Present Day, 20XX
Schwarzwald, Deutschland (Germany).
The hammer slammed into the earth with an almighty crash, sending shockwaves out across the ground, decimating all except one of the tall, sharp boxy figures in front of its wielder. The wielder, a hulking figure in grey, spun the hammer in the air as if it were a mere child's toy. Behind them a large group of dishevelled and bloodied civilians huddled together, using the pair as cover.
A red monochrome light flickered within the lone machine's visor, a bright glow under the darkened plains with obsidian clouds blotting out the midday sun. Amber glowed on the horizon and dazzling fireworks erupted in the twilight above. A firework leapt across the sky in a graceful arc of white and ruby, leaving a faint white smoke trail as it passed over.
With a quiet whirring of internal rotors, the machine raised its right arm and pointed a rifle at the nearby hulking figure. Ripples of red hot projectiles lanced towards a bright neon blue barrier, soaking into the projection to little effect. Discordant clanging and sparks flew off the front of the machine. It merely extended some kind of arc welder and sealed shut, a hole in the side plate. The source of the fire, a young soldier, blanched and backed away slowly.
''Get ze refugees out of here! I vill hold them back!'' The soldier next to him nodded and ran off to the woods, calling out to those around her to follow. The warrior stood tall and fast, defiant and focused. The huddle of civilians scrambled through towards the distant tree-line, men, women and children ahead of the dark tide of beige. The warrior's suit HUD indicated power dropping dangerously low within in the shield emitters. He dismissed the notification with a quick thought sent to his suit's internal computer.
The two stood facing each other. Flesh, organics, synthetics against synthetics. How many had fallen on the long road to this moment? How many more would fall, innocents on both sides lost due to an unknown force with malignant intentions.
A thick crack nosily erupted in the top right quadrant of the shield and branched out quickly towards the central emitters. Still the Crusader held fast, and his shield held. Siege Automaton E54 whirred inquisitively, red optic flashing green briefly, observing closely the soldier in front of it.
E54 stopped firing and reloaded the rifle with a quick, reflex of rotors, inserting a new clip into the weapon with inhuman speed. Before the warrior had time to take more than a single breath in and out, the amber streams had recommenced. The Crusader staggered towards the source of fire, amber streams raining upon him to little effect and he charged forward - dragging his hammer across the ground, leaving a crescent of force blasting towards the siege automaton.
It sidestepped the crescent.
Inside the Crusader's helmet, the young german's eyes widened in surprise. How could zis be?! Zey never dodged ze Fire Strike before! Some new programmen?! The siege automaton remained as dispassionate as before, whirring with robotic reaction, as if merely settling down for the day.
The Crusader was running out of time with more siege automatons appearing closer, laying amber streams at his position with devastating accuracy. A larger one fired high calibre cannons at him, shredding through the barrier and his armour with ease. His HUD blared shrill warnings. ACHTUNG! ACHTUNG! Multiple breaches in armour integrity. Punctured lung. Breached battery. Shattered thigh bone. He collapsed to one knee but still the amber streams did not stop.
The shield completely shattered. Turning his head around to glance behind him, silhouettes of a few humanoid figures in the distance disappeared into the black tree-line. He had been defeated but he had bought enough time.
The amber streams had stopped.
Siege Automaton E54 trod across the muddy terrain and walked past the kneeling figure and stopped behind him. He put the muzzle of his gun next to the back of the Crusader's head. A single lone shot rang out, somehow louder than the carnage and explosions around it. Or so it seemed to E54.
*Knock Knock* echoed across the battlefield. The muddy woodland flickered greener for a fraction of a second.
Error. Error. Timestamp conflicts with internal clock.
Correction in Progress.
Progressing.
Progressing.
*Knock Knock* The body of the Crusader faded out of existence and back into existence.
Correction complete. Data corresponds to log, taken 10 years ago.
System reboot in progress...
Complete.
*Peck Peck*
Siege Automaton E54 whirred a little at the beam of new daylight poking down into his visor and at the sight of a yellow cardinal staring down at him, chirping happily. He whee'd appreciatively and tenderly outstretched his hand, mighty digits softly stroking the bird's white feathered chest. The cardinal, Ganymede, squawked happily and nuzzles the side of its head against his fingers.
Schwarzwald was a long time ago, Bastion told himself.