Chapter 62. Frankenstein’s Lab.

  Plasma and laser fire erupted in the station’s cargo hold. The turret mounted laser rifles were accurate, but they were also close and large enough that his MOBS had little trouble hitting them. The automated defenses might have been a shock, but they had a slow rate of fire and were trading about evenly with his MOBS. By the time the fire died down, all twelve of the turrets were smoldering wrecks, and his forces had been reduced by thirteen.

  With reinforcements being printed up, Watkins ordered his surviving troops forward. A pair of large hatches at the far end of the cargo hold led in opposite directions. The station was shaped like a donut so no matter which hatch he chose, they both eventually end up back here. Leaving a small force to cover the other hatch, Watkins chose the hatch to starboard and had his remaining troops continued their assault.

  Just like with the boarding tube, the hatches inside the station had limited, if any, protection against Watkins hacking them. The only delay was due to the fact he needed a drone to physically access the hatch controls. Another pair of drones were arriving in the cargo hold to build defensive positions for the MOBS stationed to defend there. It wouldn’t be the fancy retractable spiked barricades, just simple and quick to build cover.

  With empty power packs replaced by the drones hauling the extra ammo, the assault force moved to the next compartment. As the hatch slid open, Watkins got a look at another empty compartment. As the MOBS moved inside, a pair of turrets dropped from above, laser fire already lancing out at the assault team. One of the MOBS fell but the rest were quick enough to blast the turrets before they could do much damage.

  Watkins ordered one of the drones working on the barricades to start disassembling the least damaged turrets. He wanted that design, and it was worth risking a slower build time on the defenses to get it. The team cleared the empty compartment and were stacked up the next hatchway when a replacement joined them.

  Unlike the previous compartments, the next one was occupied. The inside looked like something from Frankenstein’s lab, not a space station. Rows of gurneys were securely latched to the deck, and on each one was a humanoid figure that was covered by a sheet and strapped to the gurney. As soon as the first MOBS entered the compartment, Carter spoke again over the comm system.

  “Watkins, I can see you and the new fabricator design were successful in generating MOBS from the samples you managed to acquire. Sadly, my resources were a bit more limited, and I had to improvise since I lacked a fabricator as advanced as the one you possessed. To make matters worse, the DNA and samples that I had to work from were tainted, and far too old for me to do much with.”

  Carter stopped for a bit and while some of Watkins’ MOBS covered the compartment for any turrets popping out, one of the drone’s hauling ammo was tasked with removing the sheet from the nearest gurney. The straps holding the body down were reinforced, but the drone’s cutting laser made short work of them. When the drone removed the sheet from the body, Watkins felt revulsion at what was lying before him.

  It was a horrifying mix of man and rat. The verminkin were humanoids with rat-like features, but these things were more like a mad scientists work than a natural evolution like the verminkin seemed to be. The monster had an oversized rat’s head, a hairy torso that had two human legs attached. Both arms were rat limbs, but each was a different length. A cable was connected from the gurney to the back of the creature’s head, but Watkins could only feel a trickle of power flowing through it.

  “Captain Watkins, despite my limitations, I was able, with the AI’s help, to make do with the materials at hand. Later versions were a bit more functional, but the ones stored here were not viable, and couldn’t survive for long without a direct connection to my power. Perhaps they didn’t work as I intended, but they should be sufficient to handle what you’ve brought aboard my station. One final time, Captain, surrender yourself and your ship, or be destroyed,” Carter ordered.

  “I think I know what’s about to happen,” Lani said over their personal connection.

  “I do too, and I’m going to stop it,” Watkins said, ordering his troops to back out of the compartment and set up a defense at the hatchway.

  All at once, power surged to the covered forms, and with a snap, the straps holding them down retracted. The figures rose all at once, each screaming in pain and madness. Some of the voices were animalistic screeches, while others were far too human. As if seeking an outlet for their pain, fear, and anger, the creatures turned toward the open hatchway, and the MOBS gathered there.

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  “You’re free to engage,” Watkins ordered. His team began to fire at the creatures who were staggering to their feet and hobbling toward the halfling MOBS.

