War Core Wednesday! War Core 3, Chapter 8.

How do you think Hugh should spend his contribution points? Leave a comment with your picks.

Chapter 8.

“Hugh, cover the hatchway that we came through, the rest of us will cover the center and the crew will cover the last one,” Hssim ordered. The Ssath tapped something on the command console and the surviving turret slewed over to cover the hatchway that his team was defending. There were still ten crewmembers left and even though they had slow-charging laser pistols, they were able to keep up a constant barrage on a single hatchway.

With a whine and snap, the turret fired, the blast piercing through several of the attackers who were bunched up in the hatchway. A few were already on the bridge, but they were being pushed back by Vilkrex and her puppet captain along with Dalven. Hssim seemed content to continue operating the main console, hopefully doing something to speed up the automated defenses they were supposed to be getting.

Hugh found a good position, one of the control consoles that still had its shield intact. For now, his hatchway was clear, but the enemy would eventually work their way around to it, given they only needed to backtrack a bit and open a few hatchways to do so. While he waited, Hugh reloaded his empty magazines. Only fourteen loose rounds were still in his ammo pouch when he was done, enough to reload two more of his magazines once they ran dry. After that, it would be down to Hugh and his blade. Even with the new skills he had received with this body, he wasn’t confident that he could take on too many of the four armed aliens in hand-to-hand combat.

It looked like his team was holding for the moment. Hssim had finally left the console and rejoined them for the fight. The enemy that had pushed onto the bridge had been forced back to the hatchway and with that as a chokepoint, the fight became a bit more manageable. Unfortunately, it looked like the crew wasn’t having quite as easy a time of it, several more had fallen and they no longer had the firepower to keep the enemy contained. Too many bodies in the way prevented Hugh from giving them any supporting fire, but Hssim did order the turret to shift its fire to support them.

Hugh figured the Ssath had some kind of link with the control system since he didn’t have to run back to the console to do anything. A loud clang behind Hugh almost caused him to squeeze off a round as he spun toward the new threat. It wasn’t some alien cutting its way through the ceiling, it was the destroyed turret dropping down to the deck as another lowered itself into place. The automated defenses appeared to be starting the process by replacing the weapon that was destroyed by Hugh earlier in the fight. A noise at the hatchway drew his attention back to the task at hand.

“We’ve got movement down this passage!” Hugh shouted as the sounds of charging aliens echoed through the sounds of combat. They were close and he lined up his weapon on the opening. If he could drop enough of the enemy in the first rush, he might be able to block up the entrance with bodies and buy enough time for the others to send some support.

The enemy erupted from the hatchway like a flood, giving Hugh only moments to acquire a target and fire. Rounds slammed into the unarmored aliens, driving many of them back and inflicting horrifying wounds. Not every hit was a kill, and the aliens were hopped up on whatever served for adrenaline in their bodies to the point that if a hit wasn’t to something vital, they just continued their reckless charge.

With one bullet in the chamber, Hugh had eight rounds to fire, and those didn’t last anywhere close to long enough. Hugh changed mags in his weapon, finding the process was smoothly ingrained in his muscle memory. After only a few seconds, he was firing again. It wasn’t enough, and the aliens reached the console he was using for cover. Their melee weapons began to slam into the shield. It had taken only a shot or two from his pistol to break the shield, but a shot from his .45 carried a lot more energy than an alien hitting it with a sword. The shield held for the first few blows, buying Hugh time to target the nearest threats.

The shield broke, but by then, Hugh had put headshots into the nearest attackers. At point-blank range, his enhanced skills performed the task with ease. Backing away, Hugh reloaded while using the console itself to stall the next attackers. He angled his retreat so that he would join the rest of his team. Already, a fresh puppet from Vilkrex was heading over to help. It was an alien armed with a short sword, but the presence of one of their own attacking them stalled the aliens long enough for Hugh to get his weapon back online.

To Hugh’s relief, the hatchway he had been defending slammed shut, the heavy hatch crushing two of the invaders as it locked itself down. A panel on the wall also opened and a drone scrambled out on four metallic legs. It was about the size of a large dog, and other than the spear-like tips of its legs, the drone also mounted a pistol-caliber laser weapon in a small turret on top of its body. The laser was about as powerful and as slow to fire as the weapons the crew used, but it was an extra body to help in the defense, and they needed all the help they could get.

Hugh fired until the final round of his last magazine, and along drone, was able to clear out the remainder of the aliens that had made it onto the bridge before the hatch closed. Vilkrex’s puppet didn’t fare so well and had been cut down during the fight. It had managed to kill one alien and wound another before it fell, and its actions had probably saved Hugh from being overrun.

