Chapter 15: 14 Code Red Part 2
"We have a bit of a Code Red situation ongoing. It's not safe staying here. I'm bringing us to the nearest Safe Area until the protocol in place is lifted. I want you to remain calm and follow behind me, can you?"
Nuel nodded in affirmation.
"Did something happened?"
"Nothing to worry about. Just follow me quickly."
And right immediately after he said that, two holographic bluish arrows appeared at the corner of Nuel's vision.
One was pointing to the left side of the narrow corridor, while the other two to the right.
Ding!
_____
The arrows are pointing to the shortest pathway to reach each Safe Areas.
Select any one of the arrows to follow to start the mission.
_____
「 Tutorial guide arrows, seriously? It's been a long few years since I saw one, quite memorable...but can't I disable it somewhere...? 」
"Follow me this way."
Ding!
_____
{REDACTED}""Select any one of the arrows to follow to start the mission.""{REDACTED}
You have selected the <Safe Area : Cafeteria>.
_____
「 Wait, hello? I thought I'm choosing...? 」
Suddenly, the whole area plunged into darkness followed by the echoing noises of firearms shooting and people screaming along the corridor, neither far nor near.
The emergency lights which flickered to life only added to the atmosphere.
「 F**k is happening...??? 」
The soldier in front of him pulled out a gun, no, a PDW to be exact, from the holster at the waist and turned on the torchlight mounted on it as he readied the gun in his grip.
Then, he glanced back at Nuel one more time, nodded and began to jog in semi-crouched position following th direction of the holographic arrow.
Nuel quickly followed after him, careful to not make any loud noise in his steps, though to be fair, the Bastion's rumbling engine would drown the any sounds from his non-metallic hospital sandals.
The sound of firearms and distressed screams kept on bouncing off the walls of the dim corridor in an erratic, periodic manner.
At the same time, Nuel forcefully circulated his Sense talent to feel his surroundings, albeit barely, as the harsh anti-psychic barrier was still operational.
He also activated his Precognition ability every other couple of seconds or so, to peer into the next moment, just in case.
However, as they approached towards a corridor bend, silence ensued, and that was when Nuel felt something - something familiar, a sinister sensation akin to a Shadow's mental presence; distorted, chaotic, ravenous, yet also, different.
It was full of pain.
「 Pain? Wait, is it a- 」
His focus was interrupted by a loud female scream that suddenly errupted from the unlit corridor in front of them, about twelve or thirteen meters away from where the two of them stopped.
"Aaarrgghhh!!! Help...! Hurk..."
Thwack!
The guttural wailing ended with the sound of something heavy dropped and plopped against the metal-grilled floor.
Nuel halted even before the soldier had hand-signalled him to - the stench of rusted iron permeated through the lone corridor.
The soldier's raised the muzzle of his PDW to the front, while his other hand reached to the side of his exosuit's helmet and clicked on a switch.
The bright lights from both the helmet's mounted-LED floodlight and the gun's torchlight bathed the space before them, exorcising all darkness away.
A terrifying scene greeted the two; a body of a woman dressed in white lab outfit laid in a pool of blood, its head was partially missing.
Or rather, the head had imploded and its brain matters were splattered about.
「 F**k! 」
_____
You have used the <Active : Tranquil Aura (Basic)> on yourself and (1) other target.
Your [ COMP ] stat has been increased from 1.25 >> 4.52.
(1) other target's [ COMP ] stat has been increased from 0.75 >> 1.84.
You have successfully negated any deterioration to your [ Sanity ].
(1) other target have partially negated deterioration to their [ Sanity ].
_____
Nuel had reflexively casted his <Active : Tranquil Aura (Basic)> and avoided retching to the gory scene.
Despite having served in the army for two years IRL prior to the accident which claimed the function of his legs, he was only in the reserve battalion, so it was actually his first time first hand seeing a freshly-murdered body.
The soldier, on the other hand, managed to fend off his mental nausea due to the 'plentiful field experience' he probably had had.
