Now then folks, I refer to this thing as a power armor, and folks in this world called it as such as well, but the official name of this thing is a bit different and sounded kinda long. What was it now? Reactor-powered Artificial Muscle-driven Reinforced Exoskeleton? Something like that, I guess. It was really long, so I’ll just stick with power armor.
There’s a lot that can be said about power armors, but basically, they were used to fight in Stella Online’s melee matches done within enclosed arenas that weren’t too spacious. So what was the most important factor needed in order to win in such matches?
Mobility and speed? Nope. In such cramped spaces with not enough room to maneuver, those would be next to no use. In fact, they could become detrimental instead since you’d have trouble orienting yourself while moving at boosted speeds. A speed that’s just a bit higher than peak human performance would be enough for the job.
So what’s needed then?
“Hmph!”
I received the huge, white-colored monstrous creature that barreled toward me head-on and gave it a powerful bear hug, crushing it to a pulp. I also tore through the horde of smaller creatures and slammed them to the surrounding walls. I sent the faltering mid-sized ones flying with ramming attacks. I continued to swing the armor’s arms and blew away everything in my path with overwhelming power. I then grabbed one mid-sized monster and shocked it with ultra-high voltage currents, and finished the rest off with shots from the high-powered laser gun equipped on my armor.
“Fuhahaha! Get a load of all this power baby!”
I hurled profanities at the mysterious creatures as I continued to crush them to bits.
This is what I sought out of a power armor. In other words, overwhelming armor toughness and strength. As for speed, I just settled for a level that’s a little over what a normal human can accomplish. Cause, well, it’s not like you’ll need the ability to travel long distances at a fast speed in cases where you’ll need to use a power armor anyway. They’re not meant to be used for such maneuvers.
Armor and weight that won’t flinch in the face of enemy attacks, and overwhelming physical power. You’ll be set as long as you have these two. If you also have a high-output power core, you can make use of a variety of destructive heavy weaponry as well. Add those to a decent enough aim and you’ll basically be raking in wins in no time.
『This is the port admin bureau. It looks like you were able to successfully secure the area. We’re grateful for your help.』
“Don’t mention it. We’re gonna receive a reward through the Mercenary Guild for this, so it’s only natural that I’d do my best for the job.”
After piling up the remains of the pale white monsters in a corner, I checked the state of my power armor.
There was virtually no damage to the armor. The actuators were fine as well. There was still 99.7% of charge left. The weapons were A-OK too.
The model name of my power armor is the TMPA – 13 RIKISHI mk. III. It’s standard armaments consisted of ultra-high voltage emitters『HARITE』on each of its palms, shock amplification devices『SHIKO』on both feet, and high output laser guns called『SHIKI-RI』on both shoulders.
Apart from those, it also had a『BUCHI-KAMASHI』function, which basically makes it ram targets with a burst of high speed over short distances while equipped with a shield, though I’m not sure if that can be considered part of its weaponry or not. It can also be used even without a shield equipped as well.
It was considerably large, even for power armor, and should be classified under heavy armor. Its generator output was also quite high, allowing it to carry a payload of various heavy weaponry.
It looked short and stout overall, and due to the thick armor, it also looked quite ‘fat’. In order to support all that weight, the legs were also quite thick, and its low center of gravity was one of its main features. I wasn’t generally concerned about the paint job of power armors, but the original makers of this guy had really lame aesthetic senses, so I changed it to metallic silver instead.
Yeah, I know. I know what you want to say, guys. Honestly, my power armor looked like the mecha version of a sumo wrestler. And its aesthetics also made it look like some sort of cheap villain. It isn’t just uncool anymore. It’s literally fugly as hell.
But it’s really, REALLY powerful! It was something that embodied all the qualities I sought from power armors! It looked like a joke machine, sure. But it’s really good guys! Seriously! It was so good, it was always included whenever people discussed the strongest power armor models in Stella Online.
The PVP events were always filled with this model, to the point that they said things like『Now then folks! Let’s start the Stella Online New Year Sumo Tournament!』or『And now, for the first event of the evening! In the east mountain corner, Captain Black! In the west sea corner, Captain Hiro! They are the wrestlers for tonight’s match!』during the PVP match commentary!
Just why did this kind of power armor get developed? I’m afraid that question can only be answered by Stella Online’s developers. And I’ve now confirmed that there were no problems fielding it in this dimension as well. Maybe they also had a similar-looking power armor model in this dimension……?
『Hiro-sama? Hiro-sama? Are you okay?』
“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. What’s up?”
『There was an urgent rescue request sent to the Mercenary Guild. Do you remember the hospital building we had our check-ups in – the one under Inagawa Technology? It seems they were sending injured citizens there for treatment, but it looks like those monster are starting to swarm over there as well.』
“Is this area clear already?”
『It looks like the imperial power armor division is arriving shortly. The reward for the successful defense and the submission of battle data is 50,000 Enels.』
“Man, that sure sounds cheap for something I risked my life to earn. These guys should be pretty dangerous if fought without armor.”
『That’s why they limited the job to those with power armors, right? So what about Inagawa Technology’s request?』
“I’ll take it up. How much is the reward?”
『It’s 100,000 Enels. It’s twice the reward for securing the port area.』
“That sounds great. I’ll leave the navigation to you.”
『Yes!』
I picked up the weapon I left nearby earlier and started following the directions indicated on my armor’s HUD.
『But really now. To think you’d actually started using melee combat, of all things. It’s not like CQC is your strong point, right?』
“It’s not, but I do brush up on it from time to time just in case of situations like this. It’s better to cover all the bases you can, right?”
『I guess so.』
I ran with the armor while checking my weapons. The thing I brought this time was a high-output variable laser launcher.
It can counter other power armors with high-output focused laser shots and give fatal damage to flesh and blood opponents with a scattering split laser. It was a very versatile weapon.
It was big, bulky, and heavy, but by utilizing power armor, one can handle it quite easily.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login