Joshua opened his eyes to find himself in Mulligan, where Vizel had prepared tea for Joshua to take.
"What happened?" Joshua asked, clearly he was in a daze.
"You were unconscious from the World of Lions and it will take you some time for it to allow yourself to return. The system has you locked until further notice. You're currently going through some intensive surgery. It will take a few days. So for the time being, The Rebellion of Humanity is open for you." Vizel answered as Joshua took a sip of the rose tea that VIzel had prepared.
"Thanks Vizel. Guess I'll head there now." Joshua got up, finishing down the bottle of tea that he had.
Joshua Gates Venerator Class : Garden of Thorns HP 75,000 MP 37,500 Stamina 350,000 Level 100 STRength 5000 VITality 1500 ENDurance 7500 DEXterity 8000 DEFense 5000 SPeeD 15000 INTelligence 3000 MAGic 7500 Unassigned Stat Points -
There was a lot of changes, Joshua's growth was far too rapid. Even for his own good, but having that much speed meant that Joshua could do more with it.
'Stat Bonuses will carry over into the world's you go into, however the system will not identify targets as before. These are unique worlds. So you will have to rely on instinct.' Joshua read the sign that appeared in front of the door to the Rebellion Of Humanity.
Stepping into it, Joshua found himself in the body of a young man. Coughing loudly, as he had a pistol in hand. Gunpowder, smoke and a few other things were in the air. Blood, guts. Joshua looked to his chest, he was wearing black uniforms, his helmet had a large needle like portrusion in it. It was damaged, so he took it off. The pistol in his hand was peculiar, looked like a Beretta 92FS but its grip was at a weirder angle and it lacked a hammer. Instead, there was a screen 00 that was present. Joshua looked at the group of dead soldiers in front of him, he took a magazine and put it into the pistol. Seeing the two zeroes turn into 15. So it was an ammo counter, pretty intuitive. Looking at the machinery that was mounted to his arm. It was not bulky, rather it was like an assist for his limbs. Just to give them a bit of a boost, and even moving with it felt intune with his body.
The dead soldiers in front of him had large holes in their chests, some had vapors still coming from their wounds. It was fresh and he snagged a helmet off a guy named 'Martinez. A full face helmet that covered the entire part of his head.When Joshua put it on, it took a moment for the system to reboot. The black screen he had seen, slowly lit up with the visuals of his area. A corridor that was full of corpses, and all Joshua had was a pistol. He heard grunting from the outside.
"Martinez? Squad 7? Someone report in?"
"Martinez is dead... Entire squad's dead. I don't know how I survived." Joshua said, he was still groggy from all the things he had just went through.
"Good, someone's alive... Wait... You're Jay right?What happened out there?" the commanding officer asked. Joshua couldn't remember if they were male or female and he
"I can't remember... Some bright flash then everyone started dropping like flies." Joshua answered, as he scavenged the equipment from the dead allies. Grabbing a combat vest that was in tact, managed to get a knife. Seeing it glow blue, it seemed to have a laser cutting effect like what he had found back with the Suicide Division of Azteris. The other weapons? Some sort of assault rifle? No charging handle but he could see something popping up to his Heads Up Display.
'Needs a new canister to power the rifle.' Then highlighting the back pockets of a few soldiers as Joshua decided to dig through it. Picking up a few extra magazines for himself, slotting into the pouches.
"Jay, whatever it is. Abort mission. The whole mission needed you to operate on stealth."
"Well, if my cover's blown. Might as well just start shooting... What's my assignment again, sir?" Joshua asked as he looked at the rifle calibers. 6.5 Exodus. Armor Piercing with explosive core. Putting the 20 round magazine back into the rifle, and then seeing the ammo counter that was just underneath the sights. the energy canister would need to be put into the top. Which Joshua heard the rifle powering up with the HUD stating 'Ready To Fire'
"Your assignment is to destroy an enemy jamming facility that is within 5 clicks of your location."
