[Impact Confirmed. Move in.]
Itsuki, after taking partial command of Group Gamma and TAC-047, led the way with Amanda’s rescue. They had been running rescue operations to bolster their frontline at S1’s orders. While they were here to get the students and trainees out, S1 had wanted their ammunition more.
The additional bodies were a bonus. Getting in close, the earth rocked under the survivor’s feet as a TAC descended from the sky. Amanda and her group felt a thud run up from their shoes as it heavily landed. The air trembled with every rapid burst of gunfire coming from its 36 millimeter auto rifle.
The weapon was more cannon than gun but in the mechanical hands of a 15 meter tall mech, it looked like any old gun.
Adding to this rampage of noise and combat, Group Gamma’s propulsion packs flared as they darted about near the TAC. Their bullets barraged and tore through lines of constructs as they set up a perimeter defense from the air, handling anything that approached the survivors.
Some pulled away to strafe the enemy lines, but the majority put a concentration of gunfire on the nearest enemies.
All the while, Amanda herself stared in bewilderment. Her eyes followed Itsuki as if she knew who he was, even with the helmet obscuring his features.
Those eyes, eyes asking him for help, for a hero, for him to be the person to pull her out of this terrible situation, Itsuki could only scoff at her internally. He showed her what it took to be here, he warned her.
He had broken himself, his leg was shattered, his arm was in cast, in fact, that time they had fought each other, he was injured entirely on one side of his whole body. He hoped that the truth of what he showed would’ve steeled her and Stella for this. It didn’t.
Perhaps he should’ve shown her more, that time was only the icing on the cake. He sighed.
You came here to become an explorer. I warned you of the struggle and you chose to attend the classes. You saw the videos, the harsh lessons. Now? You expect me to pull you out of the fire and pull you to the finish line? Grow up.
He wasn’t annoyed or angry, even though his thoughts would come across as so. No, he was more frustrated and disappointed in her and the other students. Under that helmet of his, he gritted his teeth as he gazed at them all.
Tired, battered, and drained of most if not all their energy, Amanda and her group were probably the worst for wear out of all the groups he had encountered in the last half hour. He had hoped Ikki or Shisuki would have been able to lead due to their experience under his tutelage, though it seemed that the brother-sister duo had delegated that task to Amanda out of a sense of trust.
Admirable. He thought but.. He furrowed his brow.
A poor choice in his opinion. Still, he understood Ikki’s one minded personality to become stronger and Shisuki’s nature to be accepting of a majority ruling.
These were faults he’d have to rectify in them or have them come to understand were their weaknesses. It was the same and similar situations for the other students if they planned to continue attending the academy.
They all had meager talent shining on the surface, but hidden underneath was a mess of troubling dangers that could get them killed in the future. Itsuki grabbed Amanda by the collar, the face she made at him looked both a mix of confusion and gleeful hope.
Naive. Too Naive.
When he threw her, he felt a satisfaction run up his soul, as if bending a crooked piece of metal back in place. If he remembered correctly, which he knew for certain, he had done this to a lot of people before, even before the opening of the academy.
Damn, I’m getting old. I should have kids, is what Cyno and that slimy headmaster would say, but it wasn’t like any girl would find me attractive with my.. Odd.. personality. In fact. He looked at Amanda, her face planted in the ground as her butt was raised up.
Itsuki looked away, she’d hate him for treating her so ruthlessly, but what did he care? He shrugged, he was only doing his job.
He was here to stoke a fire in these students and get them to reach for higher heights, though besides the other job of handling Operation Hidden Assassin, which was a contradicting objective, he now had some leeway to bend the terms in his contract.
[This is Itsuki, beginning suppression.]
He cracked his knuckles to get himself focused. The odd popping sound his fist made got his heart pumping, a neat little quirk about him, and gave him a refreshing mood as well. With all the changing conditions in today’s training exercise, individual discretion was encouraged and advised, and that now extended to him by right of his contract’s fine print.
He’d use it and squeeze every advantage out of it.
