Needing to reach the central servers as quickly as possible, I wasted no time clearing the door's open threshold and pushing down the dimly lit utilitarian corridor, that possessed the same no-frills wiring and piping we had seen all throughout our venture on the first level. Time was a-ticking and the longer we took, the more exp I would lose to the flying mutants and the robots killing each other, so we swiftly bounded down the passageway.
A good many of the lights throughout the whole underground had burnt out over the centuries, but there was enough sporadic industrial lighting to help us avoid the occasional obstacle on our path. And when we eventually reached the end of this long section, I used my powerful control over machines and other mechanical constructs to disengage the lock on the door, practically in an instant.
"Hey, we got a handful of robots ahead and on the left and right; you girls handle them!"
"Gladly." Rei immediately answered for the three of them.
The facility's defenses that lay ahead were deadly but not beyond the capabilities of what I knew my women could handle, so I let them take the lead whilst I took a more relaxed and passive position at the rear. Ready to let them take over for this instance, I moved off to the side and placed my back up against the wall as the girls sped past my large frame and checked out what lay beyond the hall. They were obviously excited to get their hands dirty, but not stupid; hence; they took their time and inspected the passageways that went off in all directions.
I watched the three of them whisper to each other as they analyzed their targets of elimination, and once they had devised a battle plan and were certain they had found every danger lying in wait out there... Mostly, they popped out of the corridor and let loose a burst of shots. Their initial ambush went off without a hitch on the patrolling gun drones, so they pushed their advantage further and blitzed in three separate directions, just like they had planned to do.
Alice ran past the wreckage of the wheeled automated weapon platform with her laser light machine gun still warm from her previous storm of automatic fire. Every second in these sorts of encounters was valuable, to say the least, so the instant she reached the cover she was aiming for, she swiftly braced the heavy weapon and unleashed a light show at the surprised gun drones. Unfortunately for the automated machines, the centuries of wear and tear had not been kind to their old parts, so they were unable to turn and respond in time to my wife's bull rush.
As that was taking place, Rei sprinted to the right with her plasma machine pistol held tightly in her grasp and agilely dealt with each robot she encountered with a controlled, accurate burst of shots to critical components, dispatching her enemies with ease. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of her, the firecracker, Mary, was shooting bolts of electricity with her FBARC Rifle and rapidly filling her passage with a storm of lightning, which was causing the constructs on her end to dwindle rapidly.
Looks like they got this in the bag... It's just too bad this is going to lose me a good bit of exp, but it'll make the girls happy, so it is what it is.
Feeling at ease with the top job the three of them were doing, I kicked back and relaxed for a change whilst the girls did the heavy lifting. The energy weapon fire went on for a handful of minutes before they eventually dispatched every dangerous entity that existed in our general vicinity. "The surrounding area's clear now, dear."
"Mm, let's continue moving then."
I could sense the fighting up top was still going full force, so I got off my ass and moved forward once more. Intent on getting to the source controlling everything here on this military installation, the squad and I moved with haste and quickly transitioned from corridor to corridor, room to room, and passageway to passageway, all while slaughtering the machines that intended to impede our advance.
There weren't too many obstructions on the way there, but there were a hell of a lot more than what we would've encountered had we not alerted the advanced artificial intelligence. So after a not too long but very eventful journey through the 5th underground layer, we came upon an open space with a large, hermetically sealed armored door at the back of it. I would've been happy when I caught sight of it under normal circumstances, but the room was filled with deadly machines that had been called in to stop us from reaching what was on the other side of that door.
I was hoping I would've made it here before it called in reinforcements, but I guess we wasted a bit too much time destroying its machines on the way here... Welp, I better get back to it.
Needing to deal with the squads of robots that had been brought in to stop our advance and protect itself from what we would do, I didn't hesitate to bring out one of my favorites, i.e. Purge. The second I brought out my heavy-duty gatling laser, I took hold of the weapon, got a firm grasp of it, hefted it up and left the shadows that were hiding my crew and I from the optical sensors of this small army of machines and when I did, I directed my gun's many barrels at the deadliest of the constructs, those being the several heavily armored and armed M202 Twin Barreled Plasma Turrets.
My heavy energy weapon quickly spun up when I pressed the trigger and soon enough it started unleashing a wild but incredibly accurate torrent of laser pulses at the heavy emplacements mounted on the floor and ceiling, just adjacent to the hefty metal door protecting the essential bits operating this base. And just as I began my onslaught, so too did the machines; it's just too bad their attacks did not even do a smidge of damage to my armor that was bolstered by my plethora of perks.
The turrets were heavily armored and would've taken quite a beating before being put out of commission had it been pretty much anyone else, but the instant the first turret met my fire, its armor simply gave way and had a number gaping hole burned right through it. And from its heavy plating, the stream of laser pulses melted its essential electronics and took the deadly machine offline permanently before sailing past it and leaving nasty scorched marks on the rugged concrete walls behind it.
Shit, it's a good thing I turned my damage down a ton and kept most of my different damage types toggled off, otherwise I would've done a lot more than just burn a hole right through the turret.
Imagining the destruction my newfound powers could've wrought on this fort I wished to take over for my own aims, I couldn't help but be a bit pleased with myself.
