Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 523: Unlucky Thirteen VI

Ignius was only a few feet from Cain when he pulled back his clawed arm in preparation for an attack that would probably tear Cain into shreds.

"Cain! Move!" The shinobi yelled out. Both K and the Valkyrie were unconscious. The only reason he was not getting up to help was because the wall protrusion was digging into his back. He was not sure how much it would tear out if he just pushed himself off the wall.

"I can’t!" Cain answered, "I need a few more seconds!"

Bang!

A blast of fire smashed through Ignius’ shield and sent him reeling back in surprise from the explosion as Gene stepped forward. Pumping his shotgun as he fired another incendiary round that bounced harmlessly against Ignius’ body.

"Damn!" Gene cursed as he quickly pumped the shotgun again, firing as Ignius marched forward and fired. Destroy the red shielding that appeared and start to load another round into the gun and pump the shotgun when Ignius claws stabbed through Gene’s midsection and he began raising him up into the air. "Aarrghhh!" He screamed as blood began dripping down Ignius’ arm.

"Your team is dead Cain! Your preparations are for naut!" Ignius yelled as his other clawed hand reached for Cain’s body.

"OH FUCK OFF!" Gene yelled as he shakily pulled over the shotgun and fired.

"Aaaahhhhghhzztt-" Ignius screamed so loudly his voice box fritzed out for a moment as the arm that was holding Gene fell to the ground with him. The place where it was attached to Ignius was now broken with a hole where it was a moment earlier.

"Huh..." Gene chuckled as he coughed up blood. "Who knew that the rounds from Cerberus would do so much more damage. Although it broke my arm as well." He mumbled as he coughed a few more times.

"You shit! You are just a fucking meat sack! I will kill-"

Bang!

Ignius’ rant was cut short as he marched back over toward them as another explosion slammed into his back and he spun around to see a person walking through the doors of the room. "You? How?"

—---------------------

Jace grunted in pain as he slammed into a wall. He fell to the ground with a grunt and looked back up. They- or actually the creature was smaller now. But each time it decreased in size it doubled. At this point they were the same height as him but there were ten of these creatures.

As he moved slowly to the side half of them continued to watch him while the other half constantly attacked and tried to tear Ariel to shreds with their faces that split open to reveal a black orb with the parts of the head turning into tendrils with razor sharp teeth.

One of them leaped toward him with its mouth opening up. He quickly drew his modified Pyre and fired into its mouth. There was a burst of black blood as the creature fell to the gorund with a scream. But he was already switching past the creatures that were backing off slightly as their companion’s blood seemed to flow back toward it and shot at General Ariel a few times. Distracting her for only a moment.

{Do you have any idea what you have done?} She demanded in anger as her hammer smashed one to the side. It slammed into one of the pods and cracked it. Ichor began leaking out as alarms began blaring.

Then an automated voice spoke in a language he could not speak. But he was picking up bits and pieces since he has translated the written version before. Then there were the context clues. Which consisted of the rooms only door slamming shut followed by two additional sets of heavily armored doors closing. Then the hidden lights in the room began flashing red as the pod the creature slammed into popped open and released the occupant.

"I am doing my part!" Jace shrugged as he moved back as he read the schematic in his head to try to find what he was looking for. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

{Aaargghh!} General Ariel yelled as a wave of green through back the creatures. Most of them were now focused on her. But one of them was watching Jace, almost like it was that one’s assignment. Maybe now that it had split in multiple parts it was operating with a hive mind.

As he had that thought he noticed the creature flinched. "Ah..." Jace sighed. "It can read minds." As he said that his spectre knife appeared in his free hand and he stabbed at the edge of a metal plate and leveraged it open to reveal a maintenance console.

The moment he saw it the movement in the room froze as all of the creatures turned to him and Jace chuckled nervously. General Ariel looked over at him as well. But then they all turned their attention to the other newly released creature.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!" A scream rocked the room as even the monstrous creatures looked at it in annoyance. Most of them were shaking their heads or bodies like it was painful. Which Jace fully understood since his own eardrums were humming in pain. He glanced at General Ariel who was the only one unaffected, although her power seemed to be fluctuating as she more carefully hit the enemies to open spots that would not open up more tubes.

The creature that had come out was not shaped like anything. It was like a pink blob but the noise was coming out of it. He could just barely see it but there were small spots where it was whistling loudly from.

But it would distract them long enough so he turned his attention back to the panel and began manipulating it. As he did the nearest dark creature turned to him and began running toward him but the rest of the things were still distracted. Almost like the noise was distracting or blocking its ability to control the hivemind or read his mind.

As it jumped up toward him and opened its mouth he fired the rest of his magazine from his Pyre. The bullets destroyed the black eye orb in the center of its mouth causing it to flail in the air. But then the additional bullets tore through its body almost like it was paper and it began dispersing. Tearing the creature into shreds before pulling down on the switch to trigger something he was preparing for and causing the creatures to turn to him and want to attack him.

VOOOMMMM!!!

All of the vents in the room began blasting in cold smoke and frost that filled the room. Making it impossible to see through the thick mist. Well impossible for most. But Jace activated his electric vision and could see the outlines of walls and bodies. He even watched as the blob creatures that were generating that sonic attack froze and began cracking. The super cooling liquid rushing through the vents was turning the temperature to below freezing temperatures.

As he moved to the center of the room he confirmed the other occupants of the pods were still alive. The creature he let loose had gone into a dormant state. He honestly could not tell if it was because of the cold or because of the one that he managed to kill, seemingly permanently.

As he moved forward he froze as he noticed something. General Ariel was still moving but her movements seemed stiff. He walked through the smoke until he was only a few feet in front of her and fully visible. Her armor’s joints were constantly freezing over.

"Oh? Your armor can’t survive in abnormal temperatures?" Jace asked mockingly as he approached her and dematerialized his spectre knife. Then he began reloading his Pyre but as he did he frowned as he noticed the frost build up on it. "Hmm...seems like I can’t use this for now." He holstered his gun.

{You... how did you know... that frost would put them in a dormant state?} General Ariel asked but she seemed to be struggling to speak. {We never even tried that... so how would you?}

Jace frowned under his helmet. "Are your people that stupid? It is a biological organism, almost all of them, unless they are adapted or prepared, will slow down to a dormant state in the cold." Jace explained with a scoff.

{We produce heat. We do not typically encounter the cold. It is not something that is normal in our original galaxy. Even the concept of snow was something we only encountered when we went to another galaxy for the first time.} General Ariel was shocked. {How did you get it to the core of the ship?}

"I moved water through parts of your ship that were exposed to heat like the core turning it into mist or steam. Then I ran that through the parts of the ship that are exposed to space which quickly cooled it and then ran it through the air that should be coming into the room." Jace explained.

{What?} Now she was sounding bewildered.