Embers After Flames, Chapter 9.6

9.6

+++

Freud was currently on fire, missing an arm, and heavily damaged on top of all of that. Until he was dead, this was not a meaningful reduction of his threat level.

Nile was in the process of being torn apart by Rusty. Unfortunately for him, there really wasn’t anything he could do to remedy this situation, because Rusty was both the better pilot and the more optimally equipped of the two.

Michigan was still alive, but his opponent was 621.

Of the three, unless 621 was feeling particularly eager in the next few seconds, it seemed like Nile would be the next one to go out. Rusty was really not giving him a good time.

Nile was trying very hard to hit his opponent, but it simply wasn’t working. Rusty was too fast, too aggressive. DEEP DOWN’s explosives were excellent with even just a bit more distance, but Rusty refused to give it to him. The Linear Rifle was Nile’s only remaining option, and a precision weapon like that was hardly useful for the fast-paced, close-ranged brutality that Rusty was keeping him in.

Case in point; Rusty’s Laser Slicer had just ignited again. Nile tried to backpedal, but he was simply too slow. A spinning slash cut at the Linear Rifle, severing the weapon, and Rusty only followed that up by making a great deal many more slashes across the rest of DEEP DOWN’s Frame.

Something that left the armour greatly weakened, which of course Rusty didn’t hesitate to capitalize on by immediately jamming more needles in there.

With a bunch of new giant spikes now sticking through the frame, DEEP DOWN impressed me by the fact that it still wasn’t actually out of the game yet. Balam engineering sure was something else...

Evidently though, Nile knew when to cut his losses. “This is G2 Nile. I’m withdrawing from the battlefield.” He spoke, right before his ejection pod triggered.

DEEP DOWN, of course, halted completely, now that the pilot had abandoned the craft.

Alright. Two versus three.

Rusty made the decision to head towards Michigan, the less damaged of the two. It was... Well, to be honest, I had nothing to really say about that decision. Between Michigan and Freud, there wasn’t exactly a ‘good’ choice on who to fight there. In the context of this battle specifically, both Dolmayan and 621 were equally valid for moving to support. 621 didn’t really need it, but Dolmayan was in the zone with Freud, and disrupting that could be a bit dangerous.

The two of them were already going at it again. Despite the fact that he was missing an arm, Freud was doing a very damned good job holding out. The loss of control over his drones was still ongoing, but that didn’t really render them ineffective, just less effective. He had swapped to kicks in order to match Dolmayan’s own melee, though both of them were still equipped with blades.

Speaking of, both of them just made another slash at each other- and both of them parried each other again. Dolmayan Quick Boosted left immediately afterwards, dodging the point-blank Spread Bazooka shot from LOCKSMITH as he did.

It let LOCKSMITH get a bit of distance, the mech flying backwards through the air for a few seconds before the thrusters cut and it landed on the ground.

Not smoothly, I noted instantly, which was spectacularly unusual because Freud had been nothing but smooth movements until now.

My cameras zoomed in. I spotted the problem immediately.

The loss of the arm had not come without consequences, and the damage that had accumulated over time had had more than just an aesthetic effect.

“A fluid leak?” Freud asked. “No, LOCKSMITH! Such a glorious battle cannot end like this!” He seemed genuinely distraught by this, half anger that the battle he’d been enjoying so much was being cut short, and half sadness that it was being cut short like that.

And, well, that was fair enough wasn’t it?

LOCKSMITH was currently leaking both some of the hydraulic and heat-exchange fluids. Naturally, that was causing problems with the efficiency of the mech’s actuators and motors, in turn affecting its movements... Except Freud had been in flight until now, which meant he’d hadn’t been put into a position to notice until he’d placed severe enough stress upon the system.

Mmm. Very severe damage if the LOCKSMITH’s own sensors and gauges hadn’t caught it beforehand. It must be related to whatever broke to stop Freud’s control over his Drones... Probably quite a few mechanisms. Normally each limb was its own self-contained unit aside from the control systems, so a failure of this magnitude was... considerable.

Considering how much he’d savaged Dolmayan in turn... I’m going to need to go over ASTGHIK with a fine-toothed comb after this.

The real important thing was this meant that LOCKSMITH was on a timer that no amount of skill could overcome anymore. Once the mech couldn’t operate, it couldn’t operate, and that was the end of that.

“I still want more!” He called out- and LOCKSMITH burst forwards towards ASTGHIK, because Freud was a damned maniac and a little thing like his mech rapidly failing underneath him apparently was not going to stop him.

“I don’t want to settle for this!” He lashed out with a kick. ASTGHIK met it with an arm, guiding the attack safely past. Drones, which had to have been the last set by now, streamed out, trailing after LOCKSMITH. ASTGHIK went upwards, firing another napalm bomb downwards at the drones.

“I’ve already learned so much! ” LOCKSMITH followed, shifting slightly to allow ASTGHIK’s missiles to fly past. The Laser Blade ignited, and he struck from top right to bottom left. ASTGHIK’s Pulse Blade met it, in yet another deflection-

Only for the Laser Blade to purge from the arm.

“To simply let this be it- I won’t!” LOCKSMITH punched forwards, arm already in position, something he’d guided Dolmayan into letting happen. The Mech’s metal fist flashed forwards, and in a mirror of what Dolmayan had done to him, promptly slammed directly into ASTGHIK’s Head.

