Chapter 2: A Short Confrontation
The being quickly sprung up in shock, finding themselves in someplace else as they stumbled to the floor, knocking a table of medical equipment before they paused for a moment and pulled themselves together as they pulled their legs toward and hugged them in the silence before looking about and getting up again, slowly as their legs felt unnatural before their snuck their way past the corridors and into an armory, finding their large-scale frame and crouched down, running a hand on the material before nodding to it and dragging to a workbench and began to remake the frame in a series of fixes, updates, and reworks as another soon found them and quickly headed back to find aid...
"...a change if we had a basic understanding of what we could learn." Ghalt had called for a meeting, Mellka, Deande, and Kleese taking part as the UPR section of the Battleborn spoke his piece while Reyna was messing with her hair. "This Exo frame was a mere myth among the UPR of a division that experimented with heavy hardware and weaponry, some even saying that it was the base of mechanized soldiers."
"But you said that this star was darkened before any of us got to Solus, at least that was what Kleese guessed." Mellka said with a wave of her bio arm as it returned to her small hug in thought. "The Codex didn't say anything about such things, if it did, then it would have been forever ago in history."
"There is another fact that concerns me, Captain." Deande mused in worry as she had a hand to her jaw and the other to her hip. "From what Miss Reyna said, the machine, in the short time, targeted Ambra with its attack and grabbed Alani, its weapons being primed before it gunned for Ambra once more with Foxtrot stopping it short with both its arms gone, correct?" Mellka got the gist quick.
"You think that the operator was targeting Ambra on purpose?"
"It is possible, I need to get a proper explanation to the action before I can figure it out more." Suddenly, Galilea rushed in panic, panting as she spoke.
"Commanders, the pilot is awake... and is reworking their machine." Kleese was first to speak on the subject.
"Impossible, that must be decades of work to be done to get that husk of a machine moving again!"
"I don't know, but the pair of Rogues were heading down there to get their gear, regardless of what was happening in the armory." Reyna quickly stood up and dashed through the way as Ghalt spoke.
"Get everyone prepped in the sub-armory, this could get messy!" Galilea nodded as Kleese, Mellka, and Deande followed her while Ghalt chased Reyna down the way to stop her from doing something dangerous...
"This is foolish..."
"Don't be like that, Aurox." Shayne smiled as she strolled on into the armory, to check her various boomerangs. "Galilea was probably just trying to fool us into hiding in some corner and cry ourselves, nothing short of the Varelsi is going to break us, buddy." The Guayota placed a claw over his face as he sighed at the girl's lack of fear.
"That is not what I meant, now that you have looked at your 'collection', can we..." Aurox stopped when the shift of metal caught his ear and he turned to look, searching for the sound as Shayne continued her survey before smiling and stepping back.
"There we go, we are all..." The sound returned and Shayne snapped around in search as well. "What the hell was that, there shouldn't be anyone else here!"
"Like Galilea 'said'!?" Both looked at each other before getting into combat form and Shayne lead the way as they looked about the racks and stands for the source, Aurox keeping his eyes open before he pulled Shayne out of the way as something crushed through the rack of Oscar Mike's equipment, a helmet rolled before it was crushed underfoot as a mechanized being stepped from the destruction and seemed to eye both with a regular eye and something that could be work as a scanner. "Shayne, brace yourself!" The teen did so as her companion put up a guard when the reworked arms, tri-nozzles in the palms of the cylinders, suddenly blasted jets of flames at them, the sheer heat searing Shayne before the heat disappeared and the machine overheated its jets. The teen wanted to attack while they can, but she quickly noticed that Aurox's body was seared far worse than what he was ready for, his arms shaking as they were glowing red as she felt the surge of pain from him. "Shayne... I can't... the pain..."
"Come on, let's get out of here NOW!" She quickly cloaked and started to run from the exit as Aurox tried to nurse his new burns, but nothing was working, but that was quickly out of her mind as the being turned and pointed, firing a fireball that burned through her jeans, dispute her clock, and stomped toward them as her leg was now subjected to second-degree burns in a quick matter, both needing a miracle, just as one did, the machine's arm grabbed by a familiar hook and they looked to find Ghalt from the other door, his trademark revolver shotgun in hand.
"Step away from my team, they are not yours to hurt." The machine tried to pull Ghalt close, but the Firstborn didn't let it happen as he pulled hard, toppling the mech to the floor as Reyna ran over and lifted Shayne up, Aurox floating in pain as more Battleborn came into the room, the spy mistress the last of the four reinforcements that the eyes shifted from blue to yellow and it willingly charged into Ghalt, shoulder check him and using his energy hook to slam him into Montana, toppling both for a bit as Toby and Mellka jumped in and tried to hold the monster in place as Deande quickly struck, her Blink Storm slamming into the machine before it toppled forward, Mellka and Toby dodging out of the way as the battle was over quicker than expected. "Well, that... could have gone better." Ghalt rolled his head and shook it as he got up, Montana pushing up from the metal as the band gathered around it. "Galilea said that the pilot was on their feet, but how the hell did they managed to get this far and rig up a battle suit in such short time?"
"Maybe we should crack it open, see what the hell thinks it's good to fight the Battleborn." Mellka readied her bio blade, but just before she could stab it, the mech moved, grabbing her leg and hanging her upside down as she shouted, the others ready for battle once more. "Put me down, you bucket of bolts!"
"...Eldrid..." The voice came out mechanical, deep, and rumbling. "Part-Aplian, part-Aelfrin... records do not recognize current Eldrid." Mellka thought quick as she shouted.
"I am the 95th Red Observer, Mellka Hyenyota!" The mech thought about it before it dropped her on the ground and stumbled back, falling to the ground as it was at a loss. Mellka grimaced as she turned to Ghalt. "I think I broke them."
"Database at fault... current state of Lothar Rendain...!?" The band looked at each with unease before Ghalt spoke first.
"Rendain's gone, we opened a portal right on him and his scheme to plunge the Last Star of Solus into darkness." The mech started to shut down, the arms falling to the sides as they started to hear... sobbing, Ghalt putting his weapon down as he crouched down and spoke. "Hey... are you okay...?"
"All these years... and they are all dead, my friends, my allies, my target, and now my mission..." The sobbing continued as Deande ran a hand along her arm as Montana adjusted his hat and left with a sigh, Mellka following the big guy while Toby set out to find his team, the being inside continuing in grief." Please... put me out of my misery... I have nothing to work for..." Ghalt paused as he looked at his weapon, but Deande strode right up and held her hand onto the Peacekeeper's wrist as she shook her head before getting to the side and knelt down.
"Hear me out, if you are willing." The yellow lens looked at Deande, both staring as the yellow faded to blue.
"Spymaster Deande, right-hand of Lothar Rendain, secret manager of the Thrall Rebellions and liberator of the Kemessian, Caldarius, your actions mark you as a 'reasonable' Jennerit." The figure sighed as it turned back to the open doorway. "What a strange mix of members here, are the Battleborn truly the best that could save the stars or are the factions really stupid to just think that victory is won by their lonesome?" The sigh came again as it turned to look at the Jennerit. "Do you have anything that could ease my soul?"
"I was thinking of opening up something of a therapy treatment, it could help in ease the burdens of all abroad this ship." The mech stood up with Deande and Ghalt as the Captain lead the way.
"Just follow us and we can get you set up for the first session." The being nodded as it followed them through while Ghalt was thinking of any ways to repair the damages that the figure had caused in the armory, even the loss of one of Oscar's helmets...