Alpha Strike: [An interstellar Weapon Platform’s Guide to being a Dungeon Core] (Book 2 title)

With most of the surrounding flock incapacitated and the rest cut off by the spatial anomaly, Alpha found the rest of the fight quite relaxing. He reprinted the Tri-horn while retaining a smaller harpy tower near the back to peg any of the recovered penguins and harass the giant one. It was less effective than the full-sized versions, but it was enough to know it worked.

With Alpha no longer hindered and weighted down by the smaller penguins and the giant penguin stunned by the [USW-Harpy], the fight turned from a slogging stalemate to a one-sided beat-down. The giant penguin's smooth, metallic coat turned ragged and blooded under a constant barrage of unguarded pile bunker blows. It attempted to gain distance or defend several times, but whenever it recovered, Alpha would hit it would a directed blast of ultrasonic sound.

It seemed the creatures in this area were highly susceptible to such tactics. Alpha doubted it would be this easy everywhere, but he would definitely cheese it while it lasted. Another blow from the smaller pile bunkers threw the giant penguin's guard wide, and Alpha saw the opening he'd been waiting for. The TAWP slid into place directly in front of the target with one smooth motion.

The Tri-horn roared to life. Then, with a sonic boom, it shot forward. The primary pile bunker struck the giant penguin square in the chest. The sound of thunder the blow produced was loud enough to rival the harpy, and the giant penguin folded against the massive metal spike. It hung there for what felt like a split second. Its eyes bulged, and a spray of blood escaped its beak, painting the front of the Tri-horn red.

Then it was gone, the force of the blow sending it tumbling across the battlefield. The giant penguin shot across the battlefield, tumbling several times a second, drawing ever closer to the shifting bubble surrounding them. However, to Alpha's disappointment, several large stone pillars appeared along the creature's path. How it was even alive after a blow like that, let alone mindful enough to arrest its momentum, Alpha didn't know.

It broke through a dozen stone pillars as thick as the giant penguin and stopped only a few feet away from the edge of the anomaly. Alpha tsk in annoyance.

Though that turned into a mental grin soon after. The giant penguin's last roll had stopped it just short of entering the anomaly fully, but its right flipper fell through the threshold. The giant penguin screamed as it pulled away, clutching its right flipper. Almost three-fourths of the flipper was covered in the same pearlescent sheen. The flipper twisted and warped in the same way the other penguins had, as the surrounding space was more liquid than space.

The creature even attempted to remove the sheen by wiping it off on the remains of a stone pillar, to no effect. It clung to the flipper like stubborn oil in a frying pan. The sheen didn't seem transferable in that way. That was good to know.

Alpha figure now was as good of a time as any to end things, so he approached the downed penguin, a few precise turret shots into open wounds stopping its attempt to crawl away. It flipped on its back and stared up at Alpha, the look in its eyes needing no translation. Anger and hatred were universal. It covered the gaping, bleeding wound in the middle of its chest with its remaining good flipper. A thin plate of rough, red-brown iron materialized from thin air and covered the wound, preventing the creature from bleeding out. Now that was interesting.

Alpha still hadn't gotten used to the magic bullcrap this place seemed to run on. How had it done that? Was the soil in this area particularly iron-rich? Or it might have pulled the iron directly from its own blood. Sure, it was just a thin "bandage," but how much was there to start with, to pull something like that off? No matter, Alpha would have all the time he needed to learn more once it was dead.

As Alpha drew near, the creature spoke. Of course, Alpha didn't understand a word of it. He still needed to finish the lexicon he started with the chicken, and this seemed to be a distinct language compared to it. That confirmed the giant penguin was a sapient, at least. Given the obvious intelligence it had shown, Alpha had suspected it might be.

That didn't much matter, though; an enemy was an enemy, sapient or not, was just another target.

Alpha ignored the creature's words and positioned the Tri-horn to deliver the last blow.

Before he could pull the trigger, though, the creature grinned as its gaze snapped to the side and yelled out. Alpha followed its gaze just in time to see the smaller penguin that Snowball had been fighting erupt from the ground near the human at the center of the anomaly.

The humans, too, noticed but were too slow to react. Or so it seemed; at that moment, the grass itself reached out and wrapped around the leaping penguin, pulling it off course.