Well, I better pick up the pace some, since the more time I spend down here the less exp I'll be able to harvest above.
Although I found combat to be quite enjoyable and even therapeutic to a certain extent, I didn't have the luxury to take my time and go at my own pace, so I got back on track and directed my storm of potent red laser fire at the other turrets as their attacks and the robots' struck me fruitlessly. Their fire was anything but weak; however, it was nowhere near the level required to penetrate my enhanced armor nor my even more absurd defensive stats. So as I was soaking up all the heat, the girls stepped out from the shadows and joined the fray since they couldn't allow me to have all the fun on my own.
When my companions joined the battle, the previous machine-killing speed got ramped up by a few factors, which I was plenty fine with since whatever they killed would now count towards my exp bar. The four of us fired our weapons without stopping for several minutes as more and more reinforcements came to the advanced AI's aid, but it simply wasn't enough. So before long all the robots and turrets that had tried to protect their master controller lay battered and destroyed all across the space.
"Time to move to the next stage." I announced.
With no further armed combatants remaining in my way, I strode forward towards the hermetically sealed armored door and utilized | Mechanical Domination | on it and forcefully ripped control of it away from the artificial intelligence running this base. And the moment I had, I instructed the last obstruction to open and make way for me to take control of everything here at Fort Kern. The door had lain sealed for many, many years, so it took a handful of seconds for it to get moving, but once it did it released a loud, echoing creak before it began to slowly swing inward.
Another several seconds passed us by as the girls and I waited for the door, and soon enough it settled into place and locked itself in the open position. What came into view as it opened was a huge, clean room filled with racks and racks of servers and different kinds of advanced pre-war hardware.
As I was examining the new tech, a speaker sounded from within the central server room. "You are trespassing on U.S. government property. Leave at once or suffer the consequences!" The AI warned in a stereotypical drill sergeant-like voice.
Ignoring the AI's warning, I stepped over the door's threshold and into the room before wandering towards the back where I knew the mainframe was.
"This is your last warning; all trespassers on this installation will forgo a trial and be shot without mercy!" The base controller continued to threaten.
"Uh-huh, you've already tried that a few times and failed, so why don't you put a sock in it."
"..."
With the base AI unable to do a damn thing other than watch my figure slowly but surely approach its body from the cameras planted throughout the room. It continued its futile act a few more times before finally giving up when I stepped in front of a large flat screen that had an angry, pissed off computer generated military man's disembodied head eyeing me from the screen.
"You're making a big mistake here."
"No, I don't think I am. In fact, I'll be benefitting greatly from taking Fort Kern." I countered smugly just before using my powers over machines to infect it and the surrounding infrastructure with my will.
The AI tried fighting me for control, like it had done previously, but it had nowhere else left to run, so after duking it out with it for a couple dozen seconds or so, it soon fell to the combined power of my relentless attacks and my increasingly powerful will. When the advanced military AI finally succumbed to my influence and came under my direct and total control, I gained access to all it had control over, meaning I now became the supreme commander of Fort Kern and all of its forces.
It was a kind of a pain in the ass, having to venture all the way down here to finally subdue this AI, but now that I have, I can get on with my business and collect all the exp up top... But before I do, it would be wise to level up, so I don't bite off more than I can chew again. Yeah, I think I'm good on the almost dying part for at least a while, if not for good, so I'll spend the level ups I'm sitting on now before they become a problem.
Not wanting to test my luck once more so soon, I turned to the girls and began giving them the lowdown. "Alright, the advanced AI is under control."
"Great! Let's begin cleaning up these old killing machines before it gets dark." Alice cheered.
"We'll get on that soon enough. I just need to deal with the level ups I've accumulated on the way here."
"Oh, yeah, you should probably do that before we go, otherwise who knows what will happen."
Detecting a bit of worry in my wife's voice and sensing a similar energy beginning to radiate off Rei and Mary, I did my best to minimize their worries and concerns. "I highly doubt it, given my much increased stats now, but still, there's no need to put it off when I've come to learn that I will benefit the most the quicker I spend them. So, just give me a moment and I'll be ready to set off."
"There's no rush, dear." Alice replied, returning to her normal, steady self.
"She's right, babe. Take your time and spend them well." Rei backed up her soon to be sister wife.
"Yea, yea, what she said. We can stay here all day if we need to." The firecracker said half-jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood to the best of her abilities since that was the only thing she could do given her lack of magical powers. Thankfully, for her, it did just the trick and got a decent chuckle out of me and the girls.
[ Creatures Killed & EXP Gained ]
AAEL Defense Turrets (18) Exp 99,360 - Assault Bots (19) Exp 209,760 - Cyber Hounds (44) Exp 267,168 - Gun Drones (112) Exp 721,280 - Heavy Gun Drones (2) Exp 55,200 - Laborers (21) Exp 77,280 - Locks Picked (13) Exp 165,526 - M17-76 Combat Bots (149) Exp 1,096,640 - M202 Twin Barreled Plasma Turrets (4) Exp 110,400 - MD-7 Multipurpose Defense Turrets (15) Exp 193,200 - Mister Maintenances (7) Exp 19,320 - Sentinels (5) Exp 184,000 - Tracked Gun Drones (33) Exp 273,240 - Total Exp 3,472,374