Chapter 542: Chapter 542 Assault on the Odium Syndicate (7)
"That certainly made a mess of things." Olivia said, staring at the spherical chuck of the corridor that was now missing.
The plasma grenade one goons they had been fighting had thrown ended up backfiring on them tremendously.
Such a sloppy attack as never going to get past Ezra, and he had capitalized on it to take out all of their adversaries all at once.
There was one issue, however. The path forward that they had been planning on taking was far too damaged to proceed.
Olivia glanced around and began visualizing how she would get across.
It would take some acrobatic maneuvers, but she figured it was possible for her.
As for everyone else, she knew a lot of them would struggle. They would need to find another way around instead.
"Rorson, how do we get to our destination without using this corridor?" Olivia asked one of her closet adjutants.
He was the one she had left in charge of navigating the station from the scans they had just taken.
"The quickest way would be to drop into the hole created by the plasma grenade and use the corridors two floors down and make our way back up tot his level using a connecting junction a few hundred meters ahead. Otherwise, we’ll need to backtrack to the hangar and use a different entrance.
Olivia gave Ezra a glance, and he nodded his head in understanding.
They then turned to their squad members and asked if any of them did not think they could make a few meters jump down.
Anyone that did would be told to stay behind, but no one claimed they could not do it. Considering the gear, training, and physical augmentation everyone had received, they would not be fit to be mercenaries if they got scared of a little drop.
Ezra was the first to drop down, landing with a heavy thud.
As soon as he touched the ground he carefully checked to make sure that everything was clear.
Luckily, there were not any enemies present, just as their scanners had already indicated.
Still, it was better to have visual confirmation just in case. Even if it was unlikely the Odium Syndicate’s combatants likely had not been equipped with cloaking tech that could hide them from detection.
Olivia directed everyone else to go and they began jumping down in pairs and quickly spreading out to make room for everyone.
Once everyone else had gone, she nimbly dropped down as well.
From there, they followed the path that Rorson had indicated and headed towards their second target after the hangar.
Each of the teams had been given different assignments.
With Avery leading his forces to take over the station’s command center, while Olivia and Ezra were tasked with securing the main reactor.
Power throughout a large portion of the station was down or not working properly due to the electromagnetic pulses the Intrepid had barraged the place with, but that did not make control over the main reactor any less important.
Though it was unlikely, if one of the Odium Syndicate members became desperate enough and managed to cause a meltdown of the main reactor, it was possible to destroy the entire station.
That was one of the worst possible scenarios for Avery’s Company as it had the potential to kill everyone that had infiltrated the base. Hence why Olivia and Ezra were making it their priority to secure the location as soon as possible.
"We’ve got some more up ahead."
In adjacent hallways along the way, several life signs were detected setting up an ambush.
This showed that the person in charge of these soldiers at least understood that they stood no chance of stopping Olivia’s and Ezra’s squads in a frontal assault.
Still, unless they had some expert fighters hiding around the corner or the dastardliest scheme prepared, Olivia did not believe that they would face much of a challenge.
She glanced at Ezra and glanced to her right, and he nodded and glanced to his left.
Wordlessly and without slowing down they had decided on their next moves.
When they were only a few meters from meeting the intersecting hallways, both Olivia and Ezra sped up and rushed around the corner.
Olivia watched Ezra reach his location a bit sooner than her due to his target being a bit closer than hers.
He was using his hardlight shield to block any attacks coming his way and muscle his way in.
After passing by, Olivia focused on her own task and knew that her partner would be fine since members of his squad were already moving to back him up.
She activated her spear, causing a large glowing blade to pop out of the tip.
A second later, she was at the entrance of the intersection and took everything in with just a quick glance.
She spotted nineteen individuals set up at intervals along the corridor, all with weapons pointed in her direction.
There was tension and fear in their expressions, but none of them had lost their composure like the man in the first group.
As soon as Olivia appeared, each of them opened fire. Already expertly positioned to be able to cover the most space without worrying about hitting each other.
Against an average opponent, they would have at least forced anyone jumping in front of them back, if they did not just outright kill them with a couple volleys of laser fire.
Naturally, Olivia was far better than the average fighter.
She had spent years during her youth mastering her chosen weapon and learning many styles of combat.
