[CHAPTER 6]
Leo and the guards held the door for quite awhile before they decided enough time had passed for Kat to secure the shelter entrance.
‘I need something that can help with a fighting retreat as well. A damage obstacle of some kind’
I would suggest the Class I Area Denial Catalog for 100 Points. It has many options to accomplish what you want to include razor wire and various mines. I would stay away from the more explosive mines due to the confined space and instead opt for the incendiary mines as your cloak will shield you from the heat. They can be stuck on any flat surface.
‘Get me five to start with. Can you arm them remotely so we don’t trip them when we run?’
Certainly. Standby
Class I Area Denial unlocked!
Points reduced to - 1325
New Purchase: Incendiary Mines x5
Points reduced to - 1310
Leo pointed at one of the guards when the box appeared. “Get these set up around here. Once I drop the walls we need to book it down the hall and then it’s a fighting retreat.” Leo refreshed the hard-light walls as he noticed the current ones were getting faint
The batteries in your rings are about to die. You can manage at most one more wall to block the doors.
‘Damn. We’ll need to look at upgrading them later, among other things.’
Leo looked over to the guards as they set the last mine. “You ready?” he asked. Getting nods from the others Leo took off running down the hall until he was around the corner and just able to see the doorway.
“Shit, I hope Kat is ready with her turrets. Can’t believe I forgot to set up comms”
Would you like me to connect you to Samurai Katerina?
‘I thought the networks were overloaded?’
While the standard networks are overloaded, Samurai act on the Protector networks. It would take much more traffic than Earth's population to make them struggle
‘Then please do’
“Kat, we are getting ready to head your way. Are your turrets ready?”
The response came a moment later. “I will be by the time you get here. Just make sure you stay ahead of the plants.”
Suddenly the doors burst open and Leo watched as one of them flew across the short hallway. Immediately afterwards, a sea of antithesis came rushing through while the guards opened fire. Not wanting to be caught lacking, Leo decided he needed a weapon.
‘Aegys, get me one of those LMGs. I can’t be stuck here with no weapon’
The LMG in question weighs roughly 25 lbs when fully loaded. Given that you no longer have anything else connected to your augs, you will be able to use your Wrist Mounted Chemical Synthesizer with minimal heat issues.
‘Get it. As soon as we have a moment, remind me to upgrade my augs’
Of course. Standby.
Class I Antithesis Biomass Denial unlocked!
Points reduced to - 1450
New Purchase: Mark I Wrist Mounted Chemical Synthesizer
Points reduced to - 1350
Leo caught the bracer that appeared in the air in front of him. A moment later he had a new icon on his HUD with three familiar options. Suddenly the temperature in the tunnel skyrocketed when the Antithesis hit the mines. His face felt a little tight but oddly enough his body merely felt like he was standing next to a campfire.
“Aegys, three incendiary mines every ten feet please”
Standby
As Leo and the guards moved down the hall, he activated his chemical synthesizer. In his hand appeared a glowing ball with liquid inside. Throwing the ball in front of the charging Antithesis Leo watched as they were consumed by flames.
“This should hold them for now. Get to the shelter!” Leo and the guards turned their backs on the horde and ran for the shelter as fast as they could, the sound of flames chasing them the whole way.
While Leo ran down the hallway Aegys would buy the incendiary mines and place them on the walls and floor. Leo could see Kats turrets before he was able to see the entrance to the shelter. As he and the guards ran, Leo shouted at the defenders, “Incoming horde!” and watched as the front of the shelter became a flurry of activity.
In a small gap appeared Kat yelling to Leo and his guards. “If you don’t hurry up and get in here I’m not responsible for the new holes in your bodies!” The group slid through the gap seconds before the turrets making up the defensive line lit up with gunfire.
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Kat turned from setting up a final turret in the gap Leo had just ran through. “This should hold for now, but soon enough there are going to be too many bodies in the hallway and the Antithesis will be able to push closer.”
“I’ve got my gauntlet, but that will only last so long, and I don’t have the gear to upgrade much further yet.” Leo said, taking a quick inventory.
“How long would it take you to get those upgrades? If we can get your crowd control it would strengthen our chances of surviving this.” Kat asked as she glanced nervously at the horde.
If you were to get the upgrades I have listed for you it would take approximately five minutes to install. However, I would recommend 20-30 minutes for recovery after.
“Aegys says about 30 minutes. Can you hold for that long?”
Kat thought for a moment. “I’ll manage. Go get yourself taken care of and I’ll make sure you have a defense to come back to.”
Leo nodded and went inside the shelter. At the entrance was one of the stadium guards who saluted as Leo passed. “Sir! Welcome back.”
