Metal crack

Between a rock and a hard place

Looking up at the sky, Ou Zhanpeng felt an unprecedented determination. He set a twenty-minute countdown and exhaled softly as the numbers ticked down: "Bridge, give me the enemy's precise location!"

"Received, data sent!"

As soon as he spoke, the armor's projection system cast a map onto his visor, showing downed assault shuttles, moving enemies, and the terrain between them.

His gaze immediately found the most suitable spot for an ambush on the map: this was it!

He couldn't possibly match the aliens in a head-on fight. Fortunately, all he needed was to stall for a little time, just enough to hold the enemy back for a moment, just a moment!

As he was about to leave, his peripheral vision caught sight of a half-exposed cannon barrel beneath a crashed fuselage.

Ou Zhanpeng's eyes lit up. He jumped over and, with a few swift movements, detached a functional 23mm autocannon from the shattered hull.

Shouldering the autocannon, Ou Zhanpeng started walking.

The thing was incredibly heavy. With it on his shoulder, he could finally walk normally instead of hopping like a rabbit.

It was only thanks to the low lunar gravity and the assistance of the power armor that he could carry this cannon; otherwise, even if he worked himself to death, he wouldn't be able to lift it.

He pressed onward and, in no time, reached the predetermined ambush location. Before the enemies arrived, Ou Zhanpeng quickly made preparations, ready to intercept. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět

He hadn't even caught his breath when two fast-moving blips appeared on his personal radar. Not daring to reveal himself, he crouched behind a rock, motionless.

Perhaps the enemy was overconfident, or perhaps they never expected humans to dare an interception. The two aliens showed no signs of alarm.

However, Ou Zhanpeng waited until they had passed him before he cautiously peeked out, getting his first look at the aliens.

But when he saw them, Ou Zhanpeng was utterly astonished.

The two aliens were very peculiar. One was thick and robust, at least two meters tall, clad in worn, mottled armor. Yet, it stood on a ridiculously small hovering board, with strange decorations resembling the bones of some creature adorning its front. It clearly looked like no good person.

The other was short and stout, barely over a meter tall, but it wore a heavy, full-coverage suit of armor, which looked much newer than the taller one's, though still dilapidated. This alien wasn't standing on anything, flying purely by means of the thrusters on its back. It resembled a chibi-style mecha, or perhaps a giant iron toad that hadn't quite completed its evolution.

Ou Zhanpeng couldn't help but grin. So this was what aliens looked like?

He activated his fire control system, locking onto the taller alien, and opened fire with a long burst. More than a dozen rounds hit their target.

However, a honeycomb-like hexagonal force field suddenly appeared around the alien. All the bullets bounced off the force field, leaving only sparks that seemed to flicker with faint electrical arcs.

Shocked and angered, Ou Zhanpeng rolled back behind the rock for cover.

On the radar, the blips representing the aliens separated. One continued towards the assault shuttle, while the other veered off and stopped directly behind his cover.

A profound sense of unease washed over Ou Zhanpeng. He instinctively dodged. The moment he rolled out from behind the cover, a beam not even as thick as a pinky finger swept past, cleanly severing a moon rock nearly three meters in diameter.

Had he been any slower, Ou Zhanpeng would have been turned into a ghost by the beam.

His fear amplified infinitely. Ou Zhanpeng threw a grenade and, cloaked in the ensuing dust cloud, rolled behind a larger moon rock. He then set up the autocannon he had hidden there earlier and opened fire fiercely at the target.

The autocannon was too heavy to maneuver, so he had to use it as a fixed emplacement.

Several shells hit consecutively, exploding within the flashing light of the shield.

Ou Zhanpeng's heart sank. If the autocannon was useless, then there was truly no other option.

But while the shields held firm, the alien suddenly stumbled backward, falling flat on its rear and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The hovering board beneath its feet shot high into the air with a whoosh, not returning for a long time.

A golden opportunity!

Ou Zhanpeng aimed at the downed alien and continued firing, each shot precisely hitting the same spot.

He naturally didn't possess such high shooting accuracy, but the armor's fire control system could automatically correct for distortions caused by recoil. As long as the fire control system maintained its lock on the same spot, every shot would be accurate.

After more than a dozen shells, the defense limit was finally exceeded. The honeycomb shield silently shattered, and a shell struck the alien squarely in the chest.

As the alien sat up, this shell sent it tumbling backward again.

Regardless of whether the target was alive or dead, Ou Zhanpeng unleashed the remaining shells onto the alien.

As the last shell left the barrel, he immediately abandoned the autocannon, grabbed his rifle, and rolled away, keeping a safe distance from that moon rock.

On the radar, the tall alien remained motionless. However, the short, toad-like creature that had been heading for the assault shuttle turned back.

Eight minutes and forty-four seconds remained!

Ou Zhanpeng's head began to ache. He had run out of shells. What other methods could he use to stall for over eight minutes?

The blip representing the short alien grew closer, and Ou Zhanpeng's anxiety mounted. However, an unexpected situation arose. On the radar, the two blips converged and then stopped, becoming motionless.

Ou Zhanpeng's eyes lit up: Were they tending to their comrade?

A perfect chance!

He quickly got to his feet, about to open fire, when he was startled to see the short alien landing and crouching beside the tall one, stripping the armor off its companion piece by piece.

Strange. If a comrade was in trouble, wouldn't they seek out the culprit first, rather than rushing to loot the corpse for armor?

Could this be some kind of alien custom?

As Ou Zhanpeng stood up, the iron toad also looked up. However, it showed no intention of stopping its actions, instead accelerating its pace.

Witnessing this, Ou Da Shao, who had been preparing to shoot, became less anxious.

If they weren't bothering him or the assault shuttle, where else could he find such good enemies? Should he proactively attack instead of trying to stall for more time?

He hoped the iron toad would continue its looting for as long as possible. To avoid provoking the peculiar creature, he even gave up the idea of hiding, gritted his teeth, stood still, and held his rifle without moving.

Ou Zhanpeng had made up his mind: the moment the iron toad stopped looting, he would immediately go prone and then roll into the shallow pit not far away.

The countdown reached four minutes.

Ou Zhanpeng suddenly heard two beeping sounds, followed by a voice from the bridge: "Assault 007, more aliens have appeared in the direction of the broken shuttle, numbering four... no, seven, and they are advancing towards your position!"

Ou Zhanpeng glanced at the countdown, which showed just over three minutes remaining: "How much more time do I have?"

"At the current pace, forty to fifty minutes..."

Before the voice finished, the iron toad suddenly stood up. Without a second thought, Ou Zhanpeng leaped into the shallow pit.

But the iron toad didn't even pay him any mind. Clutching the pilfered parts, it turned and ran.

Ou Zhanpeng was dumbfounded. What was going on? What had gone wrong?