Chapter 91: Unstoppable Force
3:28 AM August 30th
Ripley [Western Shandian Facility: Floor B2 (Bronze-Grade Production Lines)]
Yeah, my greed had fucked me up, of course they wouldn’t even allow the option to remove a single shard. So since there were security forces already coming… I decided to make the most of it and throw as many of the shards as possible into whatever storage I had on my Shardware or pockets. Good thing this stealth suit had cargo pants.
I might have stolen… 300,000 Shardyne worth before I decided to get my ass moving. I’d managed to get a good grasp of tons of Bronze-Grade development processes and even some minor Warp Material schematics before the camera feed of the control hub indicated an approaching group of Tier I Guards. Five of them.
So… I pulsed one last wish into the control hub before my access would be revoked. To turn off all the lights on this side of the factory. Darkness consumed us at an instant, and I was suddenly very thankful for my grandfather to install various spectral views through these optics of mine including a low-light mode.
Acting on the good old tactic of hiding on the roof, I waited as the footsteps neared and the five guards clamored into the room, thick armor covering most of their vitals but leaving their necks exposed.
Flashlights examined the room, finding the three slumped empoyees very quickly. “Shit! We’ve got intruders!”
Yeah, it took them long enough to realize with all the holes in their building. Looking at them though, I could take them — I just needed to be quick.
Hiding up here would only save me for so long. My Arachnodyne slowly slithered me in between two of the searching guards that were inspecting the Shard Cabinet, their voices wrecked with shock. “Damn, whoever is here is quick! You think it’s the R0-!”
Two vials sunk into each throat, gagging them before another word could be spilled. I was back skittering on the roof by the time the bodies thumped on the floor, startling the remaining three guards!
“What the hell! Rithwick! Can you respond!”
Feeling a bit teasing, I twined my Livewire to elongate, hanging me upside down just behind a guard’s head. I tapped the back of his helmet — “What the!” — and as he spun around, I stabbed him right under the jaw.
Though I wasn’t done yet, my drone had just finished locking me on to the next target and my hand threw the syringe perfectly into the next man’s neck. I couldn’t imagine how I must have looked to the last man turning to see the commotion, an intruding mercenary who caused four of his men to collapse in less than 10 seconds, hanging to the roof by four tall and sharp arachnid limbs.
But I liked the image I was giving.
“Bastard!” He aimed his rifle up at me, but my Livewire claw had already sunk into it. I snatched the weapon away, raising my other hand to shush him.
He didn’t listen, raising his hand up to his temple. “We’ve got an intru-“
My arachnid legs heaved me over his body, and I struggled the man to the floor before he could grab his pistol. Another vial sank into his neck, but my Preservation Matrix hummed my body to action. The drone was still picking up movement.
I’d misjudged the grade of the guard whose jaw I’d stabbed before, he might be a bit groggy but his gun was shakily aimed at me.
“Disable your Shardware and surrender!” His accent shone even through the thick helmet.
“You’d shoot me? Your friend is right underneath me, what’s stopping me from taking him hostage.” I wrapped my claw around the unconscious guard’s neck.
“He’s just a coworker. You’ll be surrounded soon, surrender now!” He took a step closer.
“Really want to cash in that paycheck for capturing me, huh?” I goaded the man, casting the glowing sight of my mask into him. He was kept his distance, wary of my extended dorsal limbs. Wise… but with his focus all on me, I could wield another tool of mine.
A strand of Livewire dug into his neck from my Webcrawler, a discharge of lightning rippled down and tasered his focus off me. I was on him like a wolf catching a rabbit with a broken leg, a bullet burrowing through his trachea.
I've become a better shot lately.
Killing him hadn’t been the wrong position, this location was already compromised and I expected I had barely a minute before another force came crashing in here. So I retreated out, the camera access I’d gained through the control hub was revoked, but I’d been able to glimpse a few squads slipping into this floor through the upper viewing deck.
Running, I made quick entry into the break room where R0N1N was looking at me… with, I couldn’t really tell what emotions were running behind that mask. “You arrived on time… just about 8 seconds were left.”
“Uhhh… just so you know, things got a bit out of hand.” I quickly barred the door shut with my claws jamming up it’s lock. “Might wanna get down quick.”
”I told you to come back in 10 minutes, not to be quiet during it.” R0N1N plunged his sword into the floor. “How else do you think I secure my funds?”
Right… there had been an alert the second I took out a single Shard from the cabinet. “So… you’re not mad.”
“No. You acted exactly as I had anticipated.” He said as he kicked the circular cutout down, dropping into the hole and leaving me to hear the very angry barging and grunting of guards searching the area.
I sighed, feeling played, before following R0N1N down myself. My little distraction had actually worked wonders in that it would reposition their security forces to watching all of the entrances to this floor. We arrived at the-
[Western Shandian Facility: Floor B3 (Upper Security Layer)]
This was truly entering the beast’s den now, the thickness of Warp Energy flowing in the walls was sticking to my suit, making me feel like I’d submerged myself into a warm bath of slime.
