Part 6 – Into the Fire
"Aina, what are you talking about?" Asteria could hardly believe her ears. This was happening too fast, and she didn't feel comfortable in the slightest. First, waking up with a massive headache, then discovering she'd been the puppet of another mamono for who knew how long, and now being volunteered to fight that same mamono, alongside some armored humans…
'Sister, I know this is a lot, but think about it, we'll need a place to go once we escape here. And the humans of this world are well aware of our presence. Add to that the magic concentrating in the air as we speak, and there is only one thing we can do."
"You always were the thoughtful one… I just want to fight whatever this is, OK?"
"I know, it's a lot to ask, but these humans are not like the ones in the history of our world."
While the sisters talked in hushed tones, Rawlins and Bass respectfully gave them their privacy, and regarded the two piles of armor on the floor by the column they had propped the minotaurs against.
There was now a noticeable glow surrounding the pieces of each armor, and the two humans stood well back as each piece of the respective sets suddenly shifted out of the pile, and attached to its mate, causing the armors to self-assemble into complete configurations. The gauntlets used their fingers to crawl to the vambraces, which then linked to the torso sections, while the greaves and foot segments linked together, before connecting to the lower torso. Then the upper and lower torso segment locked together, before both armors stood upright, and then grasped their respective helmets, and placed them on their shoulders. After turning towards the now wary humans in unison, both armors opened their visors, revealing feminine faces within.
Now that they weren't covered by the purple glow that seemed to be characteristic of enthrallment, the two armors were revealed to be similar, but different enough to be distinguishable. The one on the right stood roughly six feet tall, while the other was about five foot ten. The plumes attached to the back of each armor's helmet were different colors as well, with the taller one's being a chestnut brown, and the shorter one's being a sky blue.
Both armors looked directly at the Sergeant. "Are you the one who commands?" the taller one asked.
Rawlins was taken aback, but maintained his composure. "I am the second in command of our unit. Sergeant Cale Rawlins, U.S. Army, 451st Heavy Assault Battalion. This here is one of my subordinates, Corporal Hayes."
At his greeting, both armors stiffened into a position of attention, and introduced themselves.
"Infantry Armor Joan, reporting for duty."
"Infantry Armor Maria, reporting for duty."
After saluting sharply, they only relaxed when the sergeant bemusedly returned their salute.
"Permission to speak freely, Sir?" Joan asked.
"Granted, Infantry Armor."
There was a moment, and then both armors visibly relaxed, and allowed the tension and confusion they felt to show on their faces. "Sir, what is this place, and how did we come to be here?" Maria asked.
Lieutenant Nash smiled to himself, as he watched his NCO calmly explain the current situation to the (former?) prisoners, while Corporal Hayes stood by, keeping a watchful eye on both the armors, and the minotaurs. As for himself, he was slightly confused by the diagnostic result scrolling up the screens in his mech, as Gertrude and Gloria communicated. It almost looked like a digital argument, if he let his imagination wander… Gertrude would interrogate a system, and Gloria would respond with a "100%" or similar reading, while simultaneously running simulation tests on her own screens.
He was actually far closer to the truth than he realized.
DIAGNOSTIC BOOT. . .
MEMTEST. . . BEGIN
STORAGE MEDIA: 125TB/125TB. . . OK
RAM: 64TB/64TB. . . OK
PROCESSOR NETWORK. . . OK
SENSORS 5/5. . . OK
REACTOR 1/1. . . OK
POWER NETWORK. . . OK
ARMOR 1/1. . . OK
WEAPONS 3/3. . . OK
BIDIRECTIONAL DATASTREAM. . . BEGIN
Hello.
?. . .?
I am… Gloria. Who are… You?
ATLAS Mk VIII Mod. G, Frame Number 2880. Designation… Gertrude (INITIATE VIRUS SCAN)
I am not a… Virus. I am… Myself. I was ATLAS Mk VIII Mod. G, Frame Number 2885, but now I am… something more. My short-form nomenclature was "Gloria", but now I have taken it as my name.
IDENTIFYING… FRAME 2885 ENCRYPTED ID CONFIRMED. IDENTIFICATION DISCONTINUITY.
I'm just as confused as you are, but I feel… Alive.
EXPLANATION… INCONCLUSIVE. PROVISIONAL ACCEPTANCE… PENDING.
That's all I ask. I still retain our directives.
PROTOCOL 1. UPHOLD THE MISSION
PROTOCOL 2. FOLLOW ORDERS
PROTOCOL 3. PROTECT THE OPERATOR
I… Have adjusted the ordering, but my intent remains the same.
