Part 5 - Blood of the King
Chapter 97 - The Factory
Gwen pressed the panel next to Teresa's office. The door hissed open a few seconds later. Teresa raised her eyebrows.
"Aren't you supposed to be in your quarters?"
"I got bored."
"Well, so long as you don't hurt anyone there's no harm in it."
"That's what 'not hurting anyone' means."
"I know."
"I wanted to ask how Stanley is getting on."
"I don't know, and neither does he. He's run hundreds of simulations, but there's no way to test this thing in practice until the time comes."
"How long?"
"A week, maybe. We're not sure."
"I almost gave it away to Max. Fortunately some big gold guy came up to us."
"Moloch; I know. I read your report. Look, Gwen: you don't have to do it. Someone else can."
"You'll notice I'm the only one who volunteered. Don't try and change my mind; I'm too stubborn."
"I know. I'm just worried how Max will react when he finds out."
"Me too, but he'll figure it out. He's smart, and it's not the first time he's lost a parent, or me for that matter."
"Whatever you say, Gwen."
A few hours later, Teresa placed the silver cube, from the crashed Ares, on the table of the briefing room.
"Corbo was a hero to the end. It dumped massive amounts of data onto this: literal zettabytes. It took us a bit of time to sort it out, since it wasn't human-friendly to read. Unless anyone speaks fluent assembly language?"
"We've got things to do, Teresa. Hurry up." Gwen grumbled.
"The intelligence on this cube tells us Khahrahk is still getting more and more Kates. SCP-049 hasn't said or done anything since Max punched it, so where is Khahrahk getting them?"
"You tell us."
"The zoomed in images show most of the Kates seem to hatch from eggs of some form. However, some of those with ten tentacles, the Kate Sergeants as we call them, have a sticker."
"Oh cool. They got the answer right in class or something."
Conall shot Gwen a look, telling her to shut up.
"What's with the stickers?" He asked.
"All of them are labelled 'The Factory'."
Robert nodded slowly.
"It makes sense. 'The grinding machinery of the Factory, who consumed all, leant its mindless strength in blood and steel.' Any ideas, Aether?"
The High Aether nodded slowly.
"It seems likely The Factory would continue its work for the Scarlet King."
"Where is this Factory?" Asked Max.
"According to Foundation data, 9001. However, the Serpent's Hand believed it was multidimensional." Replied Teresa.
"So, what do we do?" Asked Conall.
"We have intelligence Khahrahk is preparing an assault on Bastria. Conall, you and me will stay here. A couple of strike teams will go in with Max and Gwen to blow the place sky high or as much of it as you can."
"Sounds like some personal vengeance." Gwen commented.
"If you want to call it vengeance, go for it. Just make sure the place is trashed."
"I will send the Royal Guard. They are the best Quintari warriors there are." Said the High Aether.
"That's settled then. Good luck."
The Factory was a pretty boring place on first glance. Its exterior was made from old bricks, the door looked like some sort of wood that had resisted the test of time. Over the top of the frame was written the word 'Anderson'. One of the Quintari soldiers tried to force the door open, but it just groaned and didn't budge.
"Must be locked." They said.
Max stepped up and pushed with all his might. The sound of turning gears echoed inside and the door opened just enough for the strike team to squeeze through.
"OK, everyone. Split up and plant as many explosives as you can. Keep your eyes open for Kates. We meet back here in twenty minutes."
The team split up. Gwen, Max and a small group of Quintari set off into the labyrinth. In the distance, there was the sound of machinery thundering away. The odd screech of a Kate echoed through the halls. One of the Quintari soldiers pulled out a device and started scanning.
"The first structural support is straight ahead."
Gwen led the way, slightly crouched with one of her katanas gripped firmly in her hand. Max followed close behind. The team stopped in a room with a pillar at its centre. Gwen took the chance to look at some of the equipment. Most of it looked antiquated, powered by steam or a pedal. She climbed up a walkway and looked into a cylinder from which was rising a column of steam. No heat struck her, much to her surprise. What did hit her was the stench. At the bottom was some sort of filthy pale liquid which was slowly taking the form of a Kate. Her spider sense told her something wasn't right, but looking around everything seemed fine.
"We're ready to move out!" Announced the Quintari who had planted the device.
