The Syndicate Scout didn't adjust his stance. He fired.
THOOM.
A heavy, four-inch steel rivet tore through the air, shrieking past Itachi's left ear and embedding itself deep into the iron gantry behind him with a deafening CLANG. Just as Itachi had calculated, the leaky seal caused the weapon to kick violently to the left, missing his silhouette by a margin of three inches.
"He didn't even flinch!" one of the back scouts shouted, drawing a vibro-blade.
"He's a glitch! Kill him!" the leader roared, his rivet-cannon hissing as it tried to cycle a second round through the uncalibrated chamber.
Itachi didn't accelerate. He didn't panic. He simply initiated his core engine.
[Skill Active: Stubborn Advance]
[Momentum Multiplier: 1.2x]
He moved in a straight line toward the leader. The two scouts with vibro-blades lunged from the sides, their weapons humming with high-frequency energy designed to slice through standard body armor.
Itachi didn't dodge. He allowed the first vibro-blade to catch him squarely across his right forearm plate. The high-frequency steel screeched against his armor, cutting through the top layer of composite plastic and drawing a thin line of red blood.
[Health: 100% -> 91%]
[Momentum Multiplier: 1.8x]
The impact didn't stop his forward progress. Because of Stubborn Advance, the kinetic energy of the blade was entirely converted into structural momentum. Itachi's right arm didn't bounce back; it remained locked in its forward trajectory, driving his carbon-steel rod straight into the throat of the blade-wielder before the man could draw his weapon back.
CRACK.
The scout collapsed, his windpipe crushed by the raw, unyielding weight of the momentum-boosted strike.
[Target Neutralized: Syndicate Scout (Level 21)]
[Momentum Multiplier: 2.2x]
The second blade-wielder tried to alter his angle, but Itachi was already shifting his weight. Using the 2.2x momentum multiplier, he swung his left leg inward, his boot catching the scout's knee joint from the side. The joint buckled backward with a horrific snap of tearing ligaments.
"My leg!" the scout screamed, hitting the dirt.
Itachi didn't waste an extra second on him. He was already standing directly in front of the leader. The leader's rivet-cannon was finally cycled, the barrel pressing directly against Itachi's chest plate.
"Die, corporate garbage," the leader hissed, his finger slamming into the trigger.
"The internal valve is completely jammed now," Itachi deadpanned.
Click.
The gun didn't fire. The high-pressure gas, trapped behind the faulty seal from the first shot, had warped the firing pin. Before the Scout could register the mechanical failure, Itachi reached out, his fingers gripping the hot barrel of the weapon.
With a cold, measured twist, he forced the gun upward, aligning the barrel with the leader's own chin, and drove his right palm into the back of the firing mechanism. The manual override engaged.
THOOM.
The trapped pressure finally erupted, launching the rivet upward through the bottom of the leader's jaw. The Scout's body stiffened before slumping forward, his cybernetic eye-implants going completely dark.
[Target Neutralized: Syndicate Scout Leader (Level 23)]
[XP Gained: 6,500]
[Pawn Grid Position: Secure]
The remaining scout with the broken knee watched Itachi from the ground, his face pale with a terror that no system calculation could describe. This wasn't a fight; it was a series of mechanical corrections executed by an entity that didn't even have a pulse rate above seventy.
Itachi wiped a drop of oil from his cheek with the back of his hand. "Your organization spent forty thousand credits on cybernetic arms, but zero credits on basic tool maintenance. This is why the Syndicate remains a low-tier faction."