"Got it." Joshua answered as he grabbed the explosives in a bag. Then he peeked out to see the creatures outside. Aliens. Reverse jointed legs, four arms, and they wore light armor. Wielding pulse rifles, the HUD labeled them as Luraiths but identified as Reptile Soldiers. Then seeing the flying aliens that were essentially beetles if given human shape. Slender framed exoskeletons,they were moving about. Named as the Vittins but identified as Four Eyes, flying about.There were a few more alien types, one that was thin and frial. Joshua watched it eat a human being, watching the human child scream at the sight of it. Only for the human child to be turned to a pile of mush thanks to acid from another creature. One of the bigger races, fully armored with shields known as the Miralians or Brutus according to the system. The one eating the human children were known as the Pyreshens or Banshees.
Joshua looked at his weapon set 'STATs are in effect, only weapon available is Brilliant Ash katana and Ashen Phoenix tachi.' Joshua did want to try his luck with it, and seeing how he was going to fight. It was not going to be kind to them, Joshua took aim. His focus was on the Banshees first, they were a bigger threat. Squeezing the trigger, then pulling it. Hearing the energy be blasted off from the rifle, piercing into the Banshee's chest and exploding.
That caught their attention, which Joshua proceeded to fire off a few shots, watching the Reptile Soldiers explode to pieces from the shots that was within their limbs. Hearing footsteps from the right, Joshua turned to see a Banshee screaming at him, upon closer inspection. The Banshees did not have eyes. He put rifle aside and pulled out the knife, as the Banshee continued screaming. Feeling his ears ringing from all that, but it was not enough to dissuade Joshua from gutting the Banshee as a whole. Its screams of agony were heard by the ones outside. They fired at Joshua's position which he took out the canisters for the rifle.
'Set canisters to explode?' The HUD popped the question, with a Yes and No command at the side. Joshua put them in between the magazines and he was going to essentially turn this vest into a glorified frag grenade. The fun's just getting started. Throwing the vest out, Joshua set the detonation in 3 seconds.
That was going to buy him some time as Joshua continued running down the stairs with the pistol and knife. A Reptile Soldier leaped up with its laser rifle to greet him, only to take a knife to the throat. Which Joshua could see the HUD show him the weakpoint, which was in its abdomen area. Shoving it by force, Joshua fired off a few shots as its red blood splashed onto his face.
Then seeing his screen clear up in a second by a wiper. Convenient. Moving on ahead, where Joshua turned to see the Reptile Soldiers, Four Eyes, Banshees and Brutuses still in disarray. This gave Joshua the perfect opportunity to get close which he did, just running straight into them. Faster than their bodies could keep up, slashing their limbs with the knife and then decapitating the Banshee with his knife. Grabbing the plasma sword that was carried by a Reptile Soldier, Joshua took it out for a test drive. Watching how it carved through their own armors cleanly. Though the Brutuses were firing their plasma cannons at Joshua, it left craters behind him as he dodged. The pistol was not doing much but make the Brutuses angrier.
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Angry large armored enemies were a chore and especially since they've got that plasma cannon blasting off in his path. Joshua had to dodge them carefully, going into the buildings where they just kept shooting at him. They were big, but their keen sights made Joshua feel a bit uneasy. They were getting better with each shot they took at him. The intel may have believed it to be stupid, but the Brutuses were clearly learning and working together to force Joshua to their sightlines. Joshua leaped out, then dashing straight to the Brutuses. Going for the slit to the neck which he pierced the plasma sword in, then kicking its hand guard to cut through all the way into the Brutus's neck. Killing it as he pounced on the other one, seeing wires nad cables in its back. Knife in hand, slicing it as the Brutus panicked. Trying to throw Joshua off, but he clung to it like a koala clinging onto a tree branch. Though a rodeo on a bull would have been more accurate.
Once all the cables were sliced, Joshua could see the Brutus types wither away and then falling to the ground motionless. Grabbing the plasma cannon where Joshua could see that it was loaded from the top side in a bullpup configuration. Which meant that the entire set of plasma charges were exposed. This gave Joshua an idea as he proceeded to move on ahead. Hearing a loud siren, they know that he's here. Joshua tapped the radio, turns out that his radio is dead. He could bring his Familiars, but there's no need. Joshua needed to test the enemies before him. Though he did watch flowers grow from the corpses of the aliens. Each of them had a more unique taste. The Banshees tasted like red velvet cakes, while the Brutuses were like dark chocolate, the Reptile Soldiers had a more sashimi like taste. Not that Joshua found it weird, but the jaw section of his helmet unhinged itself to allow Joshua to feast on his bounty.
