Perfect World VR (9) - Command and Conquer

[Enemy forces are engaged.]

The battle had begun and the Crawler had already registered a loss of thirty percent of its dispatched troops. It remained on high alert, already contemplating the odds of producing much stronger units to handle the situation.

At that moment, two dots appeared at the edge of the valley in which it was situated. The dots slowly approached and as they got closer, it was immediately able to register them as threats.

All twelve cannons stationed around turned their attention to the approaching figures. "Get ready," Elena spoke in a low tone as she moved forward with Gary beside her.

He looked calm but inside he was a bit worried about the outcome of what they were about to do. He did not doubt Elena's capabilities, instead, it was his own that came into question.

He could only hope for the best as they were about to put their plans into action. [Cease approach or risk getting shot down. Cease approach.]

The order came from the Crawler, at the same time, the guard cannons began to charge up. Elena and Gary paused momentarily as they saw this. Elena did not say a word as she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.

She was summoning the courage to move forward. She glanced at Gary and the latter stared back at her. It took only a few seconds of exchanged looks to reassure Elena of what had to be done.

She took a deep breath and walked forward. At the same time, she had already begun to circulate the tachyon energy in her core. Gary noticed this and quickly followed in her footsteps.

[Cease.] The mechanical voiceover spoke again. At this time, the cannons were fully charged, and all twelve of them pointed at Elena and Gary.

"Hah… Festival of Blades: Second dance -….."

***Pew***×12

All cannons shot at them, not even allowing her a chance to finish her sword form. The red beams approached them at a blistering pace. "Shit." Gary's courage failed for a moment as he saw the death beams rushing at them.

Yet… He still activated his shield and got in front of Elena. "Heavenly Tower." This was a skill exclusive to the Defender class.

It was a multidirectional shield that took the shape of a tower and its design for defense as its basis for operation. Of course, it was a rather difficult skill to execute due to how much energy went into building it.

Only one Guardian had been able to create a complete tower and she was known as, the "Tower of God."

Due to the unknown strength of the beams headed their way, Gary opted to use this technique.

Even though it was indeed a draining task to keep it up but if it was to do as Elena had instructed and draw as much of their attention as possible, he had to ensure that he showed a powerful front to deceive them.

His tower was more like a room with four walls. There was no structure, it was too rudimentary to be called a tower but it was good enough to get the job done.

***Boom***

The red beams slammed into the walls and a large explosion resulted. Dust was raised and the area was obscured for a brief moment. Seconds later and it cleared to reveal the wall still mostly intact, though some parts showed signs of being attacked.

[Threats are unharmed.] The assessment seemed to not be needed but the reason it was announced was to reassert the threat levels of the enemy.

This was required to produce a unit strong enough to deal with them. Thus, the production site of the Crawler was immediately activated, and the creation of a new unit was underway.

Of course, Elena was not about to allow that. "Festival of Blades: Second dance – Decapitation." Gary canceled 'Heavenly Tower' and moved out of the way.

Her sword glowed a bright blue as tachyon particles were sent through it. She stood where she was and swung her blade horizontally, drawing an arc.

The sword attack cut down a cannon and also disabled the shield momentarily. [Shield has been compromised… Commencing repairs.]

The invisible shield protecting the Crawler was damaged due to the powerful attack that Elena had launched. This was recorded as an unprecedented threat level. They had to be destroyed quickly.

The remaining cannons quickly charged up to respond to her attack. Elena smiled in response. "Our job here is done."

***

"We are in." Tanya sent the word across just as she dragged Leah and Nathan into the periphery of the Crawler.

They had made use of the opportunity when Elena disrupted the shield to infiltrate and conceal themselves, coming through the area where the energy node was located.

Tanya made use of the skill, 'Camouflage', which utilized light refraction to evade detection. Of course, this only worked while the opponent was focused on something else.

Since it wasn't complete invisibility as one would be caught out if they attempted to make use of it in a direct encounter.

"I didn't think this would work," Nathan commented while attempting to keep his cool. If not for the System and the skills he had at his disposal, he would have already collapsed under the pressure he was under.

This was all a result of Elena's planning and the team's input. He was the main piece in the plan and his actions would determine if their stratagem was for naught.

"How long do you need to do your part?" Elena asked amidst the loud noises around her. "Maybe five minutes," Nathan replied, unsure if he would be able to pull it off.

"Make it three. Our tachyon cores aren't exactly bottomless pits. We are counting on you to finish this for us." Even though she did not mean to, the pressure on Nathan had inadvertently doubled.

"…I understand." He struggled to say. Tanya watched him but said nothing. Leah on the other hand seemed lost for a moment before she slowly regained herself. "I'll help you. That's why you brought me here, right?... Then let me do my part as well."

Nathan slowly nodded. "Alright then." "Let's get going." Tanya grabbed hold of them and activated 'Racer Wheels'

"I'll take you guys as close as possible, you have to do the rest."

***Whoosh***

She charged towards the Crawler at her fastest speed, she couldn't afford to waste a single moment. Her approach picked up dust and of course, this was caught by the Crawler.

[Intruder alert!!!... Intruder alert!!!] The alarms were blaring off. The cannons quickly turned their attention towards them. Elena was not about to allow their plans to be disrupted so easily.

She charged forward, Gary following behind her. So far, she had taken care of two cannons and that had depleted a quarter of her tachyon core reserve.

Now, she would risk close combat. That was the only way to keep up the assault long enough for Nathan to do what was required of him.

She leaped forward and drew an arc with her blade. The sword light shone brightly against the artificial sun as it cut down a cannon. This sudden attack caused the cannons to return their attention to her. Meanwhile, the alarms were still going off in the Crawler.

Tanya successfully approached one of its mechanical legs and used it to run up to its main body. At that moment, several small hatches opened around it, and out of them, drones, the size of eagles, flew out.

They charged their weapon and began to fire at them. "Oh shit." Nathan used his hands to cover his face as Tanya zigzagged to avoid getting hit before she completed her task.

Once she got close to a compartment, she used all the strength she could muster to hurl both Nathan and Leah towards it. "I'll leave it to you."

***Pew***

At that moment, a Drone shot at her and seemed to hit her as she began to fall to the ground. "Oh no!!!" Leah exclaimed and Nathan watched with his eyes wide open as Tanya hurtled towards the ground.

The drones pursued after her, determined to complete their task. Just then.

"Hah." Tanya regained herself as she drew in a deep breath. "Fucking robots." She channeled tachyon through her body and positioned herself well.

At the right moment, she was able to move just enough to nail a superhero landing, a crater forming on the ground beneath her. At the same time as her head whipped up, she pulled out weapons similar to the ones that Victor had conjured up.

"That was neat." Nathan had to admit. "We should leave." Leah quickly said. "True, let's go." He grabbed hold of her hand and before she had a chance to comment on that, he dragged her away.

Tanya glanced at the hatch she had hurled them at and heaved a sigh of relief. Her part of the mission was done, now, she just had to wait for the good news, hopefully.

She couldn't rest for a moment though as the drones quickly swarmed her from all sides. "Shit." She activated 'Racers Wheels' and moved out the way, to avoid getting attacked from all angles. That would mean the end of her.