Nuel's calming Tranquil Aura ability did not do much for him.
"What in Thacon's name... we need to go back, NOW-!"
Nuel heard the soldier's instructed under his breath before the familiar distorted mental presence once again appeared within his Sense range.
A blurry figure - like a badly-censored version of a horror monster - appeared out of the corridor bend, with opaque black smokes cascading off its wispy being, as it floated to the side of the woman's corpse and into plain view.
Yes, floated.
And it was a humanoid-shaped Shadow - no, it was really in fact a human!
A floating human with the mental presence of a Shadow!
「 That's a f**king Wraith, isn't it? A damn f**king Wraith?!! 」
An Umbral Wraith was a high-level Unique Monster, equivalent to the strength of a 5-man squad averaging of at least level 50.
However, the monster itself was a rare find even in the depths of the horizon of the <Outer Ward> field zones, even rarer than the average spawn rate of <Field Bosses>.
The fact that a Wraith was basically a Shadow parasitising a <Bio> type host meant that it was a hybrid monster of both an <Umbral> and a <Bio>.
Which also meant that it had access to racial traits and (some) abilities of both races, with each supposedly mitigating the other's racial weaknesses.
「 ...It's exclusive <Ability : Possession> is what makes a Wraith so dangerous! Any player caught as its target would literally be game over for him, unless he has- why the f**k am I remembering all these now?!! 」
The Wraith turned its head covered in in wispy, chaotic shadows towards the two and mouthed.
'YOU...'
A stern voice quickly ordered,
"Run."
"..."
"Run, NOW!"
A chaotic mental shrill exploded as the opaque smokes and black tendrils began surging and jutting out of the Wraith-possesed human and flooded towards the two.
Nuel's [ HP ] -4.
Nuel's [ Sanity ] -2.6.
Nuel's [ PHY.Perception ] -30%.
Private Nerid's [ HP ] -4.
Private Nerid's [ Sanity ] -5.9.
Private Nerid's [ PHY.Perception ] -30%.
Nuel's [ HP ] -4.
Nuel's [ Sanity ] -2.5.
Private Nerid's [ HP ] -4.
Private Nerid's [ Sanity ] -6.
Nuel's [ HP ] -4.
Nuel's [ Sanity ] -2.7.
Private Nerid's [ HP ] -4.
Private Nerid's [ Sanity ] -6.1.
Nuel's [ HP ] -4.
Nuel's [ Sanity ] -2.5.
Private Nerid's [ HP ] -4.
Private Nerid's [ Sanity ] -5.6.
Nuel's [ HP ] -4.
...
"F**K!!!"
.....
_____
...Analysis complete!
Anomaly identified is -----.
Attempting to integrate anomaly into the system domain.
Starting attempt (1).
Attempt (1) in progress_
Attempt (1) failed.
Starting attempt (2).
Attempt (2) in progress_
Attempt (2) failed.
Starting attempt (3).
Attempt (3) in progress_
Attempt (3) failed.
Starting attempt (4).
Attempt ...
...
Attempt (73) successful.
Proceeding to update all internal indexes and processes.
Please wait for a moment_
_____
.....
"No- AAarrrgghHH!!!"
Nuel looked over horrified as the Wraith's many amorphous appendages penetrated into the skull of the soldier behind him who was very much alive and running a few seconds ago.
The soldier screamed at the top of his lungs as his body twitched and convulsed; dark shadowy smokes were whirling around them crazily as the entire corridor was filled with thick corrosive odour.
*Cough*
And the Wraith was grinning wide as it relished on its new prey, it began 'feeding' on the poor man's psyche using its exclusive channelling <Ability : Mind-Devour>.
Nuel retreated a few more hurried steps away - he was petrified, yes, but instinct hit him sober.
The soldier's mental presence was fading bit by bit as it was sucked into the monster's chaotic and distorted being as he screamed and screamed and screamed, incoherently.