It wasn't enough to stop the attack, but the slicing fin intending to decapitate cut across the young man's chest instead. The human flew back from the glowing center, a deep gash from his right collarbone to his left hip spewing blood. The young man rolled a few times, stopping on his back. His companion rushed to his side on a hobbled leg.

As if cut off from its power, the glowing center of the anomaly started to flicker and die. Then, in one moment to the next, the bubble "popped." Alarm bells went off in Alpha's mind as he turned his attention back to the giant penguin.

Only to find it already sinking through the ground, still grinning at him. Alpha pulled the trigger, and all three pile bunkers whirled to life, striking down at the half-sunk penguin. They slammed into the ground with an earth-shaking boom, forming a crater almost as wide as the TAWP.

But it was too late. Besides a few drops of blood, the penguin was nowhere to be seen. Alpha screamed into the nether, pulling back the Tri-horn and hit the ground again, deepening the crater.

"You've got to be kidding me!!!"

He'd let himself get overconfident, distracted, and taken his eyes off the enemy. He knew these creatures could travel through the ground. It had been a rookie mistake, and Alpha knew it. What the hell was going on with him?

Alpha pulled his attention back from his mistake and refocused on the present. The large penguin might have escaped, but they weren't out of the water. When the bubble dropped, it revealed the rest of the flock had gathered around them in numbers. If the nearly 200 warped, twisted bodies surrounding them in a circle were any sign, they had been throwing themselves at the anomaly, trying to pierce through.

When the giant penguin escaped, most of the flock also turned and fled, though a few stragglers tried their luck with the injured humans. Some quick turret fire solved that problem, and Alpha walked toward the small group.

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Ganbaatar wasn't sure if he was in shock from blood loss and exhaustion or if the day's events had overwhelmed him. First had come the ambush, then the run for their lives. After that, they realized they couldn't lead the Beast Lord back to the village, and he resigned that if he was going to die, he'd die fighting, not like a coward with his back turned to the enemy.

It had been a good choice, one he could hold his head high at in the afterlife. Even so, as Junior lept at him to deliver the final blow, Gan felt some regret.

He never told Zolzaya how he felt or mastered the Slatewalker footwork like he'd always bragged that he would one day. He hadn't told his parents or his annoying little sister how much he really loved them before they left that day.

More than anything, though, he regretted his weakness and inability to do anything against such overwhelming forces like the Beast Lord.

He couldn't even win against its knock-off mini-me! If he could have just held on for a little longer and fought a little harder, Yutu could have finished his array, and their friends might have had a slim chance of escaping.

But the tooth-filled maw hurdling toward him had spelled the end to that hope. Or it should have.

Instead, Gan had been snatched from the jaws of death by an unexpected miracle, a small Akh'lut pup that appeared from nowhere. One that was followed by some massive metal beetle creature that attacked the Beast Lord.

Dying hope suddenly rekindled, and Gan felt hot tears roll down his cheek. The battle that followed was one he'd remember for the rest of his life, regardless of how long that might be.

The Titans in the background were so far beyond anything he'd ever seen that Gan, once proud of his strength, felt tiny in comparison, like an ant watching sword masters duel. Even the smaller battle in front of him made Gan flush. To the untrained eye, the battle between Junior and the small Akh'lut would seem like the frantic tussle of two wild animals, but Gan could see more.

Both combatants were survivors, hardened by countless battles and the struggle to survive in this hard world. Each bite, each strike, was calculated and purposeful. Each blow taken was done with the assurance that they could return two more. Gan had watched from the sideline, knowing he wasn't qualified to join either battle, and felt shame.

At that moment, Gan promised himself that if they made it out of this, if he survived, that next time he wouldn't have to stand on the sidelines and watch others fight his battle for him.

Both battles quickly fell into a stalemate, with neither side showing any sign of ending soon. Gan might have been crippled, but with most of the flock's attention on the titans, he could still defend himself and Yutu from the few odd penguins who tried their luck. That was a good thing, too, as it was Yutu who tipped the scales of the battle in their favor.

The activated array was unlike any Gan had ever seen. He was a trapper of Slatewalker village, too; he'd seen the arrays the other trappers used, even if he worked best with physical traps. This… wasn't one of them. It wasn't even close.

First, it was far more powerful than the simple arrays typically used. Most of those involved building cages or hardening the earth to prevent escape. The stronger ones could even wrap their target in ribbons of energy, completely immobilizing them (as long as they couldn't break free). Gan had never heard of this one, though.

