Alpha Strike: [An interstellar Weapon Platform’s Guide to being a Dungeon Core] (Book 2 title)

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{How is something so tiny, so fast?!}

Alpha thought to himself as he chased after the fleeing signal beacon.

The TAWP was damaged, sure, but Snowball could travel through the ground at surprising speeds. He really needed to figure out how the local wildlife did that. If he could replicate it with a drone, it would speed up mining operations quite a bit. But as with many things recently, that was a problem for Future Alpha…

For now, he focused on following the tiny creature and not falling into any surprise pitfalls. Snowball surfaced 15 minutes later, stopping near the edge of a large clearing. Alpha pulled up beside the still bristling whale-puppy and looked in the direction she was growling. There, Alpha could see… grass.

Alpha's analytical sub-AI noted the subtle change in the grass's color and pattern variation, though. The grass's kaleidoscopic colors seemed totally arbitrary in most of the prairie he'd been through, but a few areas would show unique patterns and dominating colors. Not that he could say why; the areas weren't as interesting as far as he could tell.

Alpha knew certain plants, such as hydrangea, would change color or morphology based on the soil content, so he took soil and bio-samples of such areas for future study. He would even find some stranger plant variations in these areas, lending evidence to his soil composition theory.

A lot of them seemed… strange.

A few showed abnormal morphology that made little sense from a biological standpoint, while others wilted almost immediately after taking bio-samples. One had even reacted aggressively! It moved faster than any plant had the right to, wrapping the TAWP in thick vines. Alpha had broken free with little effort, but even smaller megafauna might have found such a task difficult. Plants with such 'active' defenses weren't unheard of in the Federation but were often heavily controlled. Some were even used by the military in different capacities. Plants were often easier to control than trained animals, after all.

His favorite he’d found in the prairies had been a strange metallic flower the size of a dinner plate. A cluster of half a dozen had dominated the center of a heavy red and gray patch of grass. The base vaguely resembled lotus pods, while wispy stocks extended from the pods, topped with glittering glass flowers. They looked more like an artist's interpretation of a plant than a living thing.

To his surprise, when Alpha approached, the plant shot at him! Rather, it expelled several hard, metallic seeds from the pods with surprising speed and force.

Not anything that could break through his armor, of course, but the "bullets" packed enough force to pierce unaugmented human skin with ease. What's more, when Alpha got closer, the glass flowers trembled before exploding violently, spraying the area with sharp shrapnel. Again, harmless to Alpha, but he imagined it would be thoroughly unpleasant for any approaching biological. More so since the glass petals seemed to break down quickly into a fine, irritating powder.

It was like the plant had been purposely designed to cause as much damage and irritation to any approaching wildlife as possible.

Neat!

Alpha collected plant samples, labeling them in his index as a "Peashooter" (because he wasn't passing up that pun). In the back of his mind, he wondered what kind of wildlife frequented the area where a plant would need such defenses.

The surrounding grass where Snowball had led him to was tall, unlike the short (for him) one-to-two-meter-tall grasses that dotted the rest of the prairies. Even the TAWP was almost fully concealed at 10 meters tall in its rapid transport mode. Its color was also strongly green and brown, appearing far similar to terran grass than the surrounding rainbow grasses, only a short ways away, though still pot-marked with swirling blues and yellows.

If he changed to walker mode, he could gain an extra five meters, allowing him to see over the grass. That would also put him in the line of fire of whatever had Snowball in such a fuss, though. Instead, he used another method; by pinching off a tiny portion of his nanoskin, Alpha released a small drone called a [Wasp].

[Wasps] were tiny, finger-sized drones comprising only a flight system and video/audio feedback. They were tiny, cheap, and almost undetectable, making them great for scouting and information gathering. Since they were made of only nanites, they could even slip into places with even the most minute of gaps. [Wasps] were used often in search and rescue missions, as they could also carry and deliver doses of much-needed medical nanites to trapped victims.

The [Wasp] rose into the air, and as the feed turned on, Alpha saw the obvious problem.

{Oh… well… ya, that'll do it.}

A veritable army of the same penguin creatures that had accosted them for the last few days stretched for a few kilometers beyond the tall grass. Well, that explained why they seemed so common, at least. Though why had so many gathered in one place?

