Chapter 42 — The Catwalk Slaughter
The vanguard commander didn't hesitate. "Target locked! Shred him!" he roared over the tactical frequency.
The heavy rotary autocannon on his right arm spun to a blur, unleashing a continuous, deafening stream of high-caliber kinetic rounds. The bullets chewed through the concrete dust, tearing apart the tal observation platform and sending a hail of jagged shrapnel screaming through the chamber.
[Incoming kinetic velocity: 980 ters per second.]
[Kinetic Aegis Barrier: Deployed — Focused Frontal Sector.]
[Core Reserves: 100% -> 96%]
Kael didn't slow down. He charged directly into the teeth of the storm, his focused violet barrier absorbing the impact of the autocannon shells. The matte-black scales across his chest rippled violently, siphoning the kinetic inertia and feeding it right back into his overcharged capacitors.
[Siphon Subroutine: 5% Core Energy.]
[Core Reserves: 100% — Maximum Threshold Maintained.]
He breached the distance in a fraction of a second. Before the commander could rotate his massive hydraulic leg to step back, Kael slid beneath the firing line. His right plasma blade flashed upward in a brutal, diagonal slash.
The superheated violet edge sliced through the reinforced steel casing of the autocannon's ammunition feed, detonating the unspent rounds inside the hopper. A brilliant orange explosion ripped off the suit’s right arm, throwing the massive walking rig off balance.
Before the commander could crash to the deck, Kael spun, his left plasma blade driving straight through the reinforced cockpit plating, severing the internal control relays in a shower of white static. The massive exosuit went limp, collapsing onto the catwalk like a dead iron titan.
"Spread out! Use the concrete cutters!" the remaining enforcers panicked, their massive rigs backing into a defensive ring as Kael erged from the smoke of the destroyed command unit.
Two enforcers flanked him, their industrial circular saws—spinning with enough velocity to chew through starship bulkheads—whining aggressively as they lunged from both sides.
Kael leaped straight up. The lateral thrusters on his shoulder blades detonated, propelling him three ters into the air, completely clear of the snapping blades. As he descended, he deactivated his plasma blades and extended both gauntlets downward, his palms parting to reveal his raw, silver nanite filants.
[Target: Twin Exosuit Power Grids.]
[Initiating: Forced System Override.]
He landed squarely on the helts of both machines, his hands clamping down on their primary exhaust vents. The silver filants lashed out like geotric cobwebs, boring through the heavy armor plating and finding the core micro-fusion cells within seconds.
Instead of drawing the power out, Kael inverted the flow. He dumped a massive, volatile surge of his own overcharged core energy directly into their systems.
[Discharging excess core payload: 15%.]
[Core Reserves: 85%]
The two exosuits violently seized, their diagnostic lights flashing a chaotic, blinding red before their internal cooling lines ruptured. With a twin, muffled roar, the micro-fusion cells ruptured from the inside out, blowing the heavy rigs apart and sending their charred titanium chassis tumbling off the catwalk into the dark abyss of the turbine floor below.
Kael stood up amidst the falling rain of sparks and burning hydraulic fluid, his crimson visor locked onto the upper vertical shaft. Down the winch lines, the remaining enforcers were frantically reversing their descent, trying desperately to climb back toward the safety of the upper sectors.
"You chose the wrong depth," Kael whispered into the dark.
User Comments
0 comments from readers