Chapter 254
"Pooh."
He spat out the chewing gum, took a Kinlichi, and David closed his faceplate.
The group nimbly and swiftly used the terrain to reach their target location.
Firefight at a commercial office building complex.
One flare after another went up into the sky.
Outside the building, light armored vehicles engaged in a tug-of-war, while supporting infantry fought back and forth in twos and threes, with light and heavy firepower exchanging blows.
Inside the building, smoke and ash filled the air, and bullets embedded in the walls were scattered all around the stairwell, accompanied by muffled gunshots.
Humans wearing Lazarus' black and white spear logo badges are engaged in a fierce street battle with humans wearing Barghest's green dog head logo badges.
"Is that green dog over there digging a dog hole again? What a good dog."
"You stupid idiot, you rusty illiterate East Coast, don't you know dogs are man's best friend?"
"Loyalty? Kurt Hansen's lackeys dare to talk about loyalty? A bunch of traitors licking that bitch Vera's sewers!"
"You spit shit! Who abandoned us back then? Now you regret it, aren't you? You're just a piece of junk who deserves to lick that old bitch Miles's ass!"
"You damned dog, I'm going to boil you alive!!"
"Look, you're in a hurry again."
Amidst shouts of anger, bullets whizzed through the air, and the muffled groans and screams of both attackers and defenders echoed continuously.
A moment later, a Barghest blasted the head of a Lazarus assault soldier through the wall with an electromagnetic jet.
A moment later, a Lazarus gunner unleashed a barrage of grenades, tearing through the wall. The Barghest operator, unable to dodge in time, was hit by shrapnel. In the instant of his daze, he was riddled with holes like a rag doll, and finally struck by an anti-material sniper round, his flesh and blood, mixed with his subcutaneous armor, splattering everywhere.
A moment later, the Barghest and Lazarus Soldier met on a narrow path and collided instantly. After emptying their magazines, they smashed their guns against each other, exchanged fire with their secondary weapons but did not penetrate their defenses deeply. Then they drew their knives and weapons and stabbed and swung at each other. Finally, they writhed and smashed through the window frame, tumbling down the high-rise building.
Robot dogs with their armor shells blown off, circuits and motherboards damaged, short-circuited and caught fire—these are just a few examples of the countless types of robots, with small and medium-sized drones being the cheapest consumables.
Life is as fragile as wild grass.
Technological weapons are worn out every moment.
This is the main battlefield of corporate warfare in the Cyberpunk world.
Even if it's a localized conflict in one corner, even if the main force hasn't arrived, even if both sides are top-notch mercenaries with skilled tactics and rich experience, and would be formidable opponents in a regular gang fight, here they are just playing the role of the underdog.
The chips on the gambling table for those in power at the company.
The same applies to the SAT.
It's just a bit more valuable; compared to the Barghest Soldiers, it's a bargaining chip with a larger face value.
"Die!"
The Lazarus officer, wearing the 'Centaur' super-sized exoskeleton, roared, raised the Thermal Cannon high, charged it, and a scorching red light shone, hum—boom!
One shot caused the stairwell to collapse, creating a huge hole that was two meters long and about one meter wide.
Amidst the surging debris and dust, an unlucky soul tumbled down.
Half of his body was melted, and the gun in his hand and the metal skeleton of the [EXO-1] exoskeleton deformed like a lit candle.
The Barghest officer who had just been arguing with the Lazarus officer was also scorched by the heat beam. His shoulder armor was damaged, and his shoulder was so badly torn open that it looked like it had been ripped open. He fell to the ground and was quickly pulled away by his teammates.
"Hold!"
He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and cursed in California-accented slang, "Energy weapon? Fuck, Rust Belt bastard!"
"You bunch of bastards who secretly swap exoskeletons are acting like you have morals!"
Bang! The auxiliary arm hammered into the wall and secured itself. The Lazarus officer stepped onto the stairwell with his 'Centaur' exoskeleton, his hundreds of pounds of alloy steel feet flying everywhere. While signaling his support assault troops to be aware of their surroundings, he raised his shield, extended the cannon muzzle, aimed, and charged the second Thermal Cannon.
