He’d seen it done a few times before, a long stealth run used by a hunter to get up close to an enemy. The longest he remembered was when Argent Killer climbed up the side of a mountain past a brood of troll-like creatures common to the mountainous regions of Artemis.
The hunter had used a series of prolonged, ether-charged bursts of stealth to work his way from place to place, moving in thirty second stints up the mountain and waiting for his stealth ability to recharge while hiding behind rocky formations or ice shards. It had been one of the tensest and most exciting runs in the entire season and Gideon, when he’d been Gary, had watched the whole run while sitting on the edge of his seat.
Now that he was here, living that same kind of reality, he found the experience even more thrilling. Fighting enemies from range and melting monsters before they had the chance to close the gap was one of the thrills Gideon had looked forward to while he was planning his time on Artemis.
Flipping burgers, sweating his ass off, Gary had imagined the sensation of luring enemies from a distance and then peppering them with eviscerating attacks from a legendary bow. He’d always considered stealth simply as a means of maxing out critical chance and damage for the initial strike or getting out of trouble if an enemy got close. With that kind of fighting style, running a stealth gauntlet like this wasn’t typically on the cards.
As he approached the edge of the enemy army, fully cloaked and channeling ether to increase his speed and decrease detectability even further, Gideon’s heart galloped. That feeling intensified as he slipped into the enemy ranks and began weaving his way through the Stalkers.
Thankfully, while they maintained a loose formation, there was enough space between them to allow Gideon to pass through undetected, provided he was careful and chose his path wisely. Concentration was key and his entire body had to move in sync to ensure he didn’t accidentally knock the blade or rifle of a nearby Stalker or run himself into a corner and slam into one of the Bloodborn bruisers.
It was intensely physical work, but there was a heavy cognitive load to the task as well, given that he had to manage the flow of ether, track his trajectory, and stay aware of both enemy and friendly fire as he weaved his way toward the Striker. That made it more than a little off putting when Bullseye decided to raise his objection.
Bullseye: This is intolerable! I have never in my life been so insulted! To be shoved into the metaphorical equivalent of your pocket like this!
Gideon: Not now!
Bullseye: I am the original Artemis AI tutor, the first and greatest of my kind. The progenitor, if you will. To be stuffed into your inventory like this is insulting beyond words.
Gideon: NOT NOW!”
The gap ahead of Gideon closed as one of the lumbering Bloodborn suddenly quickened its step. He had to pause his momentum, timing the opening perfectly and slipping around the side of the brute, before sprinting off again so as to avoid being collected by the row of Stalkers coming up behind.
While channeling ether into the stealth spell Gideon’s speed was only reduced by 10%, but that reduction still had an impact, particularly as he slipped between narrow gaps with swords jutting out from behind and the armored forms of Stalkers ahead. He had to shift between rapid sprints, slow walks, crouching, jumping, and even a dive and roll at one point just to avoid the stealth being broken.
A quick look upward showed that he was close enough to the Strider to charge toward it, but that presented its own problems. First, he’d have to break his stealth to trigger the ability. Second, there was no existing wound in the smooth carapace armor of the Strider to head towards, so the charge would send him slapping into the side of the beast’s head if he didn’t find a better way to do it.
Somehow, he needed to blow a hole in the Strider’s armor, charge in close enough to throw Bullseye into the wound, then get away without being torn to shreds and all while surrounded by a marching host of alien soldiers currently engaged in battle with the lunar base defenders. It was a logistical nightmare and Gideon knew that shit was bound to go wrong as soon as he acted.
Bullseye: Underneath.
Gideon: What?
Bullseye: Head underneath the beast. You’ll be hidden, at least temporarily and the beast could have a soft spot at its belly.
Gideon narrowly avoided being impaled on a curved blade as he twisted to the side and kept moving, all the while watching his dwindling ether reserves.
Gideon: I don’t think that thing even has a belly!
Bullseye: You know what I mean. Head for its undercarriage and you may find a weakness there to exploit.
