They fell into roughly the following categories-
Fire Supporter, Assault Specialist, Marksman, Sniper, and Combat Medic were the five mainstream roles.
The Fire Supporter series of armor had a high load capacity. Since it had to carry large ammunition boxes, it was a full size larger.
A Fire Supporter carried a high-rate-of-fire weapon that could lay down powerful suppressive fire, but the combined weight of the weapon and ammunition, along with the armor's stability requirements, made movement slow. He was like a walking arsenal.
Assault Specialists were equipped with high-capacity electromagnetic rifles, as well as explosive warheads and small missile warheads.
These were used to inflict damage over a wide area or attack hardened targets. Their mobility and speed were much better than a Fire Supporter's.
A Marksman's primary weapon was a rapid-fire electromagnetic sniper rifle, capable of quickly and accurately killing enemies within one kilometer.
It had a multifunction electronic/optical scope, and movement speed was high with the standard weapon loadout.
Snipers used charge-powered electromagnetic sniper rifles with large calibers and greater power than the main guns of old-era tanks from decades ago.
Their targets were high-threat enemies, eliminating dangers before they could develop.
A Combat Medic's primary weapon was a conventional electromagnetic rifle, but the equipment they carried allowed them to provide battlefield first aid and treat wounds.
A reliable Combat Medic was a tremendous help to a squad. Of course, if there wasn't even a body left, there was nothing they could do.
Veterans who had participated in campaigns generally had enough credits to buy new Powered Exoskeleton Powered Armor, allowing for more varied combinations of weapons and roles.
Generally speaking, though, a role had to stay within the load capacity of its corresponding Powered Exoskeleton Powered Armor. For instance, anyone who wanted explosive firepower would choose the Black Rhino branch, which had the highest load capacity.
A high load capacity meant a more stable structure and stronger power output, but lower mobility and agility. It could carry heavier defenses and more powerful weapons.
Zhang Cheng wore third-generation Viper exoskeleton armor. Its capabilities were balanced, neither outstanding nor subpar.
His primary weapon was a second-generation electromagnetic sniper rifle, weighing eight kilograms and measuring 1.6 meters long. Its magazine, larger than two adult men's palms, held forty rounds of specialized ammunition.
He carried seven magazines in the pack on his back, each weighing 4.5 kilograms.
Under normal atmospheric pressure, the electromagnetic sniper rifle could achieve a maximum muzzle velocity of 3,300 meters per second. Its hardened projectiles had tremendous penetrating and killing power.
His secondary weapon was a powerful electromagnetic pistol weighing two kilograms. At close range, its projectiles could penetrate five centimeters of iron plate.
He had only three ten-round magazines for it, weighing close to half a kilogram.
He also carried thirty compressed bombs. Each finger-sized device had a lethal blast radius of eighteen meters. Put one inside an iron shell, and it became a proper area-effect antipersonnel bomb. Their total weight was 4.5 kilograms.
A forearm-length Kukri was also tucked into the front of his belt. Its heavy blade tip gave it formidable close-range chopping and armor-piercing power, and it weighed three kilograms.
Of course, if he ever had to use that thing, he would already be as good as dead.
Along with various other necessities, Zhang Cheng's load came to fifty-four kilograms. Including the armor and his own body weight, the total was 217 kilograms.
Even so, he could still jump three meters high and briefly run at fifty kilometers per hour. The game was so hardcore that a player's real physical capabilities took precedence in-game, and Zhang Cheng had even trained his body specifically to match his armor.
The fatigue of an in-game character fed directly into the brain, while injuries in the game continuously produced pain and impaired the player's movements.
After death, the character's identity information was lost. Armor and equipment were lost too if nobody recovered them-or if someone pocketed them!
Only credits and items stored in the Imperial Bank could be inherited by a newly created character!
It was practically another Water Blue Star Online.
Pilots had to pass the relevant flight-license exams, commanders had to earn military certifications, and even administrators needed to take certification exams!
Here, it truly felt like something other than a game world. Conversations and quests could trigger from the surrounding NPCs anywhere.
News and reports were always available in the residential and entertainment districts. This was a real world!
"Hey, what are you looking at me for, lightly equipped, fast-moving Marksman? Want to join our squad?"
The Assault Specialist on his right spoke in a rich male voice. He seemed to have an easygoing personality.
"We've already got five temps here-not a fixed squad. One Fire Supporter, two Assault Specialists, plus a Sniper doubling as a medic. All veterans, all from the guild. We won't screw you over, and equipment recovery is free."
Seeing that most of them wore second-generation equipment, Zhang Cheng nodded. "Sure. Who's the squad leader?"
He accepted the squad invitation that popped up before him without hesitation. They were all in the same guild, so what was there to worry about?
The rules stipulated that the weapons and armor of fallen allies should be recovered. As compensation and a gesture of thanks, the inheriting character had to pay ten percent of the recovered weapons' appraised value, calculated at secondhand prices.
Of course, some recovered equipment for free. Everyone was just after the fun of playing cooperatively, and these spoken agreements were recorded directly in the Combat Monitor.
