Published at 27th of January 2026 7:18 am

Chapter 325: Home at Last

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Nicolai sped through the tunnels. On the way he found a chamberpacked with bugswhich the Hornets would have to go through to follow him, and opted to leave the majority of his drones there. The Modules programmed them with detailed instructions. If it went well, these drones would be able to slow the Highspawn down quite a bit.

After only another minute of rapid travel, he came close enough, at last, to attempt communication with the base.

His bionic arm with its Local antenna was extended, grasping at radio waves, blaring out its own. This is Zero-Twelve, respond, chanted Cyberwarfare.

Familiar code crackled. We are fucked, said Legal. A bug with Symbiotes showed up. Its a lot smarter than the rest of them. It put all the bots in holes. Im hiding in your bedroom.

What? Nicolai scowled, confused. The Module sent him a recording.

In it he saw the Assembler bots, firing into the mass of bugs through the doorway. The same choke point as when hed arrived. But as he watched one of the bots staggered, then began to sink. In seconds it had all but disappeared from view, one mechanical leg rising and flailing indignantly before it vanished. The other bots started moving but it didnt matter, they were too slow, and one by one they, too, vanished into unnatural holes.

The videos POV shifted rapidly as Legal in the Infiltrator clattered across the room. He saw the Infiltrators little manipulators work at the latch to his Ritual-warded bedroom, then it dove within, closed the door almost all the way.

Peeking out through the gap like a child hiding in a closet, the Infiltrator watched as a tall, slender, bipedal bug walked through the crowd. The other bugs had all stopped their suicidal rush and were standing there, twitching. A few small ones followed after the tall bug. Legal closed and locked the door before it could be noticed.

Youd have thought theyd lead with the hole-making guy, wouldnt you? said Legal, conversational.

The Assembler? he hissed, frantic.

Surprisingly, still in one piece. Have a look. It linked him in to the bases security system. Some of the cameras were still up. Bugs patrolled the area. The tall one was beside the Assembler. Taller and skinnier than any human, pale like a corpse, gangly arms and legs, feelers on its head. It was examining the Assembler curiously. Avariciously, even.

One of the Modules said this was a good thing. At least the Assembler hadnt been destroyed. Even the bots were still functional, they just needed to be pulled out of those holes. The Mask suggested he could even attempt to ally with this bug, that perhaps it could aid him against the Hornets.

He barely heard, the Dark rising and pulsing in time with his heart. Another bug that desired what was his. And two more were dogging his trail, the Highspawn who wanted him dead. He hadnt been able to kill them in the last fight but now he could set the ground, find a perfect moment.

The solution was simple.

Kill them all.

###

The two Highspawn flew soundlessly down the corridor, floating in the space above the ever-present bugs. The simpler insects had no recourse against Hornet stealth. The pair followed the ripples, led by a Symbiote that detected those left by the troublesome human Vorath wanted killed.

A human who may also have a few more interesting valuables, the other Highspawn had told them.

They were closing, now in a larger, open chamber with several tunnels exiting. Milling bugs carpeted the ground, but the roof was higher and the pair were glad to rise a little higher, get more space between them and the creatures. Even with their stealth, if one of the bugs bumped into them there would be trouble.

There, rippled one, pointing to a tunnel dead ahead. His tracker Symbiote told him this was the fastest route to the target.

But just as the pair were approaching, somethingsomethingszipped at them. Tiny whirring machines. A loud, annoying sound burst out from the flying things, as they spun circles around the Hornets. Below, the bugs chittered frenziedly, glaring upwards then leaping in attempts to catch the beeping devices. The Hornets were forced to veer out the way of the leaping bugs, driven around the room as the devices stuck close to them.

What is it?! cried one, confused and angered, swiping at the air.

A trap! Kill them! replied the other, taking aim.

No, youll ruin your stealth!

Uncertain, confused, the pair were driven around the room, chased by the squealing flying things and therefore the furious, leaping bugs.

It was when one of the flying things launched itself forward and cracked into one of the Hornets shieldbeep beep beeeeep! the device screamedthat the pair had enough.