Aside from the turtle’s rather disturbing use of the word undercarriage, Gideon had no way of knowing whether Bullseye’s supposition was right. Maybe there would be thinner armor plating underneath the Strider, but maybe not. Then there was also the fact that Gideon would have to jump the ten feet or so to reach the beast’s belly in the first place.
Bullseye: It will give you time to think at least. If you suddenly appear on the creature’s head, you will be a target for every sniper and Stalker within sight. This way you have a chance to plan and act.
Out of time and very nearly out of ether, Gideon triggered Shadow Charge aiming for the shadowed area beneath the Strider. He shifted through space, suddenly appearing underneath the vast creature.
Gideon looked left and right, but it seemed that none of the surrounding enemies had noticed him. He looked up at the underside of the Strider, noting that the smaller armored plates on its underbelly seemed just as thick and unforgiving as on its outer body.
“Shit!” he blurted.
“What is it?” Mia asked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Trying to find a way in but it’s just as heavily armored down below as…wait.”
He squinted, drawing Bullseye out of his inventory and pointing the turtle up toward a strange dark circular mass at the center of the Strider’s underside.
“What do you think that is?”
Looking somewhat discombobulated, Bullseye looked up at where Gideon was pointing.
“A cloaca, or some similar orifice,” the turtle said.
“Gross!” Red offered.
“It’s an opening,” Gideon said, drawing back and preparing to launch Bullseye up into the dark orifice.
“You can’t be serious?!” the turtle pleaded.
“It’s our easiest way in. Just fire your laser eyes, make a bigger hole and then I’ll toss you in.”
“Super gross!” Red added.
“You are not going to toss me into this creature’s anus!” Bullseye insisted.
“Why the hell does it matter?” Gideon countered. “You’re an AI, a computerized intelligence. Who cares if you get shoved up an alien’s sphincter? Besides, you’re in a bubble anyway!”
“It’s humiliating!” Bullseye insisted.
“Get over it!”
Gideon thrust the turtle up above his head, pointing Bullseye like a gun toward the orifice.
“Quicker you get this done, the quicker it’ll be over,” he said, noticing that several nearby Stalkers seemed to have spotted them and were heading toward him to investigate. “Come on, Bullseye!”
Thankfully, the turtle obeyed, firing twin bursts of violent red power out of its eyes and into the circular opening above. The Strider responded immediately, shrieking in a piercing voice that felt like someone was driving a railway spike through Gideon’s ears.
He dropped Bullseye, crouching down and slapping hands over his ears before realizing how ineffective that was considering he was wearing a helmet. Thankfully the screeching ended after a moment. The cloaca opened, spewing a flood of green liquid out onto the pair as Gideon scooped up Bullseye and ran out of the splash zone.
The noxious green liquid fizzed and bubbled as it hit the ground, sending splashes of acidic goop in all directions while a fog of deadly gas erupted from its underside. Gideon was immediately swamped, and more Stalkers outside had noticed him and were making their way toward him even as the gas and acid burned through his EV suit.
With no other option, he slipped Bullseye into his inventory, pulled out his long and short blades and then triggered Phantom Step, hoping it would be enough to draw him up into the inner tube of the Strider’s rectum.
Gideon held his breath as the spell shifted him through space. He plunged the dagger and sword into the wall of the opening, trying not to gag as he used the blades to climb his way up further into the interior of the passage.
“Dude!” Red blurted. “Did you just climb up its anus?!”
Gideon ignored him, using all of his strength to climb further up into the creature’s body. The area up ahead started to swell and contract a moment before a flood of acrid green acid poured through the tube, sweeping past Gideon and tearing at his suit as it passed by.
He could smell an ungodly stench as holes began to appear in his suit and forced himself to keep climbing.
Gideon: Get ready to bomb!
Before Bullseye could reply, Gideon pulled him from his inventory, while clinging to the wall of the Strider’s intestine with one hand on his Stalker talon. He shoved the turtle as far up into the space above as he could manage, wedging Bullseye in place before looking down to confirm that the beast’s movement had taken them past the worst of the acid and gas below.
Gideon could see the surface of the moon below, as well as a knot of heavily armored Bloodborn.
Gideon: Do it!
