Dragon deez nuts lmao gottem.

  -Anonymous, 2026

  The Antithesis that loomed before us was as big as a city bus, if not bigger, and each of its four clawed legs alone could have crushed a person flat. It didn’t have any plating like the Model Six, but the skin itself had a particular scaly texture to it that reminded me of low grit sandpaper. The head of the beast was my main focus though, as I could just about make out the look of dagger length serrated teeth, rows going several layers deep into the mouth.

  My mouth moved before my brain. “Is…is that a dragon?”

  That would be the Model Twenty-Three, specifically the K-variant found on mountainous planets. As a human frame of reference, the similarity of its body shape and hide would make it most equivalent to the Komodo Dragon found in Asia, although the Twenty-Three’s ability to scale and traverse more treacherous terrain is vastly superior.

  Cal’s impromptu lecture was rudely interrupted by its subject, which charged forward with reckless abandon towards us. I had to literally tackle Rudy out of the way, sending us both into the dirt as the Twenty-Three smashed directly into the wall, causing the entire cavern to shudder under the force.

  “I’ll take care of the lizard, keep the small fries off of me!” I barked out, pushing myself to my feet lightning fast and immediately sprinting towards the Antithesis. I didn’t wait for a response from Rudy; the longer that Twenty-Three was alive, the more at risk we were of the entire situation slipping out of control.

  As soon as I fell in range, I threw a punch directly at the beast’s tail, it still recovering briefly from the impact into the wall. Fist glowing silver, the payload struck true and…did absolutely nothing to the lizard. The bit of flesh I hit did jostle a little in response, but with the dull thump being the only other reaction, hitting a sandbag with a roll of toilet paper would probably produce a greater effect than the attack I just threw out.

  “Uh oh.”

  The tail of the Twenty-Three smashed directly into my midsection and threw me across the room, somehow managing to not hit a wall and instead landing in one of the tunnels on the opposite side of the room. If the Thirteen’s attack had hurt, the Twenty-Three’s was agony, and this time I was sure I had broken something. That wasn’t even a true attack really, just a simple get off me maneuver, and it had already dealt that much damage. Really should have taken up some of those suggestions for compact armor if it wasn’t such a bitch to store. Or maybe I was just being a nag about it.

  Luckily the Twenty-Three kept its focus on me and me alone based on how it pursued me down the tunnel with a ghastly murderous stare, probably because the nasty was surprised I could even hurt it, no matter how menial. That doesn’t sound like much of a plus, but I wasn’t about to have another dangerous model sneak away while I was preoccupied. I had decent confidence that Rudy could deal with anything in the teens, but if I was having trouble fighting this overgrown iguana then this fight would be completely above his pay grade.

  The game of cat and mouse that ensued was a tricky one, as I had to make sure I wasn’t close enough to get turned into a splatter while not stray too far down the line, else the Twenty-Three may decide to reprioritize towards the other Samurai fighting for their life. In the meantime, I was trying to find a way to actually kill the blasted thing. “Cal, I need options here.”

  The biggest hurdle to overcome is the hide. The Twenty-Three-K’s skin is constructed in such a way that blows are dispersed harmlessly across the surface, somewhat like the Model Six, just far more advanced in its structure. This hide is especially resistant to blunt force trauma, be that explosive, melee weapons like hammers, and, as you saw, your punches. To be frank, this specific variant is approaching durability found in the late Twenties if not Thirties, so it's no wonder that your gauntlets prove ineffective.

  "Thirties? Think that might be a bit above me here."

  Specific emphasis is placed on the word 'approaching'. It's tough, but still able to be reasonably dealt with using Class II Catalogs. Your choice of weaponry is just poorly suited.

  “Well, I don’t have much else aside from my friends Left and Right here, so we better find another solution fast,” I said, back dashing out of the way of a nasty lunge that surely would have snapped me in two had it landed.

  There are a few options in your Kinetic Melee Weaponry Catalog that could break through the skin, which will make killing the model feasible, but they would require a bit of assistance to achieve such effects. Namely on your end, we would need to drop onto the Twenty-Three during the attack from a height of at least 68.4 feet if my calculations are correct.

  I had no reason to doubt his calculations, but I was quick to point out the actual big problem with that plan. “Not sure if you notice, but we’re currently underground and I seriously doubt lizard-breath here will give me the chance to excavate a way out.

  I was getting to that. This hive is likely founded within an abandoned mine system, far older than the one we entered through, so there is a high chance of a way back to the surface. To do so, you’ll need to buy a specific type of drone to find a way out.

  “Cool, do it.”

  The drone in particular is placed within the Class I Basic Sensor Drones Catalog, and it will cost you-

  “Cal, I don’t have time to deliberate on this,” I barked out, just barely managing to dodge another snap of the dragon’s maw. “I trust your judgement here, so just buy the fucking drone!”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Yes ma’am.

  Unlocked: Class I Basic Sensor Drones - 75 Points

  Point Total: 2954

  Purchased: Radio-Illuminate Beacon Drone - 200 Points

  Point Total: 2754

  A shiny metal skull immediately appeared right next to my feet, and just as quickly floated up to eye level before darting off silently behind me. Usually I would tease the choice of presentation, because I seriously doubt the standard model looks like a floating head, but there was currently a giant lizard taking up my attention to do so.

  When the drone returned a minute later, Cal relayed news through the drone’s speaker that was far from what I wanted to hear: “This tunnel is a dead end, we need to turn around before we run out of room.”

