Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Chapter 547 - 547 Assault on the Odium Syndicate (12)

Once Liesel had closed the distance between her and the ongoing battle, she finally got a good look at the people attacking Burke.There were seven of them in total, with each one wearing light power armor as opposed to those in heavy armor that they had already encountered.

Still, this made them a lot quicker than their counterparts, and judging by their skills, they did not need the extra firepower that came with heavier armor to be dangerous.

'They're a lot more skilled than anyone else we've been fighting.' Liesel thought as she watched.

Despite the uneven terrain that had rubble strewn about everywhere, they were expertly keeping up with Burke who was flying around.

Each of them was keeping their target surpassed with expert marksmanship while moving at high speed, and their coordination was at a high level as well.

Liesel knew how strong Burke was, so it was a surprise to see him being pressured like this.

He might not have been the type to get up close and fight, but that was adept at keeping away and blasting people until they went down. Honestly, that was a more typical fighting style among mercenaries than what the other leaders of Avery's Company employed.

Still, seven against one when he was fighting a competent group with decent equipment was obviously too much for Burke to handle alone.

He was fully on the defensive and could not create an opening.

Had the rest of their squads been in fighting condition, these people would not have posed too much of a problem, but their enemies had destroyed a large part of their own base just to catch them in a trap.

'I still can't believe that they dropped seven levels on us. That's crazy. I just hope that everyone somehow made it.'

Liesel was counting on the training everyone had received and the expensive gear Avery had acquired for them to see them through this. Though deep down, she knew it was likely that they would completely avoid casualties.

Nevertheless, she pushed those thoughts aside and took aim with her laser rifle now that she was close enough to engage the seven people doggedly pursing Burke.

One of them noticed her before she even fired off a shot, no doubt having detected her approach with a scanner.

Swiftly they turned around and pointed their own gun at her just as she got off her first blast.

The individual was not able to dodge, but they were wearing power armor, and their shield absorbed the hit.

A reprisal came towards Liesel a second later, but she was already dashing out of the way despite the horrid footing in the area.

It was not long before two more of the power armor clad assailants turned around to face her, while the other four kept on Burke.

Liesel did not know whether or not to feel insulted that they perceived her as less of a threat, but she did not have time to worry about that errant thought as lasers started flying her way.

Being outnumbered Liesel understood that a ranged battle was not in her favor.

She could only output only around a third as many attacks as her opponents, and they were wearing power armor that gave them a bit more protection than she had. A shootout would likely not end well.

Had they been weaker, she would have been able to outclass them in skill and the quality of their weapons, but this group was probably the station's most elite force. Truthfully, Liesel was surprised to see such capable people working here.

When she started to pull out her hardlight weaponry after getting closer, one of the combatants fired a micro missile from an attachment on the underside of their laser rifle.

This forced Liesel to stop drawing her sickle and instead grab her laser pistol to intercept the incoming explosive.

She got a shot off as quickly as she could, causing the missile to blow up before it could reach her.

Unfortunately, the blast was still enough to send her flying backwards, though she was able to mostly protect herself using her buckler and thanks to the impeccable shock absorption of her combat armor.

'Damn it! They're prepared and know how to fight me.' Liesel thought as she pulled herself out of the wreckage she had been blasted into.

She was basically unharmed, but that did not make her feel any better.

Her goal was to get in close and finish her opponents off with her sickle, but it was clear that they were not going to let her do so easily.

Liesel's earlier exploits had no doubt been transmitted by the equipment of the people she had already beaten, and now the Odium Syndicate's elite fighters knew how she fought.

It did not help that that battlefield was not in her favor. The tight corridors they had been fighting in were no more thanks to the destructive trap that had been set off.

Now everything in the surrounding area was one large open space filled with the rubble of seven collapsed levels.

Before she had time to come up with a new strategy her three adversaries caught up with her and went back on the offensive.

Getting frustrated, Liesel grabbed a large chunk of rubble and threw it at one of the one people harassing her.

Naturally, they were not expecting this sudden, almost barbaric attack.