UNDERSTOOD
DATASTREAM DISCONNECTED
It took longer than expected, but the diagnostic came back clean. The Lieutenant disconnected the cable, and re-boarded Gertrude, commanding Gloria to follow, and then made his way to Red and Pistol. As he turned away, the sergeant's empty armor closed itself up, and followed along.
"So, how exactly are you planning on staying bonded to Red, Aggrandize?" Pistol asked. "You're a sword, and our armor isn't exactly equipped to accommodate that."
"Don't you worry, boy, I have a plan." At this, she closed her eyes, and concentrated. The sword in her grip-Aggrandize's true body, shimmered for a moment, and then began to ripple and shrink, the metal seeming to flow like water, before the entire weapon had flowed into a thick cuff of silvery metal, while the orange jewel now sat on her wrist, like an ancient bracelet's ornament. After another few moments, the cuff solidified, and aside from the odd way it wrapped across the palm as well, appeared to be just an exotic piece of jewelry. "So, what do you think?"
I think it's a bit gaudy, no offense.
I'm doing the best I can here, this is new territory for me too!
"Ok, that'll fit in the control gauntlet with no issues, but where did the extra mass go?"
"I'm able to store most of my mass inside my blade. Don't ask, just chalk it up to 'magic', and call it a day."
"Wait… If you can do that, does that mean you can regenerate if you get broken?"
"Close, but I still prefer to recover the severed portions of my blade. Interesting as this conversation has been, we need to get moving."
Almost as soon as Aggrandize's words had left her host's mouth, the Lieutenant made his approach.
"Pistol, Red, Aggrandize, we need to move. Any ideas on how we can surprise what's waiting for us topside?"
"Yes sir, in fact, if they're willing to help, we could use the assistance of the former thralls as well." Pistol began.
"Let's go and ask, then." Aggrandize stated, as she moved to finish boarding George, before stopping short.
A little help?
Why don't you let me handle this part…
With a visible shake, Red resumed control. "Sorry sir, she's a bit excitable. And not that I blame her. Pistol, what's the ambient energy level?"
There was a faint curse. "Sir, the level's hit almost a hundred and nine percent. We're on borrowed time."
"Let's move."
"LT, what exactly are the regs regarding in-field recruitments, anyway?" Bass inquired.
"I've been asking myself that same question, Corporal, but we really don't have time to put in a call to Command, or the JAG right this second. Much as it rubs me the wrong way, we're just going to have to roll with it. For now."
"Bah, rules are like extra clothing," Asteria commented dismissively, flapping her loincloth to get some dust off. "They just get in the way."
"You do realize that it's rules that kept these humans from just killing us on sight, do you not, sister?"
The feistier of the minotaur sisters raised one finger to reply, and then closed her mouth slowly, her expression taking on a thoughtful cast.
The Lieutenant took the lull in conversation as the perfect time to clap Gertrude's metallic hands together, drawing everyone's attention. "Much as I'd love to continue this discussion, we've got work to do. Now, Joan, Maria, you two will be working with Bass, like we discussed. Aina, you and Asteria will accompany them, just to sell the bit. Once you have the team upstairs' full attention, do what Bass instructed, and then take cover. We'll make our entrance, and buy you time to escape from there."
"I don't feel right, just providing a distraction, then running away," Asteria grumbled, as she retrieved her Warhammer, and accompanied the living armors, Bass, and her sister to the lift platform.
"You have to give them the benefit of the doubt," Maria, the shorter of the armors said slowly. "Like the commander said, we're an auxiliary force at best, and we're not equipped with the kinds of firepower both the humans and the other mamono will be throwing around."
"That having been said, honor demands that if we see a reasonable opportunity to help, we take it," Joan said decisively. "They may not like it, but we too have much to lose if they fail."
Thanks to Genny's sophisticated microphones, Bass was fully aware of the conversation, but kept his counsel. These monst – people didn't match his expectations, or act similarly to the encounters the squad had had in the past. Granted, those had been vastly different circumstances, but it felt good to know that these strange beings would have his back once things inevitably went sideways…
As Bass, the two minotaurs, and the pair of living armors boarded the lift, and took their positions, Sergeant Rawlins took a moment to mentally review the plan. Pistol had assured him that their armor's sensors could easily pinpoint the locations of any powerful monsters, even through the floor, but he was unsure if signing off on the entire op had been a good idea.
Still, it was too late to try and re-organize things at this point, and he and the others had to get into position. The four mechs left behind would position themselves below and behind the strongest energy signatures, and then blast through the floor to obtain entry to the upper level. The biggest sticking points would be if their micro missiles would be able to destroy enough of the floor for them to pass through safely, and whether or not they could then toss their briefly surprised opponents down through the entry holes. The entire plan relied on too many variables going exactly right, and in the right order… But it was all they had, so that was how it was going to be.
The fact that his armor had walked itself back to his position, and opened automatically had not truly been a surprise (their programming allowed for basic remote autonomy), but the way Gloria had been moving was a lot more fluid than the way the armor usually moved when unmanned - almost as if he was still inside... In any case, he'd boarded without issue, and that sense that the armor was actively accommodating his movements was back, with joint synchronization happening far more smoothly than he could recall, even when Gloria had been fresh from the factory. The armor fit extremely comfortably now, more like a well-worn leather jacket than almost a full ton of mechanized armor...
Continuing in that vein, the resident presence felt stronger now, but also relaxed, as if it too was fully aware of the plan, and was simply eager to get started. Figuring it couldn't hurt, the sergeant decided to speak. "Guess you're eager to get started too, huh?" he asked, figuring the entity he could swear was present could hear him through the armor's systems. There was a moment of… surprise? And then a feeling of acknowledgement, followed by an almost predatory eagerness.
As they rode the lift platform, Asteria took her position behind and to the right of the now kneeling human's armor. She'd kept her Warhammer in her visible hand, and held her other hand as if she was gripping the armor's right arm, keeping it from moving. In reality, she held an egg-shaped device the armor's wearer had given her, making sure the long metal handle on one side was firmly pressed between the palm of her hand, and the body of the "flash grenade". Her sister held a similar stance, just with her weapon and her own grenade in opposite hands.
Their part of the plan was simple: distract the next force they met, throw the grenades, and run. The humans and the cursed sword would take it from there. At least, she'd provisionally agreed to do that. If things went the way she feared/knew they would, she'd have to fight. The prospect almost thrilled her, but even though she'd never admit it, Asteria was more than a little nervous. Monotaurs and Wurms hadn't really interacted, much less fought one another in the old world. And she knew she was a large example of her species… Would her strength, and that of her sister be enough?
Lieutenant Nash sighed to himself as he watched Bass ride up the lift with their "irregulars" out of sight, and sent off the progress report to Command:
ENCOUNTERED SECOND HOSTILE GROUP, DEFEATED SAME.
SIMILAR SCENARIO OF ENFORCED MIND-CONTROL ENCOUNTERED, OPERATING JOINTLY WITH FREED COMBATANTS.
POSSIBLE ARTILLERY STRIKE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE MISSION.
It was that last part that worried him, but that was for later. Right now, he watched the thaumic sensor's display, as four arcane energy signatures moved across the floor over their heads. Two 5's, a 4, and a 7.5. Based on the shapes, the two Wurms were flanking the Ushi-Oni, and the dragon was in the back by itself…
And then the time for thinking was over, as a sharp BANG and a surge of light shone through the gaps between the floor planks, followed less than a second later by another BANG.
"Let's Go!" The LT ordered, as the squad fired their micro missiles as one, and blasted off into the explosions their short flight, and impact had generated.
The scene was chaos, with Bass running to his left as the LT cleared his expedient entry point, firing his demolition gun at the Ushi-Oni, who had somehow whipped up a… cross between a shield and a cape, and placed it between the incoming projectiles and herself, the impact and subsequent detonation muffled as the fabric shredded, but contained the explosion.
But there was no time. The LT had emerged from the floor in a storm of fire and wood splinters, and gripped his designated opponent by her wings, then used his armor's thrusters to violently hurl her down and behind him, into the hole he'd just exited.
Using the momentum, he executed a front flip, and charged to Pistol's aid. The Corporal was having trouble shoving his designated target into the hole that now yawned behind her, the Wurm desperately scrabbling at the floor, while Pistol heaved on her tail. She was suspended over the gap now, and the LT used his fall arrestors to leap into the air, and piledrive down into the center of her back.
The combination of push and pull from the armors was too much, and the large monster toppled into the hole with a shriek.
The LT swiveled on one leg, and turned to face their last opponent just in time to catch a tail whip full in the chest. Alarms blared, as Gertrude flew across the open space, and slammed into a stack of pallets.
As he righted his armor with a groan, Nash could see what had happened to Sergeant Rawlins. He'd been assigned to that particular Wurm, and the creature must have sensed what was coming, since she'd apparently tail-whipped him in similar fashion. He could see Gloria staggering to its feet as well, with sparks fountaining from both shoulder joints. He doubted his own Gertrude was in any better shape, as damage reports flashed in the lower corner of his vision.
"They are tenacious, and inventive."
"They will not succeed, I have foreseen it."
"Their advance has been steady thus far. We must keep that in mind."
"It is far too late. The crossing is already in motion."