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(BUS)Chapter 97: Military downsizing
🕑 Added 2025-06-08 15:12:47 +0000 UTCMy second impression of Old Haven was that clearly they didn't get the memo about the new version being better than the old as the place was in the same state as New Haven, just more banditafied. Like the buildings were all the same architectural design as in New Haven but with barbed wire at the tops and some other bandit favorites to make the place home for the planets less than neighborly residents. In addition there was burning piles of trash IN the town itself along with metals bits and pieces scattered about confusingly as they looked to serve no purpose.-
The entrance area of the town was much like in New Haven where it was mostly a wide open area with only some relatively small things in the way, minus the water container off to the left. Like fucking always there were Marcus and Zed brand vendor machines right by the entrance to the town. Thankfully the air wasn't nearly as rancid as it was over in New Haven as there wasn't nearly as much trash here and even grass was growing from the ground. That said there was a heavy scent of rotting flesh, piss, shit and smoke that permeated every inch of the air as we walked forward.-
The sheer amount of dead bodies and blood spattered all over the place along with the relative silence painted a grim picture of what happened here. Lil made first contact with the enemy as she scouted ahead using her powers and what we learned was not only bad but downright tyrannical. Thanks to her not getting spotted on approach she managed to slip behind the bored Atlas patrolling soldiers and listen in on some of their conversation before she got seen by another patrolling soldier.-
Turns out that not only did Steele have her troops kill everything that breathed in the town but she also had them leave the smoke signals going to lure in others to kill as well, bandit or not being irrelevant apparently. When Lil explained this to us nobody reacted well to it. Not because we gave a shit about the fate of a bunch of bandits but because Atlas was now acting like tyrants judging literally everyone as worthy of death.-
"I believe we can all agree that we have some "military downsizing" to help the lance with." I said seriously and got four nods.
"I'll find a vantage point to try and get some sniping in with blood." Mordy said before leaving to do exactly that.
"Let's kill these bitches!" Brick said with a wide grin.
Roland and I took point as we rounded the corner of the buildings on the first "street" that was honestly just a wide gap between buildings and had several Lance soldiers waiting in a line, firing squad style. Immediately I noticed the apparel of the soldiers had roughly three styles to it. Red loose body cloth covered by either white, red or black armor pieces that covered the head, torso and front of the legs and arms.-
Some had a rectangle shield with the crimson lance logo on it and others had red crosses on their chests, I shot those first. Look I knew my shit and in a fight like this you killed the medics first if you can. The fight started with a bang(literally) as Roland tossed a grenade around the corner into the firing line causing the soldiers to leap away. We came around the corner guns blazing at this point while the soldiers scrabbled to get some semblance of stability back. -
As it turned out that thick armor they had on WASN'T totally useless against bullets. Not bulletproof mind you but it definitely resisted a casual shot to a decent degree. Case and point when I shot three soldiers in the head and the helmets didn't explode on impact. Dead without a doubt but not watermelon impact site like I expected by now. The fact these were trained soldiers also wasn't lost on us as they quickly got their bearings and opened fire on us with REALLY fucking good aim. Honestly even Brick had to grab cover as his shield broke and he needed to wait for it to regenerate.-
Even with these benefits however the lance were clearly not equipped to handle a threat like us as between Lil's ability to pop up pretty much anywhere and leave behind a lead aspirin before vanishing again and mine, Roland and Mordy's highly skilled weapons fire we were taking them apart and they knew it. The biggest issue though wasn't the soldiers but their Scorpio turrets just like Roland's. They deployed them and basically got free cover to regenerate their shields while still keeping pressure on us.-
"Fucking Christ that was exhilarating!" I exclaimed with a wide grin once we cleared this group finally.
"At least someone's enjoying this, that was annoying." Lil complained.
"This is what makes Atlas different from anything we've faced before. Gear, training and experience all on a completely different level from the bandits." Roland said seriously.
I didn't bother with respecting the dead and activated my powers to check what these soldiers had hoping for something good.
{Human
Lifeforce: 1200-1300
Traits: [Gun expertise-Uncommon grade]- 1500 units, [Athletic body- Common grade]- 700 units. [Armor expertise-Uncommon grade]-1500 units, [Engineering expertise-Uncommon grade]-1500 units, [Pugilist expertise-Common grade]-700 units.}
"These are definitely soldiers alright, they all have almost identical traits. The fact one in three has [Engineering expertise] is surprising but that can be explained by the need for regular maintenance of all types of equipment." I said as I grabbed five copies of that trait as well as [Gun expertise] as well.