"Die!"
He grinned maliciously.
Pfft!
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of sparks suddenly appeared on the Brain-Computer Interface of the Lazarus officer.
"Watch out, Arasaka's reinforcements!"
His ICE is still resisting hacking.
The next moment, an electrically charged Tungsten Dart Rounds pierced through the shield he had erected using his exoskeleton!
The narrow horizontal window on the west side faces the building opposite, a sniper!
At the critical moment, he tilted his head slightly.
The Tungsten Dart Rounds was driven in at an angle, shattering the faceplate upon contact. It rolled and tore open a wound on his face, causing subcutaneous armor plates to fly off, resulting in half of his jaw being broken off and exposing his throat, which was reinforced with bio-plastic.
The Pain Editor suppressed the pain so that he wouldn't faint.
Therefore, he spotted the uninvited guest.
Above the narrow window, in the gap blasted open by the previous bomb drone, a grappling hook pierced through the brickwork and secured itself. A heavily armed man leaped up in a flash, his battle-scarred visor emitting a menacing dark red glow.
Is it that Special Rapid Response Unit deployed in Santa Fe?!
Not good!
The Lazarus officer tried to retaliate, but the newcomers were clearly faster.
David activated [Sandevistan], instantly transforming into a blur, clanging loudly!
The clang of weapons rang out. He blocked the semi-transparent red shield, aimed his gun at the bleeding wound on the helmet, and bang! The gun fired, and the head exploded.
And all of this happens in seconds.
As the other Lazarus Soldier turned their guns in horror, David smashed their heads. Just a bunch of big-headed soldiers without even exoskeletons.
Tap tap tap, boom, boom.
The remaining SAT operators also stormed into the building one by one, and together with the Barghest soldiers who were defending and counterattacking, they soon defeated the Lazarus squad that was attacking the building.
David glanced at the remnants of Lazarus' army retreating in the darkness amidst the intermittent flashes of flares, then turned back to the Barghest of the tribe to inquire about the situation.
"This mission may not be so easy."
Katsuo, carrying the [Nekomata] Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle, also rushed over from the fake sniping spot across the building. Looking at the headless corpse inside the 'Centaur' super-sized exoskeleton, his expression was serious.
Because she was in a war zone, she spent the whole day on the road providing mobile support, and with the details of the mission to receive the Lark being kept secret, Katsuo was unaware of the specific public opinion outside. However, her battlefield intuition told her that this conflict was clearly showing a tendency to escalate.
Lazarus and the Barghest continued to escalate their bets in Santa Fe, and they had already taken down more than one Federal Intelligence Agency agent after another...
Will Washington back down this time?
As for Vera backing down, Katsuo Tanaka thinks it's unlikely, unless the board can profit elsewhere.
"Never mind, just follow the orders."
Katsuo turned to look at David.
"We need to request engineering robots to reinforce our position. We must hold this position until at least tomorrow morning, when Mr. Hansen's main force will arrive. Whether we compromise or further escalate the situation depends on Washington."
David nodded, turned and walked towards the Barghest officer who was treating his shoulder wound, about to speak, "Lieutenant, you..."
Something's up!
The sentry suddenly shouted.
"Have Lazarus' reinforcements arrived?"
He changed positions and found an inconspicuous little opening. To avoid being sniped, David carefully extended a camera probe and looked eastward.
About two hundred meters away at the street corner, a Lazarus convoy drove by—infantry, armored vehicles, troop carriers, light tanks? Wait, that armored van... is it a hacker's mobile network pod?
Before David could think it through, the side hatch of the armored van opened.
In the shadows, a tall, imposing, and heavy human figure stood upright.
David's eyes widened. "That's?!"
In the blink of an eye, a burst of bright light and the roar of steel filled the air. The giant beast, with flames spewing from its feet and back, roared into the air, flying across a low altitude of two hundred meters, and crashed straight into the commercial building where David was.
