Judas (Please Keep Reading! Please Add to Your Favorites!)

"We're finished."

That was the first thought that crossed the minds of the two soldiers in heavy power armor when they realized their target had slipped behind them.

He had thrown a flashbang right in their faces, then crossed the thirty-meter corridor in an instant.

He had even dodged the No. 12 Full-Auto Shotgun and landed behind them.

The same word flashed through both soldiers' minds—Psion.

Yes, only a "monster" whose body had been extensively enhanced and who could use Psionics in combat

could break through the defenses of two suits of heavy power armor in an instant.

"Got them!"

That was the first line that flashed through Amber's mind after he slipped past the two suits of power armor.

It sounded exactly like something a disposable villain would say, practically tempting fate.

But it captured just how thrilled he felt.

This wasn't Amber's first experience fighting power armor on foot.

Before now, though, it had always been in a game.

There had been no risk of dying.

Now he was taking down power armor in the real world with nothing but his own flesh and blood.

He had extended his Psionics like part of his hands, practically delivering the flashbang right in front of the two suits of power armor.

Then he had burst forward on the strength of his legs, anticipated when and where they would fire, and dodged in midair with a diving leap.

Finally, he had used Minor Psionic Lightning to "stick" to the walls on either side and sail over their heads.

Every step had been a dance on a knife's edge.

"God, that felt good!"

Yet Amber found himself even more excited than he had ever been in a game.

Am I turning into some kind of freak?

Amber even had time to consider the question after landing behind the two suits of power armor.

The nerve dendrites in his body had been replaced by superconducting fibers, giving him reflexes far beyond an ordinary person's.

The flood of adrenaline pushed his strength, speed, and reactions even higher.

It was as though he had entered bullet time.

He almost felt as if he had activated Sianstan Way in another game.

The gas turbines and battery packs on the backs of the two suits of power armor were right before his eyes.

To Amber, the two suits of power armor seemed to turn sluggishly as their pilots realized something was wrong.

He wasn't going to give them a chance.

He gathered a Psionic Blast in each hand, each as powerful as he could currently manage.

In the next instant, the two Psionic Blasts struck the suits of power armor squarely in the back.

The violent energy all but destroyed their gas turbine assemblies.

A warning instantly appeared on the HUD inside each suit's faceplate:

[Warning! Severe damage to gas turbine assembly. Output reduced!]

Before the system could activate "all-electric mode," which drew on the Metallic Hydrogen Battery pack in an emergency,

another warning appeared.

[Warning! Battery pack severely overloaded. Power supply disconnected!]

[Warning! Insufficient power. Unable to maintain output!]

With every power component disabled and no external cable connected,

the two suits of power armor instantly became iron coffins.

"Fuck!"

The two soldiers inside had never felt so helpless.

They had served on Robert IV ever since joining the Federation Military

and had been lucky enough to miss every war.

But years of routine training, with its increasingly outdated doctrine and tactics, had left them unprepared.

Their training had focused on using their equipment advantage to support Mobile Infantry in battle.

In open terrain, with the right weapons, the two of them could easily hold off an attack by one or two Mobile Infantry platoons.

They could even use the Small Electromagnetic Cannons on their shoulders to pick off light armored vehicles or light Multi-legged Combat Vehicles.

But they had almost never trained to fight a Psion in a confined space.

Even without power, the suits' adaptive balancing systems kept them standing.

But no amount of human muscle inside could move machines that weighed several tons.

Amber spared them that embarrassment.

He shoved over both immobilized suits. Under all that weight, the soldiers inside couldn't even roll over.

Then he fired another Psionic Blast at each of their heads.

After throwing out those two big blasts, the Psionic Blasts Amber could produce now were considerably weaker.

They were still strong enough to penetrate the thick helmets and put both men to sleep like babies.

Finally, Amber removed the No. 12 Full-Auto Shotgun from the rail on one suit's right arm.

As a thoughtful extra touch, he put two shots into the ports where the suits could connect to external power cables.

Now there was no chance of either suit getting back up.

With the shotgun slung over one shoulder, Amber waved toward the other end of the corridor.

"All clear. Come on over!"

A moment later, Margaret and the Imperial Spy disguised as a Technical Sergeant approached cautiously.

At the same time, the Communications Center's electrical bus completed its self-check and restored power.

When the corridor lights came on, the two suits of power armor lay on the floor, their occupants out cold.

The Imperial Spy belonged to the Star Dragon Fang Psionic operations team and went by the codename Judas. His expression twitched at the sight.

He recalled the order Tailstinger, his handler on Robert IV, had given him.

"Once you breach the Core Communications Room, eliminate Margaret and Fledgling, who have both defected. Whatever it takes."

Aminos. How am I supposed to eliminate them?

Judas was a member of Star Dragon Fang,

but he was not a Psion.

He was an intelligence operative working under Star Dragon Fang.

He was better at infiltration, intelligence gathering, and on-site tactical support than fighting.

But he could not refuse an order from his superior.

That left him only one way to complete his mission.

A sneak attack.

Suppressing his nerves and a trace of fear, Judas walked past Amber and gave him a nod.

Then he hurried to the door of the Core Communications Room and got to work.

The Core Communications Room had its own power supply.

So the damage he had done to the Communications Center's circuits had not affected it.

That meant the facility's most important room was still locked.

As the on-site tactical support operative, breaking the lock and opening the door fell to him.

And although Judas had been ordered to kill Margaret and Amber, he could not afford to dawdle.

The unexpected outage at the Communications Center was bound to alert the Federation Military.

The Mobile Infantry standing guard at the entrance had probably realized something was wrong and were already rushing in.

Judas connected a small terminal to the control unit beside the Core Communications Room door.

Then he said calmly,

"Give me twenty seconds!"