A number of cameras shattered immediately, half the optics broken under the mass of the strike. The shell stood up to it better than a standard BASHO would have, but even so, it was fortunate that Dolmayan was in the air. It meant that his mech shifted more with the blow than he otherwise might have.

“We will meet again.” Freud stated, speaking of this like one would say that the sun would rise. “Do not let this be your limit.”

And then, his ejection pod triggered.

Off it flew, rising through the air before shooting out to the distance at a rather insane speed.

ASTGHIK and LOCKSMITH both fell to the ground. The former landed on its feet, kicking up a puff of smoke. The latter landed on its back, still burning, trailed by a veil of steam.

ASTGHIK straightened up after a moment, head turning to face LOCKSMITH.

“Are you alright?” Seria asked, quietly.

“I’ll live. I simply... had not expected someone so capable.”

No kidding... Freud really was not a joke.

Alright. The only one left now is Michigan.

Rusty would arrive at that side of the battlefield shortly. 621 was already pressing Michigan hard, though. Once it became a two-on-one, it would end quickly.

Something Michigan seemed to realize, now that he was alone on the battlefield.

621 was drawing closer. I could tell that the preparations for another instantaneous defeat were coming up. It was the slight behavioural changes, the preparation.

“Hell. This mission was a shitshow from start to finish.” Michigan’s voice was quieter than it usually was. “Where the heck did they find a merc like you, huh?”

621 didn’t respond. This did not seem to bother Michigan.

LIGER TAIL shifted, Boosting into the air. Hover-thrusters activated, and the mech faced towards 621, who only raised the TURNER in LOADER 4’s right hand.

Michigan’s SONGBIRDS shifted. So did 621’s rifle.

The SONGBIRDS fired. So did the rifle.

The bullet punched in the dead center of the grenade, hitting directly on the fuse. It was a shot so utterly perfect that an FCS couldn’t do it, only absolute skill that came from the peak of transhuman ability.

The Grenade Cannon exploded before it could get its second shot off, detonating on LIGER TAIL’s shoulder. The force of it was beyond violent, and it tossed the mech towards the ground.

621 was already moving. The blade appeared, flashing brightly-

Michigan’s ejection pod shot away before 621 could reach him. LOADER 4 slid to a stop next LIGER TAIL, the blade fading away.

...

Holy shit.

...

“Holy shit, Buddy.” Rusty spoke, landing a small distance away. “That- that was just cool.”

I-

Yeah. Yeah it was.

That was insane.

But yeah, it was cool.

“Mission complete.” I spoke, after a few moments. “Our thanks for your assistance, 621. We can handle matters from here.”

+++

“621...” I spoke. “I’m honestly impressed. Fighting three ACs at the same time is a difficult ask for anybody, but you... you made it through without even so much as getting your paint scratched. Trying to prove something, are you?” I gave a short laugh. “Well, far be it from me to disparage you. You did well. Both Rusty and Dolmayan sent their thanks. The former even asked me to pass on a message: ‘I knew you could do it, Buddy’.” I affected as much of an echo of Rusty’s voice as I could without making it obvious I was just synthesizing a voice.

It’s pretty tricky to do, to be honest.

“Thanks to your assistance, the RLF has decisively repelled the megacorporations at every turn.” I continued. “I imagine that they’re not feeling particularly confident in their ability to take from us anymore. To express our gratitude, we’re extending to you some of the benefits that we give to our affiliates. For you, that means access to certain products that aren’t sold to the megacorporations, so do expect some new items in your shop. Of course, your Handler is also receiving a bit of information which he has been after- something that will give you something to do, soon enough. I do hope we meet again. Farewell, and good luck, 621.”

+++

“It is a genuine wonder that ASTGHIK is still standing.” Seria stated.

Dolmayan was leaning back against a couch, half-splayed across it. A decently sized chunk of his body was beginning to bruise, a product of the many, many abuses that he and Freud had visited upon each other.

Freddie was just about hovering over him, seeing to the easy parts of his recovery after the medics had already gone through the worst parts of it.

Despite that, the mood in the room was a light one.

We had won, and we had won hard.

Everyone had a smile on their faces. Even Seria was happy, despite her current choice of topic.

“Punctures in armour. Structural damage. Right arm has hairline fractures from the hand to the elbow.” Seria continued. “Localized heat shattering from taking repeated laser blasts. The Pulse Blade has heat-warping from all the abuse you put it through, deflecting Freud’s Laser Blade. A secondary power feed that had frayed. And don’t even get me started on what happened to the Head when Freud punched you!” That last one was spoken with a bit of a grouch, but it came entirely from concern for his well-being.

“I had heard of his skill.” Dolmayan said, as Freddie wrapped another bandage around an ice pack. “He was underestimated.”

“There will be a next time, you know.” I said. “And after that showing, I doubt he’ll come back with worse.”

Dolmayan nodded. “You are leading into something.” He said, recognizing the habit.

“You’re overdue for an upgrade.” I said. “And now we’ve got the perfect excuse for one.”

A datapad on the table beeped. Freddie took it and handed it to Dolmayan.

“Tell me. What do you think of this?”