He let himself drop, ripping the dagger out of the thick flesh and slipping out of the orifice so that he fell like a stone onto the waiting blades of the Stalkers. As he fell, he triggered Dusk Veil, pumping up his evasion to maximum and managing to avoid all but one of the swords as he fell into the enemy.
A moment later the Strider shuddered, and a muffled boom rocked the area. Gideon rolled away from the Bloodborn, drawing sword and dagger and preparing to fight as Bullseye shot out of the Strider’s cloaca and bounced off one of the puzzled Stalkers before careening off in the opposite direction.
A thrum of power rolled out from the Strider as it teetered on its many joined limbs. Gideon picked a direction and ran, using the confusion of the moment to dart past the knot of Bloodborn as a wave of pressure passed by and all of the alien soldiers gathered around the giant Strider fell to their knees and clutched their heads, screaming in silence.
“Did you do it?” Red asked
“I think so!” Gideon said slowing his pace as he came to the outer edge of the crippling wave being sent out by the dying Strider. “I think it’s gonna drop at any moment.”
Stalkers from outside the hundred foot radius surrounding the Strider turned in confusion as the beast slumped to the ground, crushing the Bloodborn huddled beneath it. What must have been two hundred or more Stalkers who had been clutching their heads suddenly dropped, falling lifeless at the same moment the Strider fell.
A rush of etheric power flowed into Gideon’s body as he stood with blades in hand, surrounded by what was still a vast enemy host, momentarily stunned by what had just happened.
MISSION COMPLETE: Wrecking Ball
Infiltrate the enemy ranks and take out the Striders in order to blunt the Collective’s advance.
ENEMY HEAVIES KILLED: 3/3
Enhancement Points +30
Additional Bonus Enhancement +20
Stealth +5
Endurance +3
Leadership +2
Tactical Insight +2
ITEMS LOOTED
Royal Ether + 300
Ether + 2000
Harrow Core + 1
Strider Resin + 2
Stalker Talons +5
Stalker Hide Scraps +10
Stalker Oil +5
“Frigging jackpot!” Red called out through the suit coms.
Gideon grinned, but that moment of joy was quickly overshot by the fact that he was losing available air from holes in his suit and facing a thousand odd Stalkers that were rapidly recovering from shock, and which were now focused on Gideon himself as the object of their combined rage.
Gideon: Bullseye? Where are you?
Bullseye: To your west. Turn around.
Gideon turned to see the little turtle moving as fast as he could manage toward him, followed by a pair of Stalkers with claws splayed while two more figures fired projectile weapons at the AI. It might have been comical if it wasn’t for the fact that the enemies now behind Gideon had begun to attack and the pair were about to get crushed between the two forces.
He ran, heading directly toward Bullseye while he checked his ether levels and the cooldown on his stealth. Because of the Strider and the number of Stalkers that had been killed when it died, Gideon’s ether levels had stayed more or less the same.
“Red and Mia, head back to base, back the way we came!” he shouted, struggling to breathe let alone shout given the lack of breathable air in his suit.
“What about you?” Mia asked.
“I’m coming, just need to pick up Bullseye.”
As he said this he intercepted the turtle, bending down and picking him up, fumbling Bullseye in his hands a couple of times before finally latching onto him. He dropped the turtle into his inventory and immediately triggered Shadow Veil, darting to the side and narrowly avoiding the raking claws of the closest Stalker as he channeled ether into the spell and headed off toward Mia and Red.
The green dots on his mini map confirmed that they’d backed away from the army and Gideon quickly headed through the thick crowd of enemy soldiers and made it clear of the pack, running as fast as he could manage toward the rock cluster they’d approached from and the base entrance beyond.
He wheezed for breath, focusing on the rock formation directly ahead as his vision began to blur. If he could just reach those rocks, he could stop for a moment and patch up the holes in his EV suit.
Gideon was weaving left and right, not intentionally but because his head was swimming and his vision was blurred. The rocks loomed closer but his view was beginning to darken. He could barely breath, let alone cry out for help.
His footsteps became erratic as he stumbled forward, reaching for the rocks while he continued to drive ether into the stealth spell. He just had to put one foot in front of the other, just had to…