A quick count put their numbers at just under 3,000. terran penguins could gather in large numbers, but they were far smaller than these creatures and had access to the rich ocean. Alpha had yet to see any other larger animals, so how did the area support such a large colony?

Or was the reason he'd not seen any other animals because of such a colony in the area? They were obviously predatory; had they cleared or scared away most of the local wildlife? Was it even normal for them to gather like this?

Maybe they gathered during breeding seasons like terran penguins. Or was there some external factor?

More importantly, why had Snowball come here? It wasn't like Alpha hadn't noticed the small whale-puppy's unnatural… fixation on the penguin creatures. She had attacked and devoured the individuals who ambushed them with a relish that went beyond just a normal predator/prey relationship. She wasn't thinking of attacking the rookery, was she?

That would have been suicidal. Well, for her; Alpha was more than capable of wiping out this number, though it would nearly deplete all of his supplies. They weren't very dangerous.

All the same, he'd rather not waste time or ammo dealing with his furry friend's blood grudge, no matter how cute it was. Alpha moved to pick the whale-puppy up, but Snowball's head jerked to the side, her eyes narrowing at something in the distance.

Then she was gone in a flash, a black-white blur racing through the grass as she circled the rookery.

Alpha could only sigh and chase after her with [Wasp] and TAWP. They circled around until they'd covered almost the entire diameter, nearing the far edge. Here, Alpha saw a peculiarity in the rookery he'd not noticed before. Where most of the horde was scattered about randomly, a smaller group of penguins, numbering a few hundred, had gathered close, all facing a central location.

The epicenter of which was a massive penguin, far taller than the ones surrounding it. In fact, it was only a few meters shorter than the TAWP in walker mode, easily classifying it as megafauna and a potential threat.

Was it a different species? It certainly looked different enough from the others. Or was it some kind of dimorphism? A quick scan of the surrounding rookery didn't reveal any others of this size or type, but that could mean any number of things. Biologicals were weird like that. Alpha sent the [Wasp] drone ahead to get a better look. That's when he spotted something that gave him pause.

In the center, near the large penguin, was a small clearing, and in that clearing were… two human males? Both were dark-skinned and tanned, wearing what appeared to be fur armor and rugged, if well-made, clothes, perfect for travel through the slightly chilly prairies. One man fended off multiple penguins with a tattered spear, while the other seemed to have gone insane, drawing on the ground with an ornate knife like a man possessed.

That changed things a bit. He doubted the penguins were sapient, or if they were, they were at least hostiles. As for Snowball, while the question was still up in the air about her sapience, it was apparent she was still very young and wouldn't be much help to him in the short term. Two young human males, though? He could work with that.

He could start working on a local language lexicon, if nothing else. Though convincing locals to "help" was often… difficult at the start. But if Alpha were to say, rescue a pair of poor men trapped in a hopeless situation?

That would go a long way toward building the goodwill he'd need for his next steps.

Snowball and Alpha stopped a short distance from the group, hidden by the grass, just as the spearman's weapon snapped. The penguins broke out into odd laughter that sent chills through his motherboard. Had he misjudged the penguin's intelligence?

Or was he overthinking things? One thing was for sure, whatever was going on here wasn't normal. What kind of animal attacked their prey one at a time, even if several were killed or injured?

Was it some form of training for the young? Some predators captured or crippled prey animals and use as for training younger members of the pack. What looked like a smaller version of the large penguin in the gather gave some weight to that theory.

Whatever the reason, Alpha had to think of something fast, or there wouldn't be a pair to rescue for very long.

Lucky for them, Alpha was an AI capable of processing battlefield data on a scale and speed that would have fried their squishy biological brains.

Unlucky for Alpha, Snowball decided she knew the best method for dealing with their situation, charging blindly into the fray without a plan, like a real man!

Alpha was so focused on formulating the perfect approach he almost missed as Snowball rushed by him, a white-black blur of bloodlust and fury.

Alpha couldn't have been prouder.

Better yet, the ballsy move turned out to be the right one, as the young whale-puppy snatched the spearmen out of the (literal) jaws of defeat at the last moment.

If this was a novel, Snowball would definitely be the real main protagonist.

Alpha laughed to himself and switched walker mode before throwing his hands in the air and yelling.

"You know what? Fine, let's do this! CHAAARRRRGGGEEE!"

