NOVGO.NET Chapter 77: Won’t Let Go
Chapter 77: Won’t Let Go
"Ruby, plant your footing and take the impact on the center ridge!"
A heavy sheet of black slime hissed against the reinforced alloy of Ruby’s shield as the war-beast lunged across the concrete pier.
"I have the center, Fin, but its front talons are digging gouges through the steel rim!"
"Hold it for three seconds, don’t let it pivot toward the ferry gangway."
"I am holding... but you better hit this bastard hard and fast!"
’My restored stamina hummed through my chest at sixty percent, giving me just enough headroom for a clean strike.’
[ Stamina: 60/100 ]
[ Mana: 30/40 ]
The beast’s massive tail whipped through the air with a sound like a cracking bullwhip, shattering a wooden mooring bollard into splinters.
"Nila, blind its lateral sensory cluster!"
"Already moving, Fin!"
Nila glided across the slick concrete, her rapier flashing twice in the glare of the sodium floodlights.
"First strike landed, pierced the left optic cluster!"
A screech of shrill, metallic pain tore from the war-beast’s throats as black ichor erupted from its damaged eye stalk.
"It is turning toward you, Nila, jump back!"
"I am clear, Fin, take the thoracic seam!"
Fin gripped the polished hickory haft of his hatchet, feeling the reverse spike line up with the fractured plate where the drop pod had crumpled its shell.
Fin’s boots found solid purchase on the salt-crusted concrete as he drove his full weight forward.
"Stay down, you ugly mutt!"
The reverse steel spike punched through the beast’s cracked chitin collar with the heavy crunch of breaking bone.
"Fin, watch the lower claws!"
"I see them!"
He twisted the handle hard to the right, using the leverage of the spike to wrench the beast’s neck away from the boarding ramp.
A spasm of violent convulsions shook the creature’s massive frame as its internal mana core destabilized.
"Ruby, finish the spine!"
"Moving in now!"
Ruby drove the weighted bronze pommel of her short spear downward with both hands, fracturing the beast’s cervical ridge into powdered ceramic fragments.
The war-beast collapsed onto the wet concrete with a hollow, echoing thud, its four mandibles clicking uselessly against the stones before going limp.
"Is everyone clear?"
"Gangway is untouched, Fin, the final mooring ropes just cast off."
"Vanguard Four is clearing the harbor breakwater right behind the ferries."
The dark ocean swell rocked the pier as the twin medical ferries vanished into the safety of the shallow reef channel.
"We held the line, kid, we actually held it."
"Barely, Ruby."
"A win is a win, especially when one hundred and forty-two children are sitting in warm bunks instead of glass jars."
[ Combat Milestone Concluded: Loyalist Interceptor Terminated ]
[ Evacuation Corridor Secured: 142/142 Non-Combatants Extracted ]
[ EXP: +215,300 ]
[ Total EXP: 2,500,000 / 2,500,000 ]
’A profound, deafening silence seemed to fall over my interface as the numbers touched the absolute limit of the tier ceiling.’
[ Threshold Reached: Rank D+ Cap Struck ]
[ Breakthrough Promotion Available: Rank C ]
[ Accept Promotion? Y/N ]
"Fin? What is that look on your face?"
"The boundary wall... it is right in front of me."
"Are you saying you hit the threshold?"
"Every single drop of the pool is full, Ruby."
"Don’t take it on this wet pier, kid, get your boots onto the transport deck first."
"She is right, Fin, if a breakthrough triggers a mana shockwave, we do not want you dropping into forty feet of black ocean water."
"Help me up the boarding ladder, my hands are starting to tingle."
Nila caught Fin’s left arm while Ruby braced his lower back, guiding his unsteady steps up the steel rung ladder onto the Vanguard’s iron quarterdeck.
"Captain, push both diesel throttles to maximum, get us into territorial waters under municipal registry."
"Aye, we are running with the tide now, forty knots toward shore terminal twelve."
The cold ocean spray lashed across his forehead as Fin sat down against the heavy winch housing on the rear deck.
"Are you ready for it, Fin?"
"I have been ready since the day they took Jolly."
’I focused my mind on the golden glyph pulsing at the center of my vision and confirmed the prompt.’
[ Promotion Accepted: Rank C Breakthrough Initiated ]
[ Attribute Recalibration in Progress... ]
[ Strength: +30 ]
[ Agility: +30 ]
[ Endurance: +30 ]
[ Sense: +30 ]
[ Pulse: Unchanged (Current: 10) ]
A wave of liquid white fire surged through every bone, muscle fiber, and nerve pathway in his body, burning away the lingering ache of cracked ribs and bruised tissue.
