Chapter 104

Swarmy With a Hint of Elder Horror

Waiting. The number one pastime of all soldiers.

We were of course waiting for enemy forces to begin spawning in the spatial rifts that were forming all around us. For those without enhanced senses and sensitivities to magic and psychic resonances there were instruments. Instruments that showed the ever-increasing bulges formed from pocket dimensional rifts, that were forming all around us.

There were sub-channels where people were conversing about the ever-increasing size and scope of the pocket dimensional rifts.

As for me I didn’t need the instruments, nor the sub-channels to realize we were screwed.

I avoided the sub-channels, instead focusing solely on the main communications channel that all ships had to be patched to. For a ship to be patched to more than one channel was simple, if a bit jarring when trying to figure out how important words being spoken were. That was partly why I chose to keep just the one channel that was blessedly free of chatter on.

Silence.

There were just the three of us, waiting.

As for me, and why I wasn’t talking. Well, the problem was I had too much and too little to say all at once. I wanted to tell my Jess everything I learned. About how she would need to sacrifice herself normally, but she already seemed to be aware of that. It also seemed that she was, I don’t really know, maybe accepting of that fate? At least that was the reason I thought my Jess was silent. As for the other Jess, I couldn’t quite understand her silence.

When I looked at her, I saw her eyes glowing, meaning she was doing something with one of her visionary powers.

The fact that she was at that aspect for so long was a bit concerning. Finally, I broke down and decided to ask her once she was done with a particularly long vision.

“Are our chances of success that bad?” I ask.

Alien Jess pauses, then looks to me with confusion. I can see her pause for a second, then look away.

“What is it?” I ask.

“We can easily win, here. In this universe. The only problem is after this when we go to my universe. There we are successful, but it…” She trails off as her jaw trembles slightly.

“But you die in the process?” I ask, addressing the elephant in the room.

She nods.

“Every time. See mine is a major Behemoth, much like the other one we fought.” Alien Jess said, her voice cracking.

“Would the necklace work on it?” I ask, while patting at the device that is under my space suit.

“It can and does. But that would mean sacrificing your Jess to save me.” Alien Jess states.

Finally, my Jess asks a question.

“Have you seen what happens when the three of us combine our powers?”

“What? Like Major Planet?” I ask.

“Huh?” The two say in unison. Clearly not catching my amazing reference.

My Jess is the first to recover. “No, well anyways.” She says speaking past me, as if I am now no longer allowed in the conversation. Then she begins speaking solely to Alien Jess, “what if we combine our powers. From what we were told. We are magnifiers for his power, right? So, what happens if we both share the load? You know, only focus half the power. Wouldn’t that be enough to survive this?”

There is a pause, before Alien Jess says. “I don’t know. I don’t think…”

But I cut her off. “I know for a fact you channeled part of the energy when we fought that one Arcane Behemoth.”

“Yeah, I nearly died.” Alien Jess says, trembling slightly at the memory.

“You had a tentacle through your spine and torso and still managed to survive, even while casting. I think that is pretty good.” I added.

There is a quick moment of silence, as I let Alien Jess collect her thoughts. Then just as she turns to me to say something.

Static click.

There is the sound of someone turning on the main communications channel.

“We have breaches appearing now. Stay in formation and don’t get overwhelmed.” General Fellina said.

With that I begin moving into formation.

“I still don’t see how she can command both the ground and space troops as a General?” My Jess asks.

“That’s because she is an Endarian. The ranking of General is just what we mentally assign to her, as that is what the first humans who interacted with her interpreted her rank to be. The Endarians are a space faring race, thus they only have one ranking system. So, her rank can be thought of more as a universal rank than anything.”

With that my Jess nodded her head in silent contemplation.

There could have been more, but we were already firing. Well, the Jesses were firing, while I was directing us towards the center of the swarm before stopping our forward momentum with reverse thrusters. Then with the enemy right before us, I unleashed my newly enhanced Psychic Powers.

Mind Rend-X.

There was a wave of death, as the tiny tennis ball sized monsters flew forward, into my range then immediately lost focus and began spiraling out of control.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

There was an automatic teller type voice that rang out, letting us know we killed a Prolaxian.

“Gods that is annoying.” I said.

“What is?”

“Him taking all the kills?” Alien Jess quipped.

“No, that automated voice letting us know we gained certs. Don’t you all hear that?” I ask, as I focus my mind on killing more and more of the monsters.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

“Oh that is likely something the General set up, to remind people to spend their certs as they get them.” My Jess chimes in.

