NoveLight ™
"Report the situation!"
"It's not good. The forces we've deployed are being rapidly crushed. The loss rate is far exceeding what we expected. At the current rate, in about 10 minutes, it will be uncontrollable."
"Damn it, it's just one machine and one organism, isn't it? We've sent in 30 soldiers, all enhanced physically and equipped with exoskeletons, and yet we can't even injure them, let alone capture them. Does that make any sense?"
"We need to focus on the people, not the numbers. The Archetype has already destroyed three of our weapons, and one of them even managed to capture one of ours. That thing has brought back a fully repaired UES to the battlefield."
Inside the command vehicle on the outskirts of the Gamma High-Value Research Facility, several personnel were busy moving and checking the screens. Sixteen holographic displays all showed the same result: bodies, bodies, and more bodies... with only two enemies moving across them. The Archetype and UES-4, Gamma Type. Whether it was by coincidence or fate, this facility was where the Gamma Type had been created. However, that fact left no impact on the field commanders or control officers. Unlike the crazy scientists in charge, for the field staff, the Archetype was nothing but a target of hatred. Of course, there was nothing they could do about it.
"Look at the screen, damn it! Our employers want those rare two bitches! Let’s throw every damn force we’ve got at them and see if we still can’t catch them!"
"Get a hold of yourself! Do you think this is a place for wishful thinking? It costs an insane amount of resources just to turn a single bandit into a usable soldier!"
"Haha, so you're refusing orders? Why don’t you report that to the higher-ups? I’m pretty lenient, so before I put a bullet in the head of anyone disobeying orders, I’ll at least give them one chance."
"As a staff officer, I am simply offering proper suggestions."
It was complete chaos. As the atmosphere inside the vehicle grew increasingly tense, everyone started looking around, waiting for a chance to draw their pistols from their holsters. The air temperature inside dropped to below freezing in an instant. It was a high-pressure situation. However, none of them cared about the valuable combatants who were being killed in real-time in the facility. The number of soldiers falling, struck in the head or chest, increased steadily. While they wasted about 15 seconds on this pointless nerve game, a squad of four was wiped out. Restoring the broken command structure was no easy task, and as the personnel scrambled to regain control, two more soldiers fell.
It didn’t take long for the approval of reinforcements.
"Where are those two heading?"
"I can’t give an exact answer, but it's probably the server room or the weapons lab, where critical data is stored."
"...Doesn’t matter. They didn’t come all the way here just to irritate us. Fall back a bit and confirm where those two are going."
Unfortunately, it was already too late to implement this plan. The only place the command vehicle personnel could predict the Archetype and Jin would go was the server room or the weapons lab. Strictly speaking, that was a small success, but that didn’t mean Artemis could stop their advance. This became even more apparent when Mecha Eugene suddenly abandoned its position.
"Gamma Type suddenly abandoning combat position! Heading towards the central research area!"
"What the hell are you staring at? Split up the forces now! At least catch one of them!"
"Command acknowledged. Preparation time required for forced connection to Artemis network."
"Then make it happen."
But things were not going as expected. The unrefined Gamma Type they had observed in the past, when Red, Blue, Green, and Violet infiltrated the facility to kill the Archetype and others, was no longer there. In other words, Mecha Eugene was faster at penetrating the enemy lines than Artemis had anticipated. The rifle butt moved faster than the human eye could track, and in that instant, one soldier’s head was completely crushed. But that was not the end.
As the process repeated several times, the holographic screen projected Mecha Eugene, now covered in blood, and the destroyed hub machine for forced network connection. After about a minute, all the screens in the area displayed nothing but crackling noise. The transmission devices embedded in their eyes had all been destroyed. The heads of the nearby soldiers had been crushed like watermelons. Attempts to retaliate were utterly destroyed. The basic premise of the combat—the violence of numbers—was collapsing.
Even exposing just a little bit of the body to fire was enough to be blasted back like being struck by a wrecking ball. After a few minutes, the Gamma Type went silent in the weapons lab and storage area—though no one in the vehicle cared. The reason was simple: with Jin out of the picture, all firepower could be focused on the Archetype. It was like high-tech zombies charging at a man with a gun. The Archetype silenced the enemies attacking one by one, and then pulled out an ASh from behind to crush everything in front of it.
However, intercepting 10 grenades flying through the air was no easy task. Normally, the situation would have collapsed in an instant, but it was Eugene’s superior combat skills and reload speed that kept the battle balanced. Eugene fired the ASh in rapid succession, using his tail to swap out the magazine attached to Mjolnir on his back. Even so, as expected, the Archetype was gradually being pushed back. It couldn’t dodge all the bullets flying at more than twice the speed of sound, and she too began accumulating bullet wounds on her body.
About two minutes later, the Artemis field commanders and staff inside the command vehicle were completely lost in glee, forgetting the situation they had just witnessed. Of course, hope existed only to be shattered.
— Fwoosh!
"...What the hell...?"