It was an additional function of the Powered Exoskeleton Powered Armor's core computer, connected to numerous sensors to tally kills.
Opposite the players stood identical black mechanical soldiers, holding standard-issue weapons and secured to racks as they awaited deployment.
The broadcast announced, "Beep-The fleet has reached low orbit above Planet 137. Commencing fleet bombardment of the landing zone!"
"Landing forces, deploy!"
A dozen or so Yaxing warships and four or five boxy supply ships gathered together, escorting three Qiluo warships, each three times the length of a Yaxing.
The enormous Resource Planet 137 lay ahead of the fleet. It was a verdant, life-bearing planet with an atmosphere and a diameter of 17,800 kilometers.
"Orders: all ships, scour the designated landing zone with fire!"
As the fleet turned its entire underside toward the planet's atmosphere below, the dark hull panels underneath the warships silently opened.
Black, conical missile warheads emerged one after another. Flames suddenly flared, and over a thousand fiery trails streaked like meteors against the starry backdrop, racing toward the planet's bright atmosphere beneath its sun's rays!
After spitting out their fiery serpents, the warships opened the hatches along both flanks. Silver-gray, spindle-shaped landing craft followed the missiles down toward the planet.
Inside the descending landing craft, Zhang Cheng soon felt weightless. Fortunately, his soles had magnetic adhesion.
The large missiles entered the atmosphere first.
These inexpensive weapons, with their reasonably effective striking power, continued their relentless assault on the ground. Their afterburner chambers rapidly consumed fuel, spewing exhaust at over a thousand degrees Celsius.
Driven by powerful thrust and the planet's gravity, the missiles began to be enveloped in flames generated by friction.
Thousands of white smoke trails fell like ribbons through the clear blue sky.
The Resource Planet's surface was a sea of green. Scattered towering trees stood like enormous umbrellas, their giant canopies sheltering strange, vividly colored plants below. These shrub-like plants grew three or four meters tall in broad patches.
Huge, purplish-red, trumpet-shaped flowers bloomed among red ferns.
Emerald round leaves as large as washbasins covered the ground, forming the most basic layer of vegetation.
Amid the riot of colors, clusters of plump, grape-like red fruit weighed down the branches of a small tree with a green stem!
Pure-white balls of fur bounced across the meadow woven from countless round leaves, while marvelous white goats with four golden eyes on their heads strolled leisurely among the plants.
Dragonfly-like insects with multicolored bands around their bodies flew through the air, along with enormous butterflies that shed powder as they flew.
High in the azure sky!
Beneath those descending white ribbons lay a stretch of yellow sand amid the greenery. Not a blade of grass grew across its thousand-kilometer expanse, where grains of sand drifted about. The surface could be seen bulging and shifting from time to time, as though something were moving beneath it.
The missiles tore through the dense atmosphere at over a thousand meters per second and plunged viciously into the sand!
As though puncturing a bubble, they drove a hundred meters underground before detonating! For an instant, the sky seemed to darken. Blinding light rose along the horizon, becoming the only light in the darkness!
Boom-
The ground shook and the world turned upside down. Scorching waves of air billowed into mushroom clouds, and terrifying shock waves swept outward, rewriting the planet's surface!
The craft carrying the landing forces plunged from the sky, their hulls shuddering as searing air currents tossed them from side to side.
Well, what lay below could hardly be called land anymore.
All they could see was muddy yellow water surging through the vast crater like a flood.
The landing craft had anticipated this and headed five kilometers east of the crater.
The fallen forest obstructed their landing. The craft dropped bombs from their holds, and a succession of explosions blasted a charred clearing into existence.
Then, as the landing craft descended, their adjustable thrusters turned downward, venting air as they slowly touched down.
The moment the hatches opened, robotic and human troops poured out. They rushed onto the clearing, secured the perimeter, and began setting up camp.
There were no monsters worth guarding against on the devastated, scorched earth, though.
A four-legged steel machine began moving. It raised the scanning radar and detection tower on its head, then unfolded a twin-barreled forty-five-millimeter turret from its body to watch the surroundings.
The missiles from the sky had turned a ground-clearing bombardment into lake-making, but they were only cheap missiles.
The fleet commander in charge did not dwell on assigning blame. The force of the explosions could intimidate the planet's natives and wildlife, and creating a lake could be considered creating an easily collected energy source.
All that remained was to properly occupy the planet and deploy weapons stations. The fleet also had to guard against Space Insectoid forces arriving after catching wind of this. The real war was not fought on land.
On the ground.
Armored humans walked onto the smoke-shrouded ground, their boots crunching over the brittle soil.
Various readings appeared on Zhang Cheng's helmet lenses. Friendly units and sensor scans were normal. At a glance, he could still see the remains of an enormous, hundred-meter-long tree trunk burning fiercely.
It looked like a city wall left mangled after a battle.
Farther away, immense trees rose from vibrant greenery to hold up the sky, inspiring awe. Suddenly, however, a patch of ground nearby collapsed.
The four-legged robot vanished instantly, leaving only an enormous, seemingly bottomless pit.
Hiss- An Insectoid's screech rang out!
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