Part 4 – Use of Force
"Everyone pick a dance partner!" Lieutenant Nash called as the five members of AT-7 moved to come to grips with the monsters headed their way. Since they had all targeted the squad's commander, the rushing mechs had to settle for whichever monster was closest.
To throw off the sword-corpse's charge, the LT fired his thrusters, launching forwards, and over the oncoming monster's head, before pivoting on two axis', and touching down facing the now retreating monster's back, while simultaneously deploying his shield. His 15mm autocannon spun up with an angry whirr, and he took aim, only for the creature he'd targeted to leap and roll off to one side.
The other members of AT-7 got to grips with their respective opponents in short succession, with Bass crashing manipulators first into, and locking grips with one of the minotaurs. The creature had tossed aside her warhammer, and met his charge head-on. The human could hear Genny's servo augments whine, as the electropolymer muscle bundles creaked from the strain the large monster was exerting. In a sudden burst of flaring thrusters, he rotated his mech in a twist to the right, flinging both of them to the floor. In a burst of foresight, he rolled his machine away, and sprang back to his feet in a flurry of fire. Taking a ready stance, he clashed his gauntlets together. "Bring it!"
The armored monsters had gone after Red and the Sergeant, and both had decided to deploy their shields to keep the creatures at bay. The sergeant in particular had opted to reconfigure his shield into a heater configuration, and while it was now deeply gouged, he was successfully beating his armored foe back with a flurry of blows. The monster wielded twin sickles, but had to constantly alternate between slashing at his shield, and getting pushed back as the mech-suited human deflected its blows and counterattacked. Gloria was moving smoother than he could ever remember it operating, and he could barely feel the usual pull as the movement synchronization system struggled to keep up.
Red was having a slightly more difficult time, as her armored opponent was armed with a glaive, and would stab at any opening it found, forcing her to deflect with her shield, and adjust her stance before taking aim with her autocannon. However, every time she spun the weapon up to firing RPM and pointed it in her opponent's direction, it would halt its attack and dive out of the way, interposing one of the support columns between itself and a potential stream of bullets. The corporal frowned at her opponent's behavior, but had realized that this wasn't a shambling, mindless corpse, or even a fast, agile corpse. It could clearly think for itself, and that was making the decision to just pull the trigger… hard.
Pistol had drawn the other short straw, and the young man now found himself and Gwenneth facing off against the other minotaur. This one also reacted when she heard the sound of his autocannon spooling up, and would only lunge and swing her oversized ax when the human drew a bead on her, forcing him to deflect with his shield, which was rapidly becoming severely battered. It wasn't looking good for the attachment, as her last blow had crushed the actuator that allowed the upper segments to deploy, and it now spit sparks whenever he swung it due to the damage.
The individual battles raged across the space around the lift in a cacophony of clashing metal, the clatter of armor, and the occasional roar of thrusterfire, all undercut by the hydraulic whirring of autocannons, their sound in particular rising and falling as the mechs tried to bring their weapons to bear. When the LT and Red crossed paths, he had a sudden burst of inspiration. "Switch!" he shouted, and attacked her armored foe with a shield bash, flinging it away hard enough to crash into the wall behind the lift, and collapse in a clatter of metal. As he dashed towards his new opponent, Red took aim at her new opponent, and spun up her autocannon all the way, successfully letting off a burst, and catching the sword-wielding cadaver across the lower legs, blowing one foot clean off at the shin.
Instead of the expected spray of blood and scream of anguish, the shattered limb dripped a grayish black ichor, and the monster promptly fell onto her back, before jerkily attempting to rise once more. After a moment, the organic metal strips on her body grew downwards, and formed a crude foot below the shattered shinbones, allowing the creature to lever herself upright like a marionette rising on its strings, where she then took up a ready guard stance.
Red had switched to the defensive as soon as she'd seen her opponent go down, and fully deployed her shield. She maintained a bead on the creature, and was just getting ready to unload a full burst into the monster, when it spoke again.
"Release… me…"
The creature seemed to visibly fight its own movements to shift from a ready guard to an attacking motion, and gestured with her off hand at her chest.
"Don't… miss…"
In a fraction of a second, the human's finger tightened on the trigger, and sent a stream of shells into the monster, shattering it to pieces in a quick BRRRT! of autocannon fire. As the remains slumped into a pile, the purple glow that had lit its eyes went out.
