Parallel: United Front

Chapter 31: Battling the Nexus

Low Guruk

Secret Nexus Base,

1440 Hours, July 31st, 3039.

Boom!

A loud gunshot tore through the quiet town. The culprit, Raines, wore a tense smile as she ejected, and then cocked the next cartridge into place with practiced ease. Before a second passed, she trained the rifle at the second coordinate and then squeezed the trigger.

Boom!

Two shots. Two bullets.

Raines looked up at the illusion her rounds disappeared into. Three terse seconds passed, and just when it seemed she missed, she muttered, "Zero."

BOOM!

The sound of a giant explosion emanated from behind the holograms. Raines then grinned as she watched the hologram directly facing her disappear. The illusion's disappearance revealed the Nexus base and dozens of stunned Nexus bots who stared at the exploding holo-projector in shock.

However, before the bots could begin processing that information, BOOM, the western holo-projector also exploded, exposing even more of the base to the naked eye.

This, the bots did respond to. Alarms blared in the compound, and the Nexus bots rapidly exchanged their cargo for weapons. Unlike humans, every Nexus bot was a war asset which could be repurposed with a simple switch of parameters and protocols. This meant that every bot in a Nexus bot posed a significant threat, and it was why humans always treated any quest involving the Nexus with the utmost respect.

[Be advised. Sniper located at Lat. XXX, Long. XXX]

The Nexus's superior calculating abilities quickly surmised Raines' location using the mass, impact, and trajectory of the bullet in relation to wind and atmospheric pressure. The Nexus, enraged by Raines' audacity to reveal their painstakingly hidden base, immediately went on the offensive.

[Readying anti-sniper measures.]

"My God!" Arthur's eyes widened in shock, when what appeared to be an anti-aircraft missile launcher suddenly swiveled and pointed in their direction. "Raines! Run!"

"Where!?" Raines gritted her teeth and once again raised her rifle. Those missiles had the power to obliterate the entire building. They had a better chance of trying to shoot them down than attempting to outrun the explosion.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Unfortunately, Raines' eyes lost focus when over fifty missiles flew out in wide parabolic arcs. The missiles flew far enough from each other to prevent a chain explosion in the event one was shot down. Clearly, the Nexus were not idiots. They had fought enough battles against humans to have learned many of their tricks.

"Hold on!"

Suddenly, Raines felt Arthur's arm wrap around her waist. Years of built-up trust allowed her to surrender her body to the young man as he jumped through the window. Raines stared in shock as Arthur placed a door frame under his feet like he was about to go surfing. "What the hell?"

"[Pull]!" Since it was Arthur's first time trying out the skill in the field, he could not help but call out the name. To his delight, the telekinetic force pulled the door towards him. The counteracting force forcibly slowed their descent, but before he could relax, the missiles struck their target above.

BOOM!

The explosive force smashed into Arthur and Raines like a ten tonne truck. Arthur, new to his abilities, lost control and toppled over. Luckily, by the time the explosion happened, they were only a few meters from the ground. "Brace yourself!" Arthur shouted as he spun around so his back faced the ground.