Turning, he ordered the survivors to get on the TAC with a prerecorded message. The most mature of the remaining CDU and CAU trainees nodded, pinging him over comms.
[U-understood. Come on everyone, we are out of here! Let’s move!]
Good. Itsuki could always rely on an Andromeda Grunt. Trainee or not, they had learned from a young age and early on in their career that you needed to be able to work under any changing condition. Whether it be under fire or in irregular situations where the chain of command was fluid.
Itsuki could relate. As an explorer who was once under their organization, he was proud and knew what to do next. From years of practice and experience, he fell back to the basics of explorer combat. He analyzed the situation in front of him, pushing his mind and not only his body.
Thousands of enemies on radar, all coming for him and the others. Distance, 200 meters and closing. Aerial Enemies inbound. Path of escape closing. Calculate time to evacuate. Ammunition count, weapon options, and enemy advantages and disadvantages.
He estimated he had less than 30 seconds to decide on what to do until the enemies were on him, but it was enough. His mind accelerated from a mix of core energy and instinctive reflex. Reaching back into himself, his own manifested ability triggered. Perfect Memory.
As the name describes, Itsuki’s manifested ability allowed him to recall and perform basic actions and information from memory. Essentially, he could perfectly perform any maneuver he remembered and recall everything he intentionally stored away in clear detail.
With this manifested power of his, he can at will experience past situations, recall them at any time, analyze them for relevant plausible reactive actions, and learn how to improve from each simulated event in his mind. Compared to other manifested powers, it was a paltry excuse for a power unless he had enough time and training to apply it.
Unlike Stella, Shisuki, or Amanda, who could all conjure or manipulate elements like Ice, water, and fire, all he could do was remember. That had little application on the battlefield and in the early part of an explorer’s career.
It was another reason why grunt class explorers were considered the weakest. They didn’t have an applicable power to use in the field which led to them dying young. They had to rely on guns, armor, and gadgets that not only strained their expense but were less effective than a mystic’s destructive powers, or a corebinder’s unique physiology capabilities. Only explorer’s who lived long could grow stronger.
In comparison to the trainees of the CDU and CAU, those three girls were balls of potential, but that meant nothing at the moment. They would have to continue to grow in order to unlock more of their powers. They’d one day surpass his own ability, or, that’s what Itsuki hoped.
I’m getting off topic. Itsuki thought and redoubled his intent. He focused an amount of that hidden frustration and anger he had built up in the last hour and used it to fuel his mind and body. His heart beated in his ears and his head throbbed as multiple lines of thoughts raced.
Text and System icons pulled up on his helmet’s inner screen, as well as a number of communications ringed into his ear from his cohorts.
[Alpha 1 here, aerial perimeter clear, detecting additional enemy contacts rising from our 12 o’clock.]
[Bravo 1 here, ammo depleted, switching to auxiliary storage ring, thanks again for the gear Itsuki.]
[G1 engaging! Alert! Tactical Classes have begun to move in irregular patterns.]
[G2, launching grenades!]
[G3 here, Suppressing fire on the left flank! Requesting bombardment!]
[Confirmed Team leader, G4 to G7 responding! 5 seconds, get clear!]
[More on the right! G8 to G14, initiate holding action! Full Blitz!]
It all came in at once, Itsuki’s brain processed it all as his eyes rolled around his HUD, flitting rapidly as his electrical inputs traveled at the speed of light. Not even a few seconds had passed, yet a plan was already made.
His reality turned back to real time, he commed the TAC pilot.
[TAC-047, launch escape in 3 minutes. Continue suppressing fire with the main gun but switch all power to external shields upon take off, do I copy?]
[Oh you copy sir, just leave it to little old me.]
The pilot’s sultry and calm tone was reassuring, if she could be this calm under fire then there was no doubt in why she was chosen as a TAC pilot. Itsuki scanned the horizon, getting the last bits of sensory data on enemy positions.
