~----~
[Ascended Counter: 732/1000]
~----~
Leon was silent as he stared at the contents of the HUD screen that hovered in front of his eyes.
Before, it was just a suspicion but after what just happened, he was convinced that he finally understood what the Ascended Counter meant. He just had to ask a few questions later to clarify his guess.
While he paid attention to the Ascended Counter, the others paid attention to what was in front of them… the aftermath of the bomb.
"…"
The area where the stampede was most bustling a moment ago was now a graveyard, a graveyard of Neon Beasts.
Neon Beasts lay dead in dozens, scorched black by the explosion, with dozens more injured. And now, the survivors no longer had that rabid look of corruption and madness in their eyes.
A few of them finally seemed to have shaken off the call and irresistible attraction of the Trial, regaining clarity as they stared in fear at the region most impacted by the bomb. They were like an alarmed cat with its tail standing stiffly.
And then, turning right on their heels, some of them ran.
Yes, the Neon Beasts ran!
"…"
They could not believe their eyes.
Brick and Daren stared in shock; Ghostwire threw a glance at Leon before silently focusing on the remaining Neon Beasts who refused to run.
His ADE was already low, but this NetRunner wasn't willing to give up yet.
As for Kain, he gaped in shock. "You know how to create a bomb?" His shock was evident in his tone.
"Boss Leon!" Rex was almost crying inside the cargo trailer.
In one attack, Leon directly eliminated about 20 Neon Beasts, including an E Rank Neon Beast, while neutralizing about 30 others by heavily injuring them.
Daren silently stared at Leon and whistled. "What an entrance". Then, he fell back against the ground, slightly feeling the hole in the right side of his abdomen as his face contorted in pain.
Only now did the others remember… Daren was heavily injured!
One glance from Kain told Rex what he should do as the young Geneform quickly left Talia's side, grabbing the crew's first-aid toolbox and rushing to the Cyber Gladiator's side.
Kain took Rex's position, protecting Talia's body.
Leon didn't show it, but inside, he was anxious. The details were vague, but from what his instincts told him, people were not supposed to recover from an injury like that. But this was a world with Geneforms and Synths.
Rex's words a few seconds later confirmed his suspicions as the Geneform heaved a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, none of his vital organs were hit".
"I've given him anesthetic and a healing potion. With his self-recovery powers, he should recover after a few dozen minutes. All he needs to do is rest".
'A few dozen minutes? So fast?!' Leon was once again stunned, but at the same time he also heaved a sigh of relief.
As for Brick, he sat down as he sighed heavily. "Dozen minutes…"
Hearing Brick say that, only then did Leon realize. 'Our strongest melee powerhouse is out…'
His eyes quivered. 'How exactly are we going to hold on?'
Brick looked at Leon. "Can you create a few more bombs?"
Leon's brain whirred. He looked at the battlefield, quickly noticing a few more batteries and power reactors, but there were no more Flux Crystals to overcharge the bomb.
"Yes," he said hesitantly. "I can create another one, but it won't be as powerful as the first one".
Brick heaved a sigh of relief. "That's enough".
The 7 feet tall Synth stood up with a look of determination in his eyes. "Leon, focus on creating that bomb again. Rex, look after Daren. Kain, look after Talia's body. Ghost…" he paused and looked at the NetRunner. "Support me".
The NetRunner nodded silently.
With that, the Synth flexed his mechanical arms and legs, ignoring the thick greasy oil bleeding all over his body. "I'll hold the fort till Daren recovers".
He was like a robot covered in greasy black blood.
He took a step forward, bravely facing the recovering Neon Beasts that were already once again moving towards the cargo trailer, and the new ones emerging from the horizon.
Brick took a deep breath. 'Once again, she's right'.
His mechanical lips curled up slightly. 'Even while unconscious, her insight is still keeping us alive'.
He remembered her words. "His full name is Leon Ardent, and like I said, he's a Mechanist. He's of a different breed. His mind and capabilities are the kind you pray for when everything stops working".
"And believe me, those times are not too far away".
'Heh,' Brick smiled. 'Maybe I can survive today afterall. Maybe I can drink that synth-beer that I want afterall'.
He took a step forward to welcome the Neon Beasts.
…
It was already more than 5 hours already since Talia's Trial started, yet it felt like it was 24 hours already.
Every hour felt elongated and exaggerated, it was painfully long.
With Leon's bombs, they were able to hold on and keep the Neon Beasts at bay, but the resources available were not infinite.
Leon learned a new rule of Mechanists. 'Without resources, I'm screwed'.
Once there were no more resources to jury-rig bombs, Daren was forced back to the frontline, but this Cyber Gladiator though exhausted was already mostly healed and eager to go.
Throughout these 5+ hours, the one member of this crew that never left the frontlines was Brick. He was exactly like his nickname, a Brick.
The Synth Gene Augur had been battered by the Neon Beasts so many times that Leon could no longer count, but every time, he stood up and kept on fighting. His durability was sick, but it was what kept them all alive.
With no more resources to make bombs, Leon was forced to think again for an alternative solution to survive since according to Daren's prediction, they still had at least 7 more hours to go.
He scavenged more resources from the surroundings to craft another spear, but this one was a makeshift one with no special effects.
Still, it gave him an edge against the Neon Beasts.
After subsequent bombings, the Neon Beasts no longer swarmed like the first time, but they kept coming in waves. This made it easier for them to cope, but it was still dangerous nonetheless.
"How is she doing?" A worried Kain could not help but ask Ghostwire again.
The gloomy NetRunner looked at him expressionlessly. "She's not dead".
