Corpo Age

Chapter 242: Sword and Shield

With the camera feed of Thorne cut, I immediately sent out the D-Mother drones to go to his area. We had expected situations like this to arise when planning our raid. After all, our time in their Redspire branch taught us about their reliance on EMP weapons to close the distance.

Having expected what they would throw at us, I obviously prepared countermeasures as well. However, I was only human. I couldn’t just whip out something that entirely counteracted their specialty just because I had gotten a sample of their equipment. If that was the case, Aurora Corporation would’ve been toppled a long time ago by its competitors.

What I did do was to line our cybernetics with a special alloy they had used in their equipment. I still couldn’t make heads or tails about this material, but I simply repurposed what I took for our use. It was what prevented their equipment from being affected by their own electromagnetic pulses, and I used that to our advantage. Unfortunately, I only took enough to protect our power armor and cybernetics, so our comms were still down in this situation.

“Rollo, should I head over?” Andrew’s voice called out on the comms.

“Hmm, I think he’ll be fine. We need to be on guard against other patrols. Those guys probably informed their allies. We need to buy time while they make their way to the ship.”

“Roger that.”

Putting my full trust in Thorne, I turned to my own matters. I was at the periphery of the base, which in turn meant it was where most of their security personnel were stationed. It was so that they could rush out to meet any assailants like they would be doing today. Their other job was to ensure no infiltrators snuck in. It made my spot a lot more perilous than the heart of the base where Thorne was.

I double-checked the measures I had taken to secure the aura and then split my attention between the various camera feeds my drones and Nyes were feeding me, and the occasional Argus scans.

As expected, the base was a hive of activity. They had plenty of personnel stationed other than the four ships fighting outside.

I carefully monitored their path, seeing if they would veer into my space. Of course, expecting them to be negligent to the point of ignoring my area completely was foolish.

As I saw Peng leading a group of captives over to me, I showed them where to hide before making my way to intercept any potential patrols.

Peng would have to head back to his checkpoint to fetch the next group, but I didn’t have to be stationed here permanently. After showing them where to wait, they would be there to welcome the next group. I could then head out.

With my active camouflage on, I lurked around any patrols that drew near.

“How long do you think we’ll be on high alert?”

“Who knows? The captain won’t say anything about what’s going on with the battle outside.”

“You don’t think that means we’re losing, right?”

“Shush, don’t say that out loud! In fact, don’t even think about it! If that happens, we’re both dead meat.”

I eavesdropped on a pair of guards as they walked by. They weren’t decked out in combat armor or anything and simply made their rounds. That’s why I simply let them pass when I saw that they were heading elsewhere.

Does that mean they haven’t been notified of our little jailbreak yet?

I couldn’t dwell on the matter for long as my Argus showed another patrol coming toward our exit from another direction. I raced over and prepared myself, as I spotted the Aurora Corporation personnel fully armed this time from our surveillance drones.

The D-Mother had a host of Nyes onboard, extending the operation range of my handy gadget. It was also why I didn’t move to intercept them right away. I had eyes on their every move.

Once I realized they were checking through every single room on the perimeter of the base, I got into position in the neighboring corridor. There was a wall between us, but thanks to my drones, I could clearly see their outline.

I drew my Light Judgement and assembled it into its sniper rifle form. I took careful aim at my targets, waiting for them to stop at the next door they would open. However, at this moment, my scan picked up on another patrol, heading toward me. If I took my shot with them watching, it would become a hassle to chase them down. That’s why I held my fire and patiently waited for them to approach while I remained invisible.

Their footsteps grew louder as I let my initial targets check through another room unbothered. I had to take a shot during their next stop or else I risk getting the prisoners caught up in the fighting.

I waited for the perfect timing, which was when the distant targets stood still to open the door while the newcomers were right next to me. Thankfully, their timing aligned, and I immediately took the shot.

+20 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Instantly, a bright flash of light filled the hallway I was in. My visor automatically dimmed my vision so I wouldn’t be blinded by it. I kept my rifle trained and took a second shot at the remaining target in power armor. Despite wearing a power armor myself, I couldn’t help but feel the shockwave produced by the high-energy particles moving through the air.

It caused a distinct crackling noise as it ionized the surrounding air. The shock wave it created also knocked the two nearby patrolling officers down. Without the protection of power armor, the blast pressure of my gun firing had likely damaged their internal organs, taking their life. I didn’t even need them to be in my sights, just close enough, and the shockwaves would do the rest.

It was the reason why the Light Judgement couldn’t be used in its fully powered setting without the power armor. Otherwise, I would meet the same fate.

With my high-profile attack, I then began to be more proactive at taking down the patrols. They would likely be sending over more men to investigate the disturbance. Something that couldn’t be avoided. We would be noticed sooner or later with almost a hundred people to rescue.

I just hoped that it allowed Thorne to have an easier time.

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Thorne - Halls Corporation

As Thorne made his way out of the lab to confront the approaching patrol, he found himself locked in an intense struggle.