At the very least, it made Joshua think for a bit. He was going to face them all head on. The range of effectiveness of these plasma cannons is not known, so why not just fire them into the air and hope they hit something? Joshua angled his aim, firing off the 12 shots and then throwing the plasma cannon aside. Then picking up a pulse rifle, that had a cylindrical magazine. Putting it in, Joshua then proceeded to move on ahead. Where he could see more Reptile Soldiers, firing away with the pulse rifle. Their armor pieces took the blow, but it definitely stung them by a lot. Their bodies recoiled in pain and trilling in agony, Joshua continued to fire away. Going for the heads which ended up leaving a bunch of holes in them.
Throwing the pulse rifle at them, then firing the pistol to its spent magazine which caused the pulse rifle to explode. The explosion threw off the Reptilian Soldiers. The Four Eyes flew to Joshua to fire at him from above. Unfazed, Joshua leaped upwards, where he caught a Four Eyes. Seeing it panic as a result of being wrestled in mid-air.
"Let go off me, human!" Joshua pointed the pistol to its temple.
"Sure." Firing the shot as he pounced on a Banshee. Which ended up screaming as it was startled, Joshua used his bare hands to rip its head off. Unveiling its black skeletal spine which he swung at a Reptile Soldier, causing confusion to it. Then pouncing on it, punching its face off and ripping its arms off. Brutal, but that was just how Joshua was going to fight.
Fear?Joshua did not stop, he went after them with their own weapons. Their own blades, then even shoving Plasma Canisters down the mouth of a Brutus and then firing a shot at it. Fighting still, Joshua ended up seeing a single Reptile Soldier trying to run. Joshua fired the shot into its legs, watching it crawl away as he turned it aside.
"Please no!" Joshua did not say a word and bludgeoend the creature with his fists, then grabbing a cinder block and smashed its head. Then he looked at the large radar jamming array, he went to grab whatever explosives that he had in the bag and even grabbed the plasma canisters to add on to it.
The entire base was a ghost town and the aliens that had caught wind of what Joshua had done. Were clearly in a panic, Joshua grabbed some sort of laser sniper rifle and took aim at the Four Eyes that were watching from the distance. Pulling the trigger as a bolt of energy caused the Four Eyes to explode. The other one flew away in a hurry, perhaps relaying what it had seen. Joshua pulled the trigger to put an end to it, then throwing the rifle to the explosives at the array.
Walking away as he fired a shot. Then hearing the radio go off.
"HQ! This is Rigel Squadron! We need back up!"
"This is Unit 17, we need support!"
"HQ!"
"This is HQ, we're reading you all clearly! The jammings gone!" The voices rejoiced.
"AWACS, reform all aerial squadrons. Ground troops, we've got artillery prepped and ready to go! Orions have been dispatched to help aid the fight. We've also got Gladiators being dispatched along with Valiants and the Assault Suit Divisions on the ready. Squad 7, did you guys clear up what had happened there?"
"This is Jane of Squad 7. I'm the only survivor. This jamming area is clear, they made a fortress around it." Joshua reported.
"Wait, you took on a fortress?" HQ asked where the other radios went quiet.
"Yes. I need a new objective." Joshua answered, then turning to see two figures appeared before him. Sleek armor, one in burgundy and one in black. Their helmets have different appearances, the one in black had a skeletal pattern etched into it while the one in burgundy had an additional eyepiece sticking by the right eye.
"HQ, this is Xander 311. Confirmed. The grunt took down the entire fortress. All quiet, and it was pretty brutal." The one in black spoke up, where Joshua could see the numbers on the chest. They started with an alphabet, then the number. X311 of the black one and B156 on the burgundy one.
"Copy that. Jane, I'm reassigning you to join up with the Orions. Xander 311 and Billy 156. Not everyday you get to work with the big boys." The HQ spoke up.
"Skeller 311, how's your assignment?" Another radio spoke up.
"Skeller 311 to Darwin. Grunt cleared it. We're headed back with him. We'll be taking him to join us at the offensive. Spare some of the new tech for him. He's bloodthristy." Xander 311 spoke up.
"This is Skeller 156, sending you video footage of his handiwork."
"Phew... That was a grunt? He could be an Orion!"
"Or a Gladiator."
