From Cannon Fodder to Star Conqueror

"Damn it."

That was the first thought of the two soldiers inside the heavy power armors when they realized their enemy had slipped behind them.

This enemy had thrown a flashbang right at their faces, dashed 30 meters down the corridor in mere seconds, avoided the barrage of 12-gauge automatic shotgun fire, and still managed to end up behind them.

One term flashed through their minds simultaneously—Psionic.

Yes, only those enhanced through extensive physical augmentations and capable of combat assistance via psionic powers—these "monsters"—could break through the defenses of two heavy power armors in an instant.

"Got them!"

This was the first thought that crossed Amber's mind as he bypassed the defenses of the two power armors.

Although the line sounded like something a disposable villain would say, and it definitely set up a potential bad omen, it perfectly captured his excitement.

This wasn't Amber's first time fighting against power armors.

But before, it had always been in a game.

There had been no risk of actual death.

Now, however, he was fighting in the real world, using nothing but his flesh and blood to take down these armored behemoths.

When he extended his psionic energy as if it were an extension of his arms, carefully "delivering" the flashbang to the power armors' faces—

When he exploded into a short-range sprint, narrowly avoiding gunfire through preemptive timing—

When he vaulted over their heads with the help of a psionic arc discharge that "stuck" him to the walls—

Every moment had felt like dancing on the edge of a blade.

"This is amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Amber couldn't help but feel even more exhilarated than when playing games.

"Wait... am I turning into some kind of psycho?"

Even as he landed behind the two power armors, he had time to ponder this question.

Thanks to his nervous system being replaced by superconductive fibers, his reflexes far exceeded those of normal people.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins, his strength, speed, and reaction time surged even further.

It felt as if he had entered some kind of bullet-time mode.

In fact, it reminded him of activating "Sandstein" in another game.

Now, the gas turbines and battery packs on the backs of the two power armors were right in front of him.

To Amber, the two soldiers inside the suits looked as if they were turning around in slow motion.

But he wasn't about to give them that chance.

He immediately concentrated his psionic energy, channeling his strongest psionic blasts into both hands.

In the next moment, two bursts of raw energy shot out, striking the backs of the power armors.

The violent impact almost completely destroyed their gas turbines.

Red alerts flashed across the soldiers' HUDs inside the armors:

[WARNING! Gas turbine system severely damaged! Output reduced!]

Before their systems could switch to "pure electric mode" powered by the hydrogen battery packs, more warnings popped up:

[WARNING! Battery overload detected! Power supply disconnected!]

[WARNING! Insufficient power! Unable to maintain system output!]

With their power systems completely disabled and disconnected from external cables, the power armors effectively turned into iron coffins.

"Sh*t!"

The soldiers inside the armors were filled with despair.

Stationed on Robert-4 their entire careers, they had never experienced actual combat.

While this kept them safe from war, it also left them stuck in outdated combat doctrines.

Their training had always focused on leveraging their equipment advantages to support infantry squads.

On open battlefields, with the right weapons, they could easily suppress one or two infantry platoons and even take out light armored vehicles with their shoulder-mounted railguns.

But they had never trained for close-quarters combat against a psionic enemy.

Although the armors' adaptive stabilization systems kept them standing, the soldiers inside couldn't move the multi-ton suits manually.

Amber didn't leave them time to struggle.

He simply toppled both armors, turning them into helpless overturned turtles.

Then, he followed up with a psionic blast to each of their helmets.

Though the blasts were weaker than the earlier ones, they were still enough to penetrate the heavy helmets and knock both soldiers unconscious.

Finally, Amber removed the 12-gauge automatic shotgun from the right-arm rail of one of the armors.

To be extra careful, he fired two shells into their external power connectors, ensuring they would never recover.

With everything secured, Amber slung the shotgun over one shoulder and waved toward the others.

"It's done. Come on over!"

Moments later, Margaret and the Imperial spy disguised as a technician cautiously approached.

At the same time, the power grid inside the communications center completed its self-check and restored power.

When the lights came back on, the Imperial spy—codename "Judas"—from the "Star Dragon's Fangs" psionic operations unit twitched nervously at the sight of the two disabled power armors.

He recalled the orders he had received from his handler, codename "Tail Needle":

"No matter the cost, eliminate the defector Margaret and the 'Chick' after breaching the core communications room."

"Damn it, Aminos. How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Although Judas belonged to the psionic operations unit, he himself wasn't a psionic.

He was an intelligence officer under the "Star Dragon's Fangs," skilled in infiltration, reconnaissance, and tactical support rather than combat.

But orders were orders, and he couldn't disobey.

That left him with only one option—ambush.

Suppressing his nerves and fear, Judas walked past Amber, nodded at him, and quickly moved to the core communications room's entrance to begin his task.

The room had an independent power supply, so the earlier blackout hadn't affected it.

Unfortunately, that also meant it was still locked.

As the team's designated technician, Judas had to hack the lock.

Even with orders to kill his teammates, Judas couldn't afford to slack off now.

The unexpected power outage had likely already alerted the Federation troops outside.

The guards might be storming the building at this very moment.

Judas connected a compact hacking terminal to the control panel beside the door.

Calmly, he said:

"Give me 20 seconds."

(End of Chapter)