"Let's go, boys, this one's clear! Finish up the sweep in thirty seconds and gather at me, understood?!"
"MA'AM, YES, MA'AM!"
"Private Ken, you're with the injured soldier-"
"MA'AM!"
"We're returning to the Assembly Zone, boys! Private Aren, prepare to take point."
"MA'AM, YES, MA'AM!"
As the door to the store room closed, Nuel let out a deep breath, the Iron Lady's commanding voice was still as domineering as he remembered it from the game.
「 Phew, that's so nerve-wrecking! The anti-psychic barrier in here really f**ks up my Sense talent... 」
He returned his attention to the ceiling before looking at the small device in his hand.
"I guess, we're meeting again soon."
Pulling down the visor to his exosuit helmet and stashing the tracker device into his exosuit's storage compartment, Nuel then leapt towards the ceiling opening and accurately grabbed unto the metal frames there.
Then he hoisted himself up with the bonus of 2 points in [ Attribute : Base STR ] from his equipped [ Title : Born of Giant's Strength III ] which boosted his musculoskeletal strength significantly.
The small torchlight mounted on the exosuit helmet lighted up and showed him the exhaust duct less than two meters before him.
'Found it!'
The dark, cramped space vibrated from the the deafening barrages of metal slugs and explosives pelting outside.
「 F**k that's a lot of them... 」
Nuel hands reached for the maintenance panel as he rested on his right side, both of his hands were positioning the crowbar into the gaps, making it worked as a simple lever.
Then with a hard yank, he pried the maintenance panel open, as it broke with a sudden metallic 'bang'.
「 Oops! 」
As the panel swung open, revealing the narrow and cramped space inside the duct, Nuel hesitated for a moment.
He peered into the darkness within the duct.
The air filtration unit of his exosuit could be heard revving its motor faster as it filtered the acrid exhaust fumes, mixed with scorching hot steam, escaping through the opened panel of the duct.
Nuel crawled into the narrow duct-way, his exosuit providing a modicum of protection against the scalding heated steam and toxic gases.
Ding!
_____
You have entered a area.
You are being exposed to temperature higher than your [ Max.Thermal Limit ].
You will be inflicted by the in 300 seconds.
_____
The duct was pretty short and straightforward, but he could feel his sweat trickled down his brow as he pressed on, his body straining with each inch of progress.
「 F**k! 」
In the suffocating darkness, Nuel's mind wandered.
But only for a second - he was interrupted by the intensifying sounds of explosions and metallic groans of the Bastion's armour.
The entire length of the exhaust duct rattled.
The moments stretched as Nuel crawled, crawling like the reserve soldier he once was when he served in the army many years ago.
Finally, he reached the exhaust outlet, the vent covered with a somewhat flimsy mesh grill.
「 !!! 」
A surge of adrenaline ignited in him, propelling himself forward into the light before he punched the grill a few times and smashed it open.
Then, he peeked his head out of the vent.
A stray bullet suddenly struck the right side of his helmet, his head punched hard against the ducting opening ridge.
"Owh- F**K!!!"
Nuel's [ HP ] -2 (Critical).
-----
You are now in combat.
You have been inflicted with the for 3 seconds.
The has been triggered.
Your [ Immunity Chance ] stat has increased by 15%.
You have successfully resisted the .
The has been triggered.
Your [ Crit.Proc ] stat has been boosted greatly against targets.
Your chance of inflicting against targets has been boosted slightly for 3 seconds.
Your chance of inflicting against targets has risen slightly for 3 seconds.
-----
「 The f**k is that?!! 」
Nuel peered from within the boiling steam pumping out of the exhaust outlet again, this time cautiously and saw the situation outside.
Less than a hundred meters away, from amongst the darkness and frigid landscape, a small horde of three to four zombie-bots were in pursuit of the steadily-moving .
And he just so happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time to get shot at the head!
The undead-machine hybrid monsters had tracks and metallic wheels under them, and despite facing suprression fire from the point defenses atop the , they were able to nimbly evade the shells and keep up with the giant tank.
「 Those f**king mobile-type, huh? 」
Then, a radio announcement blared faintly from behind him through the ducting;
>"Attention to all units; the Bastion is approaching Estama point. Prepare for field operations in five mike. All squads under First Lieutenant Eito and Second Lieutenant Haellen will secure the parameter fife-oh meters around the Bastion landing, and squads under Sergeant Geral and Corporal Kyro will takeover internal security and investigation of the Code Red incident as well as operating the Bastion's point defense systems.""I say again: Attention to all units; the Bastion is approaching Estama point. Prepare for field operations in five mike. All squads under First Lieutenant Eito and Second Lieutenant Haellen will secure the parameter fife-oh meters around the Bastion landing, and squads under Sergeant Geral and Corporal Kyro will takeover internal security and investigation of the Code Red incident as well as operating the Bastion's point defense systems."<
「 I don't have much time! 」
Then he pulled up his [ Character Status ] screen and scrolled down to the [ Missions ] tab to receive the for the [ Crisis Mission : Code Red ] from earlier - he was in dire need of a firearm.
Even a [ Low Quality ] handgun would do.
Ding!
_____
Do you wish to receive the for the [ Crisis Mission : Code Red! ] now?
- Y / N -
_____
「 Yes. 」
_____
You have received +20.
You have received × 5.
You have received × 1.
You have received × 2.
_____
One small submachine-gun-like firearm, followed by two rectangular metal objects materialised from within the familiar interweaving of holographic lights.