Leo just smiled awkwardly, ‘I am really not used to this.’ Out loud, “No need to salute. Do you know if there is a room available? I need to do some shopping.”
The soldier immediately pointed to a door off to the side. “We made sure this room was empty for you and Samurai Kat.”
“Thanks.” Leo said as he headed for the door. Inside was a simple room with a desk, chair, and small cot. Sitting on the cot, ‘Alright Aegys, what do we have, and what is my point total?’
First and foremost, you have a total of 2732 points from your run through the hall.
‘That…That’s a lot of points. I didn’t think there was that many Antithesis in the hall’
You are also continuously getting points since the Greek Fire you use sticks around quite stubbornly.
In terms of upgrades, you should first look at upgrading your augs to support the gear you will be purchasing. There is already some mild heat damage from your current set trying to support the Hummingbirds as well as the hard-light rings.
‘That would explain the headache.’
Yes well, I would suggest buying the Class I Command, Control, & Communication (C3) catalog along with the Mark I Overwatch augmentation upgrade. I can combine the Overwatch with some gear from your Mythical Phoenix catalog to make it compliment some of the other gear. Total cost would be 150 points.
‘Sounds reasonable. What's next?’
Next, you need some armor beyond just your Phoenix Cloak. From your Mythical Phoenix catalog you would want the Phoenix Down Bodysuit for 30 points. This will protect your body from heat damage with much more coverage than the cloak while also being able to feed directly to the heatsink. Along with the Flamewalker boots for another 30 points, this will allow you to walk directly through most flames while taking no damage. They are also extremely moisture wicking and come with smart insoles to make every step a dream!
Leo chuckled. ‘No need to go all salesman on me. Iit will definitely look better than running around with my jersey.’ Leo smirked while idly picking at the holes in his jersey. ‘Anything else you want to recommend?’
Just one last thing. You need a face shield of some kind.
‘I would rather not cover my face if I can help it. People don’t usually react too well to a featureless mask’
Not a problem. With your Hard-Light Technology catalog we can get you a heat shield that will not cover you visually for 40 points
‘Sounds good. Go ahead and get all that. I also need some upgraded hard-light walls. These ran out far too fast.’
Of course. The Mark II Hard-Light Wall emitters are a direct upgrade. Boasting longer battery life as well as more durable walls. They should stand up to a direct attack by anything up to the mid-teens in terms of Antithesis Models. They are 80 points each.
“Sounds perfect. Go ahead and get it all and let me know where to start.”
I would suggest starting with the armor. Once you start the augmentation upgrade you are not going to want to move for a bit. Standby.
Class I Command, Control, & Communication (C3) catalog unlocked!
Points reduced to - 2632
New Purchase: Mark I Overwatch augmentation upgrade
Points reduced to - 2582
New Purchase: Phoenix Down Bodysuit
Points reduced to - 2552
New Purchase: Flamewalker Boots
Points reduced to - 2522
New Purchase: Hardlight Heat-shield (Face)
Points reduced to - 2482
New Purchase: Mark II Hard-Light Wall Emitters (Ring) x2
Points reduced to - 2322
Multiple boxes appeared on the floor around the cot, all of them with stylized phoenixes on the cover and one of them actually looked like the flames were moving.
I would start there.
Fairly certain Aegys was as excited as a kid on christmas, Leo grabbed the flaming box. Inside was a folded set of clothing that looked like a suit without the jacket. Once he put it on Leo noticed that it was extremely soft and fit him like a second skin. “Is this the bodysuit?”
It is! It is made from the down feathers of the Phoenix race. It will keep you warm in extreme cold and cool in extreme heat. It is also entirely fireproof. The pants and shirt actually connect while you wear them, but can be taken apart and worn separately.
Leo smirked at how excited Aegys was. At the bottom of the box was a set of boots. Putting them on Leo saw that they came up to mid-calf and had a small heel on them. It felt like walking on the softest blanket in the world.
Leo picked one of the last smaller boxes. Inside were two rings very similar to his current ones but with slightly larger gems. He picked up the final box and saw a pendant in the shape of a Phoenix. “The face shield I’m assuming?” he asked.
Correct. When it detects any temperature spike that would injure you it will conjure a hard-light shield to block the heat. It will also block some light debris, but you will need to watch for a dedicated attack.
Leo put the necklace on before picking up the final box. Opening the lid Leo saw two small disks about one inch in diameter as well as a small pill
Place one disk at the base of your neck and the other on your temple, then lay down. You should also take the pill as it will lessen the pain.
Taking a deep breath, Leo did as he was told. Once he took the pill he laid down. “How will I know it—” Suddenly his world went white before fading just as quickly to nothing.