NOVGO.NET Chapter 85: Claws In Steel
Chapter 85: Claws In Steel
"Nim, verify that marking on the drainage culvert before we drop the ladder."
A steady curtain of cold rainwater cascaded down the brick ventilation shaft of the District Six locomotive depot.
"The phosphorescent stamp is three inches above the water line, Fin... two diagonal slashes over a broken circle."
"What does the broken circle mean?"
"It marks an active construct bay where automated units are kept on low-current standby."
"Are the units wired to motion sensors?"
"Yes, but the sensors only sweep four feet above the concrete walkway, leaving the overhead pipe trestle blind."
Ruby adjusted the strap of her composite tower shield, peering down through the iron rung hatch into the murky gloom.
"How wide is the pipe trestle, Nim?"
"About eighteen inches of rusted steel casing... narrow, but solid enough to bear a soldier’s weight."
"Eighteen inches is plenty of room for boots, but not for my shield."
"You won’t need the shield on the pipe run, Ruby, you will take the lower catwalk once Fin clears the tripwires."
"Nila, how is the optical jammer holding?"
Nila tapped the small transmitter clipped to her leather vest with two fingers.
"Maya has the depot’s security loop running on a three-second delay, so we have a clean window between sweeps."
Fin tested the balance of his hatchet in his right hand, feeling the quiet hum of one hundred and nineteen points of strength.
[ Status: Rank C Certified ]
[ Attributes: Str 119 | Agi 128 (Overclock: 384) | End 120 | Sense 84 | Pulse 10 ]
[ EXP: 11,500,000 / 250,000,000 ]
"Nim, remember your instructions... you stay behind Ruby’s shoulder once we touch the catwalk."
"I am not looking for a fight, Fin... I just want to show you the control room."
"Your shadow movement... what is the measured limit?"
"Six yards in a straight line between dark patches, and it drains my stamina if I jump twice in ten seconds."
"Then save it for an emergency evasion, don’t burn your stamina on navigation."
"Understood."
Fin dropped through the hatch, catching the cold iron rim of the pipe trestle with the soles of his boots.
The humid air inside the subterranean depot smelled of grease, damp rust, and scorched copper coils.
Below the pipes, twenty-four four-legged metal constructs stood lined in rigid rows on the concrete apron, their optic lenses pulsing dark amber.
"Twenty-four units on standby, Ruby... quadruped skirmishers with pneumatic jaw clamps."
"Can we reach the master breaker before they wake up?"
"The breaker panel is forty paces down the central rail siding, locked behind an iron cage."
"Look at the cargo flatbeds behind the constructs, Fin."
Sixteen massive rectangular shipping shells sat bolted to the freight rails, their steel hulls stamped with Genesis serial numbers.
"Maya, do any of those sixteen transport shells show life signs?"
Maya’s voice crackled through their headsets, crisp and focused.
"Zero biological signatures inside the sixteen shells, Fin... thermal scans show only empty foam packing inserts and dry hydraulic struts."
"Confirming zero captives, team, those shells are strictly construct carriers."
"Which means we don’t have to hold our swings to avoid collateral casualties."
"Scuttle the shells on our way out, but first we drop these twenty-four tin dogs."
A sharp mechanical click echoed from the far end of the apron as the automated perimeter timer tripped the standby relays.
The amber optic lenses along the front row flared blazing scarlet with a synchronized hydraulic shriek.
"They are waking up, breach the catwalk now!"
Ruby dropped from the access ladder with her shield leading, smashing the nearest construct into the concrete floor with a concussive clang.
"Line them up, Ruby!"
"Forming the wall now, bring the lightning!"
Fin sprang from the overhead pipe, dropping twenty feet straight down into the center of the mechanical formation.
Fin’s boots struck the concrete with the dense, grounded force of one hundred and twenty points of endurance, absorbing the impact without a tremor.
"Apex Gaze!"
[ Class Skill: Apex Gaze Activated ]
[ Mana Cost: 10/40 → Current Mana: 30/40 ]
[ Target: 6-Meter Radius Frontal Arc ]
[ Construct Units Interrupted: 6 Quadruped Skirmishers ]
[ Psychic Disruption: 3 Seconds Operational Freeze ]
The six lead constructs locked in place, their gyroscopes squealing in blind feedback as Fin’s predatory intent scrambled their target recognition.
