Mod Superhero (Book 4 STUB on JULY 30th)

Chapter 4.60 - Ronin Tekno 1 / Venture 16

Ronin Tekno watched the assault through his implanted eye lens and found himself growing impatient. He stood idly in the air while the first wave of biomechs blundered through the long access tunnel. The second wave of mechs pushed into the lab's hallways, meeting more resistance from automated defenses.

His cybernetic arm twitched.

Ronin huffed. What was the point in being a super if you didn't do anything?

Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He leapt off the airship's platform and into the access tunnel. Ronin plummeted feet first, tucking his arms and legs in close. His holo-cloak mirrored his movements, wrapping tightly around his body. The roar of air wavered as his ears tuned out the sound.

Ronin passed the remnants of traps. Even falling as fast as he was, he spared a glance to admire their components—the high-tensile wire and blasters might prove useful. When all this was done, Ronin would climb back up the tunnel and take them for himself.

As he neared the bottom, the cyborg unsheathed his sword. He dug it into the steel wall to slow his descent then leapt from wall to wall to slow himself further. Toward the bottom, the tunnel widened considerably and the sheer plates of metal opened into storage hangers. It reminded Ronin of a beehive, except that the hangers were anywhere from a few feet wide to the size of a small building. And the hive was empty—all of Venture's drones were still out in Belport and beyond.

There was no way Midas and Ava would have risked assaulting Venture's lab otherwise.

Ronin reached the bottom, tucked and rolled across the floor, avoiding the wreckage and viscera from destroyed biomechs. More mechs were pushing through the hallway. Lasers crackled as they tore through the air, leaving the smell of ozone in their wake. The steady pops of anti-armor rounds echoed from down the hall.

It was chaos—perhaps not the best that Ronin had ever seen, but his heart leapt at the thrill.

Ronin flicked a switch on the hilt of his sword. The sword hummed and its edges blurred. The molecules of the vibro-blade oscillated at subsonic levels, turning the already sharp blade into something that could slice through atoms. He wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but it sounded cool.

His cybernetic arm twitched again, and Ronin Tekno launched himself down the hall. He didn't worry about keeping his holo-cloak wrapped—whatever defenses Venture had installed could likely see through its cloaking abilities. Instead, Ronin focused on speed and using his lesser cyborg brethren as shields.

A smaller biomechs sprinted out of cover, scuttling on four legs while firing a shoulder mounted repeating laser. Seven similar copies followed after it—all wielding slightly different weaponry.

A person-sized biomech zig-zagged through the hall. Its hands and feet were interchangeable, and it leapt from wall-to-wall as it dodged larger projectiles. As it bounded along, it alternated firing weapons out of its arms and legs.

Ronin almost admired its style. Almost.

Ronin slipped behind it, following its agile path down the hall. A burst of laserfire flew toward them, catching the biomech in mid flight. Ronin hugged its back as lasers tore off its limbs. He spun in mid-air and leapt off the mech. Oil and blood sprayed out of its wounds as it screeched across the floor.

Ronin ran across the wall. Another burst of laser fire sailed toward him. He leapt to the side, dodging most of it. His cybernetic arm whirred into high speed, deflecting the rest of the lasers with flashes of his vibro-blade.

One of the larger mechs had stopped at a junction in the hallway and was tearing a laser cannon free. Ronin crouched close behind it and paused to get his bearings. Another large mech lay on its side, twitching. Its helmet had been breached and brain matter leaked out onto the floor.