Chapter 1021: We’re Back, Bugs

I saw the ground of the planet rushing up towards me, an indication that I should slow down.

I flipped myself around and flared my ’wings’, engaging the Exo-Knight’s thrusters while I levelled my assault cannon to point the barrel below me.

The bugs below finally noticed the roar of my thrusters and looked up, only for several of my kinetic shells to blast them apart before they could even let out a call of alarm.

I landed on top of the corpses, sweeping my cannon in an arc to gun down the bugs that were closest to me before switching to my halberd.

The rest of my girls also dropped down from the stratosphere, landing heavily on the ground before they started their own massacre of the bugs around us.

The fighters of the Reapers swooped in right after us, firing their cannons to strafe the bugs that were closest to the tunnels, blowing them into pieces with their guns.

The bombers then dropped some kind of liquid at the entrance which then quickly ignited into flames, covering the hole and preventing reinforcements from the bugs from showing up lest they wanted to get burned.

My girls and I focused on the others that were outside the tunnels, clearing them out even as they formed up to swarm us.

I kept my halberd in hand as I launched my drones from my wings to start their barrage against the horde, pairing the barrage with my halberd to slice apart the bigger bugs that were amongst the group.

There were a few of those bulbous bugs that could shoot those acid balls as well but Lea had accurately sniped them dead before they could even attempt to do so.

Well... We were in our Exo-Knights anyway so these bugs were kind of small in comparison to us so they weren’t really that big of a threat.

There was a group of the bugs who rushed at me as a group so I swept my halberd low and sliced through the entire group with a single swing, separating the top half of their bodies from their bottom halves.

In less than two minutes the area outside the runnels were cleared and the fire they were using to burn the entrance was still alight.

From where we were, we could see the carapaces of the bugs inside the tunnels, all of them seemingly clicking at the flames and waiting for it to die down so that they could rush out to attack us.

But that position meant they were effectively fishes in a barrel and Ries did not waste that opportunity to raise the arm mounted laser cannons on her Exo-Knight to start shredding through the bugs that were behind the flames.

There were angry clicks coming from the bugs as they found themselves and their comrades blasted to bits while being unable to do anything so they finally retreated into the depths of the tunnel where Ries’s lasers wouldn’t be able to reach.

And with that... We managed to clear a landing zone for our group. Not bad.

We stood around the area, keeping an eye out until a few dropships came down from the sky, landing in the open area in front of the tunnels and powering down their thrusters.

The boarding ramp lowered with a pneumatic hiss before figures came thumping down carrying crates that were filled with supplies and weapons.

Amongst them was Nayek who was barking out orders at her team, making them set up a perimeter around the area while we kept watch.

For me, I kept one eye on them and watched as the clearly experienced team got a generator set up before tents and wires were laid down and they even planted several automated turrets around the perimeter to defend the base.

Looking at their members, most of them were dressed similarly to Nayek with slight differences to their armour which I assumed was custom made to suit their own specialisations, but there was a specific number of them who weren’t wearing armour and just simple clothes though they still wore the standard masks that all the Reapers were wearing.

I’m guessing those guys were auxiliary team members or support members who don’t focus on combat jobs but more on support jobs instead. So they would most likely stay behind in this base while the rest of us went down into the tunnels.

A screen appeared in front of me indicating a call from Nayek so I answered it.

"Tera. Perimeter is secure. We’re almost ready to head into the tunnels."

"Got it. We’ll join you at the entrance."

I sent a message to my girls and all of us moved our Exo-Knights to the area outside the tunnel before we lowered our machines to prepare for disembarkation.

I closed my eyes and focused on returning my senses back into the body as the machine shut down, allowing me to ’wake up’ in my body again.

I then stood up from the pilot’s seat and Renata flowed herself over my body to transform into my Power Armour as I moved towards the back.

Freyja was seated on the seat all buckled up to it and looking up at me while panting with her tongue sticking out, clearly enjoying the ride.

I unclasped the buckle and scooped her up in my arms, my big doggo would have been big enough to cover my entire face if I had lifted her in my normal body but the Power Armour at least granted me the height to see over her back so that I was at least able to see where I was going.

I then walked over to the hatch that swung open before jumping out of the Exo-Knight, not even worried about the fall to the ground as the thrusters in the Power Armour activated to slow down my descent before I landed on my feet with a loud crash.

Ries also did the same thing as she did a three point landing with her Power Armour and Patricia’s suit also flew down from the Exo-Knight to land on the ground.

We moved to the front of the tunnel where a group of masked Mercs were already waiting for us, numbering at least sixty to a hundred in total. Most of them were wearing the standard armour of the Mercs while the others were wearing normal civilian clothes.

Nayek was standing in front of the group and barking out orders, "Alright! All of you know the plan! Assault teams A, B and C will be heading into the tunnels with me! Support teams will remain outside and keep this forward base clear! I want everyone ready to hold this ground and also set off back to the hips in case of any problems at all. Assault team A, you will be with me at the front! Assault team B, you will take the centre and secure our route! Assault team C, you are in charge of the rear and making sure our route back to the base is clear! Any questions?"

The crowd remained silent.

"Go. Team leaders take over your squads. Assault Team A, you’re with me!"

She stepped over to my group and looked at my Power Armour up and down before turning to look at Freyja who was standing beside me, my dog watching her closely.

She stiffened slightly at the sight of my dog but to her credit, she did not step back and simply turned her head back to me.

"Impressive gear. You said your Exo-Knights were custom made?"

I nodded, "Struck a deal with some higher ups in Crusaders Inc. Got them to make these for us."

"Impressive. And the Power Armour as well?"

"No, this one is self made. I have a really talented crewmate, she’s good with these things."

She seemed to look behind me at my girls who were gathered, as if she was trying to tell who was the one I was talking about.

I’m pretty sure she couldn’t tell since she ended up turning back to me anyway before finally jerking her chin in the direction of Freyja.

"A dog..."

I reached down and patted her head, which I was quite amused to see that it got a reaction from her when she flinched just a little when she saw my hand reach out to Freyja, like she was expecting Freyja to turn and bite off my hand.

"Yes, this is Freyja. She is very cute."

Her mask hid her reaction to my claim of my dog being cute and she held my gaze for a good few seconds before turning away.

"You’ll follow me with Assault Team A. We’ll lead the charge and I will be depending on any information you have as our guide to move through the tunnels. I will leave our lives in your hands."

Without waiting for an answer, she marched over to the rest of the Reapers who were already preparing to descend into the tunnels.

Alright girls, time to get to work~