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Beast Lord Kusanagi couldn't help but smile as he watched the weak little humans struggle against his lesser minions. The minor loss in troops was acceptable for now; after all, they were just mindless beasts for him to command. They weren't his people, his tribe. They weren't true Grasscutters. No, his people were long gone, either felled by those evil Akh'lut, or scattered on the wind to places unknown.

This land was the Grasscutter tribe's ancestral home. They had controlled the prairies for millennia. It was their home and hunting ground. None could oppose them!

Then the Akh'lut had appeared. In a single night, the Grasscutters were nearly exterminated, the great clans broke, and the tribe scattered. Only he, the heir to the main family, had survived the slaughter, though at a substantial cost. When he awoke, several centuries had passed, and he'd found the prairies infested, both with Akh'lut and humans, of all things!

Worse, his people had regressed, turning feral and wild, reduced to mere Spirit beasts. No, worse than that, they were prey! The once proud and powerful Grasscutter tribe, Awakened Beasts who could sit at the table of any clan or sect on the continent, had been reduced to the food stock of his enemy!!

Beast Lord Kusanagi had raged against the injustice of it. He had struck out against everything around him in his youth and arrogance. His anger and fury burned endlessly. Then, like any bonfire, it attracted unnecessary attention.

It hadn't taken long for the Akh'lut to come for him. But this was still his home, even after so many centuries in stasis. How could he be so easy to deal with? So, severally injured but with a clearer head, Kusanagi had gone into hiding. He would build his strength and bide his time.

So he spent the next few years in hiding. Growing, learning, and planning. When the time was right, Kusanagi would reemerge with an army and retake what was rightfully his.

Kusanagi might have the last of his kind. But he wouldn't be for long.

Ever since he'd been driven into hiding by the hateful Akh'lut, he'd done his best to revive his people and experimented on the so-called "Grassbreakers." They were only lesser cousins, but the Grasscutter bloodline was still present, insured by the Elders from so long ago. It was just a matter of teasing it out of them.

He had some success, such as the experiment playing with the spearman, but they never turned out quite… right. Even after decades of experiments and sacrifice, it wasn't enough. He was missing some piece of the puzzle, some aspect he wasn't seeing.

Awakened Beasts weren't like Cultivators or Mages. They relied far more heavily on their bloodlines and instincts than other sapient creatures. They could do things such as forge artifacts or create arrays, but only some truly excelled in those arts. Kusanagi wasn't one such prodigy. As much as it pained him to admit it, he needed help. That's when she appeared.

Kusanagi had heard of her kind before, but dismissed them as legends. Tales told to chicks to scare them into behaving. But standing in front of that same living legend had made Kusanagi feel… small. Smaller than he had since he was a chick himself. But unlike the terrible end promised in the stories, her words were as sweet as honey and promised him the help he desperately needed. Like a siren's sweet song, she promised him his home, his people, his crown.

All it would cost him was his loyalty. A promise of his own. A pact sealed by his very soul.

He would have been a fool to refuse it.

With the pact sealed, Kusanagi's research took a qualitative leap. Not only did the Grassbreakers become more controllable, but with each passing generation, they became smarter, stronger, and more numerous.

Then the call had come from his benefactor. A simple mission: kill the Akh'lut Priestess. A chance to not only repay his dept but strike a major blow to his sworn enemy? He had gladly accepted.

And the mission had been a success. Kusanagi's army had overwhelmed the Priestess and her guard while they were out hunting. It had been so easy that he had nearly laughed himself to death. Only the small pup, not even awakened yet, had been spared.

Kusanagi wasn't really sure why he had done it, if he was honest. Maybe he wanted to see the child suffer like he had. To see her struggle and escape certain death, only to watch from a distance as her people and home were consumed. Maybe some long, shriveled, and dried-up part of him recognized that fear and anger in her eyes and found in her a kindred spirit.

Whatever the cause, he hadn't expected to see the child again so soon.

No matter; she had her chance, and fate had decided she wasn't as worthy as he had been. Maybe he'd keep her around anyway, chain her up like he'd seen the humans do with their hounds.

Yes, that would be nice. The irony of turning those who destroyed his home into glorified pets sat pleasantly on his mind.

Kusanagi didn't bother to stop his grin as he watched the scene play out before him.

Maybe he could even—

It was at that moment Beast Lord Kusanagi's internal monologue was rudely interrupted by several thousand tons of Federation-Grade military hardware.