The drone scuttled away, moving to support the surviving crewmembers. They were down to only four crew still in the fight, and Dalven had shifted over to assist them. Various wounds covered Dalven and he looked a lot worse for wear. With his hatch secured, Hugh moved up to support his friend, reloading magazines as he went. After the reload, Hugh was down to two magazines. Once they were gone, it would be time for some knife work.

Dalven clawed the throat of an alien but took a spear to the gut from the alien behind his victim. Hugh fired, blasting the spearman as he rushed to the side of a stumbling Dalven. Pulling one of his precious med patches, Hugh slapped it onto the wound the spear had left. The patch went to work immediately, but Hugh didn’t have time to stop and marvel at the technology healing the Yaelar. Emptying the rest of his mag, Hugh held back the tide for a moment. Another two of the crew had fallen, but the drone had jumped into the fight, impaling an alien on its legs while firing its laser at another target.

A second drone joined the first, and with the pair helping, Hugh had a chance to swap out his magazine. He carefully squeezed out one shot after another, taking down an alien with each pull of the trigger. When the weapon clicked empty, he holstered it and drew his combat knife in his main hand and the alien blade in the other. The basics of knife fighting had been downloaded into his mind, but not fighting with two weapons, so the alien blade felt a bit clumsy in his grip. He might be able to use it to block, and just maybe, it might intimidate one of the attackers.

Dalven moved up next to Hugh, still looking rough, but able to function after the med patch had partially healed the wound. Rooting around in his pack, Dalven slapped on another patch, and Hugh wondered if there was some kind of problem or overdose that they should be worried about with the things. There hadn’t been any mention of it in the description, and with them essentially being a pile of nanobots, he figured there shouldn’t be any lingering problems. It wasn’t like they were going to keep these bodies in the long run.

A slam was heard as the central hatchway closed, and Hugh was joined by Hssim and Vilkrex soon after, along with a pair of alien puppets and another drone. The drones had held off the aliens to give Hugh, Dalven, and the surviving crew a breather. Before long, the drones were hacked apart by the alien horde. With only one hatchway to protect, the fight became easier. More drones streamed in every minute or so, taking the burden off the team, and before long, the only thing they had to worry about was a few leakers that slipped past the drones and crew.

A third turret descended from the ceiling, adding its firepower to the mix, and soon after, the enemy broke. The four-armed aliens fled back to wherever they had come from, with the drones and surviving pair of crew hot on their heels. Hssim ran back to the captain’s console and found the camera feeds from the ship they were on, sharing the link with the rest of the team.

Hugh didn’t look at the feed, noticing another of their team had fallen in the fight. He rushed over to the deflated suit that Pasharn had worn. Several empty healing syringes were dropped nearby, and it appeared that the suit had been torn to shreds by the aliens. Other than Dalven, Pasharn had seemed like the only member of the team that Hugh didn’t feel directly threatened by and it was too bad they hadn’t had more time to talk. There was nothing he could do for her and it didn’t bode well for their chances when two of the six were taken out in only the second challenge.

Pulling up the camera feed that Hssim shared, Hugh watched the final stages of the battle. The aliens had breached the ship’s hull in two places, one for each of the sub-factions they were fighting. Instead of coordinating a defense, the two groups separated and tried to make their escape. More reinforcements boarded, but the numbers were few and nowhere near the constant stream of attackers they had faced earlier.

Despite their losses, the four-armed aliens put up a good fight, tearing apart the last of the crew and destroying several drones. Things were stacked against the invaders and as more and more drones came online, they were inevitably pushed back. Occasionally, a new turret would drop down, but they seemed to be appearing randomly throughout the ship. It would help if the aliens pushed again and ran into the fresh defenses, but for the most part, they weren’t able to support the drones.

It was a long grind, but none of the party even brought up the idea of joining the fight. Everyone knew it was better to let the system fight itself rather than risk another casualty. Almost an hour later, the number of drones and the alien losses reached a critical mass and the last of the boarders were forced off the ship. A system prompt confirmed they had won this challenge, but the cost had been high.

Congratulations, you have completed the second objective. The bridge of the Faded Gloywill now be considered a safe zone. You will be allowed a 24-hour rest period. Your Rewards have been placed in the personal supply chest, and you may spend your contribution points on upgrades.

Hugh saw the final hatch seal closed, giving the team sole access to the bridge. The gun turrets on the ceiling remained, as well as a pair of drones, but they all seemed to be powered down for the time being. Several interface panels appeared on the walls and each of them chose one to access. Hugh chose to look at the rewards in his personal supply chest before delving into spending his contribution points.

