Ch.116116. Hive Cult

After deciding to stay behind instead of evacuating, Arthur successfully secured command by skillfully directing his subordinate forces using his experience as a former captain, while also obtaining “cooperation” from the Federal Navy.

“I’m asking for your help, Brigadier General Edward.”

“Not at all, sir. With your word, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Having successfully secured command since the fleet’s commander-in-chief happened to be his junior from the military academy, Arthur was nearly finished with what might be his final inspection of weapons and defensive facilities when—

“My Lord! Enemy attack!”

Smith, one of his secretaries in charge of communications, rushed in, flung open the door, and shouted toward him.

“Enemy attack?! Does that mean the fleet has arrived?”

Hearing news of the attack a bit earlier than expected, Arthur questioned him, but Smith shook his head in denial.

“No! Sir, the Hive Cult has started a riot in the restricted zone!”

“The Hive Cult? You’re saying they were in the restricted zone?”

“Yes! They appear to be a faction of the cult that escaped during the previous suppression operation!”

The Hive Cult, as the name suggests, is an unauthorized religious group that worships the Hive Mind. Naturally, it’s an illegal organization, and merely belonging to this cult results in the revocation of human rights and being marked as a priority target by the Federal government.

This isn’t simply about worshiping the Hive Mind but involves more complex issues. To summarize, the cult typically consists of humans who have been infected and brainwashed by a special monster.

The monster—known as a Mind Eater—is humanoid but larger, with gray skin and a third eye in the middle of the forehead. It disguises itself as human, either founding a new religion or infiltrating an established one, then lures humans, pierces their brains with a spine, and injects small eggs from a hidden egg sac inside its body.

The fluid-like monster born from this egg devours the brain, replacing the consumed parts to take control of the body while causing mutations. The skin becomes slightly pale as a special bio-hardening substance seeps in, the skeleton develops overall, and the muscle structure rearranges, granting tremendous strength capable of tearing through steel plates along with retractable hunter claws.

Once the mutation is complete, the monster is finally subjugated by the Mind Eater’s psychic abilities, becoming a disguise-type monster called a Doppelgänger, able to transform into its previous appearance.

Because of this, there was considerable damage in the early stages of discovery, primarily spreading through large-scale cults targeting day laborers. Eventually, as crackdowns on these cults intensified, they almost completely ceased operating openly.

But now. They’ve appeared in the restricted zone.

“…How is the defense progressing?”

“We’ve set up barricades and deployed Guards, but they’re resisting with laser rifles and improvised heavy weapons modified from work tools—”

“Right, that’s enough explanation. Contact the Federal Marines and ask them to send an assault team.”

“Yes, sir!”

Although he had called for the Federal Marines, who specialize in this type of indoor combat, he still couldn’t hide his unease.

This was because, considering what kind of place a restricted zone in such a massive facility is, he recognized that the Hive Cult forces that had managed to survive there would be formidable.

Even without the Kupan Space Station, which boasts an area almost the size of a planet, facilities of such enormous scale naturally have several unused areas.

These areas are sometimes simply abandoned to collect dust, but occasionally alien plants or organisms settle there and establish independent ecosystems adapted to the ship’s environment. Usually, these are limited to mushrooms or rats at most, adapted to the ship’s environment…

The restricted zone of the Kupan Space Station is completely different from such areas—it’s more like a demonic realm or dungeon.

Thousands of years ago, when this space station was just being built, there was a ship collision accident that caused radioactive material from the then-common nuclear fusion engines to leak into the station.

At the time, they were too busy dealing with the recovery of the ship and insurance issues, so they simply isolated the area with plans to address it later, but there was another problem.

The area where the radiation had leaked was a warehouse storing various organisms, particularly rare species known for their tenacity. During the collision, the warehouse was destroyed, and the organisms inside were released into the isolated space.

Thanks to their high radiation resistance—having originated from radiation-filled regions—these life forms rapidly mutated through generations with the power of high-concentration radiation, resulting in the creation of a demonic realm.

It’s teeming with insane creatures like giant spiders capable of single-handedly destroying Federal Army standard armored vehicles or plants that spew psychic flames. Moreover, the interior is filled with spores that, if inhaled even slightly, cause mushrooms to grow from every orifice in the body.

While the space station authorities were unable to intervene in this ever-expanding restricted zone, suddenly, the Hive Cult members who had fled there during the previous suppression operation had somehow survived and returned.

‘…What is that?’

And they brought various organisms and work equipment with them.

The information being transmitted to Arthur’s brain-implanted interface showed the abnormal armament state of the Hive Cult currently engaged in combat.

Laser rifles with output limiters removed or plasma field axes modified from work plasma cutters—items that appeared to be stolen or diverted goods—could be considered common sights at other violent protest scenes.

But even so… what was that?

‘…An armored vehicle?’

It closely resembled a general-purpose vehicle chassis with caterpillar tracks commonly used for cargo transport inside space stations. It had thick iron plates covering the exterior and a hemispherical turret with an anti-aircraft gun protruding from somewhere it had been stolen.

It was a homemade armored vehicle modified from a general-purpose vehicle commonly seen on industrial planets in the space age… but its level of completion was almost embarrassingly superior to such comparisons.

Judging from the wires and various pipes connected to the protruding gun barrel, it seemed to be a rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun modified for single shots. Though crude, it was surrounded by a protective shield that would be difficult to neutralize with personal weapons—

There were also work exoskeletons averaging about 4 meters in height carrying heavy weapons, mobile fire support barricades, and even alien life forms that appeared to have been tamed from within that area, ridden like war horses, or those that couldn’t be tamed being driven to charge.

It was literally a hopeless situation, but with the Marines deployed, suppression was somehow progressing.

The space marines, who stood at least 2.5 meters tall due to enhancement procedures and wore powered suits specialized for anti-infantry combat, brought various heavy weapons and robotic weapons to literally grind the Hive Cult to pieces. Because of this, the Hive Cult rebellion seemed to be concluding.

But the problem… was what came next.

[My Lord! Hive fleet has just entered the planetary system along with psychic reactions!]

Marco, one of his many secretaries who had chosen to remain at the fleet command—a rather trusted one—sent a radio transmission to quickly relay information, despite the risk of leaks through eavesdropping.

[Marco? Marco! What’s the battle situation?]

[We’re responding, but the number of monster ships is too few! Brigadier General Edward suspects it’s a feint operation!]

[I see, understood!]

With two Enterprise-class battleships, they wouldn’t be overwhelmed, but what came next was the problem.

Given that his junior, who had been known for his exceptional judgment since their academy days, was speaking so definitively, the possibility that this was indeed part of a feint operation was quite high.

Therefore, Arthur hurriedly tried to relay this information through the psychic network where key personnel were connected by manipulating his chip with psychic power—but the moment he connected to the network, he felt a strong sense of discomfort.

‘The network… is shaking.’

The special network utilizing psychic energy trembled, generating noise everywhere. It wasn’t completely disconnected, but it kept breaking and reconnecting, becoming very unstable.

And this phenomenon, from Arthur’s past experience—

[Everyone! Battle stations! They’re approaching!]

—was a kind of psychic interference wave that the Hive fleet spreads to disrupt communications using such psychic networks when they approach.