The K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy charged at me like a wild rhino, and I barely managed to dodge his onslaught. Fortunately, he was slow, just as Nolan had warned me, but his strength was incredible. If I hadn't blocked his attack with Neo, I might have ended up with a few broken bones.
As I dodged his charge, I seized the opportunity to counterattack. I switched Aquarius from single-shot mode to burst mode, a setting that allowed for three rapid shots with a single pull of the trigger.
The laser shots from Aquarius struck the back of the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy, but to my surprise, they bounced off the armor without leaving a mark. Just how strong was this armor? It covered almost his entire body, leaving only his face exposed, and even that was protected by strong glass over his eyes.
The only vulnerable areas were his joints, like elbows and knees, but they were small and challenging targets. To take advantage of these exposed parts, I would need to get in close, but that was easier said than done. While I was skilled with a gun, I wasn't a master marksman who could hit such precise targets with ease. Perhaps Nolan could offer some insight.
I decided to contact Nolan and asked him, "Nolan, how can I take down this K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy? Do you have any ideas?"
"Unfortunately Frankie, I don't know any weakness of the K.R.A.K.E.N armor, but I have some ideas, though I'm not sure if either of them will work," Nolan replied. Just as he finished speaking, the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy charged at me once again, swinging his massive, trunk-like arm.
With him so close, dodging was not an option, so I quickly transformed my Neo arm into a shield and blocked his attack. Despite successfully blocking it, I was still sent flying several meters back. I left a noticeable mark on the ground, and while I hadn't sustained major damage, the impact reverberated through my body.
As I pondered this, Nolan issued a quick warning, "Frankie, quickly duck." I followed his instructions, and suddenly, I felt something small and fast whizzing above my head. Then, an explosive sound echoed, followed by a heavy thud as something crashed to the ground.
I quickly turned around to see what had happened. It was one of the guys with a melee weapon, and his head had exploded into a gruesome, gooey mess. His blood flowed out like a river of horror. It appeared that he had tried to attack me while I was preoccupied with the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy. They must have intended to catch me off guard, and their coordination was surprisingly good. I owed my life to Nolan once again.
I attempted to contact Nolan, and my gratitude was evident, "Nolan, thanks for saving me once more. I was confident that Rex was keeping an eye on them, so what happened to him?" Concern for Rex weighed heavily on my mind.
Nolan quickly filled me in, "They temporarily blinded Rex by throwing sand at his eyes while he was distracted and worried about you. Then, one of them tried to attack you from behind, but I noticed and took him out."
Relieved but still concerned, I inquired about Rex's well-being, "Is Rex okay?"
Nolan assured me, "Don't worry, he's fine. They attempted a sneak attack on Rex as well when he was blinded, but I shot and eliminated that assailant too. The only ones left now are the scarred-faced guy, the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy, and another guy with a melee weapon who is assisting the scarred guy. You can focus on dealing with the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy. Rex and I will handle the other two."
I nodded, appreciating Nolan's tactical insight. "I see, thank you. And you were talking about some ways to defeat the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy before I was jumped, can you tell me about that now?"
Nolan shared his ideas, "Well, I actually have a few ideas, but as I said, I don't know how effective they will be. The first is to basically use the grenades on that guy. As far as I can see, even if he is not severely injured by the boat explosion, he is still somewhat injured by that, so we will repeat that and slowly tire him out."
Nolan's voice continued to guide me through our options. "The second is to aim at the tanks behind his back; they store water inside those tanks to act as a power source. If you somehow cut that power source, then the K.R.A.K.E.N armor basically becomes very heavy scrap metal. The person using it won't be able to move properly because of its weight. But I have no idea how that actually works. If it's similar to the HydroVortex engine, then it turns water into energized plasma, and if you attack it while you are close to it, there are chances that you will be caught in the explosion when the energized plasma explodes."
He went on, "The third plan is similar to the last one, but instead of attacking the power source, you target the neural network ports on both the helmet and spine. This reduces the risk of being caught in the explosion, and just like the last one, once they are destroyed, the K.R.A.K.E.N armor will stop working properly. The challenge here is that these ports are small targets compared to the water tanks on the back."
Nolan wrapped up with the most direct approach, "The last one is the most dangerous and most effective as well. You just get close to him and attack his exposed body parts."
As I contemplated our options, I couldn't shake the feeling that the last plan was originally mine, a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy unexpectedly shifted his attention toward Rex.
"Rex, watch out!" I yelled, a sense of urgency coursing through me as I sprinted toward him. My agility allowed me to reach Rex before the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy. In one swift motion, I scooped Rex up in my arms, bracing for whatever threat was headed our way.
The K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy wasted no time and lunged at us, launching a powerful punch in our direction. Instinctively, I transformed my Neo arm into a shield, intercepting the colossal blow. The impact reverberated through my entire body, sending Rex and me tumbling through the air.
But this time, unlike the previous bone-crushing encounters, we managed to evade severe injury. We landed in a tangled heap, shaken but still intact.
As I contemplated our situation, the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy suddenly began shouting, his voice booming through the whole place.
"Boss, just like you said! If I go after the dog, the other guy lets his guard down and becomes an easy target. Ah ah ah ah... they're so stupid to fall for our plan," he exclaimed, a wicked laughter escaping his armored figure.
However, the scarred guy didn't share his enthusiasm. His face contorted in anger as he started shouting at the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy, "You are the foolish one, you bastard! Why are you exposing all our strategies to the whole world?"
The K.R.A.K.E.N guy quickly attempted to make amends, his tone sounded apologetic, "Sorry about that, boss. I got carried away. And as for you, one-eyed guy, I'll definitely target your dog, so you don't have to worry about it. Just let your guard down.", then he declared this to me.
*Sigh*
The scarred guy let out a frustrated sigh and snapped, "Enough! Just shut up and attack him."
It was clear to me that while the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy might have been the strongest in their group, he certainly wasn't the sharpest. I gently set Rex down and gave him a simple directive, "Rex, I've got this now. Find a safe place to hide." Rex nodded in understanding, still holding his favorite bloody axe in his mouth, and stealthily disappeared into the shroud of darkness that enveloped the night.
With Rex safe, I grabbed a grenade and hurled it at the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy. I opted for a grenade rather than a grenade launcher, as I had left the launcher behind the huge tree where I had concealed myself before making their ship explode.
The grenade I tossed landed close to the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy, exploding in a flurry of dust and debris. Small rocks and bits of earth were sent flying in all directions as the explosion engulfed him.
*Ahaa*
The K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy let out a startled scream, not from injury but from the shock of the sudden explosion nearby. I seized this momentary advantage and charged at him, swiftly morphing my Neo arm into the Hyper Blade. With precision timing, I executed an uppercut, driving the blade beneath the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy's exposed chin, an area unprotected by his formidable armor.
My blade pierced through his head, and blood began to drip down my arm as it remained impaled through his skull. With a deliberate pull, I withdrew my arm, leaving the K.R.A.K.E.N armored guy lifeless. His body crashed to the ground with a resounding thud, and I shook my arm to rid it of the blood, exhaling a sigh of relief.
But my moment of relief was abruptly interrupted as Nolan's voice crackled through my communicator. "Frankie, I hate to interrupt your moment of satisfaction, but backup from the warehouse has arrived," He gave me a grave message.