I could see right down its gullet, and I couldn't resist the temptation. I pulled the Gazer free of my chest and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. I looked down to find the weapon was a mangled mess. It had been caught between the hammer of the worm's body and an anvil formed from the chest of my Assault Armor. Tier 2 metal, although strong, wasn't up to that kind of abuse.
"Shit, I'm running out of these."
I tossed the useless scrap aside. I'd salvage what I could from it later.
The worm dropped away, returning to the lava below. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. Off to my left and right were closed Union-standard doors. I could only hope that now that I was inside the base, security wouldn't be as lethal. I only needed to make it to the Connector node anyway.
I stood up and examined the sizable dent I'd made in the wall. The metal around me shook as the worm once again slammed its nightmare head into the wall. Teeth deformed the metal as it chewed, attempting to get through to me. I had no idea how it was sensing where I was, but it certainly wasn't giving up.
The drones fired at my mental command, but even firing directly into its gullet didn't seem to harm it much. If the thing had a soft spot, I wasn't seeing it.
The worm fell away again and left the exterior wall in much worse shape than it had been only five minutes ago. I could leave it to continue chewing. Visions of the beast squirming down corridors eating the base from the inside like a worm in an apple filled my head. I needed to kill it, or at least discourage it.
I took an instant inventory of my weapons. I didn't have a lot left. Excalibur at my side—a good tool, but not so useful against a worm that could eat my car. The Gazer was toast. My drones were as useless as the dead Gazer. I cursed myself for forgetting to bring plasma grenades, as I thought maybe tossing a handful down that mouth the next time it came up here would have been productive. I thought maybe not—the amount of plasma in a grenade was nothing compared to that of that turret's bolt and one of those shots hadn't bothered one that much.
That brought me to my last toy, the one I'd been hoping not to use. My last Holemaker. If I needed to blow a secure door or clear some rubble and I didn't have it, I was screwed. I hadn't even brought any more of them with me on the Redemption. I didn't see a choice.
I armed the Holemaker and set a five-second timer. Just enough so that it had a chance to get down in the worm’s gullet before it exploded. I set the charge to half power. That way when it went off it wouldn't take out too much of the surrounding area. Hopefully none, but my little devices had surprised me before. I remembered when I had detonated my first version and accidentally removed almost an entire Connector node, back on Pax.
When the worm slammed into the wall again a moment later, I was ready. I tossed the Holemaker into the gaping maw, aiming for the yawning chasm at the center of the sea of triangular teeth. The jaw snapped closed convulsively—some sort of reflex triggered by the metallic mass of the Holemaker entering the mouth. I flinched backward, expecting instant death, but when the jaws opened again I could see the Holemaker wedged between two rows of teeth. The flat side was pointed straight toward me.
I ran, the timer in my head showing me how few seconds I had to get out of the blast area. I crashed into the closed door with a bang as it refused to open for me. The timer went to zero and a blinding flash behind me obliterated both the worm’s head and a large section of the corridor behind me, as well as the surrounding rock. I'd been a little slow ordering the drones to follow, and one had been caught in the blast; it was now gone without a trace. I ordered the remaining scout and particle beam drone to dock.
Marty spoke up over our shared comms. He had been watching through the drones' sensor feeds and my suit's. He was a good man and knew not to interrupt me when I was fighting for my life.
With the immediate danger passed he spoke. "I just don't understand how you're still alive, Jake. Is this how things usually go for you? I mean, shit, can't you just shoot something? Metra told me what you did back on Pax when you were clearing the refinery. I think you like those bombs a bit too much."
I mean, he wasn't wrong. I did love them. They'd saved my ass a few times now.
"Don't you be trash-talking my Holemakers."
"You're still alive anyway, so that's good."
After my brush with the base defenses and the fight with the worm, the next thirty minutes seemed like a relaxing vacation. Every door was locked down, but a few minutes with Excalibur and I got them open. My Engineering vision mode would show me exactly where the locking mechanism was and it was just a matter of some wrecking bar surgery to make them disengage. Once the mechanisms were trash I pried the door open and continued on.
A few doors later I was at a Connector node. I pulled the Link free from one of my pockets, grateful again for whoever at Krigar had decided to design armored pockets. If the Link had been destroyed our plan would be