"Nila, take the flank actuators!"
"Slashing seams now!"
Nila blurred past Fin’s shoulder, her foil piercing three exposed servo cables in rapid, rhythmic succession.
Three constructs collapsed into the grease, their limbs thrashing uselessly as pressurized hydraulic fluid sprayed across the rails.
Fin swung his hatchet in a wide, sweeping circle, the reverse steel spike punching through armor plates and shearing copper transmission cores.
Sparks rained across the dark concrete as four more units shattered under the combined assault.
"Ruby, five more pushing the right flank toward the ladder!"
"They won’t get past my knee, Fin!"
Ruby drove the weighted bronze butt of her spear into the ground, locking her shield rim into the floor seam and holding the line against the metallic charge.
Nim crouched low behind Ruby’s back plate, her dark ears flattened as she pointed toward the raised gantry overhead.
"The power relay is in the blue junction box above the gantry, Fin... cut the heavy black cable to kill their recharging loop!"
Fin didn’t hesitate, planting his heel on the hood of a shattered construct and launching himself upward toward the iron rail.
Fin’s fingers caught the metal railing, hauling his weight over the barrier with effortless agility.
A single chop of his hatchet severed the black power cable, releasing a blinding shower of blue electrical arcs into the ceiling rafters.
Deprived of their recharging signal, the remaining nine constructs shuddered, their glowing red eye lenses dimming into lifeless glass before their chassis clattered onto the track.
The echoes of falling metal slowly died away, leaving only the sound of dripping water and their own steady breathing.
"Twenty-four hostile units neutralized, zero perimeter breaches."
"Nila, plant the thermite charges inside those sixteen empty transport shells."
"Planting now, five-minute fuses on all sixteen."
"Nim, where is the office desk with the paper manifests?"
"Behind the glass partition under the gantry... the technician kept a steel fire-safe bolted to the desk."
Ruby kicked open the damaged wooden door of the office booth, revealing a scarred steel cabinet half-covered in soot.
A heavy crowbar made short work of the rusted lock, spilling three thick cardboard dossiers onto the desk.
"Look at the header on this first folder, Fin."
Ruby slid a yellowed dossier across the desk, her expression tightening into grim focus.
The cover was stamped with black ink: ’Prototype Zero: Template Research and Biological Frameworks’.
"Prototype Zero... that is the baseline template the syndicates were trying to clone."
"And look at the second document tucked into the sleeve."
A separate dated transfer manifest lay folded inside, signed by an offshore laboratory director four years ago.
"Subject One... transferred to regional transit authority for specialized field evaluation."
"Subject One is an escaped living operator," Ruby muttered, tracing the stamped signature with her thumb. "Not a template, but an active person."
"And not interchangeable with Prototype Zero," Fin said, sliding both dossiers into his waterproof satchel.
"Could Subject One be the one who caused the opening breach in District Four?"
"The transfer date proves he left the facility years ago, but there is zero proof linking him to the harbor raid yet."
"We keep the documents intact for Maya to analyze."
[ Combat and Sabotage Milestone Achieved: District Six Outpost Neutralized ]
[ 24 Combat Constructs Destroyed | 16 Transport Shells Scuttled ]
[ EXP: +5,300,000 ]
[ Total EXP: 16,800,000 / 250,000,000 ]
A tremendous swell of experience settled into his core, pushing the progress bar past sixteen million points.
"Fuses are burning on the empty transport shells, Fin... three minutes to detonation!"
"Nim, take the rear ladder, we are heading for the surface street."
"I am right behind you, Fin."
They scrambled up the iron maintenance rungs into the rain-washed alley above, just as the muffled thud of thermite charges collapsed the underground bay into a tomb of melted slag.
"Maya, the transport shells are completely scuttled, zero salvage left for their scavengers."
"Telemetry confirmed, Fin... the depot’s internal power loop just flatlined on the municipal grid."
"Nim, how are your ribs holding up after the climb?"
"They ache from the damp air, Fin, but my boots are still carrying me."
"Good, get inside the transport van and drink some warm broth."
"What about those files, Fin?"
"We take them straight to Maya’s desk... it is time we learned who Prototype Zero really was."