Chapter 129: the tentacled alien machine

Boom!! Despite the intimidating sight before them, the high-grade soldiers would not lose their fighting will so easily. Clark started the battle, as a high-caliber sniper bullet left his sniper rifle.

Clang!! The bullet lodged itself past 2 different mechanical soldiers, as their systems immediately shut down from the impact.

Unlike elite grade mechanical soldiers like the swordsman they faced, this was the conventional cannon fodder or army-style method used by most countries. It can be practically interpreted, as staging a horde of mechanical soldiers against a single opponent.

It seemed like Clark’s gunshot acted as the cry to battle, as the ranged soldiers under his lead released their full firepower at their mechanical counterparts.

Captain Oxford was as calm as always. His rich battle experience was a very good boon to him, as it helped him to adapt to basically any situation in battle. He quickly adapted to the situation, as he started giving orders steadily in rapid succession.

“We are using the semi-turtle shell formation this time. Captain Jack, co-ordinate your soldiers well, you are to lead them to support me and my men. We are not fighting an aggressive battle this time; we are going defensive”.

Unlike their last encounter, this one was a completely different enemy. Though the number of soldiers storming out of the corners seemed endless, they were not required to kill them all.

Their only requirement in this battle was to survive for 15 minutes before the door opens. If they took a defensive formation, they would have a better chance of surviving since there was no outrageous mechanical soldier like the previous one, they encountered.

Captain Jack obediently complied, as he led his soldiers to follow the Spartan captain. Captain Oxford started giving his next series of instructions, as he advanced forward to form a defensive formation with the soldiers.

“Clark don’t shoot at will, reserve your energy to intercept in time if any unfavorable situation arises. Go further back to protect the Dawn soldier as he operates on the door, and shoot from there”.

“Don’t shoot energy-intensive projectiles or bullets, there is no need. Just focus on crippling the soldiers with regular shots, to help us better defend against their offensive”.

Clark also immediately acknowledged the order, as he quickly formed the vertical defense line of the semi-turtle formation.

After all these orders and technical movements, the formation of soldiers now formed something like the first half of a turtle shell. The turtle shell formation was one of the most defensive military formations against opponent sieges.

Every country and organization utilizes it for defensive battles, as its effects seemed just like magic in battles. It is universally accepted.

The formation the soldiers were using was not the real turtle formation, Captain Oxford just improvised according to the situation.

His soldiers didn’t ask questions, as they also understood his thought process immediately. That was the joy of working with like-minded high-grade soldiers, the efficiency was just that outrageous.

Tu! Tu! Tu! Tu! The mechanical soldiers finally reached the right range that their A. Is preferred, as all the weapons of the ranged ones started spewing fire at the intruders.

The muzzles of their guns turned bright red like the entrance to a furnace, as bullet after bullet flew out rapidly. Others, red beam after red beam flew out, forming a parabolic curve range of destruction.

Under Captain Oxford’s lead, the soldiers finally brought out their shields to use. Energy shields quickly covered their front as the ranged soldiers, led by Clark started retaliating.

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bullets quickly started interchanging in mid-air, as the cannon fodder mechanical soldiers started dying, directly turning to scrap metal.

The few ones that were able to pass through the gunshot range, were quickly finished up by the defending melee soldiers of the Spartan/Dawn alliance. The battle seemed easy, but the reason why Captain Oxford decided on going defensive started becoming apparent.

Other mechanical soldiers came from their various storage corners faster than their comrades died. In the short 2-minute time range since the battle started, all corners of the room were already occupied by the mechanical soldiers.

Some quickly started climbing the various elevated mechanical platforms in the room, as the ground under their control grew further.

More mechanical soldiers started passing the gunshot range, as the melee soldiers finally started feeling the strain. The shields erected by them flickered disorderly, as the horde of mechanical soldiers attacked its energy surface.

The energy shields started popping off, as their energy reserve depleted in seconds. But others quickly replaced them, as the soldiers quickly brought out their spares.

Their life was clearly not in danger, but if this situation continued, their equipment reserve for this expedition would be depleted swifter than they predicted.

From the way the mechanical soldiers just threw themselves at them without any tactics, it seemed this room was designated to deplete the resources of intruders.

Though the loss of so much energy was painful, the alliance of soldiers could still bear it. Meeting something life-threatening, was clearly the worst choice than their current situation. They preferred this one than to witness the death of other soldiers in the squad.

As the fight continued, a different type of mechanical soldier finally emerged from one of the storage corners.

This machine did not look like a mechanical soldier, it looked like an alien machine construct instead. With countless tentacles extending from all over its big, blotted and round form, it looked like an alien mechanical space zombie.

A blue glow shone from its rounded form, making it look like something blotted with energy.

Krrr!! It suddenly let out a strange mechanical shriek sound, as the blue glow in its mechanical form erupted outwards from its position.

The soldiers were slightly confused, as no powerful beam was shot out. But before they could think deeper, a hole suddenly emerged in their new sturdy energy shields that were still filled with energy.

Before they could respond, bullets flew in quick succession through the hole, while hordes of melee mechanical soldiers forced themselves in through it.

Boom!! Despite this unexpected situation, they reacted fast as they quickly started executing their battle arts. Dozens of mechanical parts flew randomly, as the mechanical soldiers who entered the formation all turned to scrap metal.

