"How long are we meant to do this for?" The first battle with the Scorpion units was at a stalemate. Going all out at the beginning turned out to be a tactic that could not be sustained for too long.
The enemy had suffered a big blow at the beginning but now they were starting to make a comeback, due to that, the battlefield was in chaos.
Most of the Red Wing Thunder squad members had their tachyon core gauge depleted after engaging for a little over a minute.
The sheer number of the Scorpion unit was something that they could not overcome with their current strategy, of course, they never planned on finishing them off in the first place. One had to be familiar with his capabilities before engaging in battle.
"How much longer are they going to take?... We can't hold on for much longer." Jeremiah felt the urge to curse out Leah and Nathan. He was against the idea of placing the two weakest members of their Squadron at the center of their plan.
It repulsed him to think that the entire team had their hopes on those two weaklings. Alas, he could only keep his thoughts to himself, after all, this was a strategy concocted by Elena.
"Keep calm and hold the line. We just have to trust them to finish up before it is too late." Indra kept his cool as he slashed at a Scorpion unit. He also had his reservations but at this moment, he had to keep the morale up to prevent a total loss. "Tch."
***
"Ugh, this is getting harder by the second." Gary groaned as he blocked an attack from the Crawler defense cannons. "Be patient, Nathan and Leah will get the job done." Elena seemed to be the only one who hadn't begun to feel hopeless.
She had to keep her head high for the rest of the squad. That was her responsibility as their leader. She charged forward, intending to draw attention from Gary. The latter would have none of that as he chased after her.
"What are you doing?" "You brought me along to protect you, right?... Then allow me to perform my responsibility."
Elena could not help but suffuse a bright smile at Gary's gesture. "Watch out." He shouted as he pulled her back and activated his shield just in time as a massive plasma beam slammed just in front of them, causing him to take a few steps back.
"That was close."
***
"How long are they going to take?" Tanya kept running and hacking apart Drones that blocked her path forward but the sheer number of enemies placed a massive strain on her.
She struggled to keep her pace while trying to avoid getting incinerated. Things were not looking up at all.
***Pew***
A beam flew out of nowhere and struck the area just in front of her causing her to lose her balance, tripping over as she rolled away to avoid getting hit.
The moment she put her head up, she threw one of her weapons which pierced through the nearest Drone heading towards her. She was just about to make a move when a blaring sound echoed from the Crawler.
The Drones stopped moving momentarily allowing her to turn her neck towards the Crawler. It was then that she saw it and as she did, her eyes went wide in surprise.
A large hatch appeared underneath the Crawler and at the same time, a massive tank was being lowered down. She gulped down saliva at the sight of the fearsome vehicle.
"Guys… we might have a problem." She muttered into the comms. "What is it?" Elena's voice came through almost immediately. "The Crawler has produced a different Machine unit and judging from how it looks, this unit is way above the Scorpion units."
"…What are its characteristics?" "Heavy armor and artillery. Its only drawback might be that it is a bit slow in movement."
"Get out of there now, Tanya." "Copy…"
She swallowed the rest of her response as she put her head up only to realize that the Tank had already caught sight of her. [Enemy spotted. Commencing elimination.]
"Shit." The hatch at the top of the tank opened up and out of it came a full round of explosives shaped like missiles. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Tanya, get out of there now!!!" Elena practically screamed into the communication device. Tanya only managed to get to her feet when the missiles were fired at her.
They moved at a tremendous pace. It was incredible to watch them whistle through the air.
***Boom***
The area blew up once the projectiles made contact. [Threat eliminated. Heading out] The Tank closed its hatch and turned to head out, its direction being the location of Elena and Gary.
***
"Fuck!!!" Elena did not realize it as she screamed after listening to Tanya getting blown up. "…" Gary was left speechless. Even though this was not real, it was not exactly a good feeling to watch a teammate get killed in such a manner.
"No need to yell so much, I'm still alive." A second later and a familiar voice came across. "Tanya?" "Yeah, I activated Racers wheel to escape. On a positive note, I'm okay and on a negative note, my tachyon core gauge is at fifteen percent. I might be dead soon."
Elena glanced at Gary. "I'll make a path for you. Go in and rescue her." The latter nodded in agreement. Just then.
[Targets confirmed. Commencing elimination.] Elena whipped her head just in time to catch the Tank opening up its hatch to reveal a full deck of missiles aimed at them. "What in the world…"
For the first time today, Elena was rendered speechless.
***
"You will end up draining yourself." "It's fine. Let's just get this done." Nathan remarked. He had succeeded in transferring forty percent of his tachyon core gauge over to Leah, which turned out to be just a little over twenty percent for her.
He dropped her and turned his attention over to the door. "Get started. I'll keep watch." Leah nodded as she quickly rushed over to the control panel to begin work.
The door to the control room made a sound like an elevator door sliding open. "Shit, they are coming in." Nathan rushed over and using the hole that had been blown open, held the door back.
"We are about to get busted!!" He didn't mean to but he had to inform Leah of how little time they had. [Unknown entity attempting to hack system detected. Commencing failsafe. Core meltdown will occur in five... Four… three… two... System reset successful]
Nathan's eyes went wide with shock as he heard that. "So fast?" He glanced at the control panel to find Leah staring at him with the most alluring smile he had ever come across.
"I did it." She said whilst smiling sheepishly. "Yeah… you did." He managed to say amidst his utter awe. Just then, Elena spoke through the comms. "Did you guys succeed?"
"Yeah… Leah hacked the Crawler mainframe in a matter of seconds." Nathan was still finding it hard to push aside his disbelief. "…Thank you… And well done."
"Just doing our job, ma'am." Nathan joked with Leah chuckling. "See you guys in a bit."
Leah walked over and sat beside him. "Thanks. If not for you, I would have never been able to play my part well." "I was only giving a helping hand. You did everything yourself."
Silence reigned over them for a few seconds as they exchanged looks with one another. Just then. "Hey, Nate, my boy, you managed to hack the system so quickly. I taught you well." Reyes remarked mischievously.
"I should mess with your gun and watch you hurt yourself." "Whoa… No need to be so petty. See you in a bit. Hehe."
"You guys are pretty good friends," Leah commented. "Well, I guess so… That is when he is not being a self-absorbed dick wad," Nathan replied drawing yet another chuckle from Leah.
"It must be fun… having friends." "Don't you have any?"
"I've never had the time. With all my time spent with either my aunt or my entire collection of computer codes..."
"I can understand. Before now, I would be in a workshop working with tools that I thought were cool." "But it's easier for you to fit in."
"It doesn't matter. In any case, you do have friends." "I do?" Leah put up a brow. "Of course… Or don't you see me as a friend?" Nathan asked with a smile.
"… I guess I have you as a friend." She returned his gesture with a smile of her own. "Apart from me, Reyes also wants to be your friend," Nathan remarked mischievously. Leah immediately realized what he was getting at as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment.