stonecrandall Chapter 47: The Debut of Exoskeletons and Weapons
Chapter 47: The Debut of Exoskeletons and Weapons
In the underground testing ground of the shelter, thirty strong men were lined up in a row.
They were wearing a brand-new type of individual soldier equipment.
This time, it's no longer the "wasteland style" of the past, with discarded steel pipes and wires haphazardly intertwined.
Now that the black box provides the top-quality materials, Andy naturally won't create any more industrial waste.
Now that we're rich, we should make the really good stuff!
For example, this lightweight assistive exoskeleton is called T-450.
The entire piece presents a cool, matte silver-gray color. The main frame is made of high-strength hollow chromium-molybdenum steel pipe, which is integrally formed through a precise CNC bending process to perfectly fit the ergonomic curves.
All hydraulic lines and servo motor circuits are cleverly housed in grooves inside the frame, which are covered with a smooth, impact-resistant composite material protective plate.
The absence of unnecessary rivets and exposed threads gives it a clean, streamlined look, full of minimalist, futuristic industrial aesthetics.
Some people might think that since Andy has a black box, why not just build a fully enclosed power armor?
The core technology of power armor isn't in the metal shell itself, but in the neural interface and fusion backpack inside.
To build that thing, Andy would first have to create a miniature fusion reactor, then nerve bundle sensing fibers, and also solve the problems of heat dissipation and life support systems.
This requires not only a vast amount of rare resources, but also extremely high processing precision and a long debugging cycle.
Andy's goal is very clear now.
run away.
His primary task is to build ships to leave this star system, not to stay here and compete with the Four-Armed Emperor and Abaddon for supremacy.
Spending three to five years equipping every soldier with power armor would be a pure waste of resources.
The T-450 exoskeleton in front of us is the king of cost-effectiveness.
Its technology is very low; the materials are all made with a reconfiguration machine, and the control chip... is at best a microcontroller.
But it works extremely well.
"Output test".
Andy gave the order.
The guard at the front of the line took a deep breath, bent down, and grabbed a large iron box on the ground with both hands.
The box was filled with scrap lead plates, weighing two hundred kilograms.
An ordinary person simply couldn't move it.
But then the hydraulic pumps in the team member's waist and legs started to hum.
"rise!"
He effortlessly lifted the 200-kilogram iron box above his head, his movements fluid and without the slightest hesitation.
He can even do squats there.
That's enough; it perfectly achieved the effect Andy wanted.
Although this exoskeleton does not provide bulletproof protection, it directly grants ordinary people three to four times the strength.
With this power, they could use Andy's heavy weapons, which were specifically designed for killing.
For example, the large black crossbow hanging on their waists at this moment.
CBS-12 "Silent Arrow" High-Explosive Crossbow.
Tension up to 200 pounds!
Without the aid of this exoskeleton, an ordinary person would dislocate their arm after just one pull.
But now, all you need to do is hang the crossbow on the exoskeleton's power hook, and the hydraulic rod will retract.
"Click".
The winding is complete, and the movement is relaxed and carefree.
Andy looked at the completely revamped heavy infantry squad and was very satisfied.
With this equipment, how can we not defend the great cause of farming?
Just then, Gamma-9 rushed in, his single eye filled with terror.
"My sage! Something has happened!"
"Someone's gone mad over in the living quarters!"
Andy's electronic eye flashed.
"What happened?"
"A dozen or so people suddenly developed green pustules on their bodies, but instead of crying out in pain, they... instead laughed!"
The sound of Gamma-9 was trembling.
"They said it felt amazing, so wonderful, and they wanted to share this blessing with others!"
"Tsk!" Andy felt a wave of disgust.
It's only been two weeks, how come XinYa Space is back again?
It seems that the Birdbeak Doctors' gang hiding in the acid swamp, even though Sisyphus was kidnapped by Andy, still has some followers who haven't stopped causing trouble.
In that base that had become a Nurgle Garden, they brewed a green soup brimming with viruses and then spread it throughout the nest through various channels.
Although Andy was in charge of the shelter and clean food and water were provided, there were always some people who were greedy for small gains or who were already sick, and they would secretly try to get their hands on those so-called "miracle drugs".
These idiots have no idea what they're drinking.
The plague of Nurgle is not an ordinary disease, but a mixture of psionic energy and virus.
It will make you feel no pain, giving you a blissful illusion of decay.
For Andy, it wasn't just a matter of disgust.
The more than 500 people in the shelter now are the labor force he has painstakingly raised and are the cornerstone of his shipbuilding plan.
Now Nurgle wants to turn them into rotten flesh?
What kind of interstellar joke is this!
"Have you brought those dozen or so people under control?" Andy asked.
"It's under control... but the guards dare not approach, for fear of infection."
"Get them out of here."
Andy's voice was cold and devoid of any warmth.
"Get outside and find a hole."
"Storm squad stays here to guard the base, the entire guard team assembles with me."
Andy grabbed an extra-large, specially made high-explosive crossbow and slung it over his back.
"Let's get our new gear and go do a big clean-up."
……
……
At the edge of the acid swamp, in a deathly still, grayish-yellow mist.