He select-opened his [ Equipment ] tab and from there, he promptly equipped the light-class PDW. The light-class SMG-like gun appeared in his hands almost instantaneously.
Nuel smiled as he admired the gun, before he loaded it up with one of the two 4.6×30mm forty armour-piercing (AP) rounds magazine - he stored the other at his exosuit's waist inventory slot to make it easy for reloading.
「 YESS!!! My first real gun- 」
Ding! A notification popped-up.
_____
You have equipped the as your [ Main Weapon ].
Your [ Initiative Chance ] stat has been boosted slightly in the area.
Your [ Crit.Proc ] stat against and targets has increased slightly.
_____
Another stray shell hit Nuel, this time in between the gaps of his exosuit armour at his shoulder.
Nuel's [ HP ] -2.3 (Piercing!).
"AARGHH, F**K!!!"
Ding!
_____
You have been inflicted with .
Your [ HP ] will decrease by 1 every 5 seconds for the next 24 hours unless treated.
If remain untreated in the next 24 hours, will develop.
_____
Nuel activated his exosuit's and almost immediately, thick, gray, electromagnetic smog sprayed out of the exhaust grill of the discharger modules fitted to both sides of the exosuit's waist.
At the same time, the single retrospective muonic sensor located at the forehead of his helmet began to rev up.
>"Schwei EM Smokescreen, activated. Schwei Retrospective Muonic Sensors, activated. Operative in Schwei Mode, all green."<
The inner visor of his exosuit helmet lit up with a bluish display showing the unobstructed visuals outside despite the viscous thick smoke through using the sensors on the headgear.
Ding!
_____
You have activated Schwei's .
Your [ PHY.Stealth ] stat has increased greatly for 20 seconds.
You have activated Schwei's .
Your [ PHY.Perception ] stat has been boosted greatly.
_____
The burning, EM-charged, vulcanite ashes engulfed him as it filled and spewed forth out of the exhaust outlet, providing cover for him, from the pursuing Necrobiotes and from the army personnels in the .
Nuel then followed it by with activating his two most combat-useful abilities; the and the .
Ding!
_____
You have activated the .
Your [ Initiative Chance ] stat has increased noticeably.
You have activated the .
Your [ Quiescence ] stat has risen significantly.
Your [ PHY.Stealth ] stat has increased slightly.
_____
Nuel's [ Psion ] -2.5.
Nuel's [ HP ] -1 (Small Bullet Wound!).
「 Urrghh, my shoulder hurts... 」
Then, he pulled his body out of the boiling steam-and-smog spouting vent and quickly leapt off the side of the and into the darkness below - he landed onto the rubble-filled asphalt road four meters.
The Schwei's fiberglass leaf-spring walker module absorbed most of the impact when he landed on his feet, before he rolled further to reduce the shock.
And not even a second passed, Nuel had already aimed his beloved Eisa at the pursuing zombie-bot horde a dozen meters away from inside the smokescreen.
「 The Eisa has the effective range of 200 meters, and a DPS of around 63, minus the monsters' RES values so...f**k you, losers... 」
Sprays of bullets exploded from Eisa's virgin muzzle of his gun and tore through the air, firing at the moving targets just a few meters from him.
Level 2 Necrobiote Hounder's [ HP ] -64 (Piercing!).
Level 2 Necrobiote Hounder's [ HP ] -72 (Critical!).
Level 3 Necrobiote Sentry's [ HP ] -96 (Piercing!).
Level 3 Necrobiote Sentry's [ HP ] -56 (Critical!).
Despite the EM smokescreen and the ever-darkness enveloping him, two of the pursuing zombie-bots still fell victim to his gunfire onslaught.
Ding!
_____
You have neutralised a .
You have received +2.18.
You have received +2.
You have neutralised a .
You have received +3.27.
You have received +3.
You have obtained .
Your [ XP Multiplier ] is increased by 0.1 for the next 30 minutes.
_____
A series of retaliatory shots were promptly fired at him.
But Nuel was 3.575 seconds ahead in time with his Precognition ability.
And coupled with the Schwei's smokescreen, his own Delusory Shroud ability and the night-like ambience, his [ PHY.Stealth ] stat was f**king off the charts, relatively-speaking.
Nuel's [ Psion ] -2.5.
「 Got their Aggro but they simply can't see me, don't they...? Eleven seconds left on the smokescreen... 」
He turned around and ran towards the half-destroyed shop building for cover just a couple of meters away, with his Eisa pointing behind him and suppress-firing towards the fast-approaching two remaining Necrobiote zombies.
He leapt behind a piece of concrete rubble and changed the empty mag with the spare one from his waist inventory slot.
And with the RM Sensor's visual-assist, Nuel aimed at the two targets and pulled the trigger on them.
.
.
.
====================
Author's Post-Script :
Nuel's [ Medium-Quality ] gun ~~~
_____
[ MAIN WEAPON ]
-----The Eisa-08 is a personal defense weapon chambered for the 4.6×30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by an Old World weapon company, now continued by Thacon City's Tetsu Industries. The Eisa is used mostly for indoor combat.-----
Weight : 1.9 kg || Grade : Common
DMG : 4 (physical, armor-piercing)
Effective Range : 200 m || Reload Speed : 2.9 s
Cartridge : 4.6×30mm || Magazine Size : 40
Durability : 150 /150
Effect :
- : Changes between and . When is toggled, increase weapon recoil by 5%. || CD : 2 sec.
- [ Initiative Chance ] +10% in and areas.
- [ CRIT.Chance ] +5% against and .
_____
Additional :
- × 2.