Across the basement, the other members of AT-7 found their opponents also slumping to the ground like puppets with cut strings, the purple glow from their eyes instantly snuffed out. The minotaurs fell to their knees, and the armored monsters actually collapsed into piles of empty armor pieces.
"Well," Sergeant Rawlins commented, lowering his shield, and regarding his now motionless enemy. "That was anticlimactic."
"Let's get these monsters into one spot, and keep an eye on them when they wake up." The LT ordered.
After a few minutes, the squad had propped the minotaurs up against one of the basement columns, and piled the armor pieces in two separate piles between them. Then they began checking ammunition stores, and assessing battle damage, especially the savaged shields on both Gwenneth and Gloria, while Red and Bass kept watch, their armor having taken the least damage.
"So, what exactly were the armor things?" Red asked, knowing the team's "monster expert" would have a clue.
"Looks to me like they were living armors," Pistol commented, his voice betraying his excitement. "Even among rare monsters, they're almost unheard of, since they have to be built, and can't be born. The intelligence report on then says they're born of lingering regrets, and enchanted armor, so the fact they can even exist in our world at all is more than a little weird. Sensor's picking up steady energy signatures from both piles of armor, so it's a safe bet they're still alive, just unconscious."
"Another challenge for the containment crews, then…"
The Sergeant and Gloria strode over, and picked up one of the helmets from its armor pile. Holding it in a contemplative position, and looking at its now empty eye slit, he felt the presence over his shoulder again. It had been a vague feeling before, but now he'd bet money there was something in his armor with him. Even as a chill raced up his spine, he felt that the presence was regarding the helmet as well, and it was… sad? "It's almost too bad," he found himself saying. "Monsters like these would probably have found a place in a squad like ours." Now the presence seemed mildly offended.
"Command's stance on allowing monsters into frontline units has been pretty fixed for a while, Sarge." Bass commented. "I see your point, but how would we be able to know if they could be trusted?"
The LT was almost ready to cut off that line of questioning, and order the squad to board the lift, when a thin reedy voice stopped him.
"Heyyyy…. Heyyyy… Don't just leave me here."
Red whirled, and brought her autocannon to bear, only to see nothing but the shattered corpse of the cadaver she'd felled.
"Down here…" the voice came again.
Risking some additional light, Red switched on her chest illuminators on their lowest setting, and fully exposed the corpse. Even in the stark light, the ruined body looked… off. One of her rounds had gone clean through the skull, and instead of shattering it, or worse, exploding it, she could now see that the creature's briainpan had been unoccupied. Still, the thing's lungs heaved, and the intact jaw and tongue formed words.
"The body they grafted me to had no mind… no… soul… They forced their control into it, and then bound those others to me… You wish to stop them… Yes?"
Despite the hairs standing up on the back of her neck, Red forced herself to respond "Yes" her mech rumbled out.
"I know you're female… in there… Pick me up… wield me… And maybe… we… can… save…"
The voice was getting fainter, and even George's sophisticated microphones couldn't make out the last words the ruin had mouthed.
"What's this thing saying now?" The LT queried, coming up beside Red, and also looking down that the remains.
"Not… a thing… Am… the sword."
"Red, I'm not comfortable with you maybe deciding to pick up that sword. I won't make it a direct order, but I have significant reservations." The LT said, having heard everything, and seeing the dilemma.
And now the odd line of "wield me" made sense. Which just made the fact that an apparently sentient weapon had been bonded to a dead, brainless thing even worse.
"Sir, we're on a time crunch as it is. If I don't, we may not know who this thing was talking about. It also mentioned saving others. If they were enthralled like these five were, or worse… If I do this, we will gain some valuable intel." The corporal stated, not bothering to hide her distaste at the possibility.
"And if you do, we may lose you forever. Intel on bonded weapons is sketchy at best, and there's no telling what could happen."
"Sir, these monsters… They may not be human. But nobody deserves a fate like this."
"Hey… I… know… it's… creepy… but… give… me… a… break…"
The two mechs traded looks, and Red opened her chestplate to dismount. The smell made things even worse. Whatever the creation the sword had been bonded to had started out as, its maker hadn't bothered trying to make it look nice. Up close, it was covered in surface infections, and had obviously torn ligaments jumping around, leaving its limbs sprawled grotesquely, in addition to the damage her autocannon had wrought. As she got down on one knee next to the remains, she asked the most important question: "Can we save these people you mentioned?"
"Yes… but… we… must… hurry…"
"Then I'll give you permission to bond with me."