“Oh yeah, I remember the speech.” I added.

“You remember the speech, but are you acting on her orders?” Alien Jess states as she fires angrily at the masses of bodies that are piling up in front of us. With each blast from the larger turret, the membranes that had been holding the monsters together erupts and clears up before us.

After a while there is just a stream of slimy liquid that begins to grow before us. Of course, the other Prolaxians have no qualms about going through the floating space guts and fluids of their fallen comrades. Instead, they just continue to charge forward and an alarming rate.

Still, we are not the only ones firing and reacting. More and more ships are firing at new rift locations as they appear.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

“Well, are you going to spend those certs?” Alien Jess asks, a bit of annoyance in her tone.

“What? Why?” I ask.

“You are already at over one hundred certs.” Alien Jess prompted.

“So?” I ask.

“So, as the only one of us that can level, you need to use these as quickly as possible, before our collection chamber fills up.” My Jess states.

“Oh.” That’s right, my Jess is still getting indoctrinated into the system, while Alien Jess just got here a few days ago. Right? I have no clue, this whole-time loop thing is really starting to have a bleed effect in my mind.

I decide to try to split my consciousness. I continue to use Mind Rend-X, while also accessing the certs from our hull.

Cert applied. Cert applied.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Yeah, it is an annoying process.

I of course put all my certs towards my newest class, my Spiritual Augmentationist class. Being at level 1, it levels up quickly. With just 55 certs I am at level 10. With just 145 more, or a total of 200 certs, I am at level 21. This of course is enough for me to have seven Free Attribute points. All of which go towards my Spirit. This of course has a compounding effect of improving my Power and other attributes, while also increasing my effectiveness of the powers I am using.

I should feel tired, at least that is what I tell myself. But since my spirit attribute now directly increases my Endurance, I keep feeling more and more energetic.

For the sake of combat, I don’t even use my Physical Attribute Boost. The way I see it, such a spell would just be a waste. For this first phase of combat, we are effectively mobile turrets that are meant to easily cut down the advancing monsters.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied.

Of course once the Prolaxians start getting larger and breaking the lines of containment we will of course begin basic actions, but for now. This part, there are only the smallest of monsters that can break through the various rifts all around us.

I notice that I get two certs per kill. I almost wonder why, then I guess it has something to do with one cert for killing the main moving monster, then a second one for also killing the regenerative sac they all have inside.

Honestly, I’m surprised it took me so long to get to that answer, though to my defense I was slightly busy.

We apparently have a small hull for a combat vessel of our size. The hull can only hold about five hundred certs or so, before it is full. That is why Alien Jess is particularly aggressive about getting me to spend the certs when they appear.

Fortunately, after the first few lower levels, the climb up in levels begins to slow. At least it started to slow, with killing just the smaller monsters. Right at the point where everyone was beginning to let their guards down at the repetitive nature of killing every monster that appeared. The larger monsters came.

I didn’t even notice them really. All I saw was an alien mind appear, then I squished.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied.

The only real way I would have noticed was the fact that my cert count increased slightly. Now I gained three certs per kill, versus two.

“Look alive people.” General Fellina demanded.

I looked around but saw nothing.

“What?” I asked.

“The other lines are having a hard time keeping up with the more powerful Prolaxians.” My Jess explained.

“Oh.” Was all I managed to add to that observation.

Still, it was a long slow grind.

“Fall back. Retreat to the western lines.” General Fellina shouted over the command channel.

“What why? Where do we go?” I asked.

“Relax, they are coming here.” My Jess said, still listening in on the different channels in her helmet.

“Oh, are they saying things on the sub-channels?” I ask mildly curious.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied.

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Chime: “Cert gained.”

Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied.

“Yes, they are saying they are having a hard time keeping up with the surging numbers of Prolaxians. That is why the general has them falling in to provide cover for us.” My Jess states, then pauses. “You are listening to the channels, right?”

“No, why?”

“There is a special officer channel that you are supposed to be part of.” Jess states, annoyance seeping deeply into her voice.

“Oh.” Is all I manage.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Are you going to join the channel?”

“You need to clear up the certs in the hull. Look if you don’t move quickly, they will start cluttering up our hull.” Alien Jess cuts in.

During our exchange I had been continuing to kill the larger and larger versions of Prolaxians that had come through the rifts, but I was not able to continue to apply them as quickly as I was earning them.

“Right.”

Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied. Cert applied.

