Chapter 52: Perfect World VR (30) - Command and Conquer

***Ha***Ha***Ha***

Elena struggled to keep calm as her breathing turned heavy. She glanced ahead to find the area in front of her littered with the bodies of Magnum.

How many times had it been?... She could no longer count how many times she had cut him down. Each time, she exerted a bit more power, and each time, there would be a new body to keep the fight going.

[Tachyon core gauge: 40%]

The amount left in her tachyon core gauge was a testament to how much energy she had expended facing off against what one would term, 'A cockroach'.

If the others were unaware of the strategy she had concocted, they would have made it out to be a hopeless fight. Because, no matter how many times she cut down the enemy, there would still be another one to take its place.

It was a cycle, though not endless, that remained a grueling task to overcome. But she could not give up just yet, she had a task to fulfill and until she was done, she would not back down.

She was determined to fight till there was no strength left in her. That was her resolve. Thus she measured her breathing and calmed her nerves, gripping tightly on the hilt of her blade just as a new Magnum body landed a few meters in front of her.

She sighed. Even with her resolve, it was indeed tiresome, she yearned for this to end. [Why do you continue with this?... You should know this is a fruitless endeavor. The only reason I am allowing your comfort is to show you just how meaningless your efforts are.]

"Tch, stop talking and come at me." She gripped her blade with both hands and took an offensive stance. [I know what you are planning. I believe it is time you end your useless attempts to win a losing game.]

Elena narrowed her eyes as she remained speechless. [Stunned to speak?... It was a simple case of observation and deduction.]

"What are you on about?" [The absence of The Mammoth. I have long since noticed it. If I am not mistaken, there are also two members of your ragtag group not present here.]

She immediately dashed forward. Magnum reacted by putting up its right hand and firing a blast at her. She cut through it with her blade and slashed his arm off.

It tried to attack with its left arm but Elena was quicker. She hit its arm away and stabbed her blade into its chest before drawing a straight line to its head.

[It is futile. Your attempts are only trying to avert the inevitable. You should surrender.] She turned around to find another Magnum floating behind her with a blaster underneath its feet activated at full power.

She frowned somewhat. Up until now, each new suit would give her at least, sixty seconds to recover but this time around, it had quickly arrived. Up until now, her opponent was toying with her.

She fought the urge to attack him immediately. Since the enemy was willing to communicate, she would use the time to regain her strength, however little it may be.

"I don't think my actions are futile. I believe that they would pay off." [What makes you say such a thing?] Magnum, albeit an AI program, seemed intrigued by the human ability to remain steadfast even in the face of utter hopelessness.

"Hope." It sounded cringe but that was the truth. She remained hopeful about the capabilities of her squad members. She hoped for the best outcome and she hoped that her plan would be successful.

[Hope?] It sounded foreign to the AI. What was hope?... Was that the reason why the humans continued to fight? [Then I will crush that hope.]

Elena managed a smile as she whipped her head back. "You can't. It isn't something that can be crushed." [I believe it can. This 'hope' you speak of… It has to do with what your Mammoth is getting up to at this point.]

Her smile seized and a frown replaced it. [I said I had already deduced your plan. You are trying to buy time for your Mammoth to infiltrate the missile base so you can take control of it and make use of the artillery to attack.]

The discomfort that Elena felt at that moment was visible to Magnum. It put his system at ease. [I will let you know that there is only one missile left in that base. It was meant to get rid of the Mammoth if it were to show up but I believe it is best used now.]

"What are you planning on doing?" [Something simple. I will make use of the last missile to wipe you all out, leaving the Mammoth with no chance but to surrender. I believe then, that your 'hope' would be crushed.]

"But, your forces… You are willing to sacrifice your forces to take us down?" [A necessary sacrifice.] This AI was crazy!!... Elena saw no other way to look at it.

It was planning on blowing them up with the missile left at the base. If only Nathan and Leah were left, didn't that mean the end of the mission for them? But alas, Magnum had already begun the sequence to launch the missile.

She looked tensed as it stared at her from the sky. There were ten seconds left till the launch of the missile. There was no need to worry, with enough materials, more units would be built. There was no need to think about the well-being of a few bots.

[Prepare to be exterminated.] It said and at that moment, the final ICBM was launched and its destination… the Northern valley, precisely where they were engaged with the enemy.

Elena had an expressionless look on her face. She dropped to her knees and hung her head low. Her current position was one of complete and utter defeat. They had lost the fight.

The others were in precarious positions and soon enough, they would all be blown to bits. "At least, it might be better than getting hacked to pieces." Perfect World was a game but what one experienced inside was incredibly realistic.

If one died a horrifying death in-game, chances were it would scar them quite a bit in the real world. [This is more like it. The look of hopelessness and utter defeat. That is what suits you best.]

The sound of the missile approaching was heard by the others. It was like a chain effect as they immediately stopped resisting, the machine units they were up against immediately pinning them down.

[You were a worthy opponent but in the end… The Machines were victorious.]

The missile was twenty seconds away from them. Just as it glanced at Elena to gaze upon the defeated look that was meant to be on her face, it was instead met with a cunning smile that seemed to be hiding something sinister.

[…] "You underestimate us a little too much, Magnum." Elena said. This statement was enough to scramble Magnum's system for a moment.

At that moment, the ICBM headed towards them suddenly changed direction and instead began to head towards the Northern Crawler resting place. [I no longer have control…. It has been hacked!!!]

**Boom***

The ICBM crashed into the shield protecting the Crawler from above and exploded on impact. It ripped apart the shield like as though it were paper and the remaining blast completely decimated its camp.

The Turrets protecting it were destroyed in the impact and the Crawler was forced to collapse as its legs could not take the explosion. If not for the Crawler's shield, it would have well been destroyed as well.

[What is the meaning of this?... How did this happen?] Magnum was completely lost. This was completely out of its calculations. It was an impossibility made possible before it.

Elena rose to her feet and pointed her blade at Magnum. "I believe you had said you would crush my hope. It seems you were lying." Before Magnum could respond, a sword ray hacked its body in two.

"It worked. It freaking worked." The others were excited beyond measure. They had very little faith in Elena's strategy for their attack on the Northern Crawler since it depended heavily on Leah.

Due to Nathan's performance, Leah had replaced him as the weakest link in their squadron. Imagine their surprise when Elena asked them to trust that they would win as long as Leah did what was required of her.

Most had already steadied themselves and prepared for failure but turns out, they were wrong. Leah was indeed useful when called upon. It was unbelievable, to say the least. The enemy had attacked itself and dealt heavy damage, nonetheless.

Their chances of success had gone up by a lot and that was due to the efforts of the one they looked down on, Leah. They would surely thank her if they were able to achieve victory.