Chapter 9
The drill tore through flesh and ethereal energies alike, destroying not just flesh but the power that animated this biological horror show. While it felt like hours, in truth the whole process took seconds at most.
Why it felt like it took so long was due to the monster's dying act, launching a psychic attack against Simon as he shredded the beast. He was distracted, with everything that had happened today he let his guard down, gritting his teeth as he funneled his spiral energy into the attack. Only for a second, but that was enough.
Then, for a moment everything ceased, the fleshy embrace of the "ship" around him fading away into darkness, filled with endless dots of lights.
Lights that moved with purpose, their sole drive driving them onwards. Lights that clumped together into vast, colorful nebulae, entire formations of stars that moved with one will, one purpose. The vast swarms bent the natural laws of the universe to suit their needs, propelling the stars towards their goal. All for one purpose.
To devour all life.
He saw worlds turned into endless fortifications, walls and tunnels and defenses innumerable, spanning entire continents and designed down to the individual rooms, all built to withstand any siege. Those fortresses fell as easily as the rest. No defense could stand against the swarm.
Great armies, entire planetary populations drafted into the war machine, feebly resisting before they were fed into the digestion pools. Worlds of vibrant life, water or jungle or desert, all was food for the fleet. When life was devoured the planet was cracked open, the warmth of the world's core was the final meal of the feast.
Planet after planet, system after system, species innumerable. Empires that had lasted for eons and races that had just unlocked sentience, all were eaten, fueling the hive fleets towards the next destination.
Simon's view extended, seeing the full size of the swarm. Individual creatures were as insignificant as atoms in a gunman, entire fleets like this died and were reborn as easily as cells in his body. It was not a hive of bugs, such a view was born of the limits of his mind. No, what lesser races called the swarm was a gestalt being, a trillion trillion beings driven by a single, overwhelming will.
That will saw the galaxy before it, spiraling arms around a glowing core. Simon took in the whole view of this galaxy, it resembled his own but twisted to an unrecognizable horror show, including a spot that drew his attention. There was a purplish blot on one of the arms, only it wasn't purple, not precisely. He actually couldn't tell, his gaze kept shifting away from it, unable to focus on the blot for any length of time. There was a peculiar ache whenever he looked at the dot, it was unmistakably the cause.
Around the spiraling arms of the Milky Way, the name Lordgenome gave from Earth's long gone past, the hive extended its reach for millions of light years, forming a maw around its destination. Its intent was simple, its singular purpose driving an endless horde towards this place. No force could stop it, no power could delay the inevitable. All would be devoured, until the last stars went out.
Simon woke up in a pod of some kind, the circular walls opening while he twitched. Groaning, he sat up and brushed off a fit of morning stiffness, looking around the sterile white bay he was in. It looked like a hospital, just with a lot of humming machines and uncomfortable light.
"Wakey, wakey~" and there was his doctor, or nurse? Whichever he was, Leeron glided over with his customary grace, smirking even more than usual as he leaned on the pod. "Had a good nap?"
"Yeah, kind of. Had one of those weird dreams you get after some spicy food." Simon stretched, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Those bugs really thought that would… scare… "Leeron. Where are my clothes?"
"Burned by acid when you killed that bug thing, I had to cut away the rest to make sure you were alright." Leeron had the gall to smirk, flucking his eyes downwards. "Looks like the Gurren's drill has a competitor."
Simon grumbled, fortunately there was a towel in arms reach that he snagged. Luckily for Leeron he didn't push it, standing up to sigh.
"Still, I'm glad you're okay. Viral is going to yell at you, he looked pretty mad when he dragged you in." He shrugged.
"Viral is okay? But… right." Simon tapped his head. He saw the beastmen get stabbed in the arm and brushed it off, of course being melted by acid wouldn't kill him. Now that he was calmer, it made total sense.
"Yep. We were talking about roughing up Lordgenome's head while you were out, so we could pry the details of how he made people immortal out of him, just in case you were seriously injured. Good thing you were just fine." Leeron kept his eyes up top for that, so he doubted he was flirting this time. "Although, what exactly did happen? These sensors detected some unusual brain wave activity while you were out."