  “Of course,” I grumbled, before snatching the floating skull and holding it under my arms. “Sit tight.”

  Getting past the Twenty-Three without becoming lizard food was the conundrum, since it took up so much of the tunnel. Luckily, there was a large enough space above the Antithesis for me to squeeze through, but it was a tight fit and would depend on the model not catching on before I could make the maneuver. All of this ran through my head as I was running towards the Twenty-Three for the move, and only then did some part of me realize that this was a frankly horrible idea.

  As soon as the maw of the beast was in range I jumped forward into a dive, bounding over its head. This transitioned into a belly slide down the dragon’s back, which my ribs did not like since I hadn’t had a chance to get them fixed up. All I could do was grit my teeth to suppress the very uncomfortable pain and hope that the Twenty-Three didn’t decide to squash me against the ceiling.

  Luckily the Twenty-Three never caught on, so I successfully slid off the back of the creature and landed onto the dirt with a less than graceful belly flop. I could hear it turning around from within the tunnel while I recovered, so no time was wasted righting myself before absolutely bolting it down the shaft towards the central hive, downing a hastily procured canister of Nanos along the way.

  When I returned, it was absolute chaos. Antithesis popped out of each pod at disgusting speed and all had beelined for the closest visible target in the cavern, which was Rudy. From an outside perspective, they formed into a hurricane of floral death, with the new Samurai precariously placed in the eye of the storm, his drones spinning rapidly in a ring around him and shredding any nasties that get too close while he sniped any others who tried to nab him from afar.

  A few did break off to throw a swing at me once I came into view, but they may as well have been free points for yours truly.

  “Rudy!” I yelled out, trying to make my voice audible over all the plant murder. “Do you think you can take care of the rest of the hive?”

  I couldn’t see his face amid the sea of aliens, but his response definitely came off stressed. “Maybe? Am I going to have to fight anything like that Twenty-Three?”

  Based on the lack of similarly high-tier models present in the hive, it is very likely that the Antithesis produced the Model Twenty-Three as a trump card, intending to break past the defenses of Orson before sufficient forces can organize. It is likely that this is the only Model of its type present here.

  “Cal is saying probably not? You might have to deal with that Seventeen though.” I had to swat away a few Antithesis that tried to jump me during the meantime.

  “I think I’ll be fine then. I've caught glimpses of threads connecting Antithesis before my drones cut them, so the Seventeen has to be close by.”

  “Cool, cause uhh…” The thundering stomps of the Twenty-Three grew closer, and I was starting to make out its silhouette in the limited light. “I have a dragon to kill.”

  On cue the dragon in question lunged back into the cavern with maw gaping, forcing me to strafe out of the way. The good news is that its mass accidentally caused it to squash a bunch of unfortunate Model Three that happened to be in the landing zone. The bad news is that as soon as it got back up to its feet, it locked onto the noticeably squishier form of Rudy.

  Yeah, that wasn’t gonna fly. I slugged a bolt towards its face and managed to tag it directly in the eye, causing it to stagger off to the side for a second. Eyes were vulnerable, no matter how armored the creature was. “Yo, Smaug! Eyes over here!”

  That seemed to do the trick, as the big nasty immediately switched targets to me with a particularly peeved look on its big nasty face. As soon as it locked eyes with me, I let the skull-shaped drone fall out of my grip, catching it from the corner of my eye hovering back to life and shooting off down one of the tunnels.

  If you would kindly follow the drone, Max.

  “Since you asked so nicely,” I replied, taking a jog down one of the tunnels as I was forced to resume my little game of carrot and stick with the Antithesis, with yours truly being the charcoal black carrot in question. “By the way, how does that drone even function?”

  While it is only a Class I drone and feasible enough for humans to replicate given enough time, you would be dead far before I could finish any explanation.

  “Is that dead from old age, or dead from being ripped apart by the giant alien plant dragon I’m currently playing hokey-pokey with?” Another snap came from the Twenty-Three, as if taunted by my shit-talking.

  As humans like to so humorously reply, the answer to that question is ‘yes’. By the way, I am surprised you are able to make a reference to The Hobbit of all things.

  “Hey, I’m not completely out of the loop here. PDFs of anything aren’t too crazy to find as long as you know where to look, and Dad had a lot of books and movies back home. Even an honest to god DVD player.”

  Our little dance of death continued for what felt like a solid hour, though likely just a couple of minutes, bobbing and weaving between attacks while still doing my damndest to make sure I had its attention. Navigating the shaft felt like going through a maze, making turns left and right seemingly at random to what looked to be the exact same tunnels. Eventually though, it did start to look more man-made, transitioning from the circular boring of the Antithesis reminiscent of roots to the boxy, artificial carving of mining shafts. I unintentionally gasped when the sight of actual sunlight came into view and soon I emerged into the open air.

  Cal was right; this was in fact connected to an older quarry. Various antiquated pieces of equipment lay all across the site in differing states of disrepair; who knows how long ago all that stuff was abandoned. I must have emerged from one of the higher tunnels, as the exit was nearing a decently perilous drop. Maybe I didn’t pay attention earlier to the Orson mine but this one seemed far more vertically oriented, the site descending in steep, angular layers that gave the image of giant stair steps.

  Unfortunately, I was a little too enamored with the sight, as I forgot about the Twenty-Three behind me. At least until it literally tackled me off the cliff.