The hybrid creature then let out an ethereal cackle as it mouthed;
'YOU. NEXT'.
Nuel could only grit his teeth before he pumped both of his feet against the metal-grilled floor and ran as hard as he could, trying to put some distance and keep out of the creature's preying ability range.
Fortunately for him, the creature's vision-impeding smokes were not that effective against an Esper with the Sense-talent.
「 F**k... 」
「 F**K...! 」
He was swearing in between frantic breaths, as he sped off to almost outside the Wraith's shadow smokescreen AoE.
「 !!! 」
Nuel stopped.
The bluish holographic notification of his [ Character Status ] screen finally seized his attention.
Ding!
_____
...
All internal indexes and processes has been successfully updated.
(1) fatal error has been found.
The details of [ Crisis Mission : Code Red! ] does not match the current scenario and concludes (1) fatal error.
System intervention protocol has been executed.
The details of [ Crisis Mission : Code Red! ] will be modified to match the current scenario and resolve (1) fatal error.
Starting details modification...
Details modification in progress_
Details modification successful.
The <Ability : Exilement (Proficient)> had been temporarily generated.
You have successfully learnt <Ability : Exilement (Proficient)> for 10 minutes.
_____
[ Crisis Mission : Code Red! ] : A 'Code Red' protocol is initiated company-wide within the Bastion via its internal PA system. It is a protocol executed only when there is confirmed contact with hostiles.
{REDACTED}""Follow the escorting military officer to any of the listed Safe Areas options as shown and survive.""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""Requirement :""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""• Reach any of these Safe Areas :-""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""i) Cafeteria, or""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""ii) Lower Deck Bunkroom, or""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""iii) Main Assembly Area.""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""Progress :""{REDACTED}
{REDACTED}""• Reach Safe Area ( 0 / 1 ).""{REDACTED}
Due to a series of illogical incidents, you have stumbled upon the cause of the emergency protocol - a Wraith has breached into the Bastion!
{ADDENDUM}""System intervention protocol accorded access to <Lv 10 Ability : Exilement (Upper Intermediate)> onto user <Subject-023 : Nuel Calibre>, effective for 600 seconds.""{ADDENDUM}
Use it to protect everybody else in the Bastion!
Progress :
• Target the <Unique : Umbral Wraith> with the <Ability : Exilement (Proficient)> : ( 0 / 1 ).
• Duration left : ( 9m:45s ).
Rewards :
• <XP> +10 >> +20.
• <Clue : Truth of Existence II> × 1 >> × 5.
• <Random Common >> Uncommon Light-class Weapon> × 1.
_____
Nuel paused for a bit as he blinked his eyes once or twice, his breaths rapidly calmed down.
「 Maybe I could actually pull this off? 」
One second.
Two seconds.
His eyes glinted as he immediately pulled up his [ Character Status ] screen; he quickly caught on to the [ Mission ] tab and started scanning the few missions he had completed before but had yet clicked to receive the rewards.
_____
Do you wish to receive the <Mission Rewards> for [ Act 0 - Main Story Mission : Survive till Rescue Arrives ] now?
_____
「 Yes. 」
_____
You have received <XP> +10.
You have received <Tattered Schwei-30 Operative Exosuit> × 1.
_____
A man-sized object was materialising in front of him, but before it could completely appear, Nuel had scrolled up to his [ Equipment ] tab and promptly equipped the materialising piece of equipment from there.
The familiar blue holographic light engulfed Nuel's entire body immediately instead right after.
_____
You have successfully equipped the <Tattered Scwei-30 Operative Exosuit> × 1.
Your [ RES ] stat has been increased from 15.1 >> 25.1.
Your [ Inventory Slot ] has been increased from 3 >> 12.
Your [ Carry Weight ] has been increased from 40.1kg >> 60.1kg.
You may now use the <Ability : Schwei Mode - EM Smokescreen>
You may now use the <Ability : Schwei Mode - Retrospective Muonic Sensing>.
