Chapter 52: Lame yet Cool

Now then folks, I refer to this thing as a power armor, and folks in this world called it as such as well, but the official name of this thing is a bit different and sounded kinda long. What was it now? Reactor-powered Artificial Muscle-driven Reinforced Exoskeleton? Something like that, I guess. It was really long, so I’ll just stick with power armor.

There’s a lot that can be said about power armors, but basically, they were used to fight in Stella Online’s melee matches done within enclosed arenas that weren’t too spacious. So what was the most important factor needed in order to win in such matches?

Mobility and speed? Nope. In such cramped spaces with not enough room to maneuver, those would be next to no use. In fact, they could become detrimental instead since you’d have trouble orienting yourself while moving at boosted speeds. A speed that’s just a bit higher than peak human performance would be enough for the job.

So what’s needed then?

“Hmph!”

I received the huge, white-colored monstrous creature that barreled toward me head-on and gave it a powerful bear hug, crushing it to a pulp. I also tore through the horde of smaller creatures and slammed them to the surrounding walls. I sent the faltering mid-sized ones flying with ramming attacks. I continued to swing the armor’s arms and blew away everything in my path with overwhelming power. I then grabbed one mid-sized monster and shocked it with ultra-high voltage currents, and finished the rest off with shots from the high-powered laser gun equipped on my armor.

“Fuhahaha! Get a load of all this power baby!”

I hurled profanities at the mysterious creatures as I continued to crush them to bits.

This is what I sought out of a power armor. In other words, overwhelming armor toughness and strength. As for speed, I just settled for a level that’s a little over what a normal human can accomplish. Cause, well, it’s not like you’ll need the ability to travel long distances at a fast speed in cases where you’ll need to use a power armor anyway. They’re not meant to be used for such maneuvers.

Armor and weight that won’t flinch in the face of enemy attacks, and overwhelming physical power. You’ll be set as long as you have these two. If you also have a high-output power core, you can make use of a variety of destructive heavy weaponry as well. Add those to a decent enough aim and you’ll basically be raking in wins in no time.

『This is the port admin bureau. It looks like you were able to successfully secure the area. We’re grateful for your help.』

“Don’t mention it. We’re gonna receive a reward through the Mercenary Guild for this, so it’s only natural that I’d do my best for the job.”

After piling up the remains of the pale white monsters in a corner, I checked the state of my power armor.

There was virtually no damage to the armor. The actuators were fine as well. There was still 99.7% of charge left. The weapons were A-OK too.

The model name of my power armor is the TMPA – 13 RIKISHI mk. III. It’s standard armaments consisted of ultra-high voltage emitters『HARITE』on each of its palms, shock amplification devices『SHIKO』on both feet, and high output laser guns called『SHIKI-RI』on both shoulders.

Apart from those, it also had a『BUCHI-KAMASHI』function, which basically makes it ram targets with a burst of high speed over short distances while equipped with a shield, though I’m not sure if that can be considered part of its weaponry or not. It can also be used even without a shield equipped as well.

It was considerably large, even for power armor, and should be classified under heavy armor. Its generator output was also quite high, allowing it to carry a payload of various heavy weaponry.

It looked short and stout overall, and due to the thick armor, it also looked quite ‘fat’. In order to support all that weight, the legs were also quite thick, and its low center of gravity was one of its main features. I wasn’t generally concerned about the paint job of power armors, but the original makers of this guy had really lame aesthetic senses, so I changed it to metallic silver instead.

Yeah, I know. I know what you want to say, guys. Honestly, my power armor looked like the mecha version of a sumo wrestler. And its aesthetics also made it look like some sort of cheap villain. It isn’t just uncool anymore. It’s literally fugly as hell.

But it’s really, REALLY powerful! It was something that embodied all the qualities I sought from power armors! It looked like a joke machine, sure. But it’s really good guys! Seriously! It was so good, it was always included whenever people discussed the strongest power armor models in Stella Online.

The PVP events were always filled with this model, to the point that they said things like『Now then folks! Let’s start the Stella Online New Year Sumo Tournament!』or『And now, for the first event of the evening! In the east mountain corner, Captain Black! In the west sea corner, Captain Hiro! They are the wrestlers for tonight’s match!』during the PVP match commentary!

Just why did this kind of power armor get developed? I’m afraid that question can only be answered by Stella Online’s developers. And I’ve now confirmed that there were no problems fielding it in this dimension as well. Maybe they also had a similar-looking power armor model in this dimension……?

『Hiro-sama? Hiro-sama? Are you okay?』

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. What’s up?”

『There was an urgent rescue request sent to the Mercenary Guild. Do you remember the hospital building we had our check-ups in – the one under Inagawa Technology? It seems they were sending injured citizens there for treatment, but it looks like those monster are starting to swarm over there as well.』

“Is this area clear already?”

『It looks like the imperial power armor division is arriving shortly. The reward for the successful defense and the submission of battle data is 50,000 Enels.』

“Man, that sure sounds cheap for something I risked my life to earn. These guys should be pretty dangerous if fought without armor.”

『That’s why they limited the job to those with power armors, right? So what about Inagawa Technology’s request?』

“I’ll take it up. How much is the reward?”

『It’s 100,000 Enels. It’s twice the reward for securing the port area.』

“That sounds great. I’ll leave the navigation to you.”

『Yes!』

I picked up the weapon I left nearby earlier and started following the directions indicated on my armor’s HUD.

『But really now. To think you’d actually started using melee combat, of all things. It’s not like CQC is your strong point, right?』

“It’s not, but I do brush up on it from time to time just in case of situations like this. It’s better to cover all the bases you can, right?”

