Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

Did I have a nightmare? He took some deep breaths to slow his racing heart. His display also had a new tab that allowed him to highlight things in motion, probably due to his recent jump in perception stats on hitting level ten. That definitely would be helpful to notice things skulking in the jungle, and enemies trying to flank him. With that and the assistance of the scanning pylons increasing the feedback he had, it would be much more difficult for them to take him by surprise. He berated himself once again for not taking the time to figure out how his stat increases affected his abilities.

Focusing again, the minimap zoomed out, the map shrinking to show more of an overview look. He saw a flickering band of color on the edge of the far reaches of the minimap. Zooming in on this section, he saw multiple dots; yellow, orange and red. So many colors were overlapping that the minimap was solid in some areas. All moving toward the manor from the west. Gus scrambled to get some water and scarf an energy bar—it was going to be a long day. Bursting into the Foundry, he ran down to where finished items were dispensed. The turrets resembled huge footballs with a ring stand. Retractable spikes could be extended from the ring to anchor them.

The upper half of the football appeared to be able to rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees to engage enemies from any direction. Gus froze for a second, trying to figure out how to move the bulky contraptions. Using an ether weave again, he fashioned a smaller basket as he had the day before with higher sides and placed the first turret inside.

It worked! The weave stretched a little and seemed to accommodate the shape of the turret. Encouraged, Gus made five similar cradles out of ether. With a little experimentation, he found that he could move the focus where the basket hung by attaching it to another ether leash. He made short lines and tied the leashes to the blade guard on his naginata and pulled them carefully up and out of the Foundry. Hurrying as fast as he could, he agonized at the time it took to navigate doorways, manage the elevator, and make it outside.

Gus feared damaging the turrets as they clanged against each other like large metal balloons. They also made a loud obnoxious hollow gong noise that got old all too quick when they drifted and hit each other.

Gus racked his brain to decide where the best place would be to station the turrets. As a defense in front of the manor? At the edge of the forest? Spread throughout the trail? He worried if he scattered them, they would be too easy to overwhelm and destroy. He decided to place them as far into the forest as he could manage, all together so that they would protect each other. Checking his display, he estimated that he could make it about a third of the way down the trail, near where he was ambushed before. He hoped he had time to set everything up.

Exiting the manor at last, he attempted a short dash. The cacophony of clanging turrets hitting each other stopped him from making another attempt. He ran as fast as he could, removing the leashes from the naginata and holding three tethers in each hand in an attempt to fan them out and keep them from slamming together. This didn’t work as well as he thought, until he came upon the idea of connecting them in a long centipede-esque train. The resulting silence was a balm on his weary ears. He found with this configuration he could even use Dash again. Constantly checking his minimap, he rapidly approached where he would make his stand.

He was grateful he had the foresight of clearing out the encroaching foliage from the path or he could have been caught up multiple times on his flight. At last, he was there and he began removing the turrets and setting them up, fumbling a bit in his haste. One in the middle of the trail, two more ahead and to the side. Gus spread the turrets six feet apart. He ended up with two staggered rows, hoping the close proximity would allow the turrets to protect each other.

Gus activated the first one; three anchors shot into the ground and secured it. A small display was visible on a tiny panel, along with a red light that winked to green, just as the sensors had. Once green, Gus was accepted as a friendly, and using the display, he dragged a box to designate the attack zone for the turrets.

They would target anything entering that zone, and numerous multicolored lights were fast approaching the area on the minimap. Confirming his choice, the turrets spun to life. Out of the top of the football, two panels slid down, revealing two gun barrels. Everything was happening too fast. He needed more time! Gus wondered what kind of ammunition the turrets used, and how long they would last in the coming onslaught.

Gus again tried to strategize where he would best be placed in relation to the turrets to maximize his efficacy. Was behind better, letting the turrets do most of the work, then he could support them if one, in particular, was attacked? Or was it better to be in front, since the turrets recognized him as friendly and he could take down the less dangerous Shamblers so ammunition would not be wasted on them?

“Nick, can you configure the turrets to aim at heads only and not waste ammunition on other body parts?”

“On it…” Nick said dutifully, “…and done.”

“What about selectively focusing on Mantids unless there are Shamblers that get within a certain distance, say, ten feet?”

“Easy peasy.”

Gus decided he would head forward, keeping his minimap at its widest scan range. That was probably how the Mantids ambushed him that one