"I dunno, I think the bug's hive mind tried to scare me or something." Simon looked around for more clothes. He liked his coat, it suited him well. Shame that it was apparently wrecked. However, seeing his goggles on a stand made him light up, they looked okay. Excellent, he had kept ahold of those things since his digger days, he didn't want to trash them so quickly.
"Scare… right. You know, I was going to wait a bit to say this, but actually, how do I put this…" Leeron rubbed his chin. "That unusual brain activity? Before that the sensors said you got hit by an avalanche of information, enough to fry a billion human minds instantly."
"A billion people? Cmon." Simon rolled his eyes. Team Dai-Gurren was all about doing the impossible, but that many humans was too much of an exaggeration for him to take seriously. "Alright, what is our status?"
"Dayakka will give you the full rundown when you get to the bridge, but the short version? The bug fleet is broken, what's left of them is scattering. We've been trying to pick 'em off, but you know, there are a lot. Right now there is a ship full of refugees in one of the spare hangars, there are a few tens of thousands of them. So far everyone is safe." Leeron paused when Simon stood up, unashamedly enjoying the view as he trudged to a station. Simon found a set of pants and boots, plus a tunic top like his old office outfit, but no jacket. That needed correction.
"So, what do the people look like?" Simon heard a groan behind him as he dressed himself. The things he let that man get away with… being fair he was arguably the most important member of Team Dai-Gurren, had been since the beginning. Gurren would literally not exist without him.
"People, mostly. A lot of them look like pit dwellers, all short and pale and malnourished. A bunch of them have a lot of metal bits on them, like some scrapyard cybernetics." Now Leeron frowned. "They're mostly behaved, but a number of them went crazy when you came onboard."
Simon turned around quickly, seeing him waving his hands.
"Nobody was hurt, only a few tried making a fuss. The rest of them took care of the troublemakers already. Weird thing is that Dayakka didn't announce your arrival, they went nuts on their own." He raised a brow. "Anyway, there are a bunch of unused living quarters in that section of the ship, they're being housed there for now. I'm working on getting those people food and medicine, they need it."
"Good." Simon stood up, and immediately he flinched, feeling like cringing at himself. "What about the crew? Is everyone okay?" How could he forget?
"Oh, yeah. Kittan had a bit of trouble, but the new people rescued him, brought him back here. He's definitely okay." Leeron's smirk returned, he had to cover his mouth to stifle a giggle. "Hehe, Yoko saw to that personally."
"Ah, good. Remind me to thank them later." Simon sighed, shaking off his worry. Right, the crew were all tough, if something was wrong Leeron would have mentioned it. "Where are they now?"
"Resting." Leeron snorted, failing to entirely contain his giggle.
Simon stared for a second, detecting a frown on his face. He was missing something important, probably nothing too concerning… he hoped. Whatever was making Ron laugh had to be embarrassing, rather than anything bad.
"Okay… unless there is something else, I'm going to check in on Dayakka." Simon jabbed a thumb.
"Yes, check in." Leeron kept giggling, struggling to keep himself from cackling.
He was being weird. Weirder than normal…..
Simon half minded to look after Kittan and Yoko himself, but he knew that Leeron wouldn't joke around about something that was actually dangerous. More than likely, Kittan had embarrassed himself before Yoko…. But he had done that before and it didn't set the man quite so off.
He sighed, taking off to the teleporter. It wasn't critical, so it could wait until later. Right now he had to check in with Dayakka, see what the situation was, and deal with the folk from down below. After that, he wasn't entirely sure. Nia was out there somewhere, but where? And where were they?
The teleporter whisked him to the bridge in a flash of light, leaving a sense of disorientation that passed quickly. He rolled his shoulders as the crew looked up from what they were doing to glance at him, flashing relieved smiles. He smiled back, heading to a panel where Dayakka was now slumping against.
"Glad you're back Simon, what you did was pretty dangerous." Dayakka breathed a sigh.
"I'd call it stupid." Turning his head, Simon saw Viral leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, huffing upon meeting his gaze. Despite his sour tone he looked as pleased to see him as everyone else.
