"Get out of the way!" Draylith's enraged voice echoed from inside a Xenotech armor, a colossal four-meter-tall machine with a body that spanned half a meter in width.
His armor, a sinister creation of blood-red hue, seemed to emerge from the darkest nightmares. Golden highlights on various parts of its structure ominously gleamed, projecting an aura of power and destruction as it advanced.
This colossal presence on the battlefield was terrifying, and the three gleaming eyes radiated tangible fury.
"It's all your damn fault, you bastards!"
The transformation in his demeanor, which had abandoned all traces of fear, was the result of recent news that had shaken him: he had been informed that his salary would be cut in half for the next five decades...
All of this was the fault of these rusted pieces of junk from a crappy civilization that hadn't even reached Type One!
Furthermore, they were also going to give him his Cytroflux ration last, which was a very painful low blow. His imposing figure pushed aside all other soldiers as he advanced.
Boom! Boom!
"Die, die, die!" he roared with unrestrained fury, relentlessly firing and squeezing the trigger.
Waves of automatons disappeared in a matter of seconds with each shot, and each time they did, the entire surface trembled as if on the verge of collapse. However, Caelum's sturdy underground structure demonstrated its unwavering resilience, enduring even the most devastating forces without flinching.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Draylith continued to fire without a second's pause, as if his ammunition were inexhaustible: "What do you think of my weapon, huh!? Much better than those rusty pipes they use!"
In his gigantic arms, he held a BlasterX plasma rocket launcher, a weapon of war that might be considered cheap on larger battlefields but was more than enough in a showdown with rusted and weakened automatons.
Thud! Thud!
Not far away, with ground-shaking steps, another colossal Xenotech armor advanced, piloted by Zyrgon.
In his arms, he firmly held the Magnetic Hunter, a colossal two-meter-long sniper designed to shatter the defenses of enemy battleships.
His weapon and armor were interconnected by delicate blue tubes, as each shot from this voracious sniper demanded an exorbitant amount of high-power electromagnetic energy, and only the formidable Xenotech armors could handle such consumption.
Zzchhhuuumm!
He took precise aim at one of the Sages in the distance, and with a slight squeeze of the trigger, a white light tore through the air in an instant, shattering half of its body!
Not only that, the shot continued on, destroying hundreds of automatons in an instant.
Boom! Boom!
"Impressive shot! It's been a while since I've seen you use the Magnetic Hunter!" Draylith commented without taking his eyes off his target, as he continued firing without interruption, completely absorbed in the destruction.
Zyrgon wanted to smile, but the bitter taste of his salary cut overwhelmed him, and with a melancholic tone, he said, "It's natural that I haven't used it in centuries. In this place, things never change. On the other hand, in other corners of the Lumineos sector, wars are an everyday occurrence."
Fssssshhh!
"Exactly, this place is damn boring!" Draylith exclaimed as he ceased his fire. The barrel of his weapon glowed with incandescent red and emitted dense smoke.
His weapon urgently needed cooling, making the abundance of ammunition lose its luster.
Of course, Zyrgon also needed to cool his sniper.
Patiently, the two waited, knowing that the other soldiers were still fighting by their side, annihilating wave after wave of automatons. The situation suggested that it was only a matter of time before they eradicated all these rusty machines.
"These scrap heaps are countless. We've been here for a while, and I think we've already destroyed thousands of units, but they keep emerging like an endless ocean..."
Tsk!
Draylith clicked his tongue in annoyance, aware that this small war was far from over.
They had been forbidden from using weapons of mass destruction, which meant they were condemned to a protracted struggle; otherwise, they could have wiped out this artificial island with a single use of the Ship Devastators.
"Quick, shoot!" a soldier shouted urgently.
Suddenly, a few meters away, a small group of four soldiers was captured by the long arms of the Sages, and they were ruthlessly thrown against the walls and the floor!
Crack! Thud!
Their bodies looked like rag dolls, tossed mercilessly in all directions, a gruesome sight.
"H-Hurry..." despite the resistance of their armors, the internal damage caused by the impacts was evident; many of them were bleeding from their mouths and noses.
Zzzaaap-zzzaaap-zzzaaap!
The surrounding soldiers opened fire on the mechanical arms, but their number was such that for every one that was destroyed, another immediately took its place.
Faced with the difficulty of getting rid of the arms, they redirected their shots toward the heads of the Sages.
However, these cunning automatons moved with guile, using other automatons as living shields when they sensed any threat in their direction.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"The smaller ones are a piece of cake and barely pose a threat, but these multi-armed ones are really annoying!" Draylith commented as he raised his already cooled weapon. Frowning, he began to fire again, instantly reducing dozens of arms to rubble.
Nonetheless, the large number of arms remained overwhelming, so even with both of them firing, their firepower seemed inadequate.
Krrraaack!
Fortunately, they were not the only ones in possession of Xenotech armors. Other soldiers, equally equipped with these powerful armors and heavy weapons, entered the fray, opening fire on the enemy.
In particular, one soldier wielded a weapon that unleashed electric flashes, turning their shots into thunderous lightning bolts that resounded like thunder!
...
While the Astrylite soldiers continued their relentless destruction of automatons, Kraynnor approached the end of his knowledge absorption process.
Data streams inscribed themselves into his consciousness. He experienced the sensation of learning from scratch all the content of "Interstellar Engineering for Beginners" as if he were absorbing the information at a dizzying real-time pace, comprehending every detail as if he had studied it countless times before.
"?"
When he was immersed in this amazing feeling, he was suddenly interrupted!
[Five Universal Points have been used, allowing the user to assimilate 10% of the knowledge contained in 'Interstellar Engineering for Beginners.']
"Oh? Right... I only used five points," Kraynnor felt slightly disoriented. He reflected on whether this was what addicts felt, enjoying their vice and then suddenly running out of it.
He even felt the urge to give more Universal Points to prolong that amazing feeling of connecting with all the knowledge of the universe.
Nonetheless, his will proved to be stronger, and he quickly composed himself. There was no need to give more points. With the newly acquired knowledge about spacecraft construction, he had everything he needed to create what he required. Now, all that remained was to control all the androids in the hangars to initiate production.
"Let's go," Kraynnor instructed the assembly robot that had been patiently waiting by his side.
Upon exiting the elevator, they were met with a desolate sight. The sixth level was completely overrun by thick roots that extended into every corner. Darkness reigned in this place, and the ancient machines and generators lay buried under a layer of dust and mold.
"Useless," Kraynnor whispered with regret.
The generators of this place lay dormant, their power extinguished centuries ago. Root networks had infiltrated every crack and crevice.
As he walked through the corridors, Kraynnor was faced with the majesty of the Nuclear Fusion Center that had once given life to Caelum. In the central room, fusion reactors stood like metal giants, their holographic control panels now inactive.
On the ceiling, electromagnetic coils hung as silent witnesses of times past.
Along the walls, the massive turbines remained motionless, filled with roots that had infiltrated their innards. The deuterium and tritium tanks, frozen in time, were a reminder of the greatness that once was...
Finally, he ascended to the main control room, an elevated platform offering a panoramic view of the center.