My four arms caught my landing, and it appears we were situated within a similar sort of break room as the one above. My Webcrawler hovered down to my arm, and I caught sight of R0N1N striding deeper into the complex.
The difference in structure was phenomenal, as my eyes scanned the surroundings they struggled to relay the depth of the secrets hidden in their creation and composition. The floor was soundlingly dense, like it had been built to survive nuclear explosions. Or MAL invasions. The deeper we went, the more it felt like I was being consumed by the vastness of it all.
“I won’t be able to cut any deeper now.” R0N1N took a slight glance at me, sort of apologetic in nature, I mean… I expected as much.
I sent him a view of the blueprints, pointing out possible routes. “Only three ways deeper, all of them should be heavily guarded. No direct elevator access to the RnD layers.” All three checkpoints were designed to stop and scan anyone going through and fro. With my presence, they would be even more guarded now.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
R0N1N took an abrupt right ahead of me, and I heard the surprise of guards shouting from that corner. I sprinted over to support him, but by the time I’d made it all to see were falling bodies that were choking on their own blood. Or having their limbs fall apart.
R0N1N knocked on a door, looking at me. “Establish a comm link. Security Hub should be Silver Grade, but Mirage’s key should work.”
I nodded, following him into the comms room where several armed guards of Tier I and II that were waiting and ready. I dodged behind cover, sending my Webcrawler bot to sneak on the grou-
Oh, they were dead now — including one DataDelver woman hooked up with chords sticking to a load of computers. Sheepishly, I walked past them to connect into the console where I downloaded Mirage’s special comms encryption key to plug us in… after nearly a minute, we were ready and safe to communicate, but so far me and R0N1N were the only ones on the channel.
“Let’s move.” R0N1N stepped out again, leaving me barely a moment to filter some other information into my head… alright, this! I sent him a mental overlay, a minimap he could expand to see the current location of guards located on this floor. There were a lot spread out, nearly two hundred guards moving in and about searching for us… honing in on us. Shit, they probably picked up the warnings of dead bodies here.
I scavenged what I could while moving, picking off Frames and depositing the BUGs as R0N1N vanished from corner to corner at the speed where I could just keep up with him. Oftentimes, I’d turn and see guards with their last struggling breaths. It would be a lie if I didn’t admit that this was… a bit underwhelming.
“Oh hey Ripley! You sure got connected up quick!” Daylight’s voice chimed in my mask.
“R0N1N cut through the ground, we’re… well, he is currently carving a way for us deeper. What about you? You also got here pretty quick.” I was collecting up quite a few Iron and Bronze BUGs with each winding hallway, but I still had to be quick, R0N1N was practically a ghost.
“Oh Mirage and Diamante are still on the top layer! I’ve just been hopping from one drone to another! Managed to slip into their network and get into their security layer! My sisters are busy taking control of some more stuff, but what’s happening to Diamante is hilarious! You should have seen him pretend to be a security drone!”
“Oh… did you guys… do the thing?” I snickered, Diamante had no idea what was coming for him.
Daylight’s voice came with a sinister tone. “We did. As for now, I’ll work on getting the others jacked in, you stay safe! Tell us if you find anything!”
“Will do-!” I lurched aside as bullet fire streamed wildly, this time we’d just entered a massive section of the security complex, wide and open for the storage and deployment of… Combat Exosuits. Silently, I crept back behind the corner, using my Webcrawler to sight out what was happening.
The cloak of R0N1N had been shredded under his high-speed movements, revealing a rippling body of Silver-and-Gold musculature that radiated strength and authority slimmed down into his human frame. His enemies on the other hand wore massive and bulky automations of death and destruction, each suit lended an impressive four extra-feet of height and hundreds of pounds of armor, various weapons and engineered tools spearheading their robotic builds.
There were nearly thirty normal guards here and six Exo-suit wielding ones. I’d… maybe be able to hold my own against one of the Exo-guards if things got tough.
“R0N1N!” The leading Exo-guard said, his voice booming through the speaker inside. “You’ve taken this a step too far! Surrender or-“
Wind blasted into the hallway as R0N1N appeared on the head of the Exo-guard, his blade poised downwards. My own cybernetics practically screamed in delight, for once I was witnessing a power as strong as my own, this was what a Gold was.
R0N1N plunged the blade, and a stream of golden light leaked from within the suit. The heavy limbs went limp even as the suit itself remained standing, and as R0N1N unsheathed the katana from its victim, it was slick with blood.
The several remaining Exo-guards all looked nervous in their stance, but they still raised their weapons in warning. Some of the other guards now were converging warily across balconies and behind pillars.
RON1N let go of his blade, but it continued to float in the air, he clicked his second scabbard to open up. “If any of you value your life, then I give you all this moment to reflect before your death. Come to peace, now — or never.”
He unveiled a beautifully slim weapon with a calculated curve, but behind it was a dense and terrifying weight. I didn’t know what its secrets were, but deep within… there was an almanac containing the secrets of Warp Energy.
As R0N1N connected his palm on the grip of the weapon, a resounding harmony swept through the room. It was like witnessing a god born into human flesh and steel wires, and what was stranger is that the weapon he was using… had its own hum of conscious Warp Energy.