The familiar footlocker slid from the wall and as Hugh touched the lid, it dissolved to show his rewards for this stage of their challenge. On top of the chest was a new uniform for Hugh. It was the same camo pattern as the other one, but once he picked it up, Hugh could feel it was nothing like his current garment. The uniform seemed to shift under his hand and after a bit of experimentation, he found it was knife resistant, and wouldn’t cut unless he used all his strength behind the blade. To make it even better, the uniform moved with the blow which would absorb some of the force of each hit. Along with the trauma plates in his plate carrier, Hugh now had some solid protection for most of his body.

To Hugh’s surprise, the small cut he had made in the leg of the uniform started to mend itself. He wouldn’t have to worry about patching the garment up or having it eventually turn to rags under the constant fighting it looked like they were going to face. Underneath the uniform in the chest was something even more welcome for Hugh, a weapon upgrade. It was an M4 carbine along with a stack of six loaded magazines. He now had some serious firepower. A quick check of the weapon proved it was the same as he had used on earth. The carbine was smaller than the full-sized M16s but fired the same 5.56mm round that didn’t necessarily have the greatest stopping power, but it was accurate and deadly.

Each magazine for the rifle held thirty rounds, so he was back in the ranged firepower business. A box of twenty rifle rounds and another of thirty rounds for his pistol was also part of Hugh’s haul. It would still go fast in a firefight, but he felt much better at his chances now that he was reasonably armed. No alien was going to try to take a bite out of him unless they wanted a face full of holes. Another minor healing patch and a personal upgrade patch rounded out his rewards. Slapping on the personal upgrade patch, Hugh was given a system prompt telling him of his latest gains.

Hugh Logan. Physical form enhancements.

Intelligence: 15%.

Perception and vision: 20%.

Physical endurance and strength: 25%.

Cellular regeneration capacity: 100%.

Everything had improved, as expected, and Hugh thought he could start to tell the difference with each upgrade. His body had lost its normal pudgy build and the painful burn on his cheek from the close call with a laser beam seemed to be feeling better. Of course, being in a safe zone bumped your healing rate, but having his baseline healing now double what it normally was would make a difference. His strength was good, but well within the normal range of human ability for someone that worked out regularly.

Intelligence improvements were a bit harder to quantify, how do you know if you get suddenly smarter? It wasn’t like being smarter instantly imparted new data into his memory. He would just have to go with the systems assurance he was smarter, at least until they came upon some challenges that required mental acuity over brute force. Perception and vision were easy enough to measure, the way a target lined up in his sight, and the small details he could pick up about his surroundings were proof enough for Hugh.

“Hugh, here, thank you for your assistance earlier,” Dalven said, handing Hugh a pair of med patches.

“I was glad to help, and I didn’t do it expecting something in return. You’re a friend and we have to help each other out,” Hugh said, trying to hand back the med patches. He felt bad taking them from the Yaelear who was usually much more up close and personal with his fighting and would need them more than Hugh.

“No, as you know, I cannot be indebted to another, allow this to settle the obligation,” Dalven said, refusing to take the med patches back. His race seemed to take their obligations seriously enough to spend precious influence points to join Hugh’s defense of Earth. Hugh would honor the Yaelar’s wishes, but with one small caveat.

“Very well, the debt is settled, but we are friends, and no interest on the debt is necessary,” Hugh said, taking a med patch to replace the one Hugh had used and passing the other back to Dalven. The Yaelar thought for a moment then smiled and nodded, accepting back the extra patch.

“You are right, I consider you a friend as well and I will not expect extra recompense when you are obligated to me,” Dalven said. With that settled, Hugh pulled up his contribution point rewards.

Standard Contribution Rewards:

1. Minor healing patch (3): 5 points.

2. Personal upgrade patch (1): 10 points.

3. Ammunition (5): 1 point. Please note that the quantity of ammunition provided with each purchase will vary based on the weapon selected.

Random Contribution Rewards:

1. Upgrade to a ranged weapon (1): 5 points.

2. Upgraded body armor (1): 10 points.

3. Core reward pack (1): 25 points.

4. Combat drone (1): 50 points.

The standard rewards were still there, but the quantities available were different. He feared that the further they progressed, he might hit a bottleneck on import things like ammo and med patches. As for the random rewards, he had an armor upgrade which replaced the armored uniform option from last time. It looked like he had received the armored uniform as a personal reward, causing that option to be replaced. His weapon upgrade was now for ranged instead of his blade, which was a better fit for how he fought.

Hugh was offered another core reward pack, and he worried that if he didn’t choose it, the option would be removed. Something told him this would be important for the final challenge, so it should be something he prioritized going forward. The combat drone was interesting, and the most expensive option. Could it be some kind of bodyguard? A quick check showed that he had more points available this time with a total of 88. It had been a long battle, and Hugh had taken down a much higher percentage of the enemy this time. The choices were tough, but he had some time to think about it before making a final decision.