Xyrin Empire-Chapter 285 - Vega
Chapter 285: Chapter 285 Vega
Chapter 285 -285 Vega
“Zzz… zzz…”
The sound of energy flowing gradually faded away, and the Armored Scorpion, in the midst of activation, began to quiver slightly. Then, unexpectedly, it opened its eyes.
Huh? Is it an illusion? Why did I just hear a sound like a system check passing with a “beep”?
“Squeak… clack clack…”
The newly-awakened Armored Scorpion looked around in confusion, its lower mechanical scorpion body twisting unconsciously a few times. This was accompanied by the movement of its three-meter-long scorpion tail, causing a continuous chain of mechanical friction sounds. Then, the fierce beauty suddenly stretched her body out lengthily, with even the tail behind her tightening instantly.
Despite its eerie appearance, the beauty of this scorpion-hybrid woman in this moment, with its wild allure, was so stunning and terrifying.
“Boom—” With a loud noise, the new-born Armored Scorpion finally snapped to its senses, exerting force with all six mechanical limbs at once. The scorpion, which appeared to weigh at least two tons, leaped from the platform it was on and landed firmly in front of us.
“Awaiting command!”
Dispensing with its initial lethargy, the Armored Scorpion now fully embodied the quality of Xyrin Soldiers, standing motionlessly before us with its lower body slightly crouched and its upper body offering us a standard military salute.
“Uh… very good…”
I was stunned for a moment, before realizing that it was saluting me—although Sandora was also a Xyrin Emperor, as a warrior of the Pandora Army, the Armored Scorpion naturally paid its respects to the highest leader present. As for Qianqian and the others beside me, the Armored Scorpion didn’t even glance at them. This was a common problem amongst newborn Xyrin Apostles: having only received initial knowledge input, they were usually very rigid. Apart from the strict soldier’s creed, they had no idea how to adapt, nor did they understand manners or interpersonal relations. Of course, all this could change very quickly, as data shared by comrades could teach this scorpion how to behave in society within a couple of days.
“This… a scorpion, right?” I looked up at the super—tall and beautiful Scorpion Girl in front of me. To be honest, despite being my soldiers, their fierce appearance was quite daunting—especially when they were so much taller than me. “Where are your weapons? Let me see them.”
“At your command!”
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The super—tall Scorpion Girl snapped a salute and then instantly pulled out two… Ship-Slicing Blades from the space rifts around her?
The wide, heavy blades, with a slight slope on the precisely calculated back of the blade, were straight overall but had a 120° obtuse angle at about one-fifth of the tip of the blade. Along with the phase shift force field running over the blade’s edge that made one dizzy at a glance, even though they were nearly three meters long, which was much longer than the Ship-Slicing Blades Pandora had used before, these weapons were indeed typical Xyrin Ship-Slicing Blades…
“Melee type?”
Big Sister posed the question before I did. Although she usually wasn’t concerned with military matters, her sharpness always allowed her to spot some easily overlooked issues. That’s why even on weapon and equipment issues she didn’t care about, Big Sister was the first to notice the peculiar aspect of this large scorpion.
It was too rare… An Intermediate-level Xyrin Apostle, and its standard equipment is a pair of Ship-Slicing Blades? A melee type?
In other words, was there even the concept of melee combat in the mind of a Xyrin Apostle?
But this question lingered only among us Earthlings. Sandora’s expression was one of matter-of-factness: “Yes, melee type, of course. Do you think all Xyrin Soldiers are ranged troops?”
“…I did think so…”
“Is it because their combat approach can’t be single-faceted?” Big Sister had a thoughtful expression, “Being single-faceted in combat method could indeed become a huge disadvantage, but I think ranged troops always have a great advantage…”
Big Sister was indeed an intelligent character… I still hadn’t figured out why a Cosmic Army would have a melee soldier…
“Maybe it’s because there could be special enemies completely immune to ranged attacks? The warfronts Xyrin Apostles face are quite broad,” Qianqian said nodding lightly, “and there are some battlefields where only melee troops can maximize their combat effectiveness…”
Hmm, Qianqian is indeed clever… Does that mean I’m the only idiot in this area in our gang!?
