Lame yet Cool

Now then folks, I refer to this thing as a power armor, and folks in this

world called it as such as well, but the official name of this thing is a bit

different and sounded kinda long. What was it now? Reactor-powered

Artificial Muscle-driven Reinforced Exoskeleton? Something like that, I

guess. It was really long, so I'll just stick with power armor.

There's a lot that can be said about power armors, but basically, they were

used to fight in Stella Online's melee matches done within enclosed arenas

that weren't too spacious. So what was the most important factor needed in

order to win in such matches?

Mobility and speed? Nope. In such cramped spaces with not enough room

to maneuver, those would be next to no use. In fact, they could become

detrimental instead since you'd have trouble orienting yourself while

moving at boosted speeds. A speed that's just a bit higher than peak human

performance would be enough for the job.

So what's needed then?

"Hmph!"

I received the huge, white-colored monstrous creature that barreled toward

me head-on and gave it a powerful bear hug, crushing it to a pulp. I also

tore through the horde of smaller creatures and slammed them to the

surrounding walls. I sent the faltering mid-sized ones flying with ramming

attacks. I continued to swing the armor's arms and blew away everything in

my path with overwhelming power. I then grabbed one mid-sized monster

and shocked it with ultra-high voltage currents, and finished the rest off

with shots from the high-powered laser gun equipped on my armor.

"Fuhahaha! Get a load of all this power baby!"

I hurled profanities at the mysterious creatures as I continued to crush them

to bits.

This is what I sought out of a power armor. In other words, overwhelming

armor toughness and strength. As for speed, I just settled for a level that's a

little over what a normal human can accomplish. Cause, well, it's not like

you'll need the ability to travel long distances at a fast speed in cases where

you'll need to use a power armor anyway. They're not meant to be used for

such maneuvers.

Armor and weight that won't flinch in the face of enemy attacks, and

overwhelming physical power. You'll be set as long as you have these two.

If you also have a high-output power core, you can make use of a variety of

destructive heavy weaponry as well. Add those to a decent enough aim and

you'll basically be raking in wins in no time.

[This is the port admin bureau. It looks like you were able to successfully

secure the area. We're grateful for your help.]

"Don't mention it. We're gonna receive a reward through the Mercenary

Guild for this, so it's only natural that I'd do my best for the job."

After piling up the remains of the pale white monsters in a corner, I checked

the state of my power armor.

There was virtually no damage to the armor. The actuators were fine as

well. There was still 99.7% of charge left. The weapons were A-OK too.

The model name of my power armor is the TMPA – 13 RIKISHI mk. III.

It's standard armaments consisted of ultra-high voltage emitters

[HARITE] on each of its palms, shock amplification devices [SHIKO]

on both feet, and high output laser guns called [SHIKI-RI] on both

shoulders.

Apart from those, it also had a [BUCHI-KAMASHI] function, which

basically makes it ram targets with a burst of high speed over short

distances while equipped with a shield, though I'm not sure if that can be

considered part of its weaponry or not. It can also be used even without a

shield equipped as well.

It was considerably large, even for power armor, and should be classified

under heavy armor. Its generator output was also quite high, allowing it to

carry a payload of various heavy weaponry.

It looked short and stout overall, and due to the thick armor, it also looked

quite 'fat'. In order to support all that weight, the legs were also quite thick,

and its low center of gravity was one of its main features. I wasn't generally

concerned about the paint job of power armors, but the original makers of

this guy had really lame aesthetic senses, so I changed it to metallic silver

instead.

Yeah, I know. I know what you want to say, guys. Honestly, my power

armor looked like the mecha version of a sumo wrestler. And its aesthetics

also made it look like some sort of cheap villain. It isn't just uncool

anymore. It's literally fugly as hell.

But it's really, REALLY powerful! It was something that embodied all the

qualities I sought from power armors! It looked like a joke machine, sure.

But it's really good guys! Seriously! It was so good, it was always included

whenever people discussed the strongest power armor models in Stella

Online.

The PVP events were always filled with this model, to the point that they

said things like [Now then folks! Let's start the Stella Online New Year

Sumo Tournament!] or [And now, for the first event of the evening! In

the east mountain corner, Captain Black! In the west sea corner, Captain

Hiro! They are the wrestlers for tonight's match!] during the PVP match

commentary!

Just why did this kind of power armor get developed? I'm afraid that

question can only be answered by Stella Online's developers. And I've now

confirmed that there were no problems fielding it in this dimension as well.

Maybe they also had a similar-looking power armor model in this

dimension...?

[Hiro-sama? Hiro-sama? Are you okay?]

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. What's up?"

[There was an urgent rescue request sent to the Mercenary Guild. Do you

remember the hospital building we had our check-ups in – the one under

Inagawa Technology? It seems they were sending injured citizens there for

treatment, but it looks like those monster are starting to swarm over there as

well.]

"Is this area clear already?"

[It looks like the imperial power armor division is arriving shortly. The

reward for the successful defense and the submission of battle data is

50,000 Enels.]

"Man, that sure sounds cheap for something I risked my life to earn. These

guys should be pretty dangerous if fought without armor."

[That's why they limited the job to those with power armors, right? So

what about Inagawa Technology's request?]

"I'll take it up. How much is the reward?"

[It's 100,000 Enels. It's twice the reward for securing the port area.]

"That sounds great. I'll leave the navigation to you."

[Yes!]

I picked up the weapon I left nearby earlier and started following the

directions indicated on my armor's HUD.

[But really now. To think you'd actually started using melee combat, of all

things. It's not like CQC is your strong point, right?]

"It's not, but I do brush up on it from time to time just in case of situations

like this. It's better to cover all the bases you can, right?"

[I guess so.]