Kain's face twitched, but in the end he sighed, nodded and focused back on the ongoing battle against the Neon Beasts.
The more time passed, the more Leon thought of new ideas to make use of their surroundings. After what happened to Daren, he was no longer comfortable with staying passive, waiting for danger to strike.
He was more proactive with his thinking now.
Bombs are not the only way to kill Neon Beasts that were stronger than them. 'If I can't overwhelm them, then I must confine them!'
In the eventual case of meeting another E Rank Neon Beast, he cooked up another strategy; he called it the Pit Strategy.
With Rex's help, he dug a big pit just outside the cargo trailer and covered it with dark brown tarpaulin, camouflaging it.
The pit was big enough to swallow every single one of the E Rank Neon Beasts that they encountered, but not big enough for them to move freely.
Just at the 6th hour mark, another E Rank Neon Beast emerged and they used the Pit Strategy, leading the powerful beast into the pit before bombarding it to death while it was confined.
It was a Bear, and despite its raw power, in a pit, it couldn't do much.
Just like that, they survived their third E Rank Beast encounter. It was a surreal feeling for the crewmembers as they could hardly believe it; they've survived three E Rank Neon Beast encounters!
Minute after minute, they kept persevering and fighting.
…
WOM! WOM! WOM!
Loud alarm sounds reverberated around the military base.
After dozens of hours of patching up against the digital assault of the Omnicore Federation, a truly valiant effort, the digital defense grid of the Synth base was finally hacked and hijacked as the network crumbled.
Inside the data sanctuary, the Data Wardens showed clear signs of panic as soon as the alarm sounds reverberated.
Talia was also stunned as her computer screen suddenly turned blank before being filled with static.
Despite being stunned, as an experienced NetRunner from the future, she reacted fast as she immediately stopped interfacing with the computer at a deeper psychic level to avoid being corrupted by the enemy malware.
This was a kind of attack that could only affect NetRunners since they could interface directly with digital networks through their minds.
Clearly, not all of her companions were as experienced as her.
"Argh…!"
A few Data Wardens collapsed inside the data sanctuary, bleeding from all their orifices as greenish black vein-like lines like a virus snaked through their bodies, corrupting their ADE, forcing them towards mutation.
Having been in a high-strung state for 3 days straight, Talia was not in the right state of mind as she was startled, then she remembered something.
'Time… the time!'
She quickly checked, and her face fell.
[59:23:55]
She had been cyber-fighting for 59 straight hours!
On one hand, she was delighted; this meant the time was almost up. But on the other hand, she was horrified because the network grid already fell.
BOOM!
Outside, a cannon blast hit a critical location inside the military outpost having bypassed the already fragmented shield dome as the Federation's field troops swarmed inside the base to finish the assault.
'37 minutes, I still have to survive 37 minutes!' Talia's brain whirred as different scenarios flashed through her mind.
Bang!
Before she could cook up a plan, the door of the data sanctuary was soon blasted open as Omnicore soldiers swarmed inside, attacking indiscriminately.
Talia reacted immediately.
Ducking, she rolled forward amid the deluge of bullets, kicking one of the metal desks as with her raw strength, she shattered the desk.
She broke one of the legs of the desk and wielded it as a weapon, then, lowering her breathing to the minimum, she hid behind another desk.
As soon as an Omnicore agent came close enough, she pounced like a cat!
She tried to hit the agent with the heavy metal but reading her intention, the agent dodged. 'It's too heavy,' Talia realized immediately as the sudden thought of discarding the metal leg of the desk entered her mind.
She did just that.
Unperturbed, her natural combat instincts kicked in.
As the Omnicore agent dodged, she aimed carefully then kicked at his groin with all of her strength!
She felt something crack as the Omnicore agent's eyes rolled behind.
Then, shielding her body behind him as bullets flew about, she pushed him to the ground, retrieved the kinetic pistol sheathed to his side before putting two bullets in his brain.
She tucked the pistol behind her trouser, then she picked up the soldier's sub-atomic machine gun, rolled to the side, then took aim.
Tututututututu…!
Talia started a rebellion inside the data sanctuary!
In a sanctuary filled with computer geeks and NetRunners, in an era where NetRunners were viewed as non-combat personnel, she picked a gun and led the retaliation against the Omnicore agents.
Seeing her bravery, the other NetRunners, those who were still alive found courage as they picked weapons from their assaulters and resisted.
It was a short and fast-paced battle.
A few dozen Omnicore agents died, but all the Data Wardens in the data sanctuary were wiped out, except her… the rebel, Talia Venn.
She jumped and smashed her way through the glass dome of the data sanctuary, landing outside where the real action was taking place. But at least here, she had allies that knew how to wield a gun and could fight back.
Talia was exhausted, she had not slept for 3 days, her body was failing her but she didn't stop.
'I can't give up now, I'm almost there!'
'C'mon, fight! I can do it!'
She fought till her muscles ached, till her lungs burned, and till her vision blurred. But she discovered today that she was not the main character, because despite how valiantly side characters fight, they always get shot in the face.
Bang!
A bullet tore through her neck!
Talia froze as she dropped her gun before grabbing the hole on her neck even as red blood tinged with green spurted out.
She fell to one knee as her strength rapidly left her.
Her eyes blurred, tears flowing out.
'In the end… in the end…' she choked.
'Argh, I hate this ending!'
Thud!
She fell down, her eyes glazing over as blood gathered around her in a pool.
But then… her Freegrid interface lit up.
DING!
~----~
[60 Hours complete!]
[Well-done soldier, reinforcement is here…]
~----~