The airlock door opened with an accompanying hiss and Gideon looked left and right. Aside from sporadic gunfire to their right, there was no sign of fighting anywhere in the immediate area and no sign of the enemy.
“You should be clear until you reach the ridge,” Book said through their inbuilt suit comms. “The enemy forces are just beyond it though and it looks like there are a few forward scouts in the area, so watch yourselves.”
“Got it,” Gideon said, taking the lead with Bullseye floating by his side, Red to his right, and Mia bringing up the rear, her bow already in one hand.
“You guys have mini maps now right?” Gideon asked.
“Yeah,” Mia replied.
“Yup,” Red added. “Should be able to suck up some of that sweet ether too, so don’t get any ideas about hogging that shit.”
Gideon laughed as he led the group toward the rocky ridge up ahead. It felt strange running at more or less his normal pace and feeling like he was experiencing earth gravity while dust was kicked up and floated eerily behind him and the stary sky loomed above. What felt even more bizarre was the pintsized turtle floating by his legs like a dog trotting along beside him.
He checked his mini map as he ran, following a faintly glowing path laid out in his HUD that led up to the ridgeline by the easiest route. The estimate on his display suggested it would take only ten minutes or so to reach the ridge if they continued at their current speed, but Gideon was driven by a palpable sense of urgency as he ran, knowing what was at stake.
Something blinked on his mini map and a small red arrow popped up on his HUD indicating something just up ahead near a cluster of rocks.
“You seeing that?” Gideon asked.
“Looks like three of them,” Mia said, fanning out to the left as she ran just behind the group. “What are you thinking, scouts?”
Gideon focused on the red arrow, but it wasn’t showing any details other than the presence of an enemy nearby.
“I’d say so. They’re right ahead of us, so we’re gonna need to fight them rather than skirt around.”
Red snorted. “Why don’t you get Turtle Terry to laser their asses?”
“Maybe I will!” Bullseye chirped back. “And then your nads, as you’re so fond of saying!”
“Quiet!” Gideon barked. “When we reach them, I’ll charge and try to keep their attention. Mia you take out any stragglers or enemies that are out of my reach, Red you concentrate on DPS.”
“DPS?” the brawler asked.
“Just hit shit,” Gideon confirmed. “Kill as many of them as quickly as you can.”
“And me?” Bullseye asked, looking up from beside Gideon. “Should I defend our flank and watch the perimeter?”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Gideon confirmed.
In fact, he had no clue what to do with the little turtle. He’d seen dozens of hunters on Artemis fight with pets, using them to help tank or distract enemies, but none of those pets were bubble enshrouded turtles that could shoot lasers out of their eyes.
Gideon had also planned to run solo during his own Great Hunt adventure, so he hadn’t counted on having to deal with a pet. Not that the oddball AI tutor was a pet exactly. Gideon wasn’t altogether sure what he was.
“Just remember,” he said as they rounded the edge of the crater and three scout Stalkers came into view, “these suits aren’t armor and we’re not invincible.”
Still thirty feet from the enemy, he triggered Shadow Charge, leaping through the space between them to land on the ground, slamming the edge of his Harvester blades against the rock. The resulting shockwave rolled over the enemy, staggering them and causing two of the Stalkers to shriek in silent pain.
They recovered quickly, lunging at Gideon with their clawed hands while a fourth Stalker emerged to their left, firing a venom enhanced arrow at Gideon as he blocked the initial wave of attacks.
“I see it!” Mia called out, firing her own arrow at the newly emerged Stalker with three shots in rapid succession that staggered the scout and sent it reeling.
Red came barreling in from the side, grabbing the closest Stalker and lifting it up into the air before slamming it down into the ground with bone crushing force. Gideon heard the sound of what he assumed was the creature’s neck breaking as Red roared in triumph, finishing off the limp figure with a series of savage club swings as he shouted the words ‘double tap’.
Despite the arrow jutting from his shoulder and the poison he could feel flooding his system, Gideon didn’t feel slowed at all by the attack. The two remaining enemies were fixed on him, swiping with claws that he was barely able to keep at bay. He triggered Phantom Step and appeared behind the pair, slipping each of the blades in his hands into the gap between their central back plates and driving the blades home with a mighty shove.
As he wrenched the blades free Red swung his club around, still eager to fight but finding the two Stalkers slumped on the ground, their bodies limp with ichor dripping onto the moon’s surface.
“Damn it!” he hissed. “I was just getting into it.”
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Gideon smirked as he looked around and saw Mia finishing off the enemy archer and stealing the soldier’s remaining arrows.
“You got to use your piledriver,” he said. “Nearly broke that thing’s head off.”
Red laughed. “Hell yeah I did.”
Three blueish orbs appeared above the dead figures and were absorbed by Gideon, Red, and Mia. From where he was standing, it looked to Gideon as though Mia took one of the orbs and Red took three.
ITEMS LOOTED
Ether + 5
Stalker Oil + 1
Stalker Hide Scraps + 1
“What the hell?” Red blurted. “How come I only got five ether?”
Mia walked over, dropping her pilfered arrows into her quiver. “You’re in a party, genius. Everything we loot gets divided between us.”
Gideon could see him doing the math and pre-empted the question he knew was coming. He motioned to Bullseye.
“Everything gets split four ways while we’re in the party.”
Red turned to the turtle. “Four ways? That little turd gets five ether? He didn’t even do anything?”
“I was guarding the rear!” Bullseye protested.
“You were sitting in a bubble doing jack shit!” Red shot back.
“Enough!” Gideon barked. “We need to get to that ridge. We can figure out the loot later on. If you need more ether or other stuff I’ll share from what I’ve got. Just focus on what we need to do here, okay!”
Mia walked up, ripping the arrow out of his shoulder and quickly sealing up the puncture in the suit with the sealant.
