"Oh my goodness..." Jack exclaimed as fear crept in and nested inside his chest. His eyes widened momentarily. Shaking the sight off his head, he motioned one of the mechanical arms to peel the wildren corpse away.
"I thought they all evacuated... How come there was a body in here..." A dreadful thought crossed his mind as his brows furrowed into deep crease.
After gathering his composure, Jack continued with the mission as he and his bots swam perfectly through the red mark on his map, dodging the obstacles with ease.
After roughly 30 minutes, Jack arrived at the designated warehouse, the large metal door protected the valuable treasure inside. The mech arm reached out to pull the pull-down lever, but nothing happened.
"Typical..." He grumbled at himself, knowing it wouldn't be that easy, the power would be completely shut out by the time they completed the evacuation.
Jack then motioned for two bots to attach themselves to the metal wall that separated him from the treasure. The magnetic lock spun beneath the P.N.I bots' legs before clicking into place, efficiently sticking to the surface.
The mechanical arms retracted and switched into a large laster torque for cutting through heat-resistant composite. The pilot flame sparked a few times before the laser blade, about 1 metre in length, gusted out of the nozzle.
With a temperature exceeding 3000 Kelvin, the composite sheet bubbled and began to gradually melt away. Jack worked slowly and deliberately, making a precise square cut roughly 10 square metres in size.
He ensured all of his vessels were positioned for a prompt escape, should any immediate threat arise. It was a principle his wife had always emphasized: "Always find the escape first before stepping into the realm of the unknown."
The thick composite plate finally came loose and floated freely in the zero-gravity environment. A small push from the puny bot thrusters cleared the path, and the passage was now open for entry.
"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!" Jack smiled in contentment with everything went according to his plan.
Beep! A comm blink once. "Come in! Come in!" Suddenly a frantic call from David as well as his holo image popped out.
"This is Jack Squire, Employee 0423 speaking, you copy?!" Jack asked, nervous about his friend's reaction. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel★fire.net
"Yes! I copied." David replied with a nod before reading something on his own screen, narrowing his eyes.
"What?" Jack asked with curiosity.
"Listen, Jack... After you cut through the hall of the warehouse, we detected a surge of energy," David clarified, his voice shaky and interrupted by a few ragged coughs.
"Are you sure? I haven't been able to read anything from here," Jack replied matter-of-factly as he snuck a glance at his own radar, nothing showed up.
"Be careful, there might be some sort of defence mechanism," David warned, his voice tinged with genuine concern.
"Understood," Jack responded as he gestured all puny bots to advance.
The warehouse was a vast hall, about 50 cubic metres in size, resembling a factory storage unit. It was lined with hundreds of rows of metal shelves, some packed with metal crates, all tightly secured with suspension wires. The air was thick with dust, the faint hum of machinery echoing in the background, adding a sense of unease to the otherwise silent space.
"Activate Finder Keepers protocol!" Jack commanded, his voice steady despite the tension. Instantly, a series of self-controlled bots floated methodically through the aisles, their sensors sweeping each row with precision. They scanned and catalogued items, marking potential targets as their data feeds streamed into Jack's interface.
"Damn... Jackie, we're hitting jackpots here! These are machine parts, valuable metals, Armatus weapons,..." David exclaimed in excitement as he read through the list of inventory on his screen.
Then his eyes dilated by the recent update of the list, "Umm... sex bots?" He asked in surprise. Then raised one of his thick eyebrows and smirked knowingly at Jack.
"Pffpt! Well, I guess Alexandra's crews needed something to vent their frustration," He commented, almost unable to hold in his laughter. His eyes remained fixated on the updating lists of inventory.
"Too far from home! Hahahaha!" David burst out a roaring laugh, grabbing his belly.
"Well, maybe I can snatch one for you on my way out, how's that sound?" He teased.
"You are so kind! Unlike you, I'll be here for another 5 years or something... It won't hurt to have a bit of fun," David nodded his head with a big grin.
"Considered it done," Jack replied with a mischievous smile.
"Too bad, something went incredibly wrong with their campaign... We'd have completely colonised Mar by now if their ship didn't malfunction or whatever~" Jack's speech was interrupted by a sudden signal.
A frantic beeping noise reverberated through his hall.
"What?!" David gasped and hurriedly checked the status to confirm the origin of the source, "The arcanite engine signature is substantial, it was an Armatus drone!" David roared in panic, his fingers slamming keyboard keys in a rapid manner.
"What did you say?!" Jack repeated incredulously, his pupils dilating in pure terror. The mere mention of Armatus sent a shiver down his spine, chilling him to the core. If what David said was true, he was now facing a war machine capable of levelling an entire city in just one single day.
"Signal confirmed! It's coming in hot! You need to pull out now!" David's voice cracked, his fear palpable, the dread etched onto his pale face.
"Roger that!" Jack barked, his fingers already dancing over the controls, issuing rapid commands. The puny bots immediately retreated to his flank, hovering in position as they awaited further instructions.
"Activate shield protocol! I'll lure it out with my bots!" Jack commanded with steely resolve, his sharp jaw clenching tightly as beads of sweat poured down his face. His mind raced, every nerve alight, as he prepared for the battle of his life.