It stood taller than a Sawtooth, perched on two legs and sporting viciously clawed hands. It looked, Ikrie thought, like someone had taken a Watcher and decided to make one a hunter-killer in its own right. When it turned, the sunlight caught on a sickle-shaped talon, one on each foot. Those were made, she immediately knew, for slicing and opening up soft bellies.
That was how it got its name, and it was clear why. But when it opened its mouth, that didn't look any less deadly. The teeth of the lower jaw, it appeared, were set on tracks of some sort. The purpose of that became clear with a buzz of servos, which turned the Clawstrider's teeth into a blur of rending motion. Pair that with the hooked fangs of the upper jaw, which looked like they would sink into place and hold, while the moving teeth… Ikrie gulped, and studied the machine for anything else of note.
Well, not much in the way of vulnerabilities. Two Metal Vessels extending from the hip. Some armoured plates on the chest and the back. It didn't look as substantial as most other Machines of its kind, but she was prepared to bet it would be faster. Slim strips of metal lined the Machine's body and limbs, resembling scales. Actually, she thought, sneaking a glance as Aloy's armour, not so much scales as feathers.
"So that's a Clawstrider?" she hissed in Aloy's ear. "Never seen anything like them."
Aloy gave her a small, comforting smile at the admission. Then she clicked her neck and rolled her shoulders. "They're a new breed – I've only seen them in the Sundom." She paused, and corrected herself. "So far."
"Maybe this is how non-Banuk feel when they see a Scorcher." Albeit without having to worry about those horrid mine-launchers, she considered. Or the fire breath.
"Or two," Aloy said, pointing and grimacing. Sure enough, when Ikrie looked, she caught a telttale glint of metal. At least one other Clawstrider. "Probably best to check if there are any more."
There were three of them, all told, which they found out as they traversed the edge of the zone.
"As quick and nasty as they look," Ikrie said. "Just like Talanah said. Which makes them a tricky proposition. So we're using Frost?"
"More likely Shock. Anything that'll slow them down."
Ikrie nodded, and tried to suppress a pang as a thought occurred to her. This will be the first new Machine I face without Mailen. She saw Aloy's questioning look, and mustered a smile. It'll be alright. I've got her.
That thought, coming unbidden as it did, made her heart skip. She tried to push the thought to one side and regain her focus, but too late. "So, who's staring now?" smirked Aloy, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
Ikrie stuck her tongue out at her, the kind of childish gesture that always drove Mailen to exasperation, but seemed to amuse Aloy. Then she tried to regain some semblance of dignity and thoughtfulness. "Seeing as these Machines don't have any ranged weapons-"
"As Talanah said."
"As Talanah said." She gave Aloy a look. "I'm not trying to impugn the good word of your – I mean our Sunhawk. Just, you know how the Banuk teach hunters."
Aloy smiled. "Never assume that another hunter's word is good enough. Wait, look and listen for yourself. At least, that was Rost's version of it."
Ikrie watched her companion cautiously, choosing her words with some care. "I think I prefer that over how my teachers put it. But finally circling back to my own point…" And here she gave the redhead a chastising look. "They'll have to come to us. Assuming your Focus thing hasn't picked up any hidden nastiness." Aloy reassuringly shook her head. "So if we lay some tripwires, we can lure them into a whole world of hurt."
Encouragingly, Aloy had reached for her Tripcaster before she'd even finished talking. "Good call. So if we head back up to that bit of high ground there, we can lay down a few wires."
The spot she indicated lay between two large boulders, those sitting about ten feet apart and maybe five times that from the Machines. That could work as a vantage, but Ikrie was struck by the realisation that if the Clawstriders did reach them there, they'd be easily hemmed in. They'd have to take care that their shelter didn't become a trap.
"We'll need to set some traps around those rocks," she said. "If I put down some blast ones, that could drive the Machines into the middle, right into our line of fire. Sound good?"
"I like it."
Ikrie both appreciated and hated this sort of prolonged setup for a fight. She'd happily take any advantage, no argument there. Especially against an unfamiliar foe. That said, it also left her to think for an uncomfortably long time. She had to stop herself from trying to rehearse the fight in her head, to keep her mind open that she couldn't predict its course. Especially against an unfamiliar foe.
Ten minutes' work had them about as ready as they could hope to be, with a few,
"Maybe we can start with a Hardpoint Arrow," Aloy mused. "Or three," she added, laying a trio along her bowstring. "Let's take a strip off one."
"Suit yourself." Ikrie dropped a Shock Bomb into her sling. "On the count of three?"
"Sure. One two…"
A slingshot didn't travel as fast as an arrow, so Aloy's Hardpoint struck home with its satisfying crunch while Ikrie's bomb was still arcing through the air. Still, Ikrie had put plenty of power into the shot, and the Clawstrider had only just recoiled from the arrow, its vicious jaw askew, when the bomb hit and stripped the armour from its flank, along with a few of its long 'feathers'.
The blue eyes flashed to predatory red immediately, followed in turn by those of the other two. Ikrie was ready for that, but she was less prepared for the sound. A hideous shrieking reeeeeee broke from all three Machines, the sort of noise that went through you and make Ikrie's hand tighten on her sling.