“Thanks,” he offered.
“Don’t mention it. Your natural healing should take care of the venom.”
“Yeah, I figured. Honestly, it wasn’t nearly as bad this time.”
Bullseye floated toward them. “That’s because you’ve increased your baseline attributes since you last encountered the envenomed arrows. Grit will also make a big difference.”
Once the puncture was sealed, Gideon moved off toward the ridge with Mia running up beside him and the other two following behind. A rocky path led up the side of the ridge and Gideon found the climbing easy enough, even with the Gravity Teather on.
“You did great back there, by the way,” he said to Mia. “With that archer I mean.”
“Thanks,” she replied, looking down at the ground. “Picked up a couple of new abilities and that was the first chance I’ve had to try out the rapid fire spell.”
“Well, it worked great,” Gideon confirmed.
Red moaned. “Jesus you two, get a room! We can all hear you, you know!”
Gideon felt his cheeks flush a little and, judging by the way Mia was looking away from him, he guessed she was a little embarrassed too. The fact was he was undeniably attracted to her, but he hadn’t even been flirting.
They made their way up to the top of the ridge and Gideon bent down, crouching low as he made his way toward the lip of the ridge. The view below stretched out before him, showing a wide expanse with three ship standing in the distance and a vast host of enemies moving out from the ships toward the lunar base.
“Holy shit biscuits!” Red blurted. “Must be a thousand Stalkers down there!”
“Approximately,” Book confirmed. “Remember though, you’re mission isn’t to take out the Stalkers, it’s the heavy hitter’s we’re interested in. We’ve got gun emplacements and base defenses to take care of the scout units and Bloodborn.”
Gideon looked out over the landscape below. It looked like one of the ships was taking off, and a second had its engines running.
“Looks like they’re dropping the troops and bugging out,” he said.
“They’re troop carriers from what we can tell,” Book responded. “Heavy armor but light on weapons.”
Gideon scanned the area below and spied a knot of Bloodborn Stalkers milling about a huge figure that was lumbering out of one of the troop carriers.
“Got eyes on one of the big boys,” he said. “Looks about ten times the size of a Bloodborn and its kind of crab like, I guess.”
“Yes,” Book replied, “I’m getting an image now. We’re picking it up through your echo’s visual connection to the System. There is a record in the data we received of something like this after all. Just sending it to your HUD now.”
HARROW STRIDER
Large, quadrupedal creatures with armored carapaces and elongated skulls housing pressurized ether sacs. They vomit compressed ether orbs that detonate on impact, unleashing shockwaves of raw energy across battlefields. Harrow Striders prove equally as devastating whether attacking infantry units or structures and are often used in the early stages of a siege to break through enemy lines or breach defensive structures.
Attacks:
Ether Bombardment: Lobs high-density ether blobs that explode into area-wide blasts.
Siege Spear – Fires massive, armor-piercing chitinous projectiles coated in ether that burrow into defensive structures and explode after a short delay, causing structural collapse and reducing durability of barriers and bunkers.
Corrosive Bile: Sprays a stream of acidic ether-laced bile, melting armor and weakening defenses.
“Looks like they have solid defensive capabilities too,” Book went on, “so you’re going to need to get in close to take it out.”
Gideon nodded. “Okay, but what if we can’t break through its armor. I mean, that thing is a tank, basically. Maybe we should have brought an explosive with us?”
“You have,” Book said. “Hasn’t Bullseye told you yet?”
“I haven’t had the chance,” the turtle replied, drawing everyone’s gaze toward him.
“What haven’t you told me?” Gideon pressed.
“It’s hardly relevant,” Bullseye insisted. “Just another ability I was able to acquire.”
“Here,” Book said, “I’ll share the details.”
“Wait!” the turtle blurted.
SHELL SHOCK BLITZ
The turtle is launched like a living cannonball, spinning rapidly as it slams into an enemy structure or armored target. Upon impact, it unleashes a shockwave explosion, dealing massive area damage and staggering enemies within range. The force of the blast propels the turtle backward, allowing for a rapid reposition or a follow-up attack.
Effects:
Heavy Impact Damage to structures and tanks. Shockwave Stun causes nearby enemies to stagger for 2 seconds.
Ricochet Effect sends the turtle bouncing back toward its original position. Can be ether-infused to increase explosion radius and knockback force.
Cooldown: 30 Seconds.
Gideon turned to Bullseye. “Why the hell wouldn’t you tell me about that?”
The turtle scowled up at him. “Because I don’t particularly relish the idea of being tossed around like a baseball, Gideon. And because I knew the moment the spell appeared that you would all be jumping out of your skin to try it.”
“Shit yeah!” Red confirmed. “I get first go!”
Gideon ignored the other man.
“Is it going to hurt you?” he asked.
“No,” Book interjected. “Maddox confirmed that the spell won’t hurt Bullseye. In fact, there’s a chance he can even pick up ether using the attack.”
Gideon turned back to the turtle.
“There you go. What are you worried about then?”
Bullseye glowered. “And how would you like to be thrown into battle like a grenade?!”
Gideon shrugged. “If it gets the job done and I’m not hurt, go for it.”
Red beamed. “I get first throw with Gideon too!”
“Okay,” Gideon said, bringing the focus back to the army marching below. “Let’s just get as close as we can to Big Boy and see if we can take him out with what we have. If it turns out we need more firepower then we’ll turn to you, okay Bullseye?”
“If you must,” he agreed.
“Good. Then let’s get moving. I think if we can make it to those rocks there we’ll have a good shot of hitting Big Boy from the side without having to kill our way through a billion enemies first.”
He turned to the others. “Agreed?”
They nodded.
“After you, boss,” Red confirmed, hefting his mace with a wicked grin. “Let’s hit some shit!”