A flash. A blue bullet flying at supersonic speeds exploded in the air near the Artemis armed forces, and a terrible flash of heat spread out in all directions. The plasma contained in the shell casing was released and burned everything in its path. The destruction radius was at least 15 meters in diameter. The closest ones to the epicenter were turned into flesh or titanium vapor and disintegrated on the spot, while those a little further away were completely charred or transformed in ways beyond explanation, meeting their end. The exoskeleton bones in the arms and legs glowed bright red as a bonus. And that wasn’t just from one shot, but several.
However, the Archetype narrowly avoided the shockwave.
As dozens of combat soldiers were either burned to a crisp or vaporized at a molecular level, the majority of the screens inside the command vehicle turned into nothing but crackling noise. The commanders realized they were completely screwed.
"...I see a vehicle I don’t recognize."
Of course, they hadn’t yet considered the possibility that they had physically been wiped out. After sending the Archetype and Mecha Eugene into the facility, the driver, who had been patrolling the area with optical camouflage, discovered a large truck that looked brand new, following tire tracks in the dust leading into an abandoned parking lot.
"Is everything alright, Archetype?"
"...You’ve brought a fantastic weapon. I hope you won’t aim it at me."
"Are you afraid of the growth of your own body… ugh, this kind of pressure could cause the neck frame to warp and cause significant damage within 5 seconds, please spare me..."
— Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Jin, clearly proud of herself, showed me her tail and the plasma weapon attached to it. It didn’t look very different from before, but the tail now had a focal point at the end.
Upon entering firing mode, the tail transformed and formed a sort of rail, with magnetic fields forming inside to trap the plasma. The casing around it was made of special metal, allowing it to fire like a railgun. I guess you could call it a semi-automatic plasma railgun.
Jin then showed me a fresh plasma round.
"Due to the material properties, this will automatically explode after 10 seconds."
"...It’s a bit large."
"It’s modeled after a 20mm round. It doesn’t have the same penetrating power as the original."
After about 6 seconds, I threw it far away. A few seconds later, there was a quiet explosion on the other side. The sound was much quieter than a firearm or grenade, but the few remaining soldiers were screaming from inside, indicating the firepower was substantial.
We had achieved one of the goals of coming to this high-value research facility.
Jin had also brought a large ballistic shield, so we had cleared the front lines as well. I let out a deep breath and added, "Let’s head to the server room now. With a reliable pointman, I feel a lot more at ease."
"Advancing. Please follow closely."
"Of course."
We were getting close to the server room. However, even though we had sent all the people sent here to capture or kill us straight to Styx, the situation wasn’t going to get easier. Everyone had forgotten one key fact: Artemis specialized in drones. In other words, this was just the beginning of the real combat.
"I think we’ll be able to loot some valuable weapons from these fallen soldiers, so in the meantime... please take care of the approaching drones."
"Command acknowledged. Rebooting advanced plasma cannon. Current overheating level: 15%."
Jin’s tail aimed forward. There was a strange sound, and light began to leak out, condensing at the tip of the tail as it covered the plasma. At the same time, a large amount of energy moved into the tail, accelerating the round several times faster than Mach speed, slicing through the air in a single line.
Boom.
It was as if the entire space was being sliced apart by heat. Naturally, the UGV in front stood no chance against it. The armored vehicle made of reinforced plastics, titanium, and other alloys was vaporized without even firing a single grenade. Another vehicle about 3 meters away turned into a lump of molten metal.
Before I could even marvel at the sheer power, Jin had already prepared a second round. It seemed she could fire roughly one round every 3 seconds. The overheating limit was hard to gauge, but I figured she could probably fire about 20 rounds before reaching it.
I picked up a new AR-15 that was lying on the floor. It was well-modified, with high-penetration rounds, of course. I hadn’t run out of Mjolnir or ASh ammo, but since I didn’t know how long the battle would last, I made the choice.
"Impressive firepower. Let’s move forward."
"Understood."
The path to the server room was clear, with only a few enemies left inside. It wasn’t difficult, but the challenge was completing the fight quickly and without damaging the server. The entire server area was protected by reinforced glass walls, but those could break after about 10 shots.
So I made my choice.
— Boom!
"Whoo."
Jin, holding both an axe and a pistol, was perfectly capable of close combat. There was no issue with that. The battle continued, both inside and outside the server room. On the outside, Jin fired plasma, destroying the approaching drones like sticks of wood. Inside, I was clearing out all the soldiers.
The fight didn’t last long, and once it was over, I cleaned the axe off with a dead soldier’s clothes and put it in my pouch. I then took out a large USB drive.
After activating the server, I plugged the USB in. The lights came on one by one, and I began transferring the data.
While waiting for the commotion outside to end, I suddenly heard the Icarus Watch beep. It was the driver who had brought us to the facility.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I spotted a suspicious vehicle while scouting outside. You should check it out."
At the same time, a photo appeared on the screen. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew exactly what I had to say.
"...Alright. Once we’re done underground, we’ll take care of it."
"Understood."
Artemis’s portable combat command vehicle had no shortage of gifts heading back to base.