บท 586: Tunnel Trouble
The Ultimo-Bots had all been modified to suit the occasion. Their wheels had been replaced with four heavy-duty legs that were able to latch onto things, they were able to create footholds in even the hardest materials like granite. Not only that, but each had been fitted with shoulder-mounted flamethrowers, the fuel tanks of which had been installed on their backs.
This would be a potential hazard if they were against humans who used ballistic weapons, but Tunnelers doesn't possess any way of igniting those tanks... At least, to Afton's knowledge. He was pretty thankful that Glados had elected to modify them when he'd forgotten about it. He doubted they'd be all that useful if they were still on wheels. Going up and down steep cave passages would be a one-way trip, especially considering the possibility of the tunnelers only creating vertical pathways.
"You guys ready?" he asks his companions.
Tamia nods, and rolls her shoulder, still seeming to be slightly uncomfortable wearing Power armour into battle. "Think so... Something does feel familiar about the creatures you mentioned."
"Maybe you've fought them before? You know, before you lost your memories?" Veronica asks.
Tamia shrugs, "Maybe... Didn't you say these things are usually quite hard to spot though?"
Afton nods, "Yeah, but Cass has apparently encountered them before, so it wouldn't be strange considering you were a Courier."
"Erm... Are you guys sure I should even be here?... I haven't properly trained for something like this yet..." Scorpion-Man, or 'Juan' asks, seeming quite anxious at the prospect of his first mission.
"You've fought humans, so you're probably good to fight Tunnelers... Probably... Ah, all you make sure to remember your Anti-Venoms. Borous says that these things are quite poisonous, considering how varied their species is, I wouldn't be surprised to find a venom-spitting version." he warns.
Juan looks pretty uncomfortable at that revelation, had he not thought the Anti-Venoms he'd been given were there for a reason?
"Relax, hopefully we won't need to get anywhere near melee range to them. We're only there to make sure things go 'well' and to coordinate the troops. Glados isn't able to properly command them that far underground, so we'll be there as insurance."
"Are these things really as big of a threat as you said, Afton?" Christine asks.
He gives a grave nod in response, "From the reports Borous has given on our 'subjects', they are a highly adaptive hive-like species which breed quickly, mutate quickly, and are able to bring down creatures as tough as Deathclaws... If left alone, I wouldn't be surprised if they began devouring entire towns... The only limit to their growth is the amount of food they can obtain, so, even some countries may be at risk..." he shrugs, "And that's not even considering the possibility that they might mutate into a variant that only needs sunlight or something..." he says, explaining why they are such a big threat to the Wasteland as a whole.
"Great... Hey, don't these things remind you of those spore-things you fought before?" Veronica asks.
Afton shakes his head, "Not really, as big a threat as they are, they aren't anywhere near as dangerous to the spores. I mean, imagine if a giant mushroom sprouted on land and started releasing millions of spores across the country... That'd be end of the world shit..." he states.
"Alright, enough talk... Let's go." he decides and activates his night-vision before stepping into the tunnels.
The others follow as he looks around the dilapidated railway tunnel... Elijah had previously destroyed it when he was escaping, so it obviously had another exit somewhere... Wait, didn't Christine leave the same way when she was chasing him?... "Christine? Didn't you follow Elijah through here?"
She nods, "I did, what of it?"
"Well, where does the tunnel lead? You must remember right?" Afton inquires, while focussing on the small indentations, obviously made by Tunneler claws. It looked as if they were preparing to dig another tunnel, but were given a shortcut by Shani.
Christine shrugs, "I'm not sure, we ended up near some heavily irradiate military bases, but his tracks headed in the opposite direction after that... I just followed until I was trapped in the Sierra Madre..."
"Huh, did the Tunnels have Tunnelers in them beforehand?" he asks.
She shakes her head, "No... The other exit had been blocked by a large gate, but Elijah was forced to destroy it to exit. That's probably how they got in." she explains.
Afton palms his helmet, "So it ends up being Elijah's fault... As always." he mutters, wondering if he should have kept that psycho in a prison cell and tortured all the knowledge out of him... Or better yet, taken his brain out and interrogated that.
"Youknow, I stubbed my toe yesterday, should I blame Elijah for that too?" he muses to himself but stops in place as he notices something of interest.
"Something wrong?" Tamia asks at his abrupt stop.
Afton nod and points at a small hole on the left side of the tunnel, from it, he could see a small bulbous 'rock', well, it looked like a rock at first glance, but upon further inspection, he found that it's material more matched scales than anything else. He makes a gesture that all of his companions should understand as he allows the Ultimo-Bots to march in front of them.
Once everyone was in position, he had his shoulder-mounted light flash directly at the hidden Tunneler. The creature immediately shrieked as it was blinded by the sudden light, once its position was revealed, all the Ultimo-Bots fired their flamethrowers, engulfing the creature in fire as it ran out and start flailing.
Surprisingly, there were far more Tunnelers hiding in that spot than Afton had initially thought. Four more run out from it, in a similar manner as the first. It was only then that the ground around the Ultimo-Bots began churning, and after a couple moments claws erupted from them as Tunnelers began pulling themselves out of the ground.