Qianqian and Big Sister’s analysis obviously got close to the truth, Sandora smiled and nodded, then looked at the Scorpion Girl and said, “That’s right, ranged soldiers indeed possess irreplaceable advantages, but don’t underestimate the strength of Armored Scorpions; they are the absolute kings of close combat, born with a fighting talent that can only be described as terrifying. Paired with specially made high-strength Ship-Slicing Blades, these fanatics of melee weapons can almost instantly cut down any same-level enemy within their attack range. Usually, Armored Scorpions are deployed in occupation battles or infiltration operations. Even the strongest fortresses, once these killing machines have penetrated, will collapse completely within a few hours, as if infected by a highly poisonous substance. They can easily destroy any form of armor and isolation doors, sweeping through an entire warship under channel control without slowing down, and exterminate enemies hiding in cover while preserving the occupied target. And this is something that regular ranged troops can’t replace.”
“If you want to destroy a city, then you need a squad of Xyrin Fighters; but if you just want to kill the enemy and preserve the city, then you need a squad of Scorpions.”
Despite the seemingly exaggerated description by Sandora, I had no doubts because this girl had never lied to me before, but I was still a bit skeptical about these soldiers whose close combat abilities had been enhanced to the extreme: “What about in combat against ranged troops? Can the Scorpions gain the upper hand?”
“Against same-level troops, the closer the distance, the more obvious the Scorpions’ advantage becomes. However, nothing is absolute. Scorpions are not completely defenseless against ranged attacks. Soldier, let’s take a look at your Poison Stinger.”
“At your command!”
The Armored Scorpion replied in a voice like steel scraping, and then the scorpion tail that I had identified as a weapon from the start suddenly opened up.
Hidden under the dart-shaped alloy shell was a blood-red crystal.
Pointing at the crystal that looked dangerous enough to just have a skull and crossbones on it, and which was roaming with a blood-red halo, Sandora spoke as if she were an experienced arms dealer peddling her lethal merchandise:
“The recoil-less instantaneous ‘Red Teeth – Modified’ Energy-Gathering Cannon, with two firing modes: a Directional Laser with astonishing penetration power, and a small-area Energy Explosion, tailored for sniping remote enemies and close-range trapped combat environments. The Ghost Energy Crystal used as the cannon’s energy-gathering device can also serve as a one-time, high-powered warhead, thrown more than a dozen kilometers away by the force of a Scorpion’s tail even in dense atmospheres. In the case of an explosion, it would be at least equivalent to a small Space Internal Bomb, and the strong radiation and electromagnetic pulse produced by the crystal in the explosion pose a lethal threat to both carbon-based and silicon-based life — of course, since they specialize in close combat, Scorpions cannot supply as much energy to this cannon on their tail compared to the blades in their hands. This weapon can only be used as a support weapon; its endurance is average, and even its power, among same-level troops, isn’t particularly outstanding.”
No, it’s already very outstanding, it’s really very outstanding!!!
As a soldier, this combat power configuration isn’t considered outstanding; do you actually want weapons like the great Pandora Army to be mass-produced, girl!
Even Qianqian’s eyes showed a hint of amazement as she said, “It looks like the next time we encounter a world invaded by the Abyss, we’ll have an easier time…”
“Very good… very good…” Faced with the Armored Scorpion whose every single design is aimed at becoming a killing machine, I could only muster up such inconsequential words as my assessment. “What’s your name?”
Of course, this last sentence was addressed to the Armored Scorpion in front of me. Although I knew that it was still a partially-awakened weapon, it didn’t seem quite right to just stand there judging it, so I put on the friendliest smile I could muster and looking up said to the unmoving Scorpion, as if it were a sculpture.
“Vega-0001, sir!”
“Hm, then Vega it is. First, familiarize yourself with Shadow City, and learn a bit about the outside world. Then, I have a task for you…”
“Vega is ready to undertake tasks now, sir!” the Scorpion Girl reported loudly, seemingly eager to prove her strength.
Alright, I admit that soldiers are lovely folks, but dealing with these metal lumps really does give me a headache…
“I don’t mean that your combat skills still need learning, it’s that this world is a bit special… Put it this way, until you understand that you can’t just fire your gun on the street and that human gas stations don’t sell Ghost Energy Crystals, you have to stay here. Understand?”
“Command?” The tall Armored Scorpion tilted its head slightly, its tail gently swishing behind it.
“Command!” I nodded firmly.
“Vega obeys the command, sir!”
So, communicating with a machine-like soldier is really… extraordinarily awkward…
