Chapter 202: Unlocked Vs. the World

The first rounds of attacks that Gardo's team made shocked them. Their bullets were stopped by a strange magnetic field that shot out on all weapons heading towards that direction.

"Australian EMP?!" One of Gardo's men shouted in surprise.

"Not quite. It's a specialized version. Efren. Look! This one can stop bullets better!" Gardo laughed.

"Just keep shooting!" Gardo ordered.

The Exoskeletons were hovering closer towards the area. Though no secure air channels existed on their platforms, the wind still blew durable, making their aim harder.

Still, the Exoskeleton's started to move on a strange formation. Right at the middle, they could finally see and discern the Armor that accompanied them.

"Is that… a Titan?!" The panicky Archie shouted.

"It's the one creating the EMP like a field! We take that down; we take down that EMP copycat! I'll go in ahead!" Gardo frowned.

"What?! President!" Jane shouted.

"We can't let them get nearer!" Gardo shouted as he rushed forward.

"Damn it!" Jane kept shooting as she ordered the rest to take their positions.

The turrets nearby suddenly started to activate. Origin Power had finally awakened the platform. Since this was the platform where the EMP bomb was deployed, it took longer to reactivate most of its weapons, but now the dark platform was slowly awakening.

"Spread out! Keep moving out of the perimeter of the others! We fight here, or we die!" Jane ordered as she began to shoot several rounds of bullet and immediately sprinted off towards the cover.

"The bullets don't work!" Efren frowned. 

"What exactly are we doing?" Efren continued to shoot attacks but kept his eye out on his cousin.

"It's all on you, Gardo."

The bullets and attacks that Gardo's team could make did not affect. But the barrage of bullets would cause some bright electrical attacks. The WGP didn't use EMP as the rarity, and the cost of the making it was high. However, they found an easier and cheaper way of imitating this weapon. But unlike the subtler attack of the EMP, this electro-reactive field would reveal a bright electric shock that would arc out and attack any perceived threat.

Gardo used that brightness to move deeper and deeper into enemy lines.

As he drew closer, he observed the fields.

"This is amazing." Gardo laughed as he enjoyed the sight. The time difference made Gardo sense more of the surroundings and could even see clearly.

More of his team's attacks were coming in. Gardo was waiting. And then it happened. A bullet that flew caused the electro-reactive field to shoot it down. The bolt appeared quickly, and the sight which humans cannot usually see with their own eyes was displayed before Gardo.

"Beautiful." Gardo laughed as he shot another bullet.

The bullet traveled quickly and was headed towards the area where the first bullet was struck. Gardo aimed to hit the bullet precisely on it is back. But then another bolt struck it from a different angle.

"So shooting is pointless, huh?" Gardo laughed as he retreated to avoid the incoming attacks.

BOOM! BOOM!

Several of the rockets exploded as Gardo would shoot it down even when it was still on its way.

Gardo shot as the rockets exploded, and some of the bullets went through the field and damaged the Exoskeleton.

But as it approached the Titan, several bolts attacked.

"They're too serious! The closer to the Titan, the more paranoid those electric thingies are!" Gardo continued to retreat.

The Titan stopped shooting the rockets and frowned. 

Three of his men died when the rocket exploded.

"The techs that the enemy is using can somehow mask their techs. Only their bullets seem to be normal." The Admiral reported to the Commanders.

"Admiral! They seem to be drawing us away from the battle!" A Commander noticed the trend and informed the Admiral.

"It's better this way. The Call of Automatons has begun. The Golems have risen. We don't know what their techs are. But the enemy of those Golems appears to be a specialized team. If we continue to clash with them, we might die even before we notice it. We deal with these small fries. These don't have Exoskeletons." The Admiral rushed forth.

Several attacks were made that suddenly managed to kill some of the Exoskeletons outside of the group. The Admiral noticed two Exoskeletons near the area where the Golems were.

"I have eyes on two traitors here. Get everything that you can from them and try to deduce where they might have had contact with this organization! We need to know whether they were planted or did they switch sides!" The Admiral ordered as the information of those two was displayed on his screen and sent to the Commanders.

Gardo grabbed on a nearby Exoskeleton, which was killed on the earlier clash, and he used his strength to lift it. 

His arm grew red because of the compression energy that increased his strength. He tossed the Exoskeleton and quickly aimed and shot.

BANG!

The bullet trailed where the Exoskeleton was and pierced through it. The timing was just perfect. The bullet passed through and was heading for the Titan.

