"Target spotted, suppressing fire!"
The entire street became shaky under the storm of ammunition, the sound of bullets bursting echoed throughout the reception hall!
The glass curtain walls were shattered in an instant, the floor and walls sparkled with sparks as fragments flew everywhereâ
Jack suddenly dashed out from the hail of bullets, moving at an incredible speed, almost skimming the ground, only debris and metal fragments could hit him!
Pow!
The IMC soldiers didnât even see when he fired, as the comrade beside them got their head blown off!
"Focus fire on that pilot...and the enemy!"
But the IMC soldiers were facing more than just Jack!
Destruction robots randomly appeared on both sides of the street, and as soon as they appeared, they launched an attack. This completely unpredictable position change and surprise assault thoroughly disrupted the IMCâs formation, allowing Jack, who was suppressed behind cover, to seize the opportunity to change positions.
The battle on the street turned into a chaotic brawl, the IMC soldiers became terrified from the destruction robots appearing repeatedly in different locations, while Jackâs unpredictability added immense pressure!
This was their research facility, why did so much heavy firepower suddenly appear?!
The IMC soldiers hiding in the building shouted in the communication channel, "Requesting air support! Requesting air support! Somethingâs wrong! Their firepower is too fierce!!!"
[Fighter pilot: Target locked, preparing for precision strike...]
[IMC soldier: Carpet bombing! They have some weird evasive method!]
[Fighter pilot: Copy that.]
Voomâ
The engine sound of the fighter completely drowned out the sound of gunfire and cannons in the neighborhood, this fixed-wing aircraft had powerful vector engines, taking only seconds to transition from high-speed gliding to hovering aim!
Jack listened to this sound and felt uneasy: he couldnât say much, even with BT crossing over with him, they couldnât do anything against the fighter in the sky!
[Jack: Lille! They have air support!!]
The fighter hovered in the air, the gun bay under its belly opened, and amid Jackâs yelling, artillery spat out blazing light, a torrent of steel fell from the sky!
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bangâ
Fire and dust were raised several meters high, destruction robots crumbled under overwhelming firepower and combat capability in front of IMC infantry, being smashed like childrenâs building blocks in the path of machine cannon strikes, erupting into violent explosions!
Broken walls and ruins collapsed in flames, and this descending artillery became the only artillery in this engagement!
...
Jack opened his eyesâjust now, he thought he was done for.
Pilots are indeed powerful, but special forces canât win against fighter jets, itâs no contest.
Yet the world before him suddenly transformed back into a crumbling wasteland, all soldiers and bombings disappeared.
Lille stopped the cutting, and the time-space distortion ceased accordingly; it seemed that this overload of energy waves could somewhat influence time-space distortion.
BT looked at Jack hiding in the ruins, "Jack, you look in bad shape."
"Indeed not good, you get bombed by a fighter jet, youâd be worse..."
With the cutting stopped, the destruction robots had turned into external components that could only provide energy and bear pressureâthey could continue, but he needed to pause for now.
The ceiling had been laser-cut nearly 20 centimeters deep and could soon be cut through...
The problem was, Jack returned to the past for less than a minute and almost got shredded by the fighter jet, while ten destruction robots that didnât retreat in time turned into scrap metal.
Itâs evident that facing the enemy in the reception hall is much more difficult than shuttling through buildings, since one doesnât have to deal with fighter jets inside buildings.
This plan faced pressure much greater than Lille had imagined.
As Lille began considering whether to adjust the tactics, Jack boarded BTâs cockpit, taking a few rockets directly from the magazine after man-machine interaction:
[Jack: I memorized the fighterâs position, letâs do it again.]
[Jack: This plan can complete the mission most quickly and best, right? I can hold on, letâs continue.]
[Johnny: This guy is indeed badass, but I donât think a person can withstand fighter jet bombings and endless security forces attacks.]
[Lille: Youâre right, we canât rely solely on Cooper.]
Lille looked at Colonel Andersonâs corpseâ
Although there was only one pilot in this facility now, it wasnât so in the past. Attacking from within has always been the most commonly used and effective hacking method.
[Lille: BT, I need your communication key, I want to contact Colonel Anderson in the past to coordinate our reception.]
[BT7274: Bold tactic, I will cooperate with you.]
Bzzzâ
The cutting device restarted, the laser pulse device emitted a piercing screechâ
Jack, already hooked on the high wall, focused on the void street below...
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he noticed not far away the wreckage of an identical IMC jet.
[Lille: Jack, get ready!]
...
Colonel Anderson suddenly fell into deep confusion.
Pilots are soldiers, not like the mercenaries of Night City, loaded with all sorts of prosthetics. As professional soldiers, they know clear minds are far more crucial than having an extra knife on the body or a gun hidden inside.
If he chooses to undertake an infiltration mission, he would bring the necessary equipment, like a projector that can scan targets and emit decoy holographic images, a module that allows full optical/acoustic invisibility at any moment, and a device for phase shifts at specific moments...
And the wristband he hadâequipment they captured from other IMC labs, seemingly capable of monitoring time-space distortion phenomena, which was also crucial for his special operations.
He was professional, he could ensure he hadnât been exposed...
Why did IMC suddenly go on high alert?!
[IMC Alert: Laser Net activated]
[IMC Security: Intruder spotted at the main entrance...they have combat robots!]
[IMC Security: What the hell, theyâre in the reception hall!]
Bam!
The door to the research lab was suddenly barged open!
The IMC researcher who rushed in looked extremely nervous, and what he saw on entering made him even more panic-stricken:
He saw a pilot about to stab their computer with a data knife!
"Heâs..."
Bam!
Shot dead, Anderson quickly retracted the data knife, cursing under his breathâhow the hell did he get exposed?
Even stranger, a jet suddenly appeared outside the window, launching a fierce attack outsideâ
He was clearly indoors, so who exactly were the IMC fighting out there? Werenât they exposed because of him? But where were the other resistance fighters?!
[Sizzleâ]
[Authorized communication request: SRS Vanguard-class Titan BT7274]
[BT7274: Major Anderson, please coordinate with us to take control of the facility, we are launching a frontal assault.]
Anderson was stunned: the mission was clearly under his full charge, where did the others come from?!
But the communication key and the current situation left him no choice but to believe there really were other pilots executing the mission!
Even the task code...the electronic signature of the mission was authorized by him!
[BT7274: We must act immediately, IMC will use the weapons in the research facility to destroy Hamoni Star!]
As soon as he finished speaking, a pilot jumped from the air, shoving a rocket directly into the fighterâs engine!
Boom!
That was a resistance fighter pilot!
Andersonâs pupils constricted sharply, the data knife in his hand plunged into the computer.
[Anderson: Iâll coordinate with you, but I need to understand the situation.]