Bang!
A loud bang.
Thick smoke billowed out from one corner of the building.
The next moment, a terrifying storm of metal tore through the floor from below, ripped apart the walls, and sent sparks, smoke, gravel, and fragments of soundproofing flying everywhere—interspersed with the deafening crashes that shattered the building's exterior walls.
"Damn it, the Power Armor unit!!"
Katsuo Tanaka roared, "Take cover! Everyone take cover!!"
Chapter 249 The so-called main armored force of the company— Power Armor Unit.
Boom—Boom—!
Heavy armor was being used for assaults, machine guns were roaring, and the whole building was shaking.
The paving layer burst open instantly, turning into splashed reinforced concrete blocks.
"It's Power Armor!!"
The incoming large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles swept through the enemy like a torrential downpour, interspersed with sharp explosions from Katsuo Tanaka.
Some unlucky guys were hit in the torso, and their subcutaneous armor and heavy bulletproof vests were like paper, completely shattered, piece by piece, emitting a burnt metallic smell.
Some open ammunition boxes were even detonated by armor-piercing rounds, turning into flying scythes that struck the unprepared Barghest soldiers, destroying them along with their heavy bulletproof vests.
David immediately moved upon hearing the sound.
Reaching out, he subconsciously pushed Xiaofu beside him. [Sandevistan] instantly activated to avoid the barrage, but unfortunately, in the realm of Cyborg and Power Armor, such acceleration components are a basic implant that must be installed.
Like a fisherman who has caught a big fish surfacing, a Lazarus Power Armor soldier downstairs, who was unleashing a barrage of fire upwards, paused almost imperceptibly, his head sensors flashing.
Then, the muzzle of his gun, spitting fire, deflected, and the bullet jet, which was lagging behind the target, accelerated in an instant, catching up with David, who was moving at high speed and whose figure could be seen frame by frame in front of an old-fashioned camera.
Scattered pebbles and bullets grazed past David's feet, crotch, and hands, striking the floor and causing the paving structure to shatter in large pieces. In that split second, an armor-piercing bullet struck the left leg armor layer of the EXO exoskeleton at an angle, clang!
With a crisp sound, the armored shell shattered and flew off.
Visibly, the metal frame of the exoskeleton's left leg was completely twisted and deformed, and some parts were even broken off.
The left leg, which was wrapped in the exoskeleton, was severely damaged. The large area of the artificial skin that had been torn open exposed the cables, which were now sparking with electricity.
From David's perspective, an error message pops up in the visual UI for the "Ankle Reinforcement" component.
The next moment, he flipped sideways and crashed hard to the ground, making a clattering sound and sparks flying, before rolling forward due to inertia.
However, as the saying goes, bad luck is coming, and a new round of setbacks followed one after another.
Buzzing~
A blue light flashed, accompanied by an electric buzzing sound, and a blue-white ball of light the size of a human head pierced through the smoke.
In the blink of an eye, it flew over the collapsed multi-layered paving, from bottom to top, and accurately hit the floor where David was standing, who had barely managed to stop by digging with his hands.
Boom!
The plasma ball exploded.
The intense electric light spread, concrete dust rose, and the entire building collapsed.
The flammable material was ignited by the instantaneous ultra-high temperature, while most of it shattered into pieces. Among them, figures fell and collapsed, enveloped in countless messy fragments and debris.
"David!"
Xiao Fu, who was carrying an anti-materiel weapons box, was pushed and fell into the stairwell, shouting.
"What are you yelling for?! Fight back!"
She tumbled and rolled, then fired her grappling hook to pull herself against the west wall of the building. While discarding the [Nekomata] and disarming the rocket launcher, Katsuo Nan glanced at the team's status.
Phew, thank goodness, David's biosignals are still there...
"Don't engage in a direct confrontation, provide cover for each other, and call for reinforcements!"
As he spoke, he pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher, aimed it at the steel outline under the gap in the floor, and fired an anti-armor rocket.