[Group Gamma, Per S1’s directive I am now taking full tactical command. Alpha 1, you will be my second and I order you to hold position until everyone is aboard the TAC. I want your troop’s guns laying down hell all around. Fire at your discretion but when I tell you to shoot somewhere, you shoot. Am I understood!]
[Yes Sir!]
They all affirmed dutifully, as he expected.
Itsuki got into a ready stance. His HUD exploded with information as previously locked systems were released. The DICTATA Series Augment Suit he wore was a mass produced model of exo armor and power suit that explorer type grunts would typically fall back on.
Reliable, versatile, has a high capacity power pack, and was durable enough to survive the harsh environment of space, it was the go to for all grunts. For him though, it had its limitations in comparison to specialty models but would serve his purposes in the meantime.
[System Boot Up - Battle Mode Engage - Passive Mode Disabled]
[Full Manual Control - On]
[Main Power - On]
[Auxiliary Power - On]
[Core Reactor - On - 98% of Max Capacity]
[Storage Ring Unit 1 - On - Remaining Capacity - 100%]
[Storage Ring Unit 2 - On - Remaining Capacity - 99%]
[Storage Ring Unit 3 - On - Remaining Capacity - 98%]
[Storage Ring Unit 4 - On - Remaining Capacity - 86%]
[Storage Ring Unit 5 - On - Remaining Capacity - 90%]
[Storage Ring Unit 6 - On - Remaining Capacity - 92%]
[Storage Ring Unit 7 - On - Remaining Capacity - 97%]
[Storage Ring Unit 8 - On - Remaining Capacity - 32%]
[Storage Ring Unit 9 - Off]
[Storage Ring Unit 10 - Off]
[Quantum Requip System - Booting Up]
[Time Remaining - 10 seconds - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1]
Everything was ready. Finally, Itsuki would let loose without any repercussions, not caring for how much equipment he used up, a sentiment all freelancing grunt explorers faced. All this fed up anger and pent up stress, he’d let it leak out and let the act of crushing these mindless constructs be his stress relief. He knew who was on the other side of them, pulling the strings and commanding the enemy.
If he got his hands on a particular Slimy Bastard, he’d punch him to kingdom come. Exhaling to sharpen his focus, Itsuki pressed his armored boots into the ground and stirred his core energy within him, and this time he raised it to a level he didn’t usually use.
Even though he was ranked E as an explorer, that didn’t mean his combat strength was limited to an arbitrary letter or measured ability. No, if an explorer lived long enough, they would learn how to truly fight, to survive, to increase their options and abilities in ways that they hadn't thought of before, to ensure victory.
In reaction to his actions, a silver aura permeated his form, flickerings of silver particles ebbed off his augment suit’s black plated armor. The constructs halted and turned their heads in his direction.
“What the?” Bravo 1 was confused with why all the fighting and fun had suddenly stopped. Feeling that presence in the air, she shivered and she knew Alpha 1 and the rest did as well. So we get to see that part of him, been a while, I wonder what he’ll break out this time.
The TAC pilot’s and Amanda’s Trainee Captain's shoulders shook and trembled.
“Ugh!” Amanda nursed the headache she had after Itsuki had tossed her onto her face, with help from the trainees she got to her feet. Her headache cleared up when the battlefield suddenly went still out of nowhere.
Noticing the captain’s scared look and the new pressure in the air, Amanda wondered what was going on. Seconds ago, everything was so loud. Now? It was creepily silent.
The constructs stopped moving, everyone stopped moving. It was just.. still. The fighting stopped and everything conscious held their breath in tense anxiety, Amanda even thought the constructs began to seem scared.
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Stranger than that, breaking from their normal behavior, the white, lifeless puppets' joints clacked in irritation as they turned and actually gazed facelessly at Itsuki.
The golems followed suit and began to bang their fist together as if mocking Itsuki in a primal fashion.
The aerial robots let out a high pitched ring as their eyes turned from a serene blue to bloodshot red.