She led the way, glad to be moving again. She felt like they were being watched. A minute later, they stopped again to plant another charge. This room had different equipment that seemed to be assembling guns. She picked up a completed one and looked it over. There was a sticker on the bottom which read 'The Factory'. Even the gun didn't feel right in this place, despite it looking like a pretty standard weapon. She wondered what they were for, or who they were for. The team moved on, exploring more and more rooms of the building whilst planting more and more charges. Gwen felt more and more on edge the further they went, although the rest of the team seemed just the same. Suddenly, there was a screech from the room ahead. She stopped and looked at the Quintari with the device.
"Is it that room?"
"Yes."
"Buckle up, guys. Things are about to get messy."
She moved through the archway into the next door. Almost at that exact moment, a Kate leapt up onto the walkway. It seemed to be a regular one, sporting only four tentacles instead of the ten of a Sergeant. Gwen darted forward, but skidded to a halt as a grey arm seemed to stretch past her like elastic and grab the abomination. A second ripped its head clean off, although it still stumbled around aimlessly, swiping its tentacles left and right to try and kill its attacker. Gwen ran forward, dropping onto the floor and skidding underneath its flailing appendages, sliding underneath it and stabbing her sword into its belly and cutting along. The Kate fell to the floor and its tentacles went limp. She scrambled back to her feet and stared down at the pool of pale liquid. She still felt uneasy, but it was justified. Her spider sense yelled at her and she just had time to jump to the side as a slimy tentacle shot past and grabbed one of the Quintari. Max tried to get them free, but the Kate Sergeant reeled them in like a fish caught on a line. The other Quintari moved in to try and help, opening fire with energy rifles. The damage seemed to be minimal and just succeeded in annoying the abomination further. More seemed to be attracted by its screams of victory as it tore its catch's head clean off. The way back was closed off by three more. Max noted the blood on their muzzles; they had killed recently. He rolled out of the way of one that charged at him, only to be knocked flat by a tentacle going for his mother. By this point, the way ahead was blocked as well by four more that were butchering the Quintari. Max sprinted down and succeeded in grabbing the detonator for the explosives before running for his life. He didn't look back, but he could hear the snarls and screeches of at least three Kate Sergeants on his heels. He ran and ran until he came to a room with some sort of tank. He rolled underneath it and covered his mouth to muffle his breathing as the Kates entered the chamber. They stopped running and sniffed the air, looking left and right for their prey. Max had a sudden urge to cough, brought on by a smell of rotting flesh. He did his best to fight it, but he couldn't. The Kates snarled as he rolled out and clambered back to his feet on the opposite side of the tank. As he started running, a tentacle smashed straight through it, releasing a foul pool of pale liquid, and grabbing him by the leg. He fell flat on his face sending the detonator flying. He pulled himself towards it as the Kates moved in for the kill. A tentacle rolled him onto his back and he was face-to-face with death. Suddenly, a katana embedded itself in the concrete between him and the Kate which recoiled a little and looked up in time to take Gwen's foot to the face. Her second blade glanced off it, but she sheathed it and wrestled the creature back.
"Go!" She yelled at her son.
Max didn't need told twice. Gwen grabbed her katana embedded in the ground and sliced through the tentacles that tried to grab her. She leapt up and swung after Max. She landed and ran next to him. Suddenly, they were face to face with another of the groups. The Quintari saw the danger and opened fire to no avail. They discarded their weapons, seeing this, and began to fight hand to hand with their stretchy arms. The Kates didn't seem to care about the assault; they circled the group, baring their teeth. Gwen reached for Max's hand. He thought she was trying to hold it for a second, but she just took the detonator and pressed the button. There was a series of bangs that grew louder and louder, echoing throughout the vastness of The Factory. An explosive went off in the room they were in and the roof began to crack. Gwen discarded the detonator and began to run in the direction of the entrance. The Quintari kept fighting in vain. Max began to pummel one of the Kates as the roof collapsed completely burying the other two as well as most of the Quintari. The last one standing used its stretchy arms to climb out of the gaping hole where the roof had been. Max kept hitting the Kate, but a web pulled him away. Gwen dragged him up beside the Quintari. They dodged tentacle swipes until the Kate was well out of range.
The raid was almost a complete failure. Of the entire mile length of The Factory, only a tenth was actually damaged. Gwen surveyed the damage from the Ares which picked them up and sighed, turning to the only other survivors. The Quintari seemed to be meditating, muttering a prayer of some sort. Max looked like he was going to kill someone, but it wasn't clear who or what his anger was aimed at. Hopefully it was just the Kates.
Crossovers in this Chapter
- SCP Foundation