Just before the electrical bolts stuck the bullet, the bullet exploded and became divided into three. The first bullet was struck, and the two moved closer. But as it neared the Titan, another bolt hit the remaining two.

"Not enough, huh?" Gardo sighed.

The Admiral felt a fearful sensation as he saw how the bullet almost reached him.

"That's it! I'm not putting any more chances! Emperors. I request permission to use Hellfire." The Admiral sent a message to the signal the Emperor previously used to contact him.

A few seconds late, an answer was given.

"Granted."

The Titan immediately raised its cannon and suddenly shot a column of dark fire that attacked the area.

Back when Hellfire technology was used in the many battles of the Caliphates, it only saw three actions before the WGP stepped in to ban it. The heat would meld into the hardest metal, and although it wouldn't destroy or erode it, the heat would seep in and still burn any circuits that would allow an Exoskeleton would have. Of course, it was just as lethal to the pilots.

The flame erupted and hot around the area. Anyone who was within a few meters of that area would die. 

Gardo gazed at the approaching inferno and did not retreat. He knew if he did, this enemy would aim for his friends.

Roughly a minute before the events that made Gardo face the blazing inferno, another battle raged on the other side of the platform.

The Covenant fought against the Golems.

John had already rushed back and was in charge of using his attacks to damage or deter the Golems.

The Golem's had immense power despite their form, and the large Exoskeleton of Dara would even match the Golem's strikes.

The Golem's movements had strange quick bursts that allowed them to move at an impressively fast speed and could glide at odd directions even when their feet remained planted on the ground. 

Dara was very cautious while battling the enemy before her and dared not use the Exoskeleton plates' release to make another attack. She that the enemy would use odd techniques as she expected the enemies to have a lot of unpredictable skills and movements.

She cautiously fought, utilizing the least skills as possible. The Clown had revealed its strange movements and would even try to break past her to attack John. But Dara was the Queen of Tanks. Nothing would get past her unless she dies. On contrast to this battle, Danny the Berserker was the one making all the wild movements that allowed him to spin like a top.

His battle techniques were so strange that he kept making movements that would even surpass the flexibility of professional aerobics and acrobats. He could turn and spin around with each step. It was as if the joints on his legs allowed him to make an almost 360-degree turn!

The speed of his turns was also breakneck. But what was annoying was how Danny could execute these attacks accurately.

The Lumberjack could not even move but retain a defensive position and take all the enemy's attacks.

John retained a distance as he would snipe the Businessman who kept trying and failing to approach John.

"About now…" John sighed as he looked at the figure of the Businessman carefully.

Suddenly, the back of the Businessman changed as it immediately transformed into a jet-propelling device. The Origin power around it was absorbed, and with it, it erupted like a shuttle blasting off.

As if acting in synch, the other Golem's also transformed.

The Origin power around them was slowly absorbed, and a great transformation occurred.

Danny smashed his hammer at the right rib of the Lumberjack, but surprisingly, the body that was struck turned to liquid!

The hammer smashed pushed through the entire body of the Lumberjack and passed through the other end of the body. It was as if Danny had struck a pillar of water while expecting it to be steel. The force of his strike caused him to be thrown off balance, and the Lumberjack moved.

The remaining upper half of the Lumberjack used its steel arms to grapple Danny's twirling body, and the bottom half readied a powerful knee strike. 

The Clown that continued to grapple and wrestle with Dara abruptly grew two more hands that reached out and grabbed the Exoskeleton.

The Exoskeleton started to disassemble.

"Too late, girly!" The Clown laughed as the Origin power around him grew brighter and brighter.

BOOM!

A powerful explosion occurred. And the battered and broken Exoskeleton of Dara could be seen near a structure. It was covered in black char.

BANG!

A big impact then resounded as Danny's Exoskeleton was thrown off a distance.

The Businessman received more shots that made it difficult for him to advance. The bullets that John used for this attack were several large metallic bullets. The bullets were not designed to pierce but would produce a staggering and halting effect. 

The shots were swiftly made that the Businessman was barely able to dodge it.

Suddenly, his upper body transformed and created a cone-shaped shield with a very smooth front. The large bullets slid through the shield and no longer staggered the Golem. 

"Let's see you shoot me now!" The Businessman screamed as he approached John.

Back before Gardo and the Covenant's battle reached its climax, the Empress that was struck and thrown off had now recovered. The Empress contained all her emotions from ending the lives of her attackers.