Finally, the hellhounds snarled and growled, some even getting into a crouched defensive posture, their black fur standing on end.
Puzzled, Amanda pulled at the Captain’s sleeve.
“C-Captain? What is going on? What is even happening anymore!?”
“Heh.” The captain gave her a smile, she could see his lips quivering in terror. “It seems like we’ll be in for one heck of a ride.”
“Huh?”
An audible crunch of boots breaking rock reached everyone’s ears, it signaled the moment.. That one of them took to the field, what the CDU and CAU unofficially called people like Itsuki, the strongest grunts.
[FIRE!] Alpha 1 screamed the order and all of Group Gamma laid down as much ordinance as they could. Their screens filled with targeting data sent from Itsuki, it was so much data that Alpha 1 almost lost himself but the orderly commands came in like clockwork.
At the same time, Itsuki fired his propulsion pack’s jets.
Slamming it into full throttle, the jets hissed as he went from a stand still to mach 1 with an audible boom in less than a second.
Everyone with Amanda winced in pain as a ring in their ears hit them as hard as the shockwave he made did to their faces.
Covering a distance of 200 meters at the speed of sound was impossible for a regular human body. Yes, normal humans, but Itsuki’s body wasn’t really human anymore. Taking the extreme G forces and keeping him from breaking apart, his core energy enhanced and held together his muscles and bones. If not, he’d be a shattered mess of vore in seconds from this maneuver of his.
This strength and speed, enhanced to a level not regularly seen in E Rank grunts, was made possible from years of training and efficient control of his own internal energies. With it, it made the impossible possible.
In a flicker of less than a millisecond, Itsuki slammed an armored mach 1 punch into a golem, boring a hole through the 5 meter figure and blowing it into a fluttering spray of flint in an instant.
No sooner did another boom rock everyone as they watched Itsuki move in an inhuman manner. The once mass of constructs were rushed through, a silver figure with burning tongues of fire trailing behind delivered thunderous explosions and impacts across the expansive field ahead.
Nothing was supposed to move that fast and nothing was supposed to fight like that. Itsuki made a mess of the enemy and he did so with his bare hands. He could’ve used his weapons yet he didn’t since he found greater enjoyment in this.
“M-monster.” Richard croaked and realized what he had said. But that was all he could help to say.
With what Richard could only say was reckless abandon, Itsuki lifted and threw crunks of icy rubble as if they were small toys. Each throw looked as if done on a whim yet all of them hit their target square.
Boulders larger than him broke, splintered, and hazed the air in earthy dust. They slammed and crunched several groups of puppets all around, reducing them to nothing but splinters in seconds.
He turned ahead and moved to the crumbled outer perimeter wall, skittering and zipping through and around waves of enemies at a speed that even Ikki’s Hyperion Eye couldn’t keep up with. He had never seen this side of Itsuki, not even during the Eastern Stardepth disaster operation.
He was holding back! He was.. He wasn’t even taking us seriously. Ikki’s realization made him pale at the heights of power that Itsuki had possibly obtained. It was the same for Shisuki, whose usual calm implacable expression was overwhelmed in awe.
While they all had no offense against Grunt type explorers, they never thought that one could be this strong, and that’s when they asked themselves. Can we do that? If Itsuki is supposed to be weaker than us, then what can real explorers do? The Mystics? The corebinders?
The stories of Cyno’s book came to mind. Splitting mountains and seas, upending whole acres of land, bringing down the power of the sun, or sundering whole rainforests, the list of unimaginably enormous feats popped up in their heads.
Disbelief took hold as they watched Itsuki go. The student’s cringed at his barbaric and rough style of fighting. While he they knew of his brutal side, this showed that he had many more levels of pain he could doll out.
Itsuki spotted a protrusion in the ground under all the icy rubble. His sensors outlined what was hidden underneath. This will work.
With a hand, he lifted an intact remaining pillar of ice from the rumble. His fingers punctured the molecularly diamond tough piece of rubble and hefted it as if it were as light as a feather.