After eliminating this threat, they finally closed the opening that emerged in the shield. After doing this, their face became solemn as they all turned their attention to the tentacled alien-looking mechanical soldier.

This was not a combat mechanical soldier; it was actually the rare support mechanical soldier. When the blue glow in its body erupted, an electrical pulse followed, as all the mechanical soldiers received a temporary boost in their use of tactics and teamwork.

From this short exchange, they were able to deduce that this machine was a support type that increased the performance of its ally’s A. I’s.

A gap opened in the shield because the originally clumsy mechanical soldiers managed to cooperate and wield power that was stronger than their normal individual strength.

“Clark, we can’t leave our defensive formation. The job is up to you, find a way to snipe and eliminate this threat from the battlefield”. Captain Oxford was as perceptive as always, he made a decision after analyzing the situation and gave new orders immediately.

Clark quickly acknowledged as he changed his focus on the battlefield. The threat of this new machine was evident, as the lethality of these cannon fodder mechanical soldiers rose up a level from its support.

This was bad news to the allied group, as the cumulative increase would bring unimaginable pressure to them. After all, they were not just fighting mechanical soldiers, but a horde of mechanical soldiers.

Boom!! Boom!! Under Clark’s lead, all the ranged soldiers equipped their sniper rifles, as they all directed their aim at this alien machine.

This support mechanical soldier showed its cleverness, as part of the hordes of mechanical soldiers started stacking themselves before it to form a huge and enormous wall of defense.

The melee soldiers kept on urging their ranged counterparts, as the pressure they had to face continued increasing, following the alien machine’s release of other electric pulses through its blue energy glow.

They already depleted a lot of their energy equipment. This was unacceptable, as energy was too essential a resource to lose in a battle. Even the force fields of their weapons were energy-powered, so the energy was one of their lifelines.

After trying various measures, but still failing to take down the troublesome mechanical construct. Clark finally took matters into his hands, as he instructed his soldiers to hold the helm, while he stormed out of the formation they formed.

Captain Oxford did not stop his advancing soldier, as he was sure that he probably had a plan of his own.

He would have also stormed out, but he was not confident in clearing a path through these thousands of mechanical soldiers to get to his target.

Clark quickly stored his 2-form gun in the equipment hold in his armor, while bringing his spear out of his bag. His nimble figure streaked past the battlefield, as mechanical parts became the only thing left in his wake.

His skill with the spear started showing its use, as he gracefully beheaded mechanical soldier after soldier. Despite the increased performance abilities of their A. I’s granted by the supporting machine, they would not just become elites.

He was still superior to them. He continued clearing his path forward, as his armor released sparks from the gunfire being directed at him. If his armor was not high-grade armor, he would not have dared to make such a bold move.

Tu! Tu! Tu! Tu! As he advanced, he conveniently brought his 2-form gun. Using its machine gun configuration, he calmly discarded the dozens of mechanical soldiers surrounding his alone form on the battlefield.

He started executing his battle art, as through its unique abilities, he cleared a larger space for himself on the battlefield. After finding an opportunity, he suddenly jumped up as he steadied his arms for a shot.

Boom!! The high-caliber bullet of his sniper rifle left its home, as the muzzle of the sniper released sparks of fire.

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! 4 to 7 mechanical soldiers directly turned to scrap metal from the shot, before it finally impacted the blotted round form of its intended target.

The blue glow of the alien machine dimmed a bit, but its form did not fall apart, as it quickly hid behind dozens of other mechanical soldiers. Clark finally started falling down, as his assassination plan got botched by his target’s durability.

He did not allow himself to freefall. He quickly kept his gun, while retrieving his spear, as he did a gravity-defying flip mid-air to stabilize himself.

His military uniform fluttered in the air under his armor without the influence of wind, as the fabric of space surrounding the tip of his spear distorted a bit.

Boom!! His form finally came crashing down, as he executed his battle art again. The area became vacant after the great crash, as it suddenly seemed like a forbidden ground on the battlefield.

All the mechanical soldiers in this area of the battlefield directly got destroyed from the pressure of impact. The metal floor of the room caved in from the center of impact, as visible shockwaves erupted out from the position.

[Ding!! Master successfully executed his self-created technique with an 89% perfection rate.]

Clark heard the message of his implant, but he did not pay attention to it. He quickly ordered his implant’s A.I again to project the current location of the alien support machine.

With his 3d battle perspective granted by his implant, he knew the situation of the battlefield like the back of his hand.

He quickly located the alien machine again, as the mechanical soldiers swarmed at him again. It was at the animation phase of releasing another electric pulse, through its glow.

Quickly equipping his 2-form gun in its sniper configuration again, blue light started erupting from his position. The blue light got so intense, that it captured the attention of the whole battlefield.

BOOM!! Before the alien machine could react, a dangerous blueish red energy beam already impacted its bloated form. Before it’s A.I could understand the situation, its already bloated form bloated further, as it finally exploded from the huge reaction of energy triggered in its internals.

Boom!! Bam!! Bam!! The sound from the advance of the energy beam finally sounded out, as it originally broke through the sound barrier.

Shortly following it was the sound and explosion of the alien machine, as red-hot fire covered the whole battlefield.

Clark responded fast, as he activated all his energy shields while cuddling himself up in mid-air to withstand the impact. He left the rest to fate, as his figure was finally hit by the initial shockwave of the explosion.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it.]