The Industrialist

They placed the quantum flux capacitors in large cases, twenty units of them in their vehicles.

"What is out there?" Damian asked.

"SHF scout team. About ten of them. Two cars," the rebel responded.

"We can take them," One soldier said.

"Don't get too cocky. We don't know their arsenal yet. Yes, we have armor that can fend off normal lasers, but we can never be too careful. We will confront them with gunfire but we should maintain concealment, understood?"

The rebels agreed. Experience more on empire

"Lance, you should not be seen by these men, or your cover will be blown," Damian said.

The rebels ran towards the entrance door and peeked through the windows. Two black armored cars had a conspicuous Government logo on the doors of their vehicle. The SHF operatives, clad in black body vests with their long-barreled laser rifles on their sides, lined up outside near their vehicles.

Their four vehicles were parked outside the parking lot near the entrance.

But the SHF operatives waited for them to reveal themselves.

"Outsiders!" A loud male voice came out from the speaker. "Reveal yourselves and we can do this a peaceful way. We invite you to go with us to Axe Central and there will be no unnecessary bloodshed."

"Luke, we will have a firefight against them. I want you to stay here inside."

The SHF operatives had been traveling by land to hunt the Outsiders. Lance knew that the Outsiders had affected the Gross Domestic Profit of the City as the citizens would opt to buy cheaper and counterfeit products. The SHF had been locating the manufacturing plants of these products for months, and have not raided one yet.

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked as if Damian would do something stupid.

"Well, let's see if this armor of yours can withstand 4th-generation laser rifles," Damian said.

"It can alright, but don't abuse its integrity. The lasers can still penetrate in your hollow points where your joints would move," Lance said.

Damian huddled the rebels and cascaded a plan of attack. Their armor could pose an advantage in the gunfight. However, the SHF had high-tech weaponry that would deem the rebel arsenal insignificant.

"Remember, lads. They Probably brought Flaks," Damian said after a series of instructions.

Flak cannons were used before as an anti-aerial weapon that would release a radial kinetic explosive, in the form of shells, and would release fatal shrapnel. However, the CBD had managed to recreate the flak cannons into large rifles used effectively in crowding enemies.

Even though the SHF had announced countless times their threats, despite the potential danger that these highly-trained individuals would bring, the rebels stormed out the entrance door and rapidly triggered their Quasarflare blasters.

The SHF were quick on their feet, well-composed, and organized. They hid behind their armored vehicles and retaliated with equal fire. Lasers against lasers. But the rebels overwhelmed the SHF with their unkempt way of fearsome rage. Luke went outside with Damian, following the latter's steps. His face could be concealed because of the gas masks they wore.

Luke saw lasers from SHF's firepower had only scratched the exo-armor's surface. A common-level material could be effective against the 4th gens, Lance thought.

The SHF threw smoke bombs in front of the clearing and burst a thick gray cloud filling the space between them for a split second. It startled the rebels and gave Luke a wave of worry that passed through him. The SHF had advanced weaponry training, more than the military and the police. The CBD made sure that this group designed killing like clockwork.

And behind the thick smoke, something sinister and cruel would emerge. Something Lance had already seen in SteamHaven, high-technology weaponry that only the CBD possessed.

"Drones!" one rebel screamed. Four predator drones flew above them, ascending too fast and now a sudden descent after a short projectile.

"Run!" Damian said. "It's a kamikaze!" one drone collided with one of their vehicles and exploded. The other one dove into three clustered rebels who were in hiding in a far corner. Their armor could not withstand the explosion. The other two were gunned down by the rebels and exploded mid-air.

The predator drones caused the rebels disarray, their aims shifted above them, anticipating another drone attack. Two drones again flew above, their lasers catching up to two swerving targets.

Then as the smoke settled, other rebels still trying to destroy the predator drones, a large flak cannon, two meters in length, with solid mounts below it to support the recoil, and a badass electronic system support, was dragged in front of the clearing. At least two SHF operatives could operate effectively the mounted weapon and could shift its aim so quickly that one could not escape.

"Flaks!" Damian said.

The cannon fired, and a round perceptible shell flew out of the large nozzle and exploded near three more rebels, the blow scattered the bodies away like paper, and pieces of shrapnel flew dangerously randomly.

The integrity of the exo-armor of the dead bodies remained but the strong kinetic blow disfigured their faces, their limbs blasted in grotesque proportions.

Damian activated a Molotov bomb and threw it at the mounted flak cannon. The flame quickly crept into the floor and burned the two flak cannon operatives. Anticipating their replacements, Damian and the others took the opportunity to escape. Having a prolonged gunfight with the SHF was not a good idea. Six dead already in less than five minutes. Their lasers could not penetrate the armored cars that the SHF brought.

But their vehicles sure were faster than theirs.

Damian floored the accelerator pedal, and three cars escaped the vicinity, lasers catching up to them. The SHF could not follow.

"We can outrun them," Lance said, looking back at the abandoned Power Grid Central of Bay City. Luckily, all Capacitors were loaded in their trucks.

"Damian, I caused their deaths," Lance said, realizing only a few of them managed to escape.

"No, it is not your fault." Damian was silenced. He was grieving his dead comrades. Their vehicles seemed to be safe now from the reach of their enemies. "They signed up for this job and they knew the risks. At least you are going to pay us, right?"

Although Damian smirked a little joke at the conversation, Lance knew that Damian had a soft heart. Damian's knuckles grew white, gripping against the steering wheel of the truck.

Even so, Lance replied.

"Yeah, let's make 2000 units each."

The group had gloomy expressions as they disembarked in the parking lots of Felsom Prison. A few welcome party comrades greeted them and helped them with their gear.

***

With the Quantum Flux Capacitors, he could continue working with the BeastBane Railgun. As promised, he would make the rebel faction as a clandestine supplier for the components and CBD would be paying for it.

With the completed components and with the given components, he cascaded the designs to his manufacturing team and proceeded with the prototype production for him to present to Mister Leric.

He bought the Capacitors from the rebel faction under a dummy business name, with legal credentials for about 8,000 units each, and bought ten of them. With 80,000 units could provide the rebel faction with a few months of food supply.

Lance ran a charity with the rebel factions, which was fulfilling without him making profits out of it but only to provide leverage to the people fighting for the cause. With the Omnexus market having been great with profits, Lance donated ten thousand units per day out of his net profits of thirty to forty thousand units.

The market had provided Lance with a surprisingly great financial capacity that he could leverage during his material procurement. His available units would come in handy procuring another Energy Accelerator in Terrabitha.

After the manufacturing plant in SteamHaven, he visited the Omnexus store to monitor the operations. Lance had been worried sick knowing that his store had only operated for a few days. What he knew about business was that the majority of newly opened enterprises would experience sale fluctuation which would gravely challenge the liquidity of the business. Lucky for him, the store ran smoothly for a few days.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The unfairness glared upon these sectors, the Omnexus market was only available to the high-classers and mid-classers especially to the high-echelon, while the Commoner's trade markets had lived daily for scrappy insignificant net profits that would only support a few mouths to feed for a month.

There was a clear distinction between the two locations, and some of the items, especially engineering components were commonly sold in these separate market locations.

'If only I could establish something that can distribute the wealth in the City fairly to the Commoners and with the other societal classes,' Lance thought.

As he ambled near the store, Joe frantically reported to him, "Lance. Jaqi of CISU came here asking some questions about our merch. She said she wanted to talk to you about the needed legal papers. I think our business is hanging in a fine thread here."