Her arms had already been in motion before the first shot was fired, and with her spear she deflected several blasts while sidestepping others.
There was a moment of dumbfounded shock on the Odium Syndicate combatants’ faces as they watched Olivia’s weapon carve through their attacks.
She did not let this go to waste and dashed forward in a blur.
Her movements were like flowing water, and her spear danced in brilliant arcs as she cut through any laser blasts that would have connected with her.
To anyone speculating, it would have looked like a breathtaking performance, but to the men and women trying to kill Olivia, watching her was more akin to something out of a nightmare.
It was not long before the carefully constructed formation the nineteen combatants had taken broke apart.
Once Olivia was almost within reach of the man at the front, he lost his composure.
His eyes were drawn to the point of her spear and he imagined it peicign straight through him.
Obviously, not wanting that to happen, he leapt back to put some more distance between them.
However, this proved to be the worst possible move he could have made.
The carefully laid out formation that he and his team had been commanded to make was now broken.
His body now blocked a larger portion of the corridor and cut off the line of sight of several of the other combatants.
Multiple beams stuck his personal shield before those firing down the hallway could stop.
Olivia did not waste this opportunity and pressed off the ground with her enhanced legs.
In an instant, she was right on the man that had jumped back, using his body to block any attacks coming her way.
As a last-ditch effort, he thrust his laser rifle forward and fired at her.
It would not have been enough even if the blast hit due to her own personal shield, but Olivia did not even give the man the satisfaction of landing a single blow before dying.
She tilted her head to the side the instant before he pulled the trigger, and the shot flew by her harmlessly.
In the same motion she thrust her spear forward pieced straight into the man’s chest.
His heart was destroyed by the strike, and death would find him soon.
Yet, before blood could even start pouring out of the wound, Olivia retracted her weapon lightning fast, spun it around, and struck the combatant’s stomach with the butt of her spear to send him flying further down the hall.
This let her use his body as shield for a bit longer, and she was on top of the next enemy in less than a second.
The woman had already been trying to retreat, but she was just not anywhere near as fast as Olivia or decisive enough to have escaped.
Had she started running the moment Olivia showed herself, she might have been able to live a bit longer.
"AHHHHHHH-"
A roar of defiance exploded out of the woman’s mouth as she held the trigger down on her weapon and shifted it towards Olivia’s center of mass.
It was a futile effort though.
Olivia never allowed the weapon’s line of fire to reach her.
With a swipe from her spear, she sliced both of the woman’s arms off and then knocked the gun away.
A single fast jab through her neck, severing the soldier’s head from her body, ended the very brief confrontation.
After taking out her second adversary, Olivia continued straight down the corridor like a whirlwind of death.
With only one or two attacks, she carved through everyone in her way.
She did not stop for even a single moment and flawlessly avoided or deflected ever shot aimed at her.
"We’ve been given permission to use explosive ordnances! Do whatever it takes to stop her!" The man at the end of the hall shouted as he shouldered a rocket launcher.
So far, the Odium Syndicate troops had only used laser weaponry, but it seemed that after Olivia had carved through thirteen of them with ease, their bosses had given them the go-ahead to use weapons that could kill them all and cause damage to the station.
Olivia prepared to change her approach to deal with the new threat. Yet doing so proved to be unnecessary.
In the few seconds it had taken her to complete her one-woman assault, the rest of her squad had caught up.
When the combatant at the back fired a rocket, a laser stuck it before the explosive had even fully left the barrel.
The result blast killed the man and the three nearest Odium Syndicate members.
The remaining two were knocked off their feet by the shockwave, and Olivia was not one to allow them time to regain their footing.
Knowing that there were allies at her back, she pulled out her laser pistol and started firing instead of approaching with her spear.
Dozens of blasts came from behind her from her subordinates just as she pulled the trigger on her own weapon.
A storm of laser fire tore through the enemy fighters’ shields and then into their bodies.
"I’m not sure if you’re watching but try better next time. Such simple tactics won’t work on us. Honestly, I’ll find it a bit insulting if this is the best you can do." Olivia said, her words directed at the commander in charge of the troops they had been fighting.
She had no way of knowing if someone was actually watching or listening, but she figured that there was a good chance of it.
If there was even a possibility that her taunting just now caused them to make mistakes, then it would be worth the few seconds she had just spent talking to seemingly no one.
