Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 823

Chapter 818, My Company Commander

Chapter 818: The clash between    my Captain Alvin and Nata didn’t last three hundred rounds.

Prolonged back-and-forth battles often occur in duels, often to test one’s skills; or when two sides are equally matched, cautiously pursuing victory in a one-on-one encounter…

But this situation was clearly not the case.

How could Alvin have the time to fight Nata for three hundred rounds? If he were to be held back, the remaining Chapter veterans, even the few Dreadnoughts, would have sufficient firepower to intervene and cause Alvin considerable trouble.

Their attacks didn’t need to kill Alvin; as long as their firepower forced Alvin to cope, it would create opportunities for Captain Nata.

Alvin’s strength was undoubtedly exceptional. He assessed himself as the most formidable in the entire company, a conclusion he reached by observing the performance of his other battle-brothers in battle.

Indeed, this was true.

Alvin’s performance at the Alliance Space Marine Training Base was among the best of his peers, even earning him commendations from Gu Hang.

Of the entire company, Captain Nata was the only one he couldn’t accurately assess. On the rare occasions he saw him fight, Alvin felt his opponent’s strength was still slightly inferior to his own. However, with so few examples, he couldn’t even be sure of the accuracy of his assessment.

But now, there was no time for such considerations. All that remained was a desperate fight, a

desperate effort to defeat his opponent in a short period of time. In the first clash, the Thunder Hammer, with absolute ferocity, met Nata head-on.

Alvin prevailed.

Alvin could sense that his Captain, at least in terms of strength, momentum, and the subtleties of power generation, was inferior to him.

Perhaps… no, he was definitely superior.

But Nata didn’t seem to realize this, or at least wasn’t willing to admit it.

He still believed that his power sword was at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation with Alvin’s Thunder Hammer. He had been too reckless at first, not considering Alvin, a rookie with only five years’ experience, as a true rival. When he got serious, Alvin was no match.

He raised his power sword, attempting another direct confrontation.

But this time, the power sword’s supposed advantages of speed and agility were compromised.

The disadvantage from the previous round forced Nata to respond with more time and haste, significantly hampering his performance.

A blinding arc of blue-white lightning erupted as the thunder hammer and power sword collided, and the visual stabilizer in Alvin’s helmet automatically dimmed the light. He could clearly feel the vibrations in the hammer’s handle, as the bionic muscle fibers, aided by the power armor’s servo system, dissipated the recoil.

Captain Nata’s shoulder armor shattered into a spiderweb of cracks in the collision. The power sword’s disintegration field clashed with the hammer’s atomic disintegration module, sending a cascade of particles between the two men into a collapsing ball of light.

“Boom!”

Nata’s tactical boots plowed a meter-long furrow in the ground, and Alvin, using the reaction force, spun back, charging the plasma cannon in his left hand almost instantly. The three-shot plasma beam accurately penetrated the gap in Nata’s defense.

Nata was forced to swing his sword to block, but he could only block two shots. The third shot passed through his lower right abdomen, causing a large wound.

Even more terrifying, Alvin’s hammer followed closely behind.

The hammer, drenched in lightning, nearly enveloped Nata’s head.

But at that moment, Alvin’s back sensor stabbed with a piercing alarm. The trajectory of two autocannon rounds flashed on his retinal projection.

Not wanting to kill Nata and be killed at the same time, Alvin had no choice but to hide.

The hydraulic joints in his right leg suddenly increased pressure, and he shifted half a meter sideways in a manner that defied the laws of physics. The autocannon blast created a massive molten crater where he had stood. Boiling rock fragments solidified radially on the ground, some even splashing onto Alvin. But these fragments weren’t enough to injure Alvin.

However, amid the swirling disgust before him, a power sword tore through everything and hurled itself at him, its disintegration field tracing a twisting path through the air.

The sharp blade scraped against the long shaft of the thunder hammer, creating a piercing sound. The disintegration field brushed against Alvin’s cervical ridge, burning half of his helmet intensely.

Captain Nata, having thought his strike was a sure win, failed to yield the desired result. Cursing, he plunged his power sword into the ground and pulled a spider mine from beneath the armor. But before the spinning killing machine could deploy its claws, a bullet from Alvin’s rifle pierced the detonator chamber with pinpoint accuracy.

Alvin didn’t count on the spider mine’s secondary detonation to finish him off. Amidst a storm of metal unleashed by the violent explosion, he charged across the still-molten floor, his thunder hammer lashing out at Nata with a high-frequency shockwave.

“Crack!”

The captain’s combat experience far exceeded expectations, and he caught the blow with his power sword. Even under the overwhelming force, his unbalanced body used inertia to counterattack, launching a kick at Alvin.

Alvin calmly dodged the kick, recharging his plasma gun and firing against the hilt of his power sword. The recoil sent both men back three steps.

Alvin shook off his helmet, shattered by the previous, incredibly dangerous strike, and nano-healing agent flowed from the syringe in his neck to the burned facial tissue.

His left hand had already drawn the molecular dagger from his leg, blocking a chainsaw attack from an odd angle—the one coming from a Chapter veteran, the spinning teeth gnawing brilliant sparks on the dagger’s energy blade.

“Seventh second,” Alvin muttered, dodging a barrage of explosives. The dagger slid along the chainsaw’s transmission mechanism and pierced the armpit of the power armor. The molecular blade easily severed the main hydraulic pipe, spraying body-warm mechanical oil onto his newly regenerated cheek. The veteran’s still-standing body was used as a shield to propel him toward Nata, shattering into a bloody rain under the power sword’s disintegration field.

Twelve red dots lit up in the blood mist.

Alvin’s instinctive battle foresight led him to hold his thunder hammer across his chest. Twelve crimson beams lashed out from all directions, the stench of burning air mingling with the acrid scent of vaporized ceramite—emanating from a Dreadnought’s melta array! He could feel his breastplate crumbling, the searing pain radiating from the nerve network beneath his skin drowned out by the emergency analgesics.

But all the melta attacks had avoided vital areas; his blocking had been effective.

“This is the end!” Alvin roared. As if anticipating Nata’s advance, he swept his hammer across, completely blocking Captain Nata, who had hoped to seize this opportunity to kill him.

Nata’s pupils narrowed as the blazing light of the explosion spread. He had never seen Alvin like this before—a warrior drenched in blood, like a blade unsheathed.

He raised his power sword again, attempting to block. But this more hasty attempt failed. The disintegration field shattered upon contact with the lightning arc. The helmet’s built-in combat system sounded an overload alarm, drowned out by the sound of the second hammer smashing through his breastplate.

Nata could feel his sternum shattering within the power armor, just as he had heard it in the incubator when his gene-seed had been transformed. Both of his hearts had suffered a fatal blow.

(End of Chapter)