"We've got company," Emir said, standing from his seat.
"Prepare for battle n, conserve your Aether and never hesitate."
Leaving those words behind, he ignored his stunned companions and headed to the front of the cruiser.
He stood still and watched the approaching monsters in the distance.
Lyra soon joined him.
"Do we make our stand here?"
Emir shook his head, but before he spoke, Jake reached them and asked:
"Why don't we just rush back to sector A-11?"
'And here I thought he was smart....'
"If you want to be bombed to death again, then go ahead. Go to any secured area or the sector itself, and die with the monsters..."
Emir spoke in a disgruntled tone, obviously irritated by such a question.
"Do you really think they'd fucking wait for you?!"
"....M-my bad, I didn't think about that."
"Don't mind, now I need you to inscribe our weapons; do it quick!"
Emir tapped the nodding Jake on the shoulder while turning his gaze towards Emma, who appeared to have a question of her own.
"I know this might look insensitive to ask now, especially considering that we're under attack, but I'll probably forget later...."
Emma paused for a mont, anticipating Emir's reaction, but he just gestured for her to speak faster.
"Okay, okay, so why does Lyra leave you to make decisions? Isn't it better to leave things to her since she's an AI?"
Emir's eyes widened for a mont, clearly not expecting such a question.
"Uhhh.... Well, simply put, I don't trust her completely...."
"Lyra might have better strategies in that database of hers, but I still can't act on them with all my strength."
"She advises , but that's all I'll allow, and besides, I need to learn to think things through myself; I can't be dependent on her for everything."
'And I have my own pride.' He added inwardly, finally acknowledging it.
"Is that answer enough for you?"
Seeing Emma nod, he clapped his hands, now finally quilling his underlings' doubts as he focused back on the situation.
Emir gazed at the seemingly sad Lyra for a mont and then said:
"So, we both know that isn't our best strategy, but I'll say it anyway...."
"Listen, Jake, Em, this is no random attack but sothing planned."
"I expect it to be either the guardian's or Alex's work, but we can't confirm either case, so for now we try our best to kill what we see without unnecessarily wasting a single ounce of our strength."
"We'll use our bikes and branch out from the cruiser; we will spread them apart and mow them down...."
"Lyra will remain here using our cruiser's turret, and then when Jake's Aether is spent, we et them on the ground and fight like celestials should."
"Show your worth, prove my decision to be a correct one, and most importantly..."
"Don't die! ...IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!"
Two stomps echoed, one later than the first, as Emma stepped down hard, followed by Jake, who just finished enchanting their weapons.
Their dominant hand was above their secondary heart as they roared:
"YES SIR!"
"GOOD! WE MOVE NOW! LYRA, GOOD LUCK!"
Lyra nodded and watched as all three picked up their equipnt while rushing to the back. They then hopped onto their bikes and exited the now-lowered cruiser's backside.
Vroom! Vroom!
The cruiser followed behind their bikes as they finally stopped driving away from the monster horde and instead headed directly towards them.
Emir, who donned his minigun, Aetherstorm launcher, and AR, led the way, with Jake on his right, who equipped himself with akimbo machine guns, and Emma on his left, who also equipped an AR.
Now about a kiloter away from the horde Emir pointed to his left and right.
His companions complied as they followed the plan.
Emir revved the handles on his bike, and its speed boosted as he approached the monsters at a
faster pace.
What t him were all kinds of grotesque beasts imaginable.
What were once normal cats turned into dangerous felines, less dangerous than their lion or cheetah counterparts, but Fiend and Youngling-ranked monsters nonetheless.
The sa was true for dogs, all kinds of mammals, insects, amphibians, and reptiles.
'This will be tough...'
Emir mused inwardly, knowing that whoever could control this many Fiends was at least a Seraphim rank or worse...
A Six-core Tyrant-ranked monster.
Sothing that he couldn't imagine defeating any ti soon.
'Well, let's hope for the best.'
"SHOW THEM HELL!"
Just as his words rang out, the area imdiately turned into a battlefield, with Aether- imbued bullets flying everywhere.
Their enchanted weapons worked beautifully as the monsters fell dead to the ground one after the other, their bullets cutting through their massive forms from one end to the next.
'Arcanists are overpowered, alright!'
Emir's finger remained on his minigun's trigger, his stream of bullets never-ending, as all the monsters in his sight were shredded to pieces, their blood coloring the ground with many
different shades.
The monsters, in a desperate attempt to defend themselves, summoned shields of various
elents.
Fire, earth, wind, poison, lightning, water, and ice-they tried it all.
But it was all in vain.
The relentless rain of bullets pierced through their defenses like nothing.
The sa happened to their attacks, as Emir and the others kept their distance, easily dodging
out of harm's way.
On the flip side, the monsters didn't help themselves either.
As if driven by so unseen terror, they attacked with reckless abandon, disregarding the
safety of their brethren.
Their kin.
In the process, they ended up killing many of their own, turning the chaotic battlefield into a
grueso bloodbath.
They simply didn't stand a chance against Emir and the gang's firepower.
But that wasn't about to last for too long, as their bullets were running out.
And not just that, Jake's Aether reserves were on the brink.
He appeared to be getting more and more exhausted by the second.
Emir quickly noticed that and inford Lyra:
[Tell Jake to kill off his runes; he's done his job; now it's our turn.]
[Copy that.]
Monts later, it appeared that Emir's ssage reached them as both Emma and Jake turned
their bikes around, congregating towards his position.
Emir slowed down his bike and got closer to Jake, matching his speed.
"Good job, mate. Now go back to the cruiser and help us out with cover fire." Emir said as he
threw his rucksack and guns over to Jake.
Jake caught them and his bike wobbled for a mont, almost losing control, only to stabilize
a second later.
"Good luck, boss; I'll have your back."
"That you will!"
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