A wave of force burst out, slammed into the devices and hurled them into the walls where they exploded into smoking chunks. The two Hornets, revealed, glared at the bugs all around them. Bugs which immediately attacked in a shrieking horde.

The Ball Artifact smashed lines of bloody carnage, and spiritual stingers stabbed at any bugs that got past it as the two Tier 2s pushed grimly forward.

###

The tall bug was on the move. It hadnt heard the distant beeping of the drones hed left behind, but it had certainly felt the ripples of the Hornets unleashing. Hed seen its head twitch.

Now it was walking out through the obliterated security air-lock. Down the slope, chittering bugs shifting out of its way. A few had come to cluster around it, bigger bugs, differently shaped to those whod been assaulting his base before. Still simple of mind, but these ones had Symbiotes.

Nicolai watched all through the cameras distributed throughout the base, some of which even gave a view in the mine. He was in an opening in the roof of a stretch of tunnel, inside the mine. Pressed against the stone, entirely still and silent, shimmer poncho around him, Soul Shelled, Lurker engaged. He wasnt even using a Pegasi ring, keeping himself in place with his extended arms and legs.

The Dark was all through him and the world shifted slowly, mesmerisingly around him, but he was cool and calm, ready for action and full of calculation.

Hed chosen his location with some care consideration of the Hornets ripple-based method of tracking, which he believed to be similar to his Path Finder. Something that would work out the quickest route somewhere, assuming one didnt want to go through walls. With that pathfinding in mind, hed put himself in a spot where the quickest route would lead the Hornets right into the centre of his mine, before a turn would take them to his tunnel.

Guaranteeing an encounter with the tall bug.

Legal, he messaged over Local. Ive lost visuals of the tall bug. Get yourself out that hidey-hole and go creeping over the ceiling, get eyes on him.

What? spluttered the Module. You go! The bugs will tear me apart! It was a little difficult for him to understand its words, with the need to kill spiking through him.

You are small, he replied, with an attempt at patience. If you move slowly and carefully and stay on the ceiling, there is little chance of them noticing. They will be distracted dealing with the Hornets.

They can sense my Soul, thats what caused me trouble the last time I was running around out there!

Shelling didnt work?

A pause stretched.

Oh. I forgot about that. How do you do it, again?

Nicolai and the others were silent, but Legal seemed able to guess what they were thinking.

If you want top tier legal representation, I am the Module for the job! it seethed. Its not my role to do stealth-mode stuff!

Just get on with it! he snapped, while Cyberwarfare sent a datapacket containing instructions on Shelling.

As Legal finally got movingits transmited feed showed it carefully unlatching the door, cautiously peering outhe was making his own preparations. One slow hand moved beneath his poncho, unhooked the concealed tab under his chin which concealed the skinsuits zipper, dragged it slowly and silently down. Just enough that the Quiet Knife was revealed. He pulled it and its sheath free, attached it to his belt then resealed his suit.

Legal was out the base and into the mine, now, clambering over the roof, followingwith excessive cautionafter the tall bug, who was disappearing into a tunnel.

With the bug out the way and focused on the incoming Hornets, Nicolai opted to get moving as well. He unfolded from his hole and activated a Pegasi ring, floating off. He was wary of the tall bugs detection capabilities, but with all the ripples the Hornets were making he should be fine.

He floated through the mine. The bugs were on the move, here. A few were sticking around, posted to keep an eye on things, but the majority were following after the tall bug.

Soon he was by the Assembler, looking down at one of his bots, stuck in its hole. The holes were perfectly circular, smooth and gripless. The bot was staring back up at him. It was a thoughtless creature, the simplest kind of AI, but even so he felt its shifting head looked a bit embarrassed about its situation.

All that firepower rendered useless due by a simple change in depth. At least the bots were in good shape. Legal had ordered them to stop fighting once in the holes, since theyd been unable to do so effectively in any case. This had proven a wise decision, since the tall bug had thus decided to leave them be. Perhaps it had wanted to study them.

A few bugs patrolled the area. Each of them had a Soul Sense, but it was a very small thing with a tiny little tendril, barely went even a foot out.