『I guess so.』

I ran with the armor while checking my weapons. The thing I brought this time was a high-output variable laser launcher.

It can counter other power armors with high-output focused laser shots and give fatal damage to flesh and blood opponents with a scattering split laser. It was a very versatile weapon.

It was big, bulky, and heavy, but by utilizing power armor, one can handle it quite easily.

『Keep going straight until you get to a bend going right. You’ll find an elevator there. Ride that elevator and go down to the lower level.』

“Gotcha.”

It looks like there were none of those pale monstrosities here. But what the heck were those anyway?

“Hey, don’t you think those monsters kinda resembled the ones we saw on the meat factory tour……”

『Yeah, they do, actually……』

『They said those creatures won’t be able to survive outside of the facility, but…… Did they make a mistake in the security arrangements?』

“But we can’t really be sure that it’s the fault of that particular factory. Cultured meat brands generally looked the same, so the problem might have stemmed from another factory altogether.”

I reached the elevator while exchanging that sort of idle banter with the two on the ship and entered it. I then set it to go down to the middle level of the colony. The elevator started descending with no problems. The power armor was heavy, but it seems it could easily support this kind of weight.

“You two also keep watch on the ship. Well, I don’t think they’ll be able to enter if you lock the hatch properly though.”

『We’ll be fine. I’ve already checked the security camera feeds near the hatch area earlier. And we can always activate the shields if needed.』

“That’s fine then. But it can’t hurt to be extra careful, alright.”

In the first place, the anti-NPC defense weaponry of the Krishna is very effective, and those white things wouldn’t be able to take a single step inside it with the shield active. I don’t care if that sounded like a flag. Impossible is impossible folks. Or rather, even I would have trouble breaching the ship’s defenses even if I used my power armor. I wouldn’t even come close to saturating Krishna’s shield powered by its high output generator with shots from my laser launcher. Even if it’s high-output, it doesn’t have the raw power of even the lowest caliber laser cannon used by pirate ships.

I finally reached the middle level. I became speechless at the scene that greeted me once the elevator doors opened.

“This is terrible.”

It was a scene of hell. I saw one large-sized monster busy chewing on a corpse. Its feet were still hanging between the monster’s teeth and were trembling slightly. There were groups of mid-sized types feeding on an already unrecognizable, blood-drenched ‘something’, and large swarms of the small ones stuck themselves on the rest of the dead bodies like pale leeches. This type of scene was happening all over the area.

All the monsters, regardless of size, had slimy, pale white bodies, with round mouths akin to lampreys lined with razor-sharp teeth. They were different from the specimens we saw inside that cultured meat production facility, and the medium and large-sized variants all had defined limbs sticking out of their slimy bodies. The small ones looked more similar to the specimens used for meat though; razor-sharp teeth aside.

Well, they certainly looked somewhat thinner compared to those meat-producing tentacle-type livestock. And it seems their basic instinct is to eat. They looked really gross.

『How awful……』

“Is Mimi okay over there?”

『She froze up and became blue in the face the moment she saw the live feed.』

“She doesn’t have to look at the images if she doesn’t want to. Notify me if you detect any survivors.”

『Aye, aye, sir. Anyway, it looks like there’s none in that area.』

I can’t have these monsters take the elevator, so I stepped out of it and primed my laser launcher. I chose split laser mode.

“C’mon! Time to clean out the filth!”

I repeatedly fired split laser shots and turned the monsters to ash. Since there were no survivors, I went at it without reserve.

These guys were dangerous to flesh and blood people, but you could easily deal with them if you equip power armor. It’s not like there’s no chance of being toppled down by a large type, but even if I did go down, there’s no chance they’ll be able to breach the armor plating.

And I had more than enough firepower at my disposal as well. It was even possible to deal with them by only using the power armor’s standard fixed weapons. Once the imperial power armor division makes a move, I’m sure they’ll be able to deal with these types of monsters easily. It was somewhat good timing on my part that I managed to arrive here early to get a piece of the action.

I finished off several large ones one after another with split laser fire and hit the medium ones that managed to close in with the body of the launcher itself or some well-placed kicks before roasting with split laser fire as well. It was annoying when the small ones got stuck on the armor, so I sometimes paused in order to tear them off and crush them underfoot. And when there’s too many of them, I simply discharged ultra-high voltage electricity from the armor’s palm in order to get rid of them.

『If it was me in there, I would have long fallen ill and vomited on the side by now.』

“Just think of it as me not prone to vomiting except for when I’m made to drink alcohol.”

I grinned bitterly while bathing my armor in electricity to get rid of the creatures stuck to it. But some of the medium types have already wizened up a bit and now ran away at the sight of me. They probably realized they were not my match. I’m not planning to let them get away though.

I continued to slay creatures and finished off the ones that attempted to run away with concentrated laser bursts as I headed toward the private hospital building we visited last time.

『Turn at the next intersection. It should be right in front of you afterward.』

“A’ight.”

I ran with heavy sounding footsteps. There were virtually no survivors left on the streets. I guess the rest of the citizens ran inside buildings and holed up within them. In colonies like this, there’s always some airtight and secure shelters in case of emergencies like the walls of the colony getting punctured by way of accident or deliberate attack. I guess if there were any survivors, they would have long escaped to those shelters.

“Whoah.”

I involuntarily made a surprised reaction when I turned at the intersection. It’s because the pale monsters in question were crowding around in large numbers in front of the private hospital.

“Just why are these things gathering around here like that?”

『Dunno? Health check-up, maybe?』

“Dangerous creatures lining up for check-ups in front of a hospital just sounds too surreal y’know.”

After the stupid-sounding banter between me and Elma, I aimed the laser launcher at the swarm of monsters ahead.