There was a lot of certs being applied. Before I knew it, I had power leveled my way to level 51 in my third class. That meant ten more free attribute points that went to Spirit. Now my base Spirit was at 27, meaning after my title was applied, it was all the way up to 45. Meaning I was now even more powerful than before. I must admit this class, would have been terrible, if it was my only class, but as an auxiliary class, it was amazing. Then again, I kind of give myself a duh, moment when I realize that was exactly what the class was called, an auxiliary class.

I was about to contemplate how I wanted to apply my levels from here on out. From my understanding the levels didn’t really matter towards the class. The levels just gave Free Attributes and increased attribute limits. I was so lost in my thoughts, that I almost missed the moment the General began screaming orders once more.

“Take evasive maneuvers!”

“What?” I asked. But I instantly began moving with my formation conducting a massive arcing glide to the right. Why to the right? I don’t know, that was just the way I saw the rest of my wing breaking. Shouldn’t they be forming on me? Why yes, yes, they should. But I apparently was one of the last to react to the orders.

“What is going on?” I ask.

“Lieutenants have appeared. They are too much for the others.” Jess states, clearly still patched into everything that is happening all around us. This is good because I’ve just been on tunnel vision all this time.

“You need to apply certs faster. The certs per kill is increasing exponentially now.” Alien Jess demands. Then I hear the distinct sound of a metallic disk sliding over the floor.

Shit.

I am definitely not applying these certs fast enough. Worse, they just keep coming in.

“Each Lieutenant is producing 100 certs per kill.” Alien Jess notes.

Wow, that is two levels. Well almost two levels a kill. At least for now, that is very good. I decided to do a round robin. Three levels to one class, then three to the next, and three to the last. For whatever reason I start with my Mage class first, but I think that is mostly due to it showing up first.

“You are able to kill them, with just your mind?” Alien Jess asks, suddenly confused as I keep killing more and more of the monsters.

The only problem is that this is like the never ending game of whack-a-mole where you hit the jackpot, and the tickets don’t stop coming, but you need to go, but there are more fun tickets that you can turn in for a cheap prize. Each hit feels like it is a whack a mole hit, that produces a jackpot reward. Still more of the annoying bald humanoid Prolaxians come, and the more I try to destroy them. There are just so many of them.

“Goldman, cover our retreat as we shift location to gain more sunlight.” General Fellina states.

“What?” I ask, turning my head slightly to Jess.

“The other ships are running low on energy and need to get closer to the sun to recharge faster. The only problem is, they don’t even have enough energy to provide retreating fire.” Jess states.

I am about to ask why again when Alien Jess cuts in. “We have more energy because you have been hogging all the kills. Thus, we haven’t had to fire anything, which means other than our slight movements and life support filters, we haven’t used much energy. The only problem is that now that there are so many bodies in the space around us, many of the other ships cannot charge due to low light levels.”

“Oh.”

“Also, can you please get rid of these certs. They aren’t poisonous.” Alien Jess states with an annoyed hiss.

“Yeah, kill all the monsters, provide cover fire, eat your certs, they are good for you. You need to protect our retreat. Eat your certs faster. Save us from the end times, we are counting on you, but we will leave you behind to cover our retreat.” I say, as I begin piloting us backwards.

Yes, piloting in reverse, so we can cover the regrouping maneuvers being performed by the other groups.

Only now do I realize maybe that sun class that was available, might have been worth looking into a bit more. I think about it for a second, then instantly shake off that idea. I think for now, I have one of the best combination of classes. Sure, the sun class would have been a neat party trick, but then what? I would only be invited on places as a last-ditch power supply and nothing more. No, this was probably for the best.

“Are you okay?” Jess asks.

I blink, realizing I had been losing focus for a bit. Even my thoughts were beginning to ramble about class selection. Who second guesses their build after the fact? Also, other than me, who gets a chance to improve their overall build? No one, that is who.

Finally, after a long pause, I give a slight shake of my head and answer. “Yeah, why?”

“Because you overshot our destination point?” Alien Jess pointed out, then showed that I had in fact gone for slightly too high of a reversing angle.

“You know, maybe I am getting a bit tired.” I finally admitted.

“Do you need to rest?” Jess asked, fear clearly evident on her face.

I wanted to refuse, but then realize closing my eyes for a second might be exactly what I needed. I am about to say so when I am cut off.

“We have confirmed sightings of the Behemoth!” General Fellina shouts.

Then, just like that, I realized this was going to be an exceptionally long day.