R0N1N straightened his second katana towards the legions of prepared Exo-guards, shields erupted around their bodies, Warp Energy of Iron and Bronze fled into cannons, blades, muscles, sensors, guns and more…
An entire arsenal of kinetic, thermal, and electrical weaponry ignited into a maelstrom against a single opponent. The R0N1N’s form slipped through it like a grain of sand did from between your fingers, a golden blur as his blade struck all of the Exo-guards in one fluid stroke.
They stopped moving for a second, then the sliding metal of their exosuits leaked blood as every one of them collapsed.
“EVERYONE, SHOOT!” I heard a voice call, then the R0N1N disappeared from view of my Webcrawler. I just heard screams, gunfire and the tearing of limbs as bodies fell over balconies and met their demise to the other floating blade that curved on its whims.
Feeling… safe, I risked it by turning into the wider room myself with weapons drawn, my gun and dorsal limbs. There were probably 20 dead bodies and the fighting hadn’t even lasted a minute.
My Preservation Matrix pulsed me into motion as I took a step to my right, avoiding gunfire as one of the frightened guards decided I was the better option. Before I could even lock-on, that flying katana had severed his throat while the R0N1N casually appeared in different corners of the room all in the same few seconds.
I propped up my gun, hoping to get at least one shot in but the man collapsed clutching his chest, blood spewing out from where his heart should be. I hadn’t even seen the attack?
R0N1N appeared in front of me with the air running away from him, a terrifying creature dripping blood and oil. He held out his hand, yanking it off and dropping it into my own. “Fix it. You have forty seconds, take whatever parts you need. I left their Shardware intact.”
Uhhh… I didn’t question it, my Arachne arms and eyes already moving deeper into the limb to view its faults. Heat, friction, shifts in inertia, electrical burnouts… all of those causations for worse symptoms were present minimally — but altogether they were beginning to compound up.
I had a rough image of the more general systems working at R0N1N’s body, they were built for intense speed, acceleration and mobility. Yet, that didn’t mean they were immune to the abuse he put his body through.
My arachnid limbs got to work, cracking and cutting out useful replacement pieces that had simply been too worn out for me to smooth out or heal. The hand wasn’t destroyed or anything, but if this sort of minimal trauma escalated then I wouldn’t recommend any further usage of it until it could get more extensive repairs.
Shit, I scanned it out. But it was too… fucking weird. Half of the limb was based on Warp Materials I didn’t recognize, altering rules of physics to accommodate. My Scrapyard continuously failed, saying that the very creation in my hands was improbable and imaginary. How did my grandfather even make this?
Still, I wagered I’d reduced the wear and tear on it by around 60% when the 40 seconds were up. R0N1N picked it up as a blur of gold, his other hand now in my grip. This one was a little worse, some fingers had been particularly mangled that I could only imagine came from him using one arm during my repairs.
I got to work a little quicker, some more guards pulled up and tried opening fire on us. I’d raised my Arachne to maneuver me away, but the bullet fire was simply stopped by the hovering katana spinning like a saw blade to deflect it.
As soon as I was finished, this time with four seconds to spare, I called out. “R0-“
It vanished from my grip. A leg rattling on the floor now…
Okay… I was beginning to see why R0N1N was so confident in his abilities. My mask rattled, a new call coming in from Mirage.
“Yo.” I began following the joints of the leg… before realizing that R0N1N was fighting on only one leg.
“Hey Rip, how’s it going?” Mirage sounded relatively calm. “This whole place is on high alert now. R0N1N fighting?”
“Yup. Repairing his leg right now. While he’s fighting.” I soldered together some of the neurowiring, trying to hold it in place, but it was like using tape where you needed a blowtorch.
“Yeah I’ve heard he’s insane. Though… you all good?” She was worried, I could tell.
“Yeah. Just… did a whole lot of work on myself to be here. Kind of underwhelmed to be doing nothing.” I locked the leg together, knocking on the ground as R0N1N swept in and gave up his other leg.
“You’re not doing nothing, R0N1N’s a glass cannon. Yuzhou knows that, they’re going to wind him down with numbers — save their strongest for when his Shardware can’t keep up with him. You prevent that from happening.”
“I know… just thinking. You’re going to be fine?” My thoughts ran sideways trying to decipher this leg while keeping up conversation, but I was managing.
“Focus on your mission, Rip… but yeah, we’ll be fine. Diamante and Quartz are dependable, and Stonewall is good backup if things go south. We’re just mostly worried about you.” She’d just finished talking when the leg disappeared and an entire arm was now in my grasp.
“Well, The R0N1N’s doing one hell of a job, taking-“ A corpse splattered a few feet from where I was standing. “-yeah, he’s dealing with this shit pretty well.”
“It’s what he’s dedicated his life to.” Elsa said flatly. “If anything, the fact that he’s trusting you to repair him means alot.”
“Yeah, but I don’t need him to find value in me… I want to find it myself.” My words hummed into her, and a few seconds passed before she responded.
I could hear the smile in her voice. “Well, then. Go find it, Dreadwire.”
My own smile came all too soon.