"Or an AS user." Joshua heard as a transport plane appeared, landing which brought out the Gladiators. Heavily armored units with powered exoskeletons wielding weapons that could make them mobile artillery. Pile bunkers, 40mm cannons, 120 mm back cannons, missile launchers, rockets, gatling guns, shields and other weaponry. Then looking at the AS Users, the Assault Suits. To put it bluntly, Joshua felt that the AS Users were the humanoid version of M-Frames, because of their weapon system's diversity. Then seeing other Orions and a few other units that did not have their data written on his HUD.
Full suits that were sleek, geared to the brim with specialized equipment and armed with PDWs instead of rifles or carbines. There were quad legged drones that were geared like a tank. Seems like tanks and helicopters are obsolete from this point onwards. They all glanced at Joshua who was drenched in alien fluids, they didn't talk about the stink. Just a brief nod as Xander 311 and Billy 156 brought Joshua in.
"I'm not going to lie, it may be a mistake for you to join us. Especially since most people have to learn the equipment first hand." Billy 156 said to Joshua.
"It's fine. I'm out for blood anyway." Joshua's answer earned a nod.
"You heard that Commander? We got a Grunt that's bloodthirsty." A figure stepped out. Not an Orion, but a woman dressed in white uniform.
"If it's blood you want. Then I'll hand them over to you on a silver platter. You'll be at the front lines, no comfort. No rest. Just day in, day out. Fighting these aliens. I'm Commander Shane. You will be assigned under my command. Normally Orions have to go through a surgery to get them into combat shape. Gladiators need time to learn their equipment, AS users need to get used to their OS and our angels... The Valiants need time for their wings to be ready. But what will you be, I wonder?" Commander Shane asked Joshua who nodded to her.
"According to your records, you lost your family when Banshees attacked. Start of the invasion when you were 7 years old. You were just a kid but you managed to outrun a Banshee. Now you're a survivor of that situation. This time, it will be your turn to deal with things accordingly." The transport landed, where Joshua looked at a piece of Orion armor that was presented before him. It was ash,
"This is the Orion's signature armor. Scholia Mark 13. This is the most unstable of the armor. Every Orion that has used it has failed to use it." The Orion armor did not have an alphabet or number.
"This will be yours to try on. It was one used by my predecessor, and this particular armor was nicknamed Ashen Wind." The helmet design was unique, in the sense that the helmet's lower jaw had a skull like design while going upwards the visor could barely be seen. Being mere slits while the rest of the helmet was shaped similar to the normal Orions.
"Commander?" Joshua did not hesitate as the team of engineers outfitted Joshua with the webbed skin of the Orions. It was an entire suit that covered Joshua's neck and to his toe. To use the toilet would be easy considering that you just would have to unzip the parts on the genitals and the back plate. The Scholia Mark 13, Ashen Wind. Joshua put it on, stretching his neck. He felt the helmet and the suit pierce into his spine, no reaction. He was stretching his limbs, even feeling the excess power that was within his veins. The information pierced into his mind directly, a direct connection with everything else. It did sting, it was mind numbing and Joshua felt his brain boil from all the intensity of the information itself.
"Ready to go." Joshua answered, that surprised everyone at the base.
"Your codename will be Jane 000. The number 000 is reserved for the Ashen Wind's user. The Ashen Wind is optimized to use all weapons. From the ones used by the Gladiators, the pile bunkers and other equipment. You will be equipped with the Gladiator's thruster pack system and the AS user's weapons for the arms and back slots. Welcome to Task Force Hunter " Commander Shane said where Joshua looked at a gatling cannon and grabbed it.
'Modify the weapon?'
"Rate of Fire." Small metal arms stuck out from the gauntlets, tweaking the galing cannon in his hand.
"The suit comes with its own maintenance and weapon modification system."
"Convenient." Joshua said as he looked at Commander Shane.
"Commander, this is Marco 751. I've linked up with Squads 8 and 9. We've got civilians! Need immediate support!" The radio went off and before Shane could say anything Joshua readied himself.
"Do you need any other weapons?"
"No time, Commander. Just drop me to their position." Joshua said, then Shane looked at Billy 156 and Xander 311.
"You two join him. You're still in charge Xander but if Jane goes off the rails. It's up to you to reign him in." Commander Shane said.