  One reached out with a clawed hand and snatched the retreating drone. The drone responded with a cutting laser, shearing off clawed fingers even as the creature’s mouth bit down on the drone, crushing the simple machine with its chisel-like teeth. Plasma fire slammed into the abominations, burning completely through bodies, and shearing off limbs.

  These creatures were like Watkins’ MOBS in one manner, they seemed to ignore horrific injuries in order to continue the fight. A quick count revealed that there were two dozen gurneys in the room, and each had contained a monster. With their slow movements, none were able to reach the hatchway before being cut down.

  Just before the last monster was destroyed, a turret popped down in the center of the room and blasted one of his MOBS before the others could react. Silence reigned in the station as his troops began to move around the destroyed forms, making sure none were about to get back up and resume their attacks.

  “Not that impressive as you can see, but in all fairness, the models stored here didn’t have much time to reactivate and acclimate to their new, wakeful state. The rest of my creations will be in better form when they reach you. I wish I could remember more of my human life, Captain, if I could, I might feel some pity for you. The results would be the same, your destruction, but I might have at least mourned your passing,” Carter taunted.

  Watkins could hear the madness in the former Petty Officer’s voice. Whatever the process was that hauled him to this station, it hadn’t kept his mind as preserved as Watkins’ core had done. He also doubted the station’s AI was as helpful as Lani had been. Without her presence to steady him, Watkins wondered how long it would have taken for him to slip into madness.

  Back in the cargo hold, the unexplored hatchway slid open, and a fresh horde of the creatures was disgorged into the hold. Watkins ordered his troops back to the Canon, firing as they retreated. He would rather have his forces defend from behind the already prepared spiked barricades aboard the ship rather than using the half-completed defenses aboard the station.

  His MOBS ran back to the ship, but the horde flowing into the cargo hold was faster than the previous creatures had been. The troops retreating from their macabre discovery were blocked by dozens of the monsters. Not liking his chances against so many out in the open, Watkins chose several MOBS to remain behind, drawing the creatures to them while the bulk of his forces blasted a hole through the enemy swarm and escaped back aboard the Canon.

  “Should we seal the hatch?” Lani asked as the last MOBS and drone that were going to make it scurried aboard.

  “I think so, we’ll cut loose from the station and then dock again once our numbers are replenished,” Watkins said, activating the hatch.

  “Something’s happening, the hatch isn’t responding,” Lani said. It was true, he could feel the hatch motors working, but the thick, armored hatch wasn’t moving. Watkins felt a burning pain all along the hatch, and when he shifted his view to the external view of his ship, he could see several drones had launched themselves from the surface of the station and were swarming over the retracted hatch. Each of the drones were welding at the hatch, preventing its closure.

  “I’m sealing the ship, we’ll cut loose from the boarding collar,” Watkins said, ordering all internal hatches sealed to preserve some of their atmosphere. It would cause some damage to the boarding collar and make their next attack more difficult as they would have to make repairs to it before using it again, but he wanted no part of allowing the massive horde of creatures aboard.

  From the ruins of the kobold ship that was still docked to the station, five more of the attack drones they had fought earlier appeared. This time, they weren’t just packing the underpowered lasers from earlier, now, each mounted one or two of the rocket boosters to use as a missile. His guns slewed over to target the drones just as the enemy began to fire.

  Point defense rounds chewed through the drones, and a main gun blast tore another to shreds. Still, each of the drones managed to fire its rockets and most got off at least a few laser blasts before being destroyed. Pain hammered into Watkins as two rockets hit the main drives destroying both thrust nozzles. Another hit each of the main guns.

  Two maneuver thrusters and one of the point defense guns were also taken out before the last drone was destroyed. He now lacked the thrust to just tear himself away from the boarding collar. Carter had anticipated his response and had prepared accordingly.

  “Where did they come from?” Lani asked. Watkins passed over the footage of the drones flying out from the dismantled ship. It had been a trap, and Carter had let them think all his external defenses were defeated to lure him in. The fight was on inside the shuttle bay as the monsters started to finally make their way aboard Canon.

  He was going to have to hold off these boarders until he could figure out a way to get his ship clear from the station. There was also the real possibility that Petty Officer Carter had more tricks in store for them, but he had to clear out the boarders before he could worry about other threats, and seeing the numbers arrayed against him, Watkins was beginning to doubt their chances of making it through this.