"Thanks… You… won't… regret… it…"
"I hope not," the woman muttered, as the sword dropped out of the corpse's grip with a metallic *clang*, and now looked like an ordinary bastard sword, with an orange jewel set in the crossguard. With a deep breath, Red grabbed the hilt, and backed away. "See LT, that wasn't so ba-" she began, before her eyes rolled back, and she staggered, before recovering her balance, turning her head to regard the sword now firmly in her grip.
"Red? Corporal Tomkins!" The LT said sharply, causing the Sergeant to order Pistol and Bass to watch the prisoners, and come over to the LT's side.
"Sorry Lieutenant, but Corporal Tomkins isn't here right now…" the woman in front of them stated slowly. She took a moment to look over her drivesuit-clad body, taking in the hard armored plates, the health indicator lights, and feeling her face with her free hand. "At last, a decent body! I'm finally free of those madwomen! Heh, hee, ha, ha ahaHa Ha AHAHAHA! *cough* *cough* *cough* excuse me. This is most definitely an upgrade."
"What did you do with the Corporal?!" Nash demanded, spinning up his autocannon.
"Hey, whoa, take it easy!" the mind inhabiting the corporal's body protested, raising both her sword arm, and free hand. "Bonding with another mind can be a stressful thing, and she's unconscious right now. She'll wake up in a little bit."
"How do we know you aren't going to just overwrite her mind, and just take over?" The Sergeant put in.
"Look, even if I wanted to do that kind of thing, I couldn't, OK? Long story short, I am not one of those trap weapons. You probably know them as cursed swords."
"Then, what are you?"
"I am, or I was originally, a "blessed weapon", intended to make my wielder the strongest one on the battlefield. Swing me against armor, I get heavier, swing me against hide, my edge gets keener. I grant strength and stamina to even the feeblest of warriors." Here she swept her sword arm into an old style salute. "The sword Aggrandize offers greeting."
"So, Aggrandize, what did you mean, when you said we could "save them", and what was that… thing you were originally a part of?"
Here the woman took on a rueful expression. "I was a fool. They suckered me in by claiming they'd find me someone to bond with. But first, I had to help them keep their project safe. And I thought: "sure, why not", but then they bonded me to… that," she said, gesturing to the remains. "It was never alive, just a collection of limbs and without a brain, powered by specialized organs with one purpose: to control both my power, and whomever they slaved to me."
"Your speech, you're mixing idioms, and you don't sound fully like someone from the other world. What's up with that?" The sergeant asked suspiciously.
"Bonding's a two-way street. I'm borrowing concepts from Mary's mind, so I can explain the situation quickly. Long story short, those four are innocent. They were tasked with guarding parts of this place as well, but were then immediately enthralled once they made the crossing. Once your team began its assault, they were linked to me, and we five were sent to intercept you. After I saw what we were up against, I saw an opportunity. I wasn't sure you'd be willing to help, but since you're friendly to mamono already…"
"We're not." The sergeant cut in. "At least, not in the way you're thinking. There aren't any in this squad, and integrated units aren't sent into situations like this one. But there are a few of the friendlier types on-base."
"There aren't… Oh. I see. Nevermind, then. Back to the topic at hand." Aggrandize continued.
The two mech-suited humans shared a look, and the Sergeant felt like the presence in his armor with him had just heaved a sigh of relief. He was about to probe further, when Mary's body twitched, and shifted her shoulders.
"Looks like she's waking up." Aggrandize reported. I'm gonna sit us down, and we need to settle in a bit before we get moving. In the meantime, I think the four I was sent here with are waking up as well."
And with that, the sword and human combination partially boarded George, and sat in the control saddle, but didn't fully button up. After trading a look, the Sergeant returned to where Bass and Pistol stood over the prisoners, while Lieutenant Nash kept a wary eye on his Corporal. After a bit, Pistol approached.
"LT, Sarge sent me to keep an eye on Red and our new informant. He needs you to help him out with his armor, and decide what we're going to do with those four as well."
"Thank you, Corporal." With that, the LT strode back to where the minotaurs were groggily waking up, while the piles of armor hadn't yet shown any signs of activity. As he approached, the sergeant called to him.
"LT, need a moment."
"What's the situation, Sergeant?"
"I need a level one fast diagnostic done on my armor. It's nothing major, but I can't shake the feeling something's off. If we're heading into something big, I'd rather be at full strength."