Considering there were over fifteen soldiers this was still a net profit in terms of lifeforce even if it was a small one. Even better was the gear that was now up for salvage and later redesign using my Eridian knowledge and oh did I have some ideas.-
The armor needed a full redesign since it was way too tied to the Atlas corporation but the guns, shields and turrets just needed a few small adjustments to be better than ever and most importantly, ready for resale under the Drake name. I didn't need to reinvent the wheel as it were, merely put my own spin on it. This wasn't nearly close to all the lance here in the town either as even now I could hear the sound of the others moving to take us down.-
Their military training showed as they were setting up kill zones rather than rushing us to get revenge for their fallen buddies.
"Just a heads up but I can hear them setting up ambushes for us up ahead. Mordy you got eyes on what I'm hearing?" I asked after my warning.
"Yeah, at the far side of the town they've got two autoturrets and about thirty guys all waiting for one of us to stick our heads out. Seem to be taking orders from a big guy in purple armor. Want me to take him out?" Mordy said over the echo.
"A royal guard? Those serve directly under the commanders for the Atlas army. Steele will definitely miss one if they die, do it." I said with a grin.
A few moments later a pinkish purple streak flashes through the sky overhead and I can hear the result as the soldiers start to panic at their leaders sudden demise. Wasting no time at all I rush around the corner and open fire at the nearest auto turret. The others follow my lead and the soldiers caught in a tight spot try to gun us down at will since they don't have a leader anymore.-
We BARELY took out the turrets before all of us had to grab cover as the hail of bullets smashed into our shields like a particular angry green man. Unfortunately for the soldiers they forgot to take into account that by firing all at once they all had to reload at the same time too. I whipped my gun out from behind cover and started taking shots at any face I saw, fourteen bullets, five kills, two injured. Either way I alone dropped the number of active participants on their side by about a third in a single instance before needing to take cover from the rain again.-
Roland was totally pinned down as even his turret couldn't help as it got fucked up the moment he deployed it. Lil and Mordy were the MVP's here though as Lil used her powers to get behind the soldiers and drop grenades at their feet while Mordy was slowly picking them off one by one with his sniping. Brick had to be the most miserable though as he flat out was useless here as there was no way in hell he was going to get anywhere near the soldiers to punch them.
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https://www.pa treon.com/user?u=81578854#:~:text=pa treon.com/pa treon_loskro
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Alexander Drake
Lifeforce:406,379
Integrated Traits: [Gun expertise-Uncommon grade]X4, [Clever mind-Rare grade],[Enhanced senses-Epic grade]X2, [Demi-supreme body-Legendary grade], [Supreme armored hide-Epic grade]X2, [Energy projection-Legendary grade], [Superior vitality-Epic grade]X2,[Flame breath-Uncommon grade],[Regeneration-Epic grade]X2, [Disease resistance-Epic grade],[Amphibious lungs-Uncommon grade], [Thermal sensing-Uncommon grade], [Water resistance-Common grade],[Active camouflage-Epic grade], [Eridian engineering expertise-Mythical grade], [Efficient lungs-Rare grade]x2, [Fire resistance-Epic grade]X3, [Elemental body(fire)-Legendary grade], [Shock resistance-Epic grade]X4, [Energetic sustenance(shock)-Epic grade]X2, [Radiation resistance-Epic grade]X3, [Energetic sustenance(radiation)-Epic grade]X2, [Biometallic bones-Epic grade],[Elemental body(shock)-Rare grade]X3,[Quick thinking-Rare grade], [Minor spatial awareness-Epic grade], [Buzzaxe expertise-Uncommon grade], [Siren(Phaselock)(Altered)-Mythical grade], [Pugilist expertise-Uncommon grade], [Adrenal rush-Rare grade], [Mechanical engineering expertise-Rare grade], [Gunsmithing expertise(degrading)-Common grade]X3, [Elemental body(Corrosive)-Rare grade], [Corrosion resistance-Rare grade], [Mechanical Savant-Epic grade],
Stored traits: [Flame projection gland], [Mechanical engineering expertise(degraded)-Common grade, [Gun expertise-Uncommon grade]x5, [Engineering expertise-Uncommon grade]x5
Comments
ELLOMYGELLO
Understandable but this story is the only reason I’m here. Different strokes for different folks.
Fuhong Ji
Would it be possible to stop this series for now and write danmachi whilst you finish the pokemon one？danmachi is kinda why im here 😅
Loskro
Eventually.
Man of the lobsters
Question are they going to fight Crawmerax the invincible?