Aloy recovered first, setting another Hardpoint to her string. Shamed into action, Ikrie reached for a shock bomb as the Clawstriders launched straight into a charge.
The Clawstrider in the lead lurched and snarled when Aloy's arrow struck the armour of its chest, punching through and twisting the metal around it. "Good hit!" Ikrie called as she sent a shock bomb rocketing skywards.
That hit the second Machine, slowing it. Good. They had to space out such fast attackers.
The wounded Clawstrider tried to cut around to the side, but its manic course carried it straight across two explosive tripwires. Fire and earth fountained upwards, tearing away strips of armour and flinging the Machine into an untidy, screeching heap. Good and prone.
Ikrie grabbed a blast bomb, took aim and lobbed it – the Clawstrider didn't even have time to get up before it struck. "Yes!" she yelled. No coming back from that.
"One hunter-killer down!" cheered Aloy.
That was some comfort. They definitely couldn't take the same level of punishment as a Sawtooth or Scorcher. The flipside, however, was that the other two were closing the gap rapidly. Aloy struck the first Clawstrider on the flank, making it veer off course so it hit a shock tripwire and came to a halt, webbed by coursing electricity.
But the second came on, leaping over its paralysed fellow and spreading its clawed hands wide. Its velocity brought it through the gap between the rocks. Now their shelter was turned against them, putting them at close quarters with the predator. The Clawstrider's lower teeth were already in whizzing, screaming, shredding motion. She and Aloy fired again. It flinched from both hits but barely lost an ounce of speed.
And it went straight for her.
"Argh!" Ikrie hurled herself backwards, the clawed foot splitting the air a hand's breadth from her face. She transitioned into a roll born of honed reflexes, jabbing with her spear when the Clawstrider snapped at her again. Aloy fired again, and again, arrows ripping into the armour.
But then it came at her with another lunge, a kick which she didn't dodge. She toppled back onto the grass, and the unrelenting Machine came for her with a springy leap. Ikrie twisted to avoid the claws, crying out in naked fright. Her attacker hit hard enough to shake the ground, its talons stabbing deep into the dirt.
There wasn't time to reflect that had she been there still, there'd be at least three massive holes in her. She was pinned down, caged by the grasping metal hands. The Clawstrider reeeeee'd into her face, before its mouth opened and the sound was lost under the vile whine of its spinning teeth. The awful mouth opened wide, filling her world…
And then there was a flash of orange-red and turquoise in the corner of Ikrie's eye. There was the sound of metal tearing, a fizzing of electricity, and the Clawstrider howled as it toppled sideways. The whole blade of Aloy's spear had plunged right into its side, driven by her full weight, and she let it go to help Ikrie up.
For a second, Ikrie looked at her, elated. But then came the reeeeeee of the last Clawstrider, which had won free of the tripwires and was now barrelling towards them. Aloy hooked her foot under Ikrie's discarded spear, flicked up and caught it, while Ikrie went again for her sling.
Aloy got in close, darting around the Clawstrider and rolling away from its attacks while Ikrie took aim, trying to get a clear shot. "C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon…" she hissed, knowing how narrow any opening would be. But then she saw the coiling of its strange mechanical muscles, the Machine winding up like a spring for a lunging attack. Now or never.
She released the bomb. It burst on the Clawstrider's flank and its leap went wide. Aloy didn't miss a beat. She turned and slashed with her spear, dragging the edge across the Machine's armour and staggering it. It turned to attack her again, but now Ikrie had a blast bomb sailing through the air toward it. It burst against the now brittle plates on the Machine's back and smashed its metal spine. The Clawstrider last slumped to the ground, inert.
Ikrie punched the air, letting out a fierce howl which would've got her a very disapproving look from her elders back home. As it was though, she had Aloy with her, and the Nora huntress was every bit as jubilant.
"That," she said, shaking her head, "was intense. Glad we planned it out, at least the start."
"I'll say." Ikrie caught her breath, and took back her spear as Aloy went to retrieve her own. "Two of those things at once would've been much worse."
"Quite a test," Aloy remarked as she planted a foot on the fallen Clawstrider and tugged her weapon free. "But at least it looks like there's a good haul of metal on these machines, and this one's heart still looks intact."
Which was more than Ikrie could say for the two she'd killed. The last one to go down had a smoking crater in its side. The other among the remaining tripwires, short of a leg and an arm. Certainly not the cleanest kills.
But hey, she was here for trophies rather than parts, and to take out some Machines which would've threatened people's lives. They'd succeeded on both fronts. Thanks to her and Aloy, no lives would be lost to those vicious talons. So she decided to focus on enjoying their victory.
"So," she said to Aloy, . "Are you thinking the same as me for trophies?"
Aloy looked amusedly at her. "You're sure the claws aren't too obvious?"
"Not at all. Also, I want to see everyone's faces when we walk into the Lodge with these in our hands."
Aloy hugged her. "You're much too endearing when you're this cocky."
And Ikrie wondered how much she should let the swell of warmth in her heart show. A lot, she decided. So she hugged Aloy back. "Hey, thanks for having my back again there."
Aloy pulls back just a little to look into her eyes. "You told me, not too long ago, to put my spear besides yours. So I did." And for a little moment, before they had to start looting, retrieving their surviving tripwires and moving on, Ikrie felt strangely complete.