In the newly dug pit, more than a dozen infected people who used to be shelter workers were kneeling.
They look so different now that it's hard to call them "human".
Their skin was covered with purulent ulcers, and some people's bellies were swollen like balloons, with something seemingly wriggling inside.
But they all wore that strange, idiotic smile.
"Praise be to my loving father... I'm not in pain anymore..."
"Everyone, come and have some soup...it's the taste of life..."
At the edge of the pit, thirty guards wearing T-450 exoskeletons and gas masks lined up in a row.
Their CBS high-explosive crossbows were already cocked, and sharp bolts were pointed at the people in the pit.
The arrowhead is specially made, filled with the tri-component explosive that Andy just developed, and its trigger fuse is extremely sensitive.
"Sage...do you really intend to kill me?"
Gamma-9 stood to the side and asked.
Although he was terrified of these heretics, it was, after all, a dozen lives at stake, and they were all acquaintances he had worked with just yesterday.
"They are dead."
Andy stood at the front of the line, his tone calm.
"What's occupying their bodies now is merely a projection of the subspace."
"If it's not cleaned up, the entire shelter will become a cesspool filled with rotting flesh."
"Fire."
Andy gave the order.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Several muffled thuds of bowstring vibration.
The crossbow bolts left black afterimages in the air.
"Pfft."
The crossbow bolt pierced the infected person's body with pinpoint accuracy.
The high-strength carbon fiber arrow shafts carried enormous kinetic energy, even pinning some people directly to the ground.
Those infected had no time to react.
The fuse is activated.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A series of explosions echoed from the bottom of the pit.
High-explosive arrows, more than enough to destroy equipment, are now hitting living people.
Those bodies that possessed super regenerative abilities due to the blessing of filth appeared extremely fragile in the face of the shockwave from the internal explosion.
There is no suspense.
When blasted into pieces of flesh and blood mist less than one millimeter in diameter, the biological structure ceases to exist.
The bottom of the pit instantly turned into a red mist.
The original dozen or so people have now been transformed into a layer of organic fertilizer evenly applied to the pit walls.
"Done."
Andy stared at the cloud of blood mist, his heart unmoved.
The most disgusting thing about the Nurgle cultists is that they are indestructible no matter how many times they are shot. Ordinary bullets are like tickling them, and their flesh can grow back even after it rots.
But the CBS high-explosive crossbow from the golden age is effective against all sorts of fancy tricks.
I'll blow you up, then let's see how you grow back!
After cleaning up the mess, Andy didn't rush to lead the team back.
He turned his gaze to the Birdbeak Doctor base in the distance, shrouded in green mist.
The acid lake is the source.
This kind of thing will keep happening unless that cesspool is filled in.
"Everyone has it."
Andy turned around and looked at the team behind him that had just seen bloodshed.
"Since we're out, let's clean up all the trash while we're at it."
"We're heading towards the acid swamp base."
"Apart from the building structure, everything that moved was blown up."
The team began to advance.
With the aid of exoskeletons, these soldiers can move swiftly through muddy swamps.
They split up and used the terrain for cover, silently approaching the terrifying base that was filled with laughter and merriment.
At the main gate, dozens of completely mutated bird-beaked doctors and refugees were dancing around the large cauldrons.
They had no idea that death was approaching.
"Free fire!"
Andy gave the order over the communications channel.
"Boom——"
Another salvo.
Dozens of bursts of blood suddenly exploded in the crowd in the distance.
The worshippers, who were dancing, had no idea what was happening when the people around them suddenly turned into a pile of exploding mincemeat.
The attack, which occurred suddenly without visible bullet trajectories or audible gunfire, plunged them into extreme panic.
But panicking won't help.
Before they could react, a second and third volley of crossbow bolts followed.
Each explosion takes away several lives.
The surgeon who once guided Andy has now become a giant ball of flesh, trying to climb into that black tower.
Andy raised the large crossbow in his hand and aimed it at his swollen back.
"Take care."
Pull the trigger.
The thick crossbow bolt pierced straight through the fleshy mass.
"boom--!!!"
The violent explosion blasted the fleshy ball into countless flying fragments.
……
……
Ten minutes later.
The entire base fell silent.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of red mud.
Andy led his men into the base.
In the corner, he also found several shivering refugees.
They too had green spots growing on their bodies, and were kneeling on the ground begging for mercy.
"Don't kill us...we only had some soup..."
"We can still work..."
Andy stopped and looked at the group.
The scan results showed that their internal organs had begun to fibrose.
Hopeless.
In the Warhammer universe, any mercy shown to the corruption of Chaos is cruelty to oneself.
Keeping them around is like keeping a walking scourge.
Andy slowly backed away.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers behind him immediately raised their crossbows.
"Send them on their way."
"Boom."
After a few muffled thuds, the world became completely quiet.
Andy stood amidst the bloodstains, looking at the base that had been completely cleaned up.
Although this place looks disgusting now, it is undeniable that once the corruption of the warp is resolved, it will indeed be a treasure trove.
A natural acid moat, readily available chemical equipment, and a secret underwater passage leading to the upper nest.
Now that Dr. Birdbeak is gone, is there still some potential for development here?