"FUCK! This is not written in the mission's description!" Li-Xin cursed while hiding behind some landmarks to avoid the local alien lifeform's attack. Like those he faced in his previous mission, these Luminescent Drones can fire bone spikes from the mouths located on the tip of their pair of tentacles.
This was not his first time encountering the Luminescents. But this can be said to be his first time fighting them while staying in one location for close to half an hour.
To get the canister of 25kg holding capacity filled, he had to make sure that the pump is in the water for at least thirty minutes to make sure it was stuffed to the brim. Lucky for him, everything was automatic, except for the moving part.
[Fill and go]
The mission description was simple, but only the frontline understands the difficulty of achieving this. Li-Xin has to fill the canister but come back while protecting himself and the canister.
This is a five kilograms baton run from the start and thirty kilograms package on his return. It was a replay of an obstacle running course, with a life-threatening situation placed on the sacrificing altar.
**Bzzt!**
A scratch mark was inflicted on Li-Xin's shoulder when one of the bone spikes accidentally struck the side of his armor. It didn't wound him as he has thought, but that hit itself took away at least 50,000 of the Reactive Mycelium Bots.
The scratch on the armor was quickly replaced by the remaining RMB scattered around his suit.
"Damn... This place is just as dangerous as the other place I've been. One wrong step, and I'll be just like the others." Li-Xin never felt more awake than he does before.
Different from the Defensive Assignment he had done previously, there's no backup here. Everyone can be said to be relying on themselves in this mission. Although it would work much better with teamwork, it was unfortunate that he knew no one on this mission.
"Let's do this properly, just like what I've learned from the United Nations Space University!" Li-Xin adjusted the scope for his rifle slightly. Pulling the hammer to make sure a bullet is loaded into the chamber, he pulled the trigger when a target was in his sight.
*BANG!*
A shot was fired. It was then followed by a cry from the Luminescent Drone as it fell on the ground.
Li-Xin immediately marched forward and threw the canister into the Fuel Pool. The mechanism on the canister immediately activated as it started to fill the canister. It was an arduous twenty-five-minute waiting game with an estimated volume of a kilogram worth of fuel stored per minute.
Although the drones hardly come in large numbers, getting attacked from around him made the guarding task harder. But what was more irritating to him is that killing the Green-1 targets during this mission pays nothing.
He could be said to be working for free while waiting for the canister to be filled.
"Finally!" Li-Xin quickly placed the canister over his back and sprinted all the way back to the landing zone. By the time he was here, another group of soldiers has arrived. The assignment would be much easier with more people, but that means his reward would be lesser too.
Because there's a limit of content in the pool. When more than fifty or so people are working together, Fuel Pool will shrink much faster than they could think. A casual twenty-five-minute process could extend by ten minutes more due to the effort and shrinkage of the pool.
But he had no choice. Li-Xin took the second canister with him and picked up his speed before it was too late for him to chase after the others. It was evident that the assignment was much easier than before because there are more people around him.
This dramatically reduces the possibility of getting attacked by Luminescent Drones all the time.
And after running forth and back a few times, Li-Xin finally called it a day. He was here for close to six hours and collected a total of ten canisters of Luminescent Fuel.
While waiting for the Dropship to pick him up, Li-Xin made use of the time he had to "loot" some of the unlucky peeps that failed to make it through. These people were the risk-takers that came unprepared.
The "loot" was hardly profitable, and it was accompanied by some danger. And once in a while, Li-Xin would have to compete with others for these unlucky targets.
He then took a ride back to the mothership when a Dropship made a stop here. Following him back were six other soldiers. Out of them, four people have evidently suffered a terrible loss on this mission.
One of them still had a bone spike on his shoulder.
'That would definitely cost him at least a thousand Geass to get it removed and repairing the damaged muscle around that part.' Li-Xin thought. This guy was the perfect example of going down to earn but ended up losing more.
As for the other three, it would be lucky for them if they managed to break even.
He made his way back to the Human Resources Office straight after the Dropship landed on one of the available hangars. But he stopped halfway to appreciate the sight of a Knight-Mare waiting to get lifted by two Dropships.
'Look at that beauty...' Li-Xin put his head closer at the glass panel that separates the oxygenated area from the outside. He had a feeling that he wouldn't get bored of it no matter how many times he'd seen the Knight-Mare.
That shows how much attraction a Knight-Mare had towards someone aiming to become one of its pilots.
But something coming up next surprises him more.
Cladded in crimson red armor all over, a customized Crimson-colored Knight-Mare is making its way to one of the available hangars.
"Look at that... That's red Knight-Mare belonged to the IGNIS IMPERIALIS, did I get it correctly?" one of the older soldiers said while walking past Li-Xin. It would be impossible for them to not notice the eye-catching color of the Crimson-colored Knight-Mare.
"IGNIS IMPERIALIS? They actually exist?" Li-Xin grabbed the soldier's shoulder and asked.
"Of course. Do you think it just rumors?" the soldier chuckled. Based on the uniform he's wearing, this soldier was one of the pilots too.