The Empress wasn't hurt, nor was her Exoskeleton damaged. But her pride was hurting.

A wave of increasing anger rose from within her.

The Covenant began their assault, and the Empress glanced over it and then detected several attacks headed her direction. She moved out of the way and observed the other battle. He sensed Gardo charging to the front lines and noticed how the electro-reactive fields were stopping the bullets.

"Golems. Don't play around. Kill them quickly." She ordered.

She immediately used her boosters to move. Strangely, the usage of these boosters was masked. From the perspective of Cliff and his team, nothing was happening on the area where the Empress was.

"You little pest!" She clenched her teeth in anger as she hovered closer to Cliff and his team.

"Empress." The Emperor called out.

"Admiral request to use Hellfire tech. Should I?" The Emperor asked.

"Yes. Let him use it." The Empress ordered.

Cliff contained all his emotions and continued to move as if nothing happened. But he already heard the soft orders of the Empress. Using a less consuming and weaker form of Realm, he listened to her talk.

At that moment, Cliff used his Skill once more.

In his dream world, he thought of the many possibilities of what the enemy could do. Cliff spent his days with Seeker, Harker, Arthur and listened to hundreds of annoying military training programs from various countries. With his memories, he decided to think of what the enemy would do.

"I have to stop her from going after the rest… But I can't even see her!" Cliff cursed.

He then summoned the memories of a specific training program he had and absorbed every detail of that memory. Then he left his daydreams.

"She's nearby. Follow my lead. Someone asked if we got the enemy. Remember, say enemy!." Cliff spoke using the frequency and speed that only they could understand. To the normal ears, it was as if he was heaving or breathing as he moved.

"Did we get h- the enemy?" Roselyn asked.

"No. But keep alert. That invisible thing got through my sensors. Don't worry. If that enemy attacks again and gets into the sphere of detection, I'll be sure to kill that enemy! This WGP thinks they're all so smart!" Cliff gave a command using a different voice. He was copying the sound of another person. 

The Empress had used her techs to listen on them.

The first thing Cliff trained on was how to change his voice. And although he cannot emulate it correctly, the imitation that Cliff could do was outstanding. Cliff had asked for his help before he was sent off to the missions around the world.

He begged him for permission to be able to use this. This was his ace. This was the one thing that could buy him time even when fighting an Overcomer. And to protect his allies, he will have to use that.

Cliff stood up with an arrogant pose. Memories of his figure surfaced. Cliff remembered every detail of his proud posture and how he stood, his tone, his appearance.

"Oh, right… That enemy might be a coward. Then I guess I have no choice but to talk to this big, brave man!" Cliff laughed.

Roselyn was stunned. He sounded and moved exactly like him!

"My name is Lowengren! And I demand the weapon, Puton!" Cliff declared.

The Empress, who was already moving to kill Gardo's team, frowned and turned around to look at the figure.

With a thought, her suit immediately retrieved all files regarding Lowengren.

"Right height… Same voice." She paused as she continued to make mental comparisons, which her suit simulated.

"Skeptical? Do you want to know how I survived? Let me demonstrate it! Team! Prepare bomb!" Cliff laughed manically.

The Empress' expression turned sour. If the nuclear bomb would be deployed here, it would significantly damage the Kraken.

"My maneuver will shock the world once more!" Cliff laughed as he then took out a comm device.

Roselyn then sprinted to the side.

"Move as if you have something urgent and sure to do!" Roselyn secretly ordered Tyler.

Tyler sprang to action and moved as well.

The Empress looked around and noted the continuing battle of the team. The enemies that were gathered were losing. This was the Maneuver that Lowengren did. But why announce it?

The Empress got even angrier.

Without hesitation, she immediately summoned the Origin power on the air as it erupted, creating a green shockwave that erupted. The green wave swept through the Kraken and covered all of it.

Cliff and the team were surprised and tried to hide for cover. But they realized that there was no harm in the sudden burst of the aurora. Cliff then could sense her presence. Even without Realm, they could see. Tyler and Roselyn, who continued to wear a WGP Exoskeleton, could see her figure.

"So, you finally showed yourself? What's with the green entrance? Are all Emperors that arrogant?" Cliff continued to maintain his acting and gave an even more arrogant stand to face the Empress.

"I'll call your bluff! If you want to die that badly, this Empress will humor you!" She shouted as she landed nearby.