"Yeah, not my smartest move. Anyway, Leeron gave me the rundown on the situation. Anything else going on?" Simon rolled his shoulders.
"Nothing new. There are still a ton of bugs on the planet surface, I had the gunners hit the spots where they were concentrated. Thinned the biggest groups, but we'll have to go down there in person to finish the job. Most of the space ones are pulling back, it's clear for the time being." Dayakka waved to Gabal, who put up a holographic map above the bridge showing the planet and the indicated locations. Simon frowned at the red patch covering so much of the planet, those things were going to be a pain to wipe out.
"And the people? Are they okay?" He rubbed his chin, wondering how he was going to destroy the bugs without vaporizing half the planet.
"So far. Seems like they're just happy to be alive." Dayakka flashed a look before he slumped.
"Not just them. Yoko and Kittan are celebrating their survival too." Viral snorted, baring his teeth in a wry smirk.
"Let's not leave it there. Send a message to their leader, I want to meet with them. We need information anyway." Simon directed, sending Viral a weird look. Just what was going on around here?
"On it." A technician coughed and got to work, she was clacking away rather than face him.
Before Simon made up his mind to ask, a holographic pane spring to life above the bridge, showing static before it cleared up. A blonde, regal looking woman visibly stiffened, clearing her throat over the line. Shelving his questions for the moment, Simon devoted his attention to the woman, frowning at how she tried to adjust the camera so her entire top torso was visible, but after a moment of fiddling she gave up and left her head in view.
"Greetings, Lord Supreme Commander Simon. I am Caterina von Hugenbuttom, of House Hugenbuttom. We spoke to each other a short time ago, when you declared that you would assist us. At present I am the acting leader of the survivors of Calim 4." She was beautiful, clearing her throat. "On behalf of my people and my house, I thank you, your excellency, for saving our lives. We owe you a debt of gratitude that we may never be able to repay. The vanquisher of Tyranids may ask of us anything, and we shall gladly obey your directions. My lord." She even bowed, dipping her blonde hair in the frame.
Simon just chuckled, getting a strange look from Hugenbuttom.
"Your excellency?" Past her formal demeanor he saw a flash of worry.
"No, no, not that. Just, what you called me. I'm the Supreme Commander of Team Dai-Gurren, that's it. I am the commander of the humanity of my world, which we assumed were about all the humans there were. Since that's clearly not the case, we gotta do some formal changes but that's it." He waved her concern off. There had even been a small push to coronate him as the new Spiral King, having beaten Lordgenome and all that, but he had refused. As far as he was concerned, Lordgenome's rulership was an example of what he shouldn't do and that went all the way down to the titles. The one and only time Rossiu had suggested that option, he had a long talk about why he wasn't going to consider it.
Besides, the whole coup affair meant his authority came from his team's consent, nothing more.
"Just call me Simon. Simon the Digger." He gave his best attempt at a disarming smile.
The blonde noblewoman covered her mouth, her cheeks darkening from a rather intense blush. Was she alright?
"I… see…" her tone indicated she was feeling anything but understanding.
"Since there's more humans than we thought, we have to rethink the 'all of humanity' part. Unless you're not?" Simon frowned. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he saw since this whole war started.
Hugenbuttom did a double take, starting to scowl before she caught herself. "Ahem. I assure you, we are all humans. If there was a trace of xeno influence in the planetary population it would have been dealt with a long time ago."
Simon did not like how she phrased that, although he considered it was a quirk of the translator. Nonetheless he straightened himself up.
"Regardless, you have my thanks. However, it is with a heavy heart that I must ask for more aid. On behalf of Calim 4, I request that you dispatch your great armies to help us retake our world." Hugenbuttom bowed.
Simon didn't hum or do anything so melodramatic, however, he still frowned. He mentally counted the crew's numbers, subtracting the losses they suffered before appearing here, leaving… twenty gunmen? Plus him and Viral.
He glanced at the display again, showing that almost half the planet was covered by bug icons. They were outnumbered by… he didn't know, a lot didn't seem to cover how bad it was.
"Sure, I'll head down personally. You'll have your planet back soon."