His augment Suit aiding the process, Itsuki swung the over 3 meter long piece of rumble as if it were a great sword. Without a grunt of effort, he laid flat the land in front of him.
Pivoting on his left heel, he aimed the rubble over his left shoulder to his right and dozed through anything he saw in that direction. Puppets were crushed to planks, golems to pavement, and hellhounds to roadkill.
When his impromptu weapon began to crumble, and with no replacement left, Itsuki speared the remainder of the pillar of ice into a golem’s chest. He clicked his tongue, he was left open in his reckless play by letting too much of his irritable emotions fuel him.
Hellhounds pounced from all 4 directions. Remembering a similar scene from the past, Itsuki held his hands to the side in an instant and grabbed two of the hound’s throats.
Not crushing them yet, he spun, hitting the hound in front and behind to the ground. No longer of any use as a blunt weapon, he snapped both the necks he held in his hands. Then another as his armored boot came down on one of the two remaining beasts’ necks.
The last hound behind him whimpered. It wasn’t unset or sad, its eyes looked at him with fire still contained within.
Without missing or wasting a single second, Itsuki unhesitantly grabbed the hound’s upper and lower jaws. In one fluid motion, he wrenched them both away from each other, bending its jawline in a manner that it wasn’t supposed to go.
Amanda and the rest glimpsed the horrific sight and gasped. A few too faint of heart looked away. Even as they averted their gaze, the disgusting sound of a crunch reached inside their minds. They shuddered as a dark mood fell onto them.
Returning back to being in front of the TAC, Itsuki radioed in.
[1 minute remaining! Get on board now! Or we’re leaving you behind.]
Amanda, her mouth wide open, had to manually close it as she fumbled her way up the TAC’s tower-like leg.
“Freak. Just what the heck are you.”
Itsuki heard her derisive mumblings but threw it to the side as he dispatched another incoming wave of constructs, these ones more fervent and murderous than the last.
As Itsuki held the enemy off, the captain secured Amanda in with a tether he took from his tool belt. Snapping one side of the tether to a TAC’s hardpoint fixture, he then snapped the other end to wherever he could latch it on Amanda’s armor.
“Umm captain? This doesn’t seem safe, are you sure this will hold me?”
“It will, but you better hold on to one of the handle fixtures, these tethers are good, but they might break for what we’re in for next.”
“Wait! What!”
Before Amanda could object, the lock on the tether engaged with a beep.
[Alright! Everyone is strapped in!] TAC-047 reported cheerily over the open comms. [Take off in 30 seconds! Itsuki! Could use your help in clearing up a runway.]
[I’m on it! Switching to Ranged Combat, mind the light show and brace for aftershock.]
[Roger, but are you really using that, that’s still a prototype and it might explode. Plus, I’m amazed you're even using that one, you said it costs too much to shoot.]
“Oh god, God why? Why do you let me suffer?” Amanda croaked quietly and began turtling inside herself. What she heard didn’t sound good at all and she wanted off this ride, but it was either staying here to get pummeled by the constructs or staying with their ruthless and dangerous savior of sorts.
She couldn’t believe she was thinking that the second option actually sounded better than the first.
Itsuki took a position a few meters in front of the TAC. Appearing in his hands as particles of light took shape, Itsuki’s hands held a large cylindrical contraption in an under hand carry with his right, while his left held a handle further at the front of the contraption.
4 prongs protrude from the cylinder and it looked syringe-like. That changed as the 4 prongs spread out as electricity crackled between all the prongs. A silver white light gathered in seconds at the center of what was the firing end of the device.
A high pitched whirring as if hearing incredibly fast vibrations resounded. In Itsuki’s HUD, he operated the contraption.
[Prototype C-619 - Fusion Cannon - Booting up]
[Target Lock - 100% Complete]
[Charging - 60% - 70% - 80%]
As he kept his eye on the charge, aerial robots detected the growing energy signature. Kamikaze type sardine shaped robots flitted down. Group Gamma and the TAC engaged, firing at the swarm of robots before they could get close.
