of the rock was palpable. The Hadenics had been waiting for them to breach the other side with the machine.New novel chapters are published on

They would taste the bite of fire and rock instead of succeeding in their ambush.

A blast shield was still required to protect the first wave of brothers from the initial explosion, but nearly all the force would be directed outward into the rock and waiting chamber.

Preparations complete, Heeler gave the signal to detonate the charges.

The explosion was deafening to every Rexxor possessing hearing, and the blast shield was nearly torn from the rock it was anchored to. Huge chunks of rock were thrown outward into the waiting Hadenic forces.

Giving them no time to recover, the first wave of Rexxor stormed through the breach, their tusks and armored shells tearing apart scores of small Hadenic creatures that were stunned from the blast.

Heeler followed with the second wave, his tentacles lashing out to slap and crush the wounded Hadenics that had been left trampled on the ground. Nestlings scurried around him, their turrets opening fire on anything that still showed life-signs while tearing out chunks of flesh with their metal jaws.

Nearby, a second explosion rocked the tunnel as a second Rexxor assault group breached the compartment. There had been two dozen landing zones, and each one had their own breach team and assault force.

Thousands of Rexxor poured in, but in the distance, Heeler could see the larger Hadenic creatures beginning to emerge from the chambers peripheral. The area was extensive enough to hold dozens of starships if they had been able to fit through the tunnel.

The Rexxor would be limited in their firepower at the enemys heart.

Deploy the artillery, Heeler ordered, his mental voice resounding through the engineers.

Until the ground began to shake. This close to the moons core, the gravity was nearly negated, and the tremors sent Rexxor and Hadenic alike stumbling and flying in a jumble.

Heeler anchored himself to the ground with his tentacles, his optical sensors searching the ground for the source of the disturbance. Engineer brothers attached themselves to whatever they couldthe superconducting cable, weapon platforms, or the larger brothers themselves.

The nestlings were the only ones undeterred, leaping from place to place while their turrets continued to fire.

The ground split open in a dozen places, massive wormlike creatures exploding upward with torsos at least ten meters thick.

The larger brothers slammed into the base of them as soon as they had regained their footing, but their sharp tusks and heavy armor only made resounding gongs as they struck the creatures.

Redirect fire! Heeler growled in sync with his mental command. The railguns began to swivel and depress, but before they were in position, the worms struck.

Instead of falling and crushing the warriors nearby like Heeler expected, they vibrated and then puked up a massive stream of acid that fanned out as it fell.

Whatever it was, the metallic armor and carapaces were not immune. A large gob of the material flew directly for Heeler himself.

Instead of dodging, a electric hum filled the air as the surrounding ground began to glow blue. His tentacles lashed the air, and then a counter wave of blue nanites flew from the surrounding area to intercept.

He had been converting the ground around him since the breach, and now the defensive preparation proved its worth as nanites sizzled and popped, neutralizing the acid at the expense of themselves.

The Rexxor warriors were not so lucky, and the acid quickly tore through their armor and flesh. As the acid hit the ground, it began to evaporate into an even worse mist that began to eat away at any warriors that had avoided the initial spray.

A railgun spat revenge, the yellow streak a laser beam as the shell traveled through the air in a straight line, digging through the worm and out the other side to slam into the wall of the chamber. A second shot followed, the hypersonic crack sending a shockwave through the air strong enough to push the acid mist backwards toward the worms.

The few warriors remaining alive at the front fought even harder to press forward to avoid being engulfed.

The losses were horrific, but the Rexxor warriors continued. Even more tunnels opened into the chamber from the other landing zones. The third wave consisted of tens of thousands more warriors, all pouring into the chamber. Every breach was followed by their own engineers and heavy weapons platforms.

A surge through the superconducting capable told Heeler it was time to begin the next stage of the assault. Through the connection back to the Heavens Fire II, all the computronics began to churn at maximum capacity.