The situation before their eyes was overwhelming, and the commander from the office instructed through the headset, prompting these elite office members to quickly avoid the combatants in fiery red exoskeleton armor.
Up to this point, the combatants from Fire God Heavy Industries had swept through resistance, crushing even the most resistant office members with their formidable firepower. The defenses that were breached layer by layer began to stabilize. The core building of "Cosaidis" was being cleared and under martial law. Several nearby buildings were also being repositioned by Cosaidis personnel, temporary bunkers set up, and floors secured. Injured personnel were lifted to the building's rooftop platform and taken away by hovering shuttles.
All this had happened within less than 20 minutes of support from Fire God Heavy Industries arriving, demonstrating the organizational discipline of "Cosaidis."
As the minutes and seconds ticked by, soon a chime from the onboard computer in Annelli's car sounded. She went in to connect the call, received a message, and came out.
"Chairman Hexia, 'Fire God Heavy Industries' says the contract has now been signed, and they cannot violate it without cause, but considering Edith's view, they agree to withdraw half their personnel," she reported.
Just as Annelli was reporting, some commotion seemed to arise from the Cosaidis building. Soon twelve hovering airships flew in, and some of the combatants from Fire God Heavy Industries began to board them and retreat.
"Those bastards, so unreliable!"
"I paid such a huge price of 10 billion to hire you, and you slack off !" In Cosaidis headquarters, a middle-aged man was watching the retreating dark red hovercraft out the window, cursing vehemently.
No wonder even the traditionally neutral "Starship Faction" had taken action; Cosaidis had indeed invested heavily this time.
"Manager, calm down. No matter what, they've left half the force, and they've dumped a good amount of equipment. Just hold out until midnight, and then the Federal Police will intervene. By that time, 'Iser' and Edith will have no choice but to cease," a young assistant tried his best to soothe the man in front of him, his own head wrapped in bandages and his body stained with blood.
"Hmph!" the man exclaimed after hurling things in a fit of anger, then his anger subsided slightly, and he began to pace back and forth, furrowing his brow.
Although Fire God Heavy Industries was somewhat unscrupulous, there was no energy or time to quibble over it. Iser had gone all-in on this patent war, and hiring these offices was no cheap matter. Moreover, initiating a patent war would surely lead to strict scrutiny by the Federal Court of Judgment; they wouldn't be left unscathed even if they survived. If Iser couldn't secure Cosaidis's patent documentation, even taking back their own share, the company would inevitably cease operations.
Considering the possibility of a desperate enemy, the man grew worried. He picked up the communicator to contact the highest authority in Cosaidis. Shortly thereafter, Fire God Heavy Industries' personnel dispersed throughout the buildings began to congregate for central defense in the core building, instructing Cosaidis's own personnel to set up various blockades and do everything possible to delay the enemy's attack.
While Cosaidis's personnel were moving, Iser's hired office was not idle. They began to redesign their offensive strategy and deploy their people.
After finalizing their plans, the representatives from the offices exchanged looks before each picked up their communicators and instructed their subordinates to start the action.
A high-pitched flare soared into the night sky, illuminating the area, followed by a white flash and a violent lightning strike from above that hit Cosaidis's central building.
Blue electricity seeped into the building, causing many lights to go out temporarily, and then in the chaos, shadows dashed across the night sky and dove toward the roof of the central building. The individuals who jumped down were dressed in black full-coverage protective suits and were swift. With blue Beam Swords in hand, they quickly navigated through the fierce bullet storm, approaching the heavily armored combatants from Fire God Heavy Industries.
The clash of swords sparked, bullets fired non-stop.
Despite their ferocious firepower, the Heavy Armored Warriors weren't agile. The assailants, each with Sequence 5 Ability or higher and skilled in close combat, were elite operatives.
The blue Streamline Light Sabers waved in the dark night, leaving blurry afterimages on the retina, followed by intense sparks. Those were the sparks and noise of Light Sabers cutting through armor, and soon, an explosion bloomed on the top of the building, shrapnel knocked down swathes of people, but the fight showed no sign of stopping.
To repel these close-quarters attackers from the office, the remaining combatants from Fire God Heavy Industries on the rooftop picked up Flamethrowers, spraying flames all around, engulfing the entire roof in fire.
Some of the office operatives couldn't bear the flames and had to jump off the building; others were focused and shot down by Fire God Heavy Industries' fighters, breaking apart amid the fierce flames. But those in heavy armor from Fire God Heavy Industries clearly had better heat resistance and leveraged this to counter the disadvantage in close combat.
However, the tide of battle did not swing in favor of Cosaidis. The rooftop assault was merely a diversion to distract the enemy. Following an explosion, the entrance to the sewer system at the base of the building was breached, and operatives from Iser's office rushed into every corner of the floors, laying down timed explosives at critical structural points.
The orange digits started to tick.