I ran with the armor while checking my weapons. The thing I brought this

time was a high-output variable laser launcher.

It can counter other power armors with high-output focused laser shots and

give fatal damage to flesh and blood opponents with a scattering split laser.

It was a very versatile weapon.

It was big, bulky, and heavy, but by utilizing power armor, one can handle it

quite easily.

[Keep going straight until you get to a bend going right. You'll find an

elevator there. Ride that elevator and go down to the lower level.]

"Gotcha."

It looks like there were none of those pale monstrosities here. But what the

heck were those anyway?

"Hey, don't you think those monsters kinda resembled the ones we saw on

the meat factory tour..."

[Yeah, they do, actually... ]

[They said those creatures won't be able to survive outside of the facility,

but... Did they make a mistake in the security arrangements?]

"But we can't really be sure that it's the fault of that particular factory.

Cultured meat brands generally looked the same, so the problem might have

stemmed from another factory altogether."

I reached the elevator while exchanging that sort of idle banter with the two

on the ship and entered it. I then set it to go down to the middle level of the

colony. The elevator started descending with no problems. The power

armor was heavy, but it seems it could easily support this kind of weight.

"You two also keep watch on the ship. Well, I don't think they'll be able to

enter if you lock the hatch properly though."

[We'll be fine. I've already checked the security camera feeds near the

hatch area earlier. And we can always activate the shields if needed.]

"That's fine then. But it can't hurt to be extra careful, alright."

In the first place, the anti-NPC defense weaponry of the Krishna is very

effective, and those white things wouldn't be able to take a single step

inside it with the shield active. I don't care if that sounded like a flag.

Impossible is impossible folks.

Or rather, even I would have trouble breaching the ship's defenses even if I

used my power armor. I wouldn't even come close to saturating Krishna's

shield powered by its high output generator with shots from my laser

launcher. Even if it's high-output, it doesn't have the raw power of even the

lowest caliber laser cannon used by pirate ships.

I finally reached the middle level. I became speechless at the scene that

greeted me once the elevator doors opened.

"This is terrible."

It was a scene of hell. I saw one large-sized monster busy chewing on a

corpse. Its feet were still hanging between the monster's teeth and were

trembling slightly. There were groups of mid-sized types feeding on an

already unrecognizable, blood-drenched 'something', and large swarms of

the small ones stuck themselves on the rest of the dead bodies like pale

leeches. This type of scene was happening all over the area.

All the monsters, regardless of size, had slimy, pale white bodies, with

round mouths akin to lampreys lined with razor-sharp teeth. They were

different from the specimens we saw inside that cultured meat production

facility, and the medium and large-sized variants all had defined limbs

sticking out of their slimy bodies. The small ones looked more similar to

the specimens used for meat though; razor-sharp teeth aside.

Well, they certainly looked somewhat thinner compared to those meatproducing tentacle-type livestock. And it seems their basic instinct is to eat.

They looked really gross.

[How awful... ]

"Is Mimi okay over there?"

[She froze up and became blue in the face the moment she saw the live

feed.]

"She doesn't have to look at the images if she doesn't want to. Notify me if

you detect any survivors."

[Aye, aye, sir. Anyway, it looks like there's none in that area.]

I can't have these monsters take the elevator, so I stepped out of it and

primed my laser launcher. I chose split laser mode.

"C'mon! Time to clean out the filth!"

I repeatedly fired split laser shots and turned the monsters to ash. Since

there were no survivors, I went at it without reserve.

These guys were dangerous to flesh and blood people, but you could easily

deal with them if you equip power armor. It's not like there's no chance of

being toppled down by a large type, but even if I did go down, there's no

chance they'll be able to breach the armor plating.

And I had more than enough firepower at my disposal as well. It was even

possible to deal with them by only using the power armor's standard fixed

weapons. Once the imperial power armor division makes a move, I'm sure

they'll be able to deal with these types of monsters easily. It was somewhat

good timing on my part that I managed to arrive here early to get a piece of

the action.

I finished off several large ones one after another with split laser fire and hit

the medium ones that managed to close in with the body of the launcher

itself or some well-placed kicks before roasting with split laser fire as well.

It was annoying when the small ones got stuck on the armor, so I sometimes

paused in order to tear them off and crush them underfoot. And when

there's too many of them, I simply discharged ultra-high voltage electricity

from the armor's palm in order to get rid of them.

[If it was me in there, I would have long fallen ill and vomited on the side

by now.]

"Just think of it as me not prone to vomiting except for when I'm made to

drink alcohol."

I grinned bitterly while bathing my armor in electricity to get rid of the

creatures stuck to it. But some of the medium types have already wizened

up a bit and now ran away at the sight of me. They probably realized they

were not my match. I'm not planning to let them get away though.

I continued to slay creatures and finished off the ones that attempted to run

away with concentrated laser bursts as I headed toward the private hospital

building we visited last time.

[Turn at the next intersection. It should be right in front of you afterward.]

"A'ight."

I ran with heavy sounding footsteps. There were virtually no survivors left

on the streets. I guess the rest of the citizens ran inside buildings and holed

up within them. In colonies like this, there's always some airtight and

secure shelters in case of emergencies like the walls of the colony getting

punctured by way of accident or deliberate attack. I guess if there were any

survivors, they would have long escaped to those shelters.

"Whoah."

I involuntarily made a surprised reaction when I turned at the intersection.

It's because the pale monsters in question were crowding around in large

numbers in front of the private hospital.

"Just why are these things gathering around here like that?"

[Dunno? Health check-up, maybe?]

"Dangerous creatures lining up for check-ups in front of a hospital just

sounds too surreal y'know."

After the stupid-sounding banter between me and Elma, I aimed the laser

launcher at the swarm of monsters ahead.