"What is the tech we are working with? Anything fancy, holograms, heads up displays, or just old fashioned maps and reports?" Astral summoned a small steel table as it hummed softly. The soldiers were dressed in ragged greys and greens, backpacks that covered their backs were tan and strapped together by tape and plastic ties. "What are your weapon specifications and manufacturers?" Astral commanded the robot to walk towards him with his left arm. He touched the steel as he started to analyze it and begin to figure out weaknesses.
One man stood forward. His beard busy and gray as he rested his rifle on the table. "We haven't had a reliable way to communicate since the robots took the communication relay." The soldier grabbed an earpiece as he set it on the table. Astral froze for a moment as the robot looked at it. "We can still use older radio systems to reach command. This is localized and allows for all units to be on a-"
"I know what they are, this is a system I invented and perfected." Astral cut him off as they all became wide eyed. He picked it up and hovered it in front of his eyes. "All the small imperfections with the blockers and the fact they get jammed real easily." He snapped his hand upward and crushed it. "If you have my old tech, then where is my old weapon designs?" Astral clapped as a box fell onto the table. The soldier peered into it and saw many more earpieces. He put it in as it linked up to Astral's personal battlenet.
"How much more advanced is yours compared to the older models?" The man asked as he waved a hand for his squad to grab them. "These are awesome, ammo tracking, full minimap, and hostile pings." The man chuckled as he looked to the east. Another squad of robots appeared to be advancing on them. "Everyone find cover!"
Astral raised his hand as he summoned a wall of hardlight as he looked at the battlemap of the planet. Small skirmishes were everywhere. Bullets began to rain in the barrier and Astral didn't move. The robot stayed still next to his side as it turned and faced the other. "Their armor is weak to acidic rounds, corrosive elements and bullets would work best. You don't need different weapons just the right ammo. Where is it?" Astral searched his mind as he swished his wrist. A couple of crates fell from a portal onto the ground as the soldiers looked at it. "Reload your magazines with these rounds and we can take them without worry. Even with your archaic weapons from the stone ages it'll drop these bastards."
"Sir what about the other fireteams that are out and about?" A second soldier, smaller in her frame than the rest spoke up. "We need to start dividing these resources and knowledge to them. And get Central Command on board." She asked as Astral tapped the table with his foot. A hologram of the city appeared as did Sienna.
"Central is already greatly in touch with Astral, he is feeding us as much information as he can. His treat has been well seen but ignored." She giggled as she bounced up and down. "All members of this squad are to follow his lead as he will direct you to the communications facility and take it back. Just ask nicely for him to take out these current robots."
Their eyes looked up to him as he smiled under his helmet. He turned and faced the robots as he hopped over the barrier he created. The robots paused firing for a moment as he looked at the squad of twenty. 'Weak points tagged, send this to all squads who currently have HUD online.' Astral twitched his fingers as he flicked his wrist. Two pistols appeared as he felt the familiar air of them. "Draw!" pulling the triggers the pistols started to fire as they hit the critical points he had highlighted. The robots fell before they fired another round. The squad fell as he clicked the buttons on the side and reloaded the pistols.
"The rumors and legends say he fought with a scythe." One man in the squad squealed.
"No, he battles with a sword." The older man bumped his shoulder.
"Robots typically don't have emotion unless you program them to have it. Efficiency is the key here, we need to get the communication online then we can isolate this city from the rest of the planet and slowly start taking back what is yours." The barrier fell as the bullets bounced on the concrete. The robot followed Astral as he marched forward. Carrying the table as the rest of the squad followed quickly behind him.
Astral followed the path he had laid out. No more enemies were in their path as his radar and map kept them all safe from enemy detection. They made it to the center building of the city as the broadcasting antenna and satellite dishes extended upwards. "So, can anyone guess what the plan is?"
"Take out the bad guys and secure communications for all of us across the planet?" A chipper younger man stood still as Astral tilted his head.
"Nope, we go in, override the communications relay with a bunch of fake feeds and lure all the robots to one spot isolated from important parts of the city before engaging in an ambush of them. Making this our checkpoint and holdpoint in case things go bad." Astral was quiet as they listened close. "They won't have time to send reinforcements the way we will do it. Who is the best shot here?" One man farther in the back with silver hair extended from his helmet. "Take the satellite out, you are aiming for the joint between the connection and the dish itself. It's highlighted on your HUD." The man nodded as he walked forward in front of Astral as he prepared to aim.
The man took a deep breath as he pulled the trigger. Direct hit. Astral twirled a hand and caught it with hardlight beams holding it suspended in midair. "If they check the cameras from above or any other angle. It won't look tampered with." Astral stood in the open street as two robots spotted him. "Now we can storm in with no help from the others or having to worry about their communications reaching their higher ups. Astral pointed his left arm out as he summoned his magnum. With two quick bullets the robots fell as they stormed forward for the door.
"Stay close and behind me, I have the armor and ability to take their bullets." Astral opened the door as they slowly moved through the hallways. One or two robots were around every corner, but to them, it was no concern. They made their way to the top floor after a few minutes where there were three robots at different stations. Astral motioned with his hands to be quiet and stay still. They held in the doorway with baited breath as Astral stood in the middle of the room.
Click. He summoned Muramasa and separated it from its saya. The robots all looked at him as with one clean slash he took the cores out from the robots. They deactivated as they fell away from the panels on the tables and walls. They rushed forward and drug the robot's shells out of the way as Astral put his sword back. "All of you start flooding the system and say the last holdout of the resistance is held up at sector nine."
They all began to examine the equipment as Astral typed on the main terminal. Tweaking things and making updates to his older equipment that had been given out to the resistance. After a few minutes had passed the battlenet showed all of the robots moving to sector nine, even those currently engaged in combat. "Hello everyone. This is Astral, I am trying to update your ear pieces to my standards, if there are any technological difficulties I will repair and replace them. For now, rest up and go to these cache drops, these new rounds provided will be able to take out the robots much easier than rockets and high temp incendiary rounds." The communications were silent as they all quietly chattered and gave their thanks.
"So, you command my forces as good as me, update old and outdated equipment and come up with a plan to take the robots out without my permission. That demands a new level of respect for an equal." A voice called through the communications as Astral laughed.