“Ma’am! Over there!” The Captain nudged Amanda as he pointed to the incoming enemies.
Not understanding what he was getting at for a moment, she had to blink and then understood.
“Oh! Y-Yeah! Sorry, come on Stella, you too Shisuki, we’re not out of this yet!”
Gathering themselves, the three girls let off a volley of their own conjured attacks or fire, water, and ice. The kamikaze robots blew to pieces as the swarm died down into sparking specks.
[TAC-047!] Itsuki ordered. [Divert Power to Thrusters and Shields! Get ready to bug out!]
[ROGER! Group Gamma keep close on my tail! Do it Itsuki!]
With the last of the charge completed, Itsuki hefted the fusion cannon level and the targeting indicators zoomed and framed in his line of sight.
[FIRING!]
There was a click and then a ball of silver light expanded at the front of the cannon which then bursted forward in a blur of light that heated the air. The ground crumbled under its bright path and anything caught in its glorious light was instantly vaporized.
Itsuki pulled on the handles on the fusion cannon, bringing it from left to right in a slow sweeping motion. After 5 heart stopping seconds as Itsuki swept his overwhelming attack across the field in front of him, the entire landscape that was 500 meters in front of him was scorched and laid bare.
Not a puppet, golem, or hellhound remained.
“Incredible.” A trainee admired the destructive power, though Amanda winced rather than find this amazing.
This is freaking insane! I would’ve been dead if he fought like that before.
But it only got more insane as she heard Itsuki’s voice again in her earpiece.
[Ground forces Eliminated! Switching to Aerial targets. Get clear Group Gamma!]
[On it!]
Scattering in time as Itsuki hefted the cannon up to the sky, he pulled out a cube-like, smoking fuel cell from the back of the fusion cannon. Putting it away into his storage ring, he took another out and loaded it into a hollow port on the side of the cannon. The device hummed with power.
This time, he didn’t need to charge it and pulled the wireless trigger using his HUD’s interface. A ball of white light soared up into the sky and then split into smaller trails of curving streaks of silver. Those split again and again, until an uncountable number of silver white lights pierced everything in their paths.
First, the sky was blue, then streaked silver, it then exploded red, and finally smoked in hues of black and blue. What was left was a clear corridor of blue sky and flattened barren earth ahead of the TAC.
“Ahhhhhhhh.”
A helpless, prolonged yelp of shocking revelation made Amanda and the other student’s mouths go dry. The Captain and the trainees, who were less affected, cheered.
“Wahoo! That’s one heck of a light show!”
“Wonder when we’ll get to fire that.”
“Do they have a smaller version of it?”
[Alright Alright! Enough of that!] The TAC pilot scolded the trainees like a mother. [We’re bugging out! Hold on tight or you’ll fall off!]
The screech of engines drew the students back and they all braced.
[To all my passengers, please keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times. We’re expecting a good amount of turbulence with a degree of stormy angry robots spoiling our fun. Lastly, please brace with your core energy, thank you and I wish you a happy flight!]
The pilot was quite witty, and Amanda thanked her for at least lightening up the mood, but it didn’t help when she felt her stomach lurch forward as soon as the TAC strode forward. It was as if her guts were going to spill out of her belly.
TAC-047 flew forward with Amanda’s group of survivors hanging onto her mech’s leg units. She couldn’t bring the TAC to mach 1 since she had survivors on board, so her speed was slower than her usual combat speed.
The corridor ahead was clear for now. As minutes passed, swarms of aerial robots approached and took to firing on her and the attached survivors. Beams landed a direct hit on the TAC but its outer protective energy shield shimmered white.
Amanda felt the TAC shake and she almost lost her grip on one of the handles.
[Uck! Hold on everyone! This is going to be rough!] The pilot manipulated her controls, diverting more non essential power to her TAC’s energy shields, she chided her escort as she did. [Group Gamma! Where’s that support!]