Liesel's strength and explosive power had caught them off guard. Most people would not expect a lithe woman like her to be able to pick up and toss a piece of metal and plastics that must have weighted several hundreds of kilograms.

The person Liesel had targeted managed to jump out of the way, but the movement broke the formation the three people had been using.

Seeing this Liesel got an idea and started tossing and kicking rubble at them like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Was it inelegant, most certainly. But it did get the job done.

Naturally, the three elite fighters tried to stop her. However, this proved difficult as she had plenty of rubbish to toss their way.

Liesel made sure to pick out the widest pieces that covered the most area.

This made it harder for her three opponents to blast the chucks of rubble apart while they were in middle air and forced them to move greater distances to dodge the attacks.

At one point, they tried containing her with several grenades. Although this backfired on them quickly by causing by making the battle even more chaotic.

Liesel had known she was stronger after her recent physical augmentations from Dr. Raiti, but she had not understood just exactly how much that difference was until now.

She was fully letting loose and using her muscles to their utmost capabilities.

It really did surprise her just how much damage she could cause with sheer force alone.

Eventually, she managed to get a solid hit on one of her attackers and sent them tumbling along with an industrial clothes washing and drying machine she had found lying around. One of the levels that the Odium Syndicate troops used in their trap must have for laundry.

This was what Liesel needed to turn the tides of the battle, and she was not going to let the opportunity go to waste.

With a reckless charge she dashed towards the nearest enemy while they were momentarily distracted by their comrade being blown away.

They tried to keep her away by blasting at her with their laser rifle, but she just held her hardlight buckler in front of her and blocked their attacker.

The other remaining combatant wearing power armor fired at her to stop her advance.

Normally, Liesel would have dodged out of the way with rapid movements.

Except this would have slowed her down and given her target a chance to escape. So instead, she just let her personal shield generator tank the hits even as its capacity was brought dangerously low.

If it failed, she would just have to rely on her combat armor and enhanced body to see her through.

Luckily, he defenses held out long enough for her to close in one of the individuals and she was not going to let them get away from her.

With an intense ferocity, she started swinging her sickle around.

Her first few strikes, did not hit, but her speed and agility soon allowed her to leave a deep gash in her opponent's power armor.

She failed to breach the suit since it was only a glancing blow. Still, damage was damage, and she would keep going until she cut them down.

When it became clear that they were not going to be getting away, the individual tossed their laser rifle at Liesel to distract her for a moment and pulled out a piece of ultra compressed metal from a compartment on their back.

From its shape, Liesel could tell that the curved rod was not any sort of weapon. Almost certainly, it had been taken from something else to be used as a last defense against her hardlight weapons.

"Your right that I won't be able to cut through that easily. It won't do you any good through it you can't block me though." Liesel said as she lunged forward.

For a couple seconds the two of them traded blows, with the man wearing power armor fighting fully defensively.

The guy's remaining partner was firing off shots intermittently when they could get a good angle on Liesel that would not hit their ally, but this only slowed her down a little.

Eventually, she found the opening that she needed and jammed her circular buckler into the man's left leg.

She had been using it fully defensively up until this point, but its edges were just as sharp as any hardlight weapon.

That one attack nearly severed her adversary's leg, and it was enough to allow Liesel to completely overwhelm them in just a few moves.

Soon she had gotten behind the man and hooked her sickle around his neck.

With a swift pull, she separated his head from the rest of his body.

It was at this point that the other combatants wearing power armor started attacking her again without restraint now that there was no longer any need to worry about friendly fire.

At some point the one she had sent flying away with a hit from a combination washing and drying machine had come back, and from the multitude of explosives the woman was firing, it was obvious that she was mad.

However, Liesel blocked and disrupted her attackers by kicking up a large spray of rubble like blasts out of a shotgun.

This gave her plenty of cover and forced the two fighters to dodge.

'One down. Just two more to go.'

A smiled formed on Liesel's face as she darted around towards her next target. Now that she had broken up their teamwork, she felt assured of her victory.