His opponent had shot out some sort of smoke grenade that nullified his invisibility and closed the distance. As he had been briefed before the mission, Aurora Corporation operatives specialized in disrupting their enemies with EMP attacks.

It caused him to be unable to reach out to his allies, so he was the first and last line of defense for the last group of test subjects to be rescued.

With that in mind, he leaped back, trying to stay out of the range his opponent preferred. He wouldn’t let them play their game or let himself be surrounded. The commander of the enemy currently told his subordinates to stand down as he dueled Thorne, but who knew when he would change his mind?

Thorne took out his Light judgment in assault rifle mode and continuously laid down fire at the man weaving around in the smoke. They were so close to each other that it was virtually impossible to dodge the attacks no matter how fast he was, but the shield in his hand covered that weakness.

Similar to the one Rollo had taken from their Redspire base, the enemy commander was holding onto what appeared to be a medieval kite shield. However, it had the characteristic blue light of an energy shield covering its surface.

Thorne knew it would take some time for his weapon to get through this specialized energy shield, but he still fired. He had to kite his opponent around until he had an opening. He had to do that while keeping watch of the three enemies spectating the fight.

He tried to jump back again, but this time, his opponent lobbed over a grenade toward his path of retreat. His bio-coprocessor allowed him to see it clearly, and he made an instant decision.

He veered ninety degrees and ran straight at the wall so he could jump off of it. He back flipped in the air and managed to swat the grenade back toward his opponent.

Thankfully, the grenade wasn’t an impact variant, so it sailed back to the commander’s feet before exploding with the characteristic buzz of an EMP.

“Commander!” his subordinates yelled.

Just as Thorne was getting ready to shoot the remaining guards, a figure suddenly dashed out of the smoke.

The EMP doesn’t affect him, huh?

Drawing his sword, Thorne thrust out at the oncoming enemy. With one sword and one shield, the scene was completely out of place from what one would expect of a skirmish in space.

The two exchanged blows with their respective weapons. One slashed down and thrust out, while the other tried to bash with their shield. Their exchange created a gust that cleared the smoke away.

Everyone who watched the fight unfold could only remain spectators as the melee continued.

---

Before Thorne’s match could conclude, an alert brought my attention back to my surroundings. Another patrol was approaching, so I moved to intercept.

When my cameras laid eyes on them, I knew they wouldn’t be as easy as the previous group.

There were a total of four power armors coming my way, riding on some sort of cart the people attacking Thorne were using.

They were likely part of the elite force that came to investigate. They likely knew about intruders from the men fighting Thorne, so they were making their rounds to look for breaches.

I repeated my previous strategy and set up for a shot, but they never stopped moving. I was looking at them from an angle, so sometimes there would be more obstacles between us, making it hard to judge when to shoot. If I chose the wrong time, hitting the walls at an angle or multiple of them could weaken the particle beam enough so that it couldn’t penetrate their armor.

Still, I didn’t have the leeway to wait. They were closing in fast, so I had to take action.

I quickly dialed in on the center mass of their vehicle and fired. Without waiting to see the result, I fired again as soon as my rifle was ready.

By the time the enemy was able to react, I successfully managed to snipe down two, while the third was only grazed. However, the fourth person managed to react alarmingly fast to my attack. When I shifted my aim toward them, I found them dashing toward me with tricky movements that made it hard to aim.

I tried my best to track him, but he had his shield ready as well. It became an inevitability that we would soon clash. Unlike Thorne, I wasn’t someone who enjoyed a melee scuffle. I left a holographic image of me behind to bait my enemy while I tried to sneak off to the side.

Soon, a figure came out of a corner and dashed straight to my decoy. Though they didn’t lunge at me without a thought. Instead, they pulled up a grenade identical to what I had seen them use against Thorne, and threw it toward my projection.

It quickly exploded, and the EMP blast managed to disrupt my Nyes. The holographic image it was projecting quickly faded without a trace, confusing my foe.

Before he could regain his bearing, I pulled the trigger once more, but this time with a direct line of sight. The electric buzz of the particle beam roared out in the corridor, filling it with light. When it was over, I saw my opponent on one knee, with a hole bored through his arm. Attached to his hand was the shield he had been holding, and it now also had a hole. However, only his hand was injured. He struggled to keep upright as he nursed his hand.

It was at this moment his ally, that I had grazed, caught up. I quickly turned my rifle toward him and fired too before he could get a read on the situation. Caught unprepared, another hole was bored, and this time, it was straight through his chest.

Before I could celebrate my victory, the opponent I hadn’t managed to finish off closed the distance and lunged out to push me. He had seen the trajectory of my shot so he could judge my approximate location.

I didn’t have time to move out of his way, so I could only move to draw my sword. As I was about to complete my motion, I found myself one step behind as the figure pushed me to the ground.

Shit, I need to get away from him before this spirals into a wrestling match!