He ghosted between them, used the bulk of the Assembler to cut sightlines. The Quiet Knife was fully charged, courtesy of the Queen. He found a window, a moment where one bug was out of sight of the others. One of the dog-sized ones.

Nicolai drifted beside it, a murderous wraith. He angled the Knife, other hand slipping his poncho open at the front. The bug was armoured, but he noted gaps in its chitin. The brain seemed the best target, but Legal cautioned him.

In my experience, destroying their torso is most effective. Some of them keep moving even without a head.

He wanted to strike now but he pulled back on the urge, steadied himself. Each kill had to be perfect. There would be an organ in their torso they needed, then.

He rose away from the creature, and his Soul Sense found a dead one of the same type. The tendril slid through its corpse, investigating, working it out. With the aid of the Modules he came to a decision very quickly. These things had something much like a heart. It was in the lower centre of their torso, about where a humans belly-button would be.

Once more he slid into position. Punched out with the knife, gripped in his bionic, a looping strike that angled out then up, point lancing up into its underbelly. The creature let out a whuff of expelled air, body jerking as he drove the weapon into it, until the small guard crunched on chitin.

It toppled immediately. He barely had time to retract the knife before it was over, legs extended stiffly.

He had felt absolutely nothing, through Soul Sense. But where he held the Knife, hed felt through it. Felt as it collapsed the creatures Soul, annihilated it without a ripple. One of the Modules noted the Knife had thirty charges, as their sense of its internal energy was reduced by 1/30.

Nicolai slipped away, up into the air. Another bug came around the Assembler. It had heard the noise and was investigating. It came straight for the corpse. Stopped and sniffed at it.

It grunted, a lot like the last had. Then it, too, toppled over. Hed retracted the Knife quicker this time. Another bug dead.

The tall bug has stopped, reported Legal, drawing his attention to its feed. Its up to something.

It was preparing to ambush the Hornets, was what it was doing, settling into a quiet corner, shifting the rock of the tunnel, and positioning its bugs. Nicolai was glad to see it. That was just what he wanted. The best time to creep up and stab someone to death was while they were asleep. The second best time was while they were busy fighting someone else.

Keep an eye on it, but dont put yourself at any risk of being seen, he directed.

Nicolai flowed through the room. As the number of patrolling bugs decreased, the ease of his mission grew.

The last bug, dumb as it was, was wise enough to feel something wrong. Wise enough to realise that where the room had been full of its brethren, now it was alone. Wise enough to start backing up toward the exit, to open its mouth, a shriek building in its throat.

But not wise enough to work all that out in time to make a difference. The Knife tore its throat open and its shriek became a gurgling exhale, and Nicolai, teeth bared in a snarl, rode it to the ground, stabbing it over and over.

My. Fucking. Base, he growled manically over the crunch of chitin as he slashed its eyes into gore, tore its jaw off, sawed its stomach open, reached in with his other hand and tore out a clump of slick innards.

Some time later he rose, frowning distastefully at the gore coating his hands. The Dark had gotten him. Difficult to resist it, now there was no cage and it was all through him. At least stabbing the bugs had allowed him to vent it, but only barely. More death and carnage was needed. The Knife felt good in his hand. Warm. Eager. Legals feed showed the tall bug still in position, but it was looking twitchy. Ripples suggested the Hornets would be there soon. He got moving.

He wouldve used the Spectral Claw and done this quickly, but couldnt risk the ripples. Instead he bent down and grabbed a dead bug by one of its legs and dragged it over. He dumped it straight into the hole, and the bot, under the control of the Modules, shifted to let the corpse slide past it.

Half-a-dozen other corpses swiftly followed. The bot was shifting around like a big spider in its hole, getting the corpses underneath it. He kicked the eighth corpse in, and the bots legs came over the edge. It pulled itself up smoothly, but Nicolai didnt stick around to watch.

He was moving quickly out, back into the mine. The Modules would direct the bot hed freed to pull the others out. He needed to go join Legal, because the Hornets had arrived.

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