Not only that, but it felt… strange to Gan's senses. He only had minor training in arrays before he decided they weren't for him, but even he could tell there was something off about the array Yutu had made. It wasn't "broken" per se, like an improperly designed array would be.

Rather, it felt bent, for lack of a better word, like the original idea had been twisted into a new shape but still kept its identity. Gan hadn't the slightest clue how that was possible, but one thing was for sure: it had been effective.

The array had cut off much of the flock, reducing the pressure on the rest of them, as no more reinforcements could cross the barrier. Those that remained were quickly dealt with when the metal beetle started screaming.

The sonic attack brought both Gan and Yutu to their knees, but the Grassbreakers suffered far worse. It had long been known in the Radiant Seas that sound was an effective deterrent for many of the wildlife found therein. Some larger cities even used a similar technique to repel beast hordes or corral them for culling.

The beetle's attack had been just as effective as those large cities. The surrounding flock collapsed, most falling over where they stood, some knocked out, and others died on their feet. Many rushed the array barrier to… horrific effect. The battle between the Akh'lut pup and Junior halted, both writhing in pain before escaping underground.

After what felt like an eternity, the sound stopped. The next moment, the beetle struck Kusanagi with those massive horns that seemed to appear and disappear at will. Gan couldn't hear the blow, his ears still ringing, but he could feel it in his bones. Just the force of the shockwave alone had nearly sent him tumbling.

Gan righted himself, and by the time he could hear again, the beetle stood tall over the bloody and battered Beast Lord. Gan almost felt like cheering at the sight. They'd done it! But Kusanagi wasn't one to go down without the last word. As he spoke, he used his proper voice, a harsh and grating thing that reminded Gan of a broken bird song, not the smooth sound of his [Spirit Voice].

"You think you've won?! You think I'll be beaten by some Akh'lut dog?! No. I refuse. I deny you, do you hear me?! The Grasscutters will NOT go quietly into the night! BOY! DO IT!"

It took Gan a moment to realize who the Beast Lord was speaking to, and by then, it was too late. Junior catapulted from the earth, rocketing toward Yutu, its flippers gleaming a vicious metallic color. Gan's heart sank in his chest as time seemed to slow to a crawl. He desperately tried to push himself to make it in time, but from the start, he knew he wouldn't. He was missing a leg, totally out of Spirit energy, and too far away to do anything.

If the look in Yutu's eyes, as he watched Junior fly toward him, said anything, he knew that too. Yutu's open mouth slowly formed into a sad smile as he turned toward Gan. Gan reached out in desperation as a cry escaped his lips.

"No!"

Someone, anyone, anything, please! Help!

Then, to his surprise, he got an answer.

Something Gan couldn't describe 'pulsed' in his chest. It wasn't Spirit energy; he knew that much. He was as dry as a bone. Yet he could still feel it, nonetheless. It swept from him, carrying his plea for help, and flowed into the surrounding prairie grass. As if it had suddenly gained a mind of its own, the grass reached up and wrapped itself around the flying junior. Then, with a tug, the beast's trajectory changed from a killing blow to a mortal one. Good, but not good enough.

Time seemed to speed back up, and Gan rushed to Yutu's side, cradling the dying man in his arms as he tried to stem blood flow from the wound. Gan poured the small amount of medical powder he had on the wound, but it wasn't enough.

As he looked at his dying friend, something dark and raging filled Gan's mind. Slowly, his gaze turned to the struggling form of Junior, still wrapped in grass. Gan's face turned to stone as he reached again for that strange power in his chest. It rebelled at first, but Gan pressed on and forced it. Once more, it swept out of him, filled with all his anger, fear, and frustration.

The grass soaked it up just as before and again moved. The grass wrapping, Junior started tightening and twisting slowly, and the penguin's struggles magnified. It was no use, however; soon, it was a wiggling grass cocoon. The grass continued to tighten and tighten until, finally, something gave. Then, with one swift motion, the grass cocoon violently twisted several times as it further compressed alongside the sound of breaking bones.

A few seconds later, dark red blood began seeping through the minute gaps, staining it blood red.

The gentle laps of the Akh'lut pup's tongue against his cheek broke Gan's eyes away from the bleeding grass.

When he turned to look, he saw both the Akh'lut and her gargantuan protector staring down at him.