"It's an ambush!" Afton shouts, disregarding his earlier words and immediately skewering the closest Tunneler.
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บท 587: Tunnel Fumble
After Afton's rather unneeded announcement, everyone jumped into action. The first to act was obviously Afton and his companions, who made quick work of the faster Tunnelers who'd charged ahead of the others.
Christine and Juan stayed back and take pot-shots at a few of them, though, both did so for different reasons. Christine was wary of hitting her allies, companions and robots included, so she took up position on the side and shot at the ones on the roof and walls.
Juan however was too shocked and afraid of directly fighting against them as he would usually attempt against humans. So he stuck by Christine and followed her example, hoping to be useful in some way.
Afton, Tamia, and Veronica were up close and personal though, slicing, dicing, and punching any who dared get close enough. They stayed in between the Ultimo-Bots in order to avoid getting hit by their flamethrowers that were forcing most of the horde back, plus, they needed assistance dealing with tunnelers who had grabbed a hold of them.
The Ultimo-Bots were incredible at ranged combat, but their limited mobility and large bulk made them easy targets for creatures like Tunnelers, who had brutally sharp claws and good enough strength to pry their Saturnite plating from them.
Of course, the Tunnelers weren't stupid enough to all charge towards the sea of flames, and continued to climb across the ceiling and walls, afterwards leaping off and attacking some of the rear units... Fortunately, Afton and Glados had been aware of this possibility, which is why they stationed Cyberdogs and Deathcalws there...
*ROOOOAARR!*
One of the Deathclaws announces as its jaws clamp around the head of the first Tunnelers that leaps down from the ceiling, its claws already moving to swipe a couple more out of the air. Their scales provide some resistance, but the Deathclaw wasn't named so for nothing.
The force behind each of its claw swipes was enough to cut most Tunnelers completely in half, though, this could only be said for the faster ones that'd lead the group. Soon enough, the larger and bulkier Tunnelers made their way into battle, they were larger than the leading ones by at least half, and their scales were noticeably thicker.
The sheer strength of their scales was displayed when the Deathclaw's claws only managed to cut halfway through its abdomen. This, while a fatal injury, still left the creature enough strength to fight on, forcing the Deathclaw to bite or strike it again.
The Cyberdogs were also having trouble with their scales, their teeth weren't enough to pierce them, which forced the large group to slowly tear the creatures apart. Five or six dogs on each Armored Tunneler to finally kill them, even with their large numbers, it took a while!
Even Christine and Juan were unable to easily kill them, their bullets deflected off of the scales and rendered useless. Christine was forced to swap to her Anti-Material Sniper to finally resolve this, but Juan was left in the awkward position of having to aim for their eyes and throats to deal damage.
"Ahh!" Juan suddenly calls out as he's forced backwards. He ends up performing a flip to get some distance from the Tunneler that'd just leapt at him, he fires again with his Submachine gun but the bullets slide off of the creature's scales as if they were only 0.22 Calibre!
He'd almost forced to draw his Ultra Chainsword when Christine finally steps in, blindsiding the Tunneler with a kick to its face before pointing her Sniper's barrel at it as it reels back.
*BAANG!*
She fires, rendering the creature's head a bloody mist. Bits of skull fragments and flesh rain down for a moment as Juan feels his jaw moving but nothing coming out.
"Scorpion-Guy! get your shit together and move!" she commands, ignoring shocked look and concentrating on the enemies still charging the group.
"Y-yes!" he squeaks, mustering up his courage and drawing his Ultra Chainsword. He begins using his Psyker abilities and climbing up the wall, slashing at the Tunnelers as they try to attack him. His confidence quickly rises as he notices that they aren't familiar with fighting in such a way, allowing him to easily cut them down... The only thing he had to do now was making sure the robots below him didn't mark him as a threat on accident!
It was around about this time that the horde started thinning out, once the ground group of Tunnelers was almost completely destroyed, the Ultimo-Bots began walking up the walls and spitting fire towards the ceiling and wall entrances that the Tunnelers had made.
Eventually, the final burnt corpse dropped to the floor, only to be split in two by an awaiting Afton. He glances around and notes their casualties, spotting a single thoroughly gnawed and clawed Ultimo-Bot that'd had its processing core torn out through a hole under its arm.
The robots had the least losses though, as the Cyberdogs had numerous injuries and casualties... Around eight dogs had been killed, some with their necks fatally bitten or clawed, some with their Cybernetics components literally ripped out, and some that had their brain-containers breached.
He gives a Tunneler corpse a probing kick before nodding to himself, "Alright, attend to the injured, we move in half an hour." he commands while sheathing his weapon and walking towards his companions.
Tamia, Veronica, and Christine weren't anywhere near getting tired yet, their Power armour and physical abilities allowing them to fight like this for potentially hours more.
Juan however who'd just jumped from the wall takes off his helmet and wipes sweat from his face with his forearm. "Hah... Hah... That was tough, hah... So, do we go back now?" he asks, having somehow missed Afton's earlier words.
Afton crooks a brow at him and shakes his head, "No, as I said, we're continuing in half an hour, so take the breather and be ready when we start."
"W-what!? We just fought an army of those things! Surely there isn't any more?" he asks, dumbfounded.
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