271 UNLOCK HER PSYCHICS
Liorea had prepared for a psychic attack. It was inevitable when facing the Syndic of Fracture.
"Sis… are you sure you're up to this?" Kail asked, worry bleeding into his voice.
He remembered Liberty City….. Morana.
He remembered how he had been winning the battle… until a single psychic strike had shattered him and left him dead.
This time, he wasn't afraid for himself. In his current ethereal form, psychic assaults couldn't touch him.
But Liorea wasn't immune.
"I designed my helmet to absorb psychic frequencies," Liorea said calmly. "The problem is how much it can actually filter."
The helmet was custom-built—layered with rare psychic-resistant alloys, dampening lattices, and neural insulation. It could deflect psychic energy… but only up to a limit.
And that limit was being tested.
A sudden tingling crawled up her spine.
Then it worsened.
"Hell—there are ants crawling all over me!" Liorea screamed. "Those anti-psychic materials are useless."
"It's hallucination!" Kail snapped. "Don't believe it!"
"I know!" she shouted back. "But it feels real!"
The world around her began to smear and blur, edges melting, colors bleeding into one another.
"The psychic barrier has been breached… I am being dragged into a nightmare," Liorea reported through clenched teeth.
"What do we do?" Kail asked.
"Follow our Protocol," she said. "And if that fails—shut me down."
"…Alright," Kail replied, his voice tight.
Needles snapped into place along Liorea's armrest, injecting her with rapid-release serums—anti-hallucinogens, neural stabilizers, autonomic protectors. They would keep her body functioning even if her mind was under siege.
Her body suddenly convulsed.
"Dammit, sis—this attack is hurting you physically!" Kail yelled.
He didn't hesitate…. Another dose was administered—stronger this time.
Liorea's movements slowed, then stopped. Machines took over: artificial breathing, regulated heartbeat, blood and fluid exchange cycling through sterile tubes.
Liorea was put into suspended animation.
Kail stood frozen, watching his sister lie motionless inside the harness.
His fists clenched with anger.
"There has to be a better way to fight psychics," he whispered. "There has to be."
He wiped his eyes, then reached for the controls.
Liorea's authorization was revoked.Steel Valkyrie was his now.
The rest of the fight was up to him.
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[A while ago before Steel Valkyrie started her counterattack]
The Syndic members surged forward, unleashing everything they had.
Lightning speared the air. Stone shards tore free from the ground. Firestorms and glacial blasts crashed against Steel Valkyrie's towering frame.
"Thornrose, what's the plan?" Generator X shouted over the chaos. "Are we really going to fight that thing like an angry mob?"
"Let the lower ranks engage first," Thornrose replied coolly. "We observe from the rear. No one assaults the headquarters of the Syndic of Fracture without preparation."
"That mech's force field is absurd," Painrose snarled. "It regenerates endlessly. How do you expect us to break something like that?"
"We wait," Thornrose said. "And we assess."
Thornrose wasn't the leader—that title belonged to the Priest—but everyone knew …... Thornrose was the Syndic's strategist.
The fight dragged on.
Then Steel Valkyrie shifted.
Her defensive posture dissolved in an instant. Cannons flared to life, roaring thunder across the battlefield. Syndic members were torn apart before they could react.
"The mech is overwhelming our ordinary ranks," Generator X warned. "If we don't organize now, we'll lose control of the fight."
Thornrose nodded. "Defensive formation. Layered force fields. Reinforce and interlock them. Autocannon fire won't punch through that easily."
The Syndic regrouped swiftly.
Defensive specialists moved to the front, weaving a massive, complex lattice of overlapping force fields. The barriers shimmered as they locked together, shielding the Syndic's core forces.
Steel Valkyrie halted her advance, hovering in place—watching.
"We can't stay under shields forever," Generator X muttered. "What's next?"
Thornrose smiled faintly."Next comes Pain. This fight will end the moment it truly begins."
Painrose stepped forward, eyes closing. She raised one hand toward the mech, her psychic presence expanding like a wave.
"There is only one soul inside the machine," she said calmly.
Then she struck….
…. But the backlash was instant.
Painrose screamed as she was hurled to the ground, clutching her head.
"What happened?" Thornrose demanded. "What did you see?"
"The bitch has psychic defenses!" Painrose shrieked. "Strong ones! And its repelling my psychic powers back at me."
Generator X stiffened. "Then what do we do?"
"Call every psychic we have," Thornrose ordered. "I refuse to believe a single mind can withstand all of us."
More psychics gathered, forming a grim circle.
Together they unleashed everything—hallucination, terror, agony, submission. Invisible forces battered Steel Valkyrie relentlessly.
But despite their relentless assault, the woman inside Steel Valkyrie endured.
Psychic waves crashed against her mind—terror, agony, submission—yet none could break through completely.
"It's not working," Painrose hissed, frustration bleeding into panic. "What should we do?"
Thornrose didn't hesitate.
"Priest," he ordered coldly, "unlock the woman's psychic defenses."
Across the battlefield, the Priest was still locked in combat with Damen. At Thornrose's command, his attention snapped away.
His eyes narrowed and he understood immediately.
The Priest opened the Death Note.
With deliberate strokes, he wrote—not a command to kill, but something far more precise. Far more vicious.
"Blockall psychic defenses."
The message was meant for Liorea.
Steel Valkyrie jerked violently.
Her force fields flickered.
Inside the mech, something gave way.
Metal screamed as Steel Valkyrie staggered, massive servos grinding in protest. Then, with a thunderous crash, the war machine dropped to one knee.
Painrose gasped, suddenly smiling.
"I can feel her now," she whispered. "Her mind—is exposed."
Thornrose exhaled slowly.
"Good," he said. "Now finish it."
The psychics poured all their harms on Liorea.
"It's working," Generator X said breathlessly. "We're breaking her—she'll be under our control soon."
Suddenly, Steel Valkyrie rose.
She flew straight into the air.
"Did she break free?" Thornrose asked sharply.
"No…" Painrose said, her voice shaking. "But—something's wrong. I can't feel her mind anymore."
Her eyes widened.
"It's gone. Completely shut off."
Reality suddenly rippled behind Steel Valkyrie.
Twenty autocannons tore themselves into existence behind Steel Valkyrie, materializing in perfect formation—military-grade, heavy-caliber, and fully loaded.
"What are those?" Generator X whispered.
Thornrose's expression hardened.
"This is bad," Thornrose said grimly. "Those are standard-issue military autocannons."
Generator X stared at the hovering arsenal, disbelief etched across his face.
"How is that even possible?" he murmured. "Is she… a one-woman army?"
Steel Valkyrie hovered in absolute silence.
Then the cannons began to rotate.
"What do we do now?" someone shouted.
Thornrose didn't hesitate.
"Brace yourselves," he commanded. "This is real war. Raise additional shields—stack them, reinforce them, lock them together."
His eyes never left the mech.
"We are the Syndic of Fracture," Thornrose continued coldly. "We will not shatter every time an enemy march in with an army."
The force fields flared brighter.
And the air screamed as the autocannons finished aligning.
"We are only beginning."
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