The steel deck plates beneath Fin’s boots groaned under the sudden, dense pressure of his expanding mana density.
[ Status Updated: Certified Rank C ]
[ Strength: 119 ]
[ Agility: 127 (Overclock Multiplier: 381) ]
[ Endurance: 119 ]
[ Sense: 84 ]
[ Pulse: 10 ]
[ EXP Reset: 0 / 250,000,000 ]
"Look at his skin, Ruby, the bruising is completely fading."
"His breathing smoothed out too, no more rattle in the chest."
"Fin... how do you feel?"
"Like somebody pulled thirty pounds of wet sand out of my lungs and replaced it with clean iron."
"Can you stand?"
"I can do more than stand, Nila, I could probably lift this winch housing off the deck."
"Don’t you dare touch that winch, the captain would throw you overboard."
"Look ahead at the shoreline, the navigation lanterns at terminal twelve are burning bright yellow."
The harbor fog parted before their bow, revealing the long concrete pier of hangar twelve lined with floodlights and medical ambulances.
"Sefu kept the perimeter sealed, look at the Iron Dogs guarding the barricades."
"And look who is standing on top of the salt crate by the hangar door."
A small girl in an oversized wool cardigan stood waving a bright yellow signal cloth with both arms stretched toward the dark water.
"Jolly..."
"Go on, kid, stand at the bow railing so she can see you are in one piece."
The Vanguard’s heavy rubber bumpers groaned against the wooden pilings as the deckhands threw the mooring lines over the iron cleats.
"Fin! Fin!"
"Stay behind the yellow line, Jolly, let them tie the boat off first!"
The gangway clattered into place, and before Sefu could even reach for her collar, Jolly slipped under the security rope and sprinted across the planks.
"Oof, careful with the momentum, kiddo!"
Her small arms wrapped around his neck with enough desperate force to squeeze the breath right out of him, burying her face into the damp wool of his collar.
Her small shoulders shook against Fin’s chest as the cold ocean wind whipped her dark curls across his cheek.
"You took too long... you said an hour and it was almost two hours!"
"The boat had to take the shallow reef channel, Jolly, so the big patrol ships couldn’t follow us."
"Did you get hurt? Sefu said there was shooting on the radio."
"Not a scratch on me, see? Good as new."
"You smell like burned battery acid and salt water."
"That is the smell of coming home alive, kid."
Ruby stepped down the ramp, resting a heavy, gentle hand on top of Jolly’s wool-capped head.
"He did good, little sister, every single one of those children is sleeping safe in the triage tent right behind you."
"Are they really going to be okay, Ruby?"
"Every single one of them, thanks to your brother and a whole lot of stubbornness."
"Come on, Fin, let’s go inside where the soup is hot."
"Lead the way, boss."
"Wait a minute, don’t leave me out here holding this thirty-pound soup pot, Fin."
Sefu stood by the hangar threshold with a thick woolen towel wrapped around the iron handles of a bubbling kettle.
"I told you not to let him touch the ladle, Jolly."
"He didn’t touch the ladle, Fin, but he kept staring at the broth like a starving wolf."
"I was merely inspecting the nutritional integrity of the onion stock, young lady, which is a vital tactical responsibility."
"Sure it is, Sefu, just like inspecting the bread rolls you hid inside your coat pocket."
"Those rolls are reserved for the vanguard vanguard units, strictly protocol."
"You are shameless, old dog, completely shameless."
Ruby shook her head with a faint grin, resting her shield against the wooden crates outside the triage entrance.
"The children are already sitting on army cots with dry wool blankets, Fin, all one hundred and forty-two of them."
"Did the city inspectors give you any trouble at the gate, Sefu?"
"Three junior officers tried flashing municipal audit badges about twenty minutes ago."
"What did you tell them?"
"I showed them my heavy shock mace and explained that any official entering this perimeter without a signed warrant from the high court would leave through the window."
"That usually clears up legal ambiguity."
"It worked like a charm, they turned their patrol car around and sped off toward District Three."
"Good, because tomorrow morning the entire city council is going to be screaming at each other on live television."
"Let them scream, kid, tonight we eat warm broth and sleep on dry mattresses."
’As I took my first step onto the solid floor of hangar twelve, a new crystalline prompt materialized at the edge of my field of vision, silent and patient.’
[ Rank C Threshold Stabilized ]
[ Class Specialization Pathways Unlocked ]
[ Select Specialization at Resting Quarters ]