[We’re on it! To all Units, Lay down fire up ahead, use the TAC’s Hull as a platform to steady your aim!]
[Understood!]
Itsuki, with Group Gamma’s aerial troops, activated their magnetic boots as they caught up and landed on the TAC’s stationary shoulder and arm units. With how the TAC had passengers, using its own weapons wasn’t possible. Any complex maneuvers or operations were limited with passengers hanging on.
Quickly getting to it, Group Gamma aligned their sights in seconds and fired at swarming pods of aerial robots. The enemy swarmed TAC-047, a few bursted into flame as they tried to breach its outer energy shield by engaging in a ramming action.
Other robots flew about the TAC as it was in motion, firing its laser while keeping up. The hits were coming in fast and the pilot couldn’t reroute any more power.
[There’s too many! More coming up ahead! Can’t we evade!] Alpha 1 asked, hoping the pilot had an alternative route.
[If I do, then all of you would burn through our ammunition before we reach the front!] The pilot hissed since she was missing all the action because she couldn’t use any of her weapons. Her blood boiled and she dearly wished to open up with her shoulder mounted missiles but that would endanger the survivor’s and trainees.
The resulting shaking would thrash them, possibly injuring them and that wasn’t a risk she would take. And if the TAC moved too much, they’d be thrown off.
[Keep Course TAC-047.] Itsuki commanded. [I’ll handle the enemies ahead. Group Gamma, hold perimeter!]
[Heh, then we’re counting on you again like always Itsuki. Give’em hell.] The TAC pilot threw up a thumbs towards one of her monitors thinking he could see, which Itsuki knew she did. He grinned.
[I’ve got an unlimited budget on this job, so I’ll do more than give them hell.]
He sounded plain and unexcited, yet the pilot knew that wasn’t the case. Dispatching the swarm around them with rocket fire, Itsuki took off and separated to move ahead. As he did, he produced two submachine guns and an external pack to his propulsion unit.
The already cumbersome pack on his back grew larger. Controls flashed across his HUD.
[Supplementary Armament - BALTEUS-MSIL-M3 - Booting Up]
[System Check - Complete]
[Status - Chain Gun 1 & 2 - Online - 100% Ammo Remaining]
[Status - Rear Missile Pods 1 to 10 - Primed]
[Quantum Storage Link to Storage Ring Units 5 and 6 - Stable]
[Target Locking - 68% Complete]
Inputting the last of the targeting data himself through the HUD’s eye tracking system, the pack on his back hissed as missile ports opened. Launching in a cacophony symphony, the small pods smoked as hundreds of missiles the size of a fist streaked ahead.
The incoming clouds of bots found themselves scattering.
Bursting balls of red fire gouged their formation. Itsuki Dual Chain guns folded out from the oversized pack on his back and aimed forward over each of his shoulders. His arms then raised an additional two machine guns as the now dispersed enemies attempted to reform ranks.
With a burst of speed, he shot straight into the scattering clouds of robots. Threading through them all, his guns opened up and left nothing in his path with a pulse or spark of life alive or operational. He salvoed another collection of mini missiles, burning through the last of what he had on his pack.
[Quantum Requip Activated - Cycling Ammunition]
No sooner did another set of rear mounted missile pods appear on his external pack.
Just how much freaking ordinance does this one guy have!? Amanda shouted in her mind as she tried to not scream from the sheer outrageous rescue they were going through. This was like the times she had fought with Itsuki, only a hundred, no, a thousand times worse.
And the answer to her question was however as much Itsuki carried in his storage rings.
The roar of his guns echoed and didn’t cease for what felt like forever. Whenever Amanda thought the noise was dying down, her momentary peace was dashed as another set of rockets exploded into flowers of flame.
As timely as his arrival was, Amanda herself felt as though she was more cursed with this fate of being saddled with Itsuki as her rescuer. What she had hoped in the beginning was in truth a misgiven notion made by her own exhaustion.
Can’t this at least be like in the book, at little even?
She groaned as her hands grew sore from all the tensing.