_____
The grayish exosuit was patterned with ferrous rust here and there at its exposed metal parts, and it took another second or two booting up its outdated operating system.
It was a really old combat exosuit.
Fortunately, Nuel's twitching face was veiled behind the exosuit's helmet visor.
Though it was a bit worn-out, it was still way better than just wearing the cosmetic-only hospital apparel he was provided with.
The equipping mechanics was instantaneous, similar to how as it was in the game, fortunately.
「 This is quite a convenient feature to have honestly... 」
Nuel found himself near the information resource centre once again.
He could hear more shootings and people screaming echoing from the corridor where he escaped from.
「 Those must be the soldiers, but against that Shadow... 」
Then the familiar ominous black figure appeared at the other end of the corridor...
「 ...the Wraith's here!!! 」
.
.
.
====================
Author's Post-Script :
Nuel's [ Low-Quality ] exosuit ~~~
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[ EQUIPMENT ]
<Tattered Schwei-30 Operative Exosuit>
-----The Schwei-30 was the third generation Operative Exoskeletal Powersuit developed by Tetsu Industries during the Shadow War. Its production had since been discontinued and replaced by the Zischen-series which has more field-combat versatility.-----
Weight (Inoperative): 20 kg || Grade : Common
Resistance : 10 (physical, biochemical)
Energy - Electricity : 2,000.00 /2,000.00 || Operative Energy Cost : 0.20 /s
Durability : 300 /300
Inventory Slot : +12 || Carry Weight : +20 kg
Effect :
• <Ability : Schwei Mode - EM Smokescreen> : Releases a special electromagnetically-charged smokescreen around the user to hinder the visions and conventional electronic sensors of everyone inside it. Also changes the affected area into <Confined>. Range : 3 m radius || Charges : × 3 || Energy Cost : 200 || Physical Stealth : +30 || Duration : 20 sec || CD : 40 sec.
• <Ability : Schwei Mode - Retrospective Muonic Sensing> : Upon toggle-activation, negates physical stealth provided by non-solid cover in front of the user. Range : 3 m (150° frontal cone) || Energy Cost : 30 /s || [ PHY.Perception ] : +30.
• [ Movement Speed ] +5%.
• [ Stamina Cost ] -10% (for Sprinting, Jumping and Melee).
_____
Additional :
• <Armor Module : Tetsu 2nd Gen Composite Armor> : [ Resistance ] = 10.
• <Power Module : Generic Li-ion Cell Pack> : The exosuit is powered with the Old World Li-ion cell technology, and the module is attached at the lower back of the exosuit. [ Energy - Electricity ] +2,000. Have to be recharged at any electricity charging station.
• <Utility Module : PTT Laser Comm> : The exosuit is fitted with laser comm instead of the conventional radio comm. This is to counter Umbrals with radio-jamming abilities which had paralysed all military field radio communication during the Shadow War. Requires unobstructed line-of-sight between two laser comms.
• <Utility Module : Operative Load Compartment> : [ Inventory Slot ] : +12 || [ Carry Weight ] +20kg.
• <Utility Module : Generic Small Life Support> : Generates and regulates the internal environment of the exosuit. Widens the [ Thermal Comfort ] range. Min : -3° || Max : +3° || Removes <Penalty> in areas with <Non-Habitable> tags for 24 hours.
• <Utility Module : Schwei EMSS Discharger> : Allows the <Ability : Schwei Mode - EM Smokescreen>. Charges replenishable by replacing with new cartridge at certain weapon merchants, or be manufactured with the <EM Smokescreen : Small Cartridge Blueprint> at any <Workshop> or <Manufactory>.
• <Sensory Module : Schwei RM Sensors> : Allows the <Ability : Schwei Mode - Retrospective Muonic Sensing>.
• <Movement Module : Generic Walker Support> : Fitted with a fiberglass leaf-spring walker module. [ Movement Speed ] +5%. [ Stamina Cost ] for <Sprinting>, <Jumping> and <Melee> -10%.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone