Ch 9: Cut Loose

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

― G.K. Chesterton

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."

― Robert A. Heinlein

"So here's an interesting thought. What if you were suddenly given the power of a god, right here right now? What would be the first thing you change about our universe with your godly power?"

I give an irritated huff at Mia's rambling.

"I'd probably get rid of, 'what if' questions, thus saving all of the galaxy from a life of intellectual sin."

"Aw c'mon Chief lighten up a little! It's not like you to be all tense before we even get to the fighting part."

"It's not the fighting I'm worried about. It's the fact that I'm trying to simultaneously keep you entertained, fill out this paperwork and ignore the fact that the only unoccupied chair in this entire base was a storage crate that is currently deforming my rear end."

"Your butt cheeks aside, when's the big strategy meeting happening?"

"In about an hour or so. I hope Nagi or Vandham show up to run it, or else H.B. is gonna turn this planning op into a political diatribe."

She shivers.

"Ugh, I wish I could pretend you're exaggerating."

"Funny, I feel the same way."

We continue our pointless banter as time goes by. Celica, Julun and Vi are currently performing final maintenance checks on their Skells, so Mia had predictably gotten bored and started talking to me instead, since seemingly everyone in the base was busy with one task or another.

Which is kinda to be expected honestly. Alpha Base is practically overflowing with both people and machines at this point. One hundred forty two Skells, seven hundred fifty five personal of varying species, and who knows how many storage vehicles and containers make for a very crowded workplace.

My comm chimes at me and I stand up, happily throwing away the tablet that had all the forms on it. Time to do something actually productive.

"Alright Mia it's been almost fun talking to you, gotta get going to the meeting of big cheeses."

"Ugh fine then. Guess I'll go try to find some other people who are currently bored out of their minds."

"Only you could manage to be bored on the eve of the apocalypse."

"Don't exaggerate."

I snort and wave as I walk off.

"I thank you all for coming, as of now we'll commence our final meeting before engaging the Ganglion. Any final questions or concerns about the battle plan we have devised should be asked now, as there will certainly not be an opportunity to ask later."

I snort, a gesture mirrored by the other occupants of the room. Thankfully Nagi flew out to Alpha Base to facilitate this meeting, and is going to be staying at the fortress until the conflict is decided one way or another.

I take a moment to glance around the room, a re-purposed Ganglion lookout bunker, and do a quick headcount of who's attending. For the Wrothians Ga Jiarg and Ga Buidhe are in attendance, Walter is representing the special weapons squad, while twenty three Skell team leaders are in attendance. I had been surprised to see Sharon leading her old squad alongside the rest of us, but she had made it quite clear to me that keeping NLA from being burnt to the ground was in her business's best interest.

Which isn't wrong really.

"No questions? Very well, let's begin. First off is the matter of who will be in command once the battle begins. Myself and Vandham will be monitoring the battle, but will be unable to actively give commands. To that end we have given field command over to Captain Birtwhistle, who will be giving commands as he sees fit."

Captain huh? I take a glance at H.B. and see him standing even straighter than normal, something not easily accomplished.

"On to the actual plan itself. The main thrust of the operation will be to destroy the Ganglion's Xern fortress ships. If we can remove them from the field, we can engage the Ganglion Skell forces directly, and achieve victory in that manner. The trick will be getting close enough to deploy our heavy weaponry against the Ganglion. They'll naturally be suspicious as to why we're engaging them in such a direct manner, and will be closely watching for any sign of a threat. To that end we've come up with a course of action that'll hopefully allow us to close the distance. We'll go over the details and timing in a moment."

Displaying an image of Nardacyon on a nearby holo terminal Nagi looks at me.

"Once the Xerns have been dealt with, we will begin to engage the Ganglion's mechanized divisions. The Wrothian Caladors will split into four groups of four and one group of three. You will act as a reactionary force, moving to assist squads that are either being overwhelmed or pushed back. Lieutenant Cross, you will stay out of the initial assault and wait until Nardacyon moves to engage. As soon as it does, our forces will clear a path and allow you to fight it without distraction. Is that acceptable?"

Ga Jiarg nods and confidently replies, "We will handle our task flawlessly, leave your backs to us."

I glance at everyone's faces and find them nodding in agreement. I let out a resigned sigh that doesn't go unnoticed by Nagi.

"Is there something you want to add Cross?"

"No, it's a sound plan…I'm just not used to sitting on the sidelines waiting for the enemy to make the first move."

That earns a few smirks from those around us and Nagi gives a small smile.

"Well this'll be a good learning experience for you. I wouldn't worry regardless, I can't imagine Nardacyon waiting very long before engaging us."

Turning back to the room at large he says, "Now let's go over the more specific details of the operation…"

I let out a shaky breath and unclench my fist as I walk towards my squadmates, who are waiting for me before we launch. It's been about two hours since the meeting ended and it's the point of no return now.

Being a bundle of nerves is new territory for me. Normally I can push my fear aside, or at least ignore it…lately I haven't been able to do so. All my calming exercises do is lessen my anxiety, whereas before they could eliminate it entirely.

Honestly, I'm scared by that. In between the nightmares and my gradually degrading composure a part of me is wondering how long it'll be before I snap completely and do something stupid.

Well, stupider than usual.

"…ief. Hey Chief!"

"No need to shout Mia, my ears are working fine so please refrain from trying to break them."

"I dunno if they're working all that great Chief, I was yelling at you for like five seconds."

"I know, I was just ignoring you."

I get four disbelieving looks and give a defeated sigh. Guess my attempt at levity wasn't as slick as I thought it was.

Julun carefully says, "Cross, it normal to be worried. No shame in admitting fear of loss, whether it be your own or others."

I scowl and stare at my right hand, which has started to tremble, if only imperceptibly.

"I know, but…this isn't how I usually am."

Vi raises an eyebrow.

"You mean you've usually not a person with a completely normal emotional response right before a life-or-death battle? Could have fooled me."

"You know what I mean Vi. I've always been scared before and during fights, but it's never been so, well, overwhelming as it is now. For Christ's sake, I'm shaking."

My hand is suddenly covered by Celica's and she gently squeezes it, ceasing my trembling as she gives a peaceful smile.

"Then perhaps you merely need a few other helping hands to stop it."

She guides my hand out to the center of our little grouping and everyone else puts a hand on top of our my own.

Mia grins and shouts, "Go Team Cross!"

I give a defeated grimace.

"Again, not liking that name."

"Too bad Chief, we're going with it."

I snort and take a look around at my friends faces, all displaying nothing but camaraderie and confidence.

"…And thanks guys. C'mon, let's get suited up and ready to fly!"

With a nod Vi, Julun and Mia all run off to their machines while I turn to Celica with a small smile on my face.

"And thanks to you especially."

"Well it's nice to be appreciated by my mopey boyfriend."

I give a genuine chuckle at that and we share a rather fierce kiss before separating to our respective mechs.

Time to go to war.

"All teams report in!"

"Team Grasida, roger!" Yelv's squad.

"Team Howlrunners, roger!"

"Team Trishula, roger!" Alexa's squad.

"Team Knightwatch, roger!"

"Team Safari, roger!"

"Team Ningirsu, roger!" Sharon's squad.

"Team Leathernecks, roger!"

"Team Balmung, roger!" Now under Richard's command.

"Team Rotweiler, roger!"

"Team Velshtein, roger!"

"Team Outback, roger!" Corwin's squad.

"Team Viper, roger!"

"Team Doughboys, roger!" Doug's squad

"Team Heartbreak, roger!"

"Team Elma, roger!" Elma's squad, obviously.

"Team Zulu, roger!"

"Team Bulwark, roger!"

"Team Hammer, roger!" Boze's squad.

"Team Estoc, roger!"

"Team Chaser, roger!" Wolf's squad.

"Team Partisan, roger!"

"Team Cross, roger!"…I can't believe I just said that.

"And Team Surtr, reporting in. Special squads, announce readiness." That's H.B.'s squad, who'll be running guard duty for him while he runs the battle.

"Warriors of Wroth, standing ready." Ga Jiarg and his group of warriors.

"Heavy weapons squad Cataclysm, standing by!" That's Walter, in charge of the eight Skells toting our nastiest armaments.

As we finish our call signs there's a moment of tense silence before H.B. speaks up with raw authority in his voice.

"All right everyone listen up! The Ganglion have bloodied our noses several times these past few weeks, and are now aiming to destroy the only home we know. This isn't like the battle of the Lifehold, where just us Humans were at risk. Every being in NLA, whether Wrothian or Human, Ma-non or Orphean, Zaruboggan or Nopon is counting on us to keep them safe and come back home in one piece. Now let's show the Ganglion a fight they'll never forget!"

There's a chorus of amped up 'yes sirs!' once H.B. finishes his little pep talk. Well whaddya know? I guess H.B. can be quite inspirational when he bothers to be.

"Two minutes to point of no return. Any final words for us Cross, Mr. hero of NLA?"

I almost gag in surprise and I hear a collection of snickers over the comm as everyone hears my less than composed reaction. I scowl at H.B.'s machine and make a mental note to seek revenge at the first opportunity. If we're still alive after this.

"Well you're kinda putting me on the spot here Captain, so I'm just gonna go with the words of someone far more eloquent than me. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the lord, but this morning he's going to fucking well have to share'."

There's a chorus of rambunctious hoots and cheers at that and I practically hear the smile in H.B.'s voice as he says, "That'll make a good opener for our after-action report. All squads, prepare for operation Agincourt!"

"YES SIR!"

All one hundred forty two Skells shift into a trapezoidal formation, with team Cataclysm safely ensconced in the center, while the Wrothians float along the sides. My squad along with the Vasara, flanked by Ga Buidhe and Ni Zinga, are just slightly behind the heavy weapons group, waiting for when we'll be needed.

As we streak along the surface of the water my scanners suddenly start chiming like crazy and we get our first glimpse at the Ganglion forces. The Xerns are immediately noticeable as they clear the rolling waves of morning fog that rolls in along the coastal lines, monolithic and intimidating despite their admittedly impressive majesty. The smaller Skells, even the Seidrs, are only distinguishable as a disperse cloud of fuzzy dots at this distance, even with 2x magnification.

I hear a few scattered mutters across the comm channels, which I completely sympathize with. It's one thing to hear the numbers, another thing entirely to see them.

"Ten seconds until operation start! Nine…eight…seven…"

I release my pent up breath and settle into my combat-oriented frame of mind.

Let's do this.

"Two…one, begin operation!"

Coinciding with H.B.'s words a swarm of fifty cruise missiles launched from Alpha Base streak past our formation, flying directly towards the Ganglion armada. They close to within twenty-one kilometers, half the distance between our approaching force and the Ganglions, before a storm of point-defense laser fire and intercept missiles meet them.

All part of the plan.

Every time a missile is hit it releases a rapidly expanding cloud of chaff, similar to the stuff we use in the 'smoke' grenades. By the time every missile is hit the cloud has expanded to completely obscure visual targeting as well as instrument detection. Both sides are effectively blind for the next few minutes until the cloud is picked apart by the shifting winds.

Which is where the final ten missiles that lagged slightly behind the initial fifty come into play. Quickly ascending above the cloud they break apart and shotgun blast one hundred modified hopper cams into the airspace. Quickly linking their cameras with the six Mastema's wielding our trump cards, targeting solutions and distances are quickly correlated as the mini satellites spread out, trying to offer as many different angles as possible to get the most accurate information we can.

There's not going to be a second chance for this.

Ten aggravating seconds pass as the satellites continue to drift apart and feed information to the Mastemas…before precision beam and laser fire begin to take out the satellites. I clench my jaw and sure enough H.B. calmly states over the comm, "Prepare for scenario A, I repeat, prepare for scenario A."

Scenario A was considered the most likely response by the Ganglion, considering how careful and decisive their newfound leadership is. It's the best decision any military commander could make in this scenario, which is why we're expecting it.

As an intelligent Ganglion commander, what do you do in this situation when you know your foe is at the very least competent, if not just as smart as you? Engaging your larger army head on is a losing strategy, especially with the Xerns backing your forces up. So the smokescreen is obviously a means to hide whatever counter plan they have cooked up. That theory is practically confirmed when a small flotilla of unmanned drones appears and starts creating a highly obvious, if not effective, targeting array. Self-evidently the enemy has a means of attacking from a great distance with a weapon they believe will be effective.

At this point you have a few options to choose from.

Option one: Assume the enemy is bluffing, trying to scare you away from your advance with threats from some unseen weapon. But that seems like an uncharacteristic maneuver, as well as an expensive one considering how much material was spent into creating that illusion. Long range cruise missiles and high end chaff don't just grow on trees.

Second option: Try to quickly eliminate the drone cloud as quickly as possible, thereby denying the enemy a chance to accurately aim their weapons and continue your advance, at the risk of not eliminating the machines in time and exposing your forces to these unknown devices.

Option three: Realize that since the enemy went to all the trouble of creating such an expensive defense, the weapons themselves must be fragile or at the very least susceptible to attack. They must also take a significant amount of time to prepare, or why would they bother with the protective screen at all? Therefore, quickly sending your fastest forces to find and destroy these contraptions before they fire, while expensive, will obviously cripple the opposing forces strength.

Being a clever and ruthless Ganglion tactician, you immediately consider and decide on option three, since it's the best decision you can make given your limited knowledge. The funny thing is, option three would actually work and net you a win if it weren't for two very lethal weapons that were prepared for just such a scenario.

"Fifty-one seconds and counting. Stay sharp people."

The tension is an almost tangible thing at this point. The satellites are still being destroyed at a fairly steady rate, but at this pace we'll still be able to pull off an uninterrupted volle-

"Contact! Ganglion missile barrage incoming! Almost a thousand…number still rising…two thousand…three thousand warheads confirmed. Thirty-six Fal-Swo machines inbound as well!"

"Just as predicted." H.B. mutters with a note of grim satisfaction, "All forces stay in formation and stick to the plan!"

There's another fifteen seconds of agonizing waiting before the first missiles start looping around the smokescreen (the cloud would have disrupted their tracking) and hit the afterburners, rocketing towards any target they can find.

More than a hundred machines open fire, quickly ripping apart the leading wall of warheads in a deluge of gunfire, but more and more just keep coming. To make matters worse, the small fleet of Fal-Swo break through the disruption cloud and make a beeline for our six artillery pieces. Our forces can either ignore the missile barrage and take down the Fal-Swo, taking horrendous casualties in the process, or focus on the deluge of rockets, leaving our long range weaponry completely undefended. It's a pick your poison scenario.

Time to bring in the big guns.

As if reading my mind I hear Walter snap, "Linda, Cortez, you're up!"

The two Skells quickly move forward, each toting a different, 'Super Weapon'. Linda's is toting a Drone Storm, while Cortez's is packing a Barrage Cloak. I tear my eyes away from the ongoing fight against the Ganglion's barrage to watch the two machines deploy their weapons.

This is gonna be sweet.

With the Fal-Swo quickly closing the distance, The giant rack on the back of Linda's Skell suddenly splits open, releasing a dozen vaguely shuriken shaped disks slightly smaller than an average Human that hover around her machine. Suddenly blurring into motion they flash towards the approaching horde of Fal-Swo…and suddenly entire machines start to tumble from the sky, neatly bifurcated.

Each of the disk's edges is coated with a diamond reinforced metal alloy that you would usually only find on very advanced industrial grade cutting implements. It's expensive, difficult to make, and tough as Hell. Take those edges, and picture them spinning at a bit more than ten thousand RPMs. Then imagine a dozen of those traveling at almost twice the speed of sound, kept in very tight and lethal orbits by an advanced magnetic guidance system.

Long story short, the hardened metal composite hulls of the Fal-Swo are about as effective as warm cheese against the onslaught. For every second the Fal-Swo spend closing the distance, two of them are quickly torn to pieces.

With that threat quickly marginalized I turn back to the onslaught of missiles, which is quickly becoming overwhelming.

Which is where The Barrage Cloak comes in. While there's nothing too radical in terms of technology here, just like with the Drone Storm it's the application of said technology that really shines. The Cloak is basically eight shield like emitters with almost a dozen focusing lenses spaced out across it's surface. Channeling power into each of the emitters creates a very focused, very intense laser to be fired from the lenses. Nothing too special, but it's the targeting system behind it that is nothing short of astounding. While it's called the Barrage Cloak, it's more of a surgical instrument than it is anything else. Very advanced targeting algorithms that update themselves every tenth of a second ensure that no amount of energy is ever wasted, and every shot is precisely aimed to cause the least amount of overlap. Subtle movements of the emitters provide very fast and smooth targeting of fast moving objects, and the sheer volume of fire makes it perfect for mass removal of small, fast moving targets.

Like thousands of missiles, for instance. Wrapping itself in the eight emitters, Cortez's Skell suddenly begins to glow, invisible lines of energy reaching out to destroy the oncoming warheads with lethal precision.

While I say invisible, at this point there's so much smoke and other minute debris drifting through the air that the lasers themselves are practically visible as they burn through all the drifting detritus.

And do they ever burn. Almost sixty missiles per second wink out, heated and then destroyed as their own payloads prematurely detonate. Not that anyone would care about my opinion, but I sincerely wish the Barrage Cloak would have had it's name changed to 'Disco Death'.

"Twenty-three seconds until firing commences."

For a brief moment I entertain the notion that we might get through this with no initial losses…but it's simply not meant to be.

While The Drone Storm and Barrage Cloak are practically built for scenarios such as these, at the end of the day there's simply too many Ganglion targets to deal with. Linda's machine suddenly takes a direct SHD cannon shot to the chest, killing her and trashing the Skells reactor. With the guidance cut off and no additional power incoming, the blades cease their relentless assault and fall to the ocean like so many discarded flower petals.

Cortez's Skell doesn't fare any better. Three thousand missiles is just too many to deal with, even with the Barrage Cloak backed up by all the other Skells. It doesn't take much, just one fast moving rocket to impact and destroy one side of the Cloak, and then five more warheads quickly slam home, utterly annihilating the machine.

I hear a few muttered curses over the comm and clench my jaw. Linda and Cortez knew they'd likely be singled out one way or another wielding those things, but had gone ahead and done it anyway.

Brave bastards.

"Last Cam has just been destroyed, we're blind here Captain! Permission to commence firing?"

"Granted, take the shot!"

There was still sixteen seconds to go but with six Fal-Swo swooping towards the Superweapon laden Skells and the missile barrage still going strong, we'll just have to take our chances with a rushed targeting job. The last twenty seconds were mostly for the benefit of the Hexad-Particannons we have set up anyway. The heavy hitters, the Zenith-Cannon and Antimatter-Rail Cannon are already set up and ready to fire.

Time for some serious payback.

Nahum wasn't anxious so much as anticipatory. Nevertheless she was mentally reprimanding herself for becoming overconfident in her forces ability to simply overcome the Humans, and wouldn't be making that same mistake twice. With the sheer military might under her command as well as the return of her Nardacyon, she had allowed herself to become complacent for no excusable reason.

What she should have done was split her force into several smaller groups that could react quickly to unforeseen situations or ambushes, instead of one slow moving, albeit powerful, blob. While any attacks by the Humans would have been able to catch one of these hypothetical groups by surprise and inflict losses, at least she would have the option of then encircling and outmaneuvering the offending forces,

Instead, like some novice commander overconfident of their technological might and numerical superiority, she had instead decided to simply steamroll the opposition, denying herself many tactical options.

Unforgivable.

Self-loathing aside, she was confident that she had responded quickly enough to the Humans unexpected tactics that major damage might be avoided by whatever surprise they were hoping to spring. There were some advantages to having her forces travel in a close-knit formation admittedly. She had quickly been able to dispatch her fastest moving forces and hopefully overwhelm the enemy with a missile barrage before they could implement their strategy.

That notion was quickly abandoned when her sensors suddenly started pinging madly as several different sources of energy suddenly started spiking in the area.

There were five sources in all, and they were all originating from the Human's forces.

This was quickly turning into her worse case scenario. Had she a face like a Humans, capable of a wide range of physical emotion, her eyes would have been bulging right now. That one emission coming from the center of the readings…was that a micro-singularity?!

Her suspicions we confirmed as less than a second later the dispersing smokescreen the Humans had set up suddenly seemed to twist upon itself and then bulge outwards, as if trying to follow something. She could have sworn that the ocean itself seemed to rise a few meters, as if being pulled in the wake of some unimaginably strong force. Her forces were only slightly displaced by the passing thing, except for one unlucky Qmoeva that suddenly seemed to tear itself to pieces in a startlingly violent fashion, as if some unseen giant had violently twisted it.

Nahum opened a channel to the Xern commanders, hoping to do what, she didn't know, not that it ended up mattering. She was too late.

Leva'el was the first to be hit. The singularity tore right through it's commander center, fiercely bleeding x-rays and wrenching the giant machine in a startlingly brutal fashion. One of the Xern's giant 'legs' crumpled upwards, smashing itself against the center disk which didn't fair much better, resembling a crushed metal can the Humans favored for their beverages more than it did a high-end lethal war machine.

With little fanfare the giant machine slowly fell to the ocean below, it's propulsion systems either unresponsive or destroyed.

The Satellis Drone hadn't even had a chance to activate it's shield.

The other two Xern's fared a little better, but not by much. Four massive streams of plasma burned through the rapidly dispersing cloud of chaff, two per Xern. Less accurately aimed than the micro-singularity had been, there were no direct hits.

But even a less than perfect hit from weapons of that output were damaging aplenty. One Xern had a leg burned off, and one of it's primary beam weapons was shattered, causing it to madly list back and forth, trying to right it's course. The other one was less lucky, the two streams not blowing off any of it's large appendages but burning through sensitive circuitry, as well as destroying it's primary float system. Unable to properly keep itself afloat, it belched fire and smoke before lazily crashing to the waves below.

Performing the Human equivalent of a grimace, Nahum checked her instruments and with no small amount of relief found no further spikes in energy. At least Luxaar's mobile fortress had survived.

A few hastily deployed surveillance drones that had been kept in reserve painted a very thrilling picture that made Linda and Cortez's 'deaths' seem worth it. Two Xerns were falling towards the ocean, clearly out of the fight. One was staggering back and forth, it's crew obviously trying to keep it under control. The largest machine that had belonged to Luxaar was still standing with no damage though.

Not for long though. One more second and the Zenith Cannon would be ready to fire. The Zenith Cannon is rather aptly named if you ask me. Basically just a railgun that took a witches brew of Erythropoietin, Ephedrine, Tamoxifen and Creatine. While the designers liked to boast that their new gun could fire a projectile at the speed of light, no one actually believed them. Aside from the impossibility of getting a physical object to actually reach the magic velocity C, especially in an atmosphere, the designers did create something that can launch a projectile at something like five percent of that speed.

Which is still freaking insane when you stop to think about how fast that actually is. Fifteen thousand kilometers per second. If you blinked during the slow-motion replay you'd still miss it.

The projectile itself isn't anything fancy, just a really solid piece of metal that'll hopefully last for more than a split second before tearing itself to nothing due to the insane stress forces being put upon it.

Let's see how that monster Xern handles this.

Nahum had just been about to order her forces to regroup around her one remaining Xern before engaging the Humans when a nuclear detonation went off behind her.

Not literally of course, since her machine was only slightly knocked around instead of flash vaporized, and little hard radiation was released. But it was still enough to destroy to the four Quos that had been hovering near the Xerns, relying on the massive machines and Skell forces to protect them. Still in a mild state of incredulous disbelief she watched the ocean crash back in on itself, as the heat of the explosion had vaporized a significant chunk of the water below it.

Either something had gone horribly wrong with the machines reactor at an extremely inopportune time…or the Humans had yet another weapon of unbelievable power that hadn't shown up on her sensors.

Considering the way the other three Xerns had been dealt with, she had little doubt as to which of the two it was.

On that note, the one Orion Xern that was still airborne had apparently given up on doing so, instead deciding to gently settle on the ocean and try to keep as many of it's weapons clear for firing. The rest of her forces drifted uncertainly, stunned by the sudden and brutal turnabout the Humans had created.

She shook herself out of her stupor as the last vestiges of the Humans smokescreen dissipated and their nearly untouched Skell forces moved to engage. There was no polite or optimistic way to put this.

They had lost.

The Xerns had been an integral part of her overall strategy in the campaign against the Humans stronghold. Capable of acting both as mobile resupply/repair bases and long range artillery support, they would have allowed her forces to march directly to NLA with no need for rest.

Now the four great machines were either utterly destroyed or crippled, with her Skell armada isolated a long way from any Ganglion base.

Running wasn't an option. Her sensors showed that there were several of the Wrothian traitor's machines interspersed with the Humans, and there was no machine in her forces aside from Nardacyon that could outpace them. Not to discredit the Human mechs either, some of their less heavily armored frames were hideously swift as well, certainly capable of outpacing a Qmoeva. To run without fighting would sacrifice a large portion of her force to the tender mercies of the Wrothian Skells, while if she wished to delay the oncoming force, she would have to leave behind a sizable portion of her army in order to effectively distract a group of that size. Hardly a better option the her first.

Put simply, they couldn't win, and to not fight at all was to invite certain losses with nothing to show for it except lost morale and material.

…Nahum was actually relieved that there was no right answer to their predicament, no good way to remedy the situation. If there had been only a slim chance of victory, only one way to achieve a win…she would have felt pressured, like she had to find that one way of securing victory.

When all roads equally lead to death, what's to dictate your choice except pure whim?

Excitement rising within her she opened a channel to all her forces.

"All squadrons, maintain formation and move to engage the vermin's machines. Show them that we aren't yet beaten!"

There was a roar of acknowledgments and she resisted the urge to gloat. A little motivation and now her soldiers would go to battle believing that if they fought their hardest, they would win. They had no need to know that none of them were leaving this battlefield alive.

She focused on the rapidly approaching Humans and hummed to herself contentedly.

Now was the time to instruct the Humans on what a pyrrhic victory really looked like.

It's an astounding day out quite honestly. Light blue skies, a few pure white clouds gently drifting, vast rolling hills of mid-morning fog just beginning to burn off…

The picturesque scene is somewhat ruined by the no holds-barred melee we're currently engaging the Ganglion in. Currently I'm waiting a few kilometers away from the battle with my squad, waiting until Nardacyon makes a move. As soon as it does my squad will run escort for me, keeping the small fry off my tail so that I can engage the Ganglion mech as fresh as possible.

A shitty side effect is that I know have front row seats to witness a lethal ballet written by John the Apostle, scored by Richard Wagner, and choreographed by Oya herself.

The two leading lines of machines had collided with a vengeance, neither side holding back on ammunition or power, attempting nothing more than trying to kill the other guy quicker than they could be killed in return.

It's a slaughter of both sides.

A Formula wielding a Katar in each hand quickly evades a Qmoevas desperate attempt to shoot it down before it quickly stabs into the pilots compartment, causing the machine to shut down moments before the same Formula is itself cut to shreds by a nearby Galdr, causing the Formula's squamates to descend on the larger machine with a vengeance.

An Inferno gets cornered by a descending Seidr, which grabs the machine and pulls it's arm back and extends a glowing blade, clearly preparing to run it through it's cockpit and end the fight. At the last second an Urban rushes in between the approaching blade and the trapped Skell, taking the hit for itself and going limp as the pilot is killed almost instantly. Throwing aside the broken machine the Seidr pulls it's arm back a second time…only to be blindsided by an approaching Verus that slams a G-Sword right onto it's head, crumpling the machines body like discarded tin foil. The machine lets go of the Inferno and falls limply to the water below, and the freed Inferno dashes towards the falling Urban, obviously trying to help it, only to be hit by a volley of missiles and be torn apart.

The Xern that had settled into the ocean begins to fire with wild abandon, trying it's best to cause as much damage as possible. Five Skells break free of the battle and streak towards the behemoth, dodging it's shots as best they can. Despite their best efforts, the sheer volume of fire is too much to handle, and three machines go down in flames. The remaining two make it into the Xern's blind spot and let loose with a Meteor cannon and F2-Rifle, causing a chain reaction of destruction to finally finish what we started.

Ten Ganglion machines manage to surround a smaller group of our Skells and start hammering away at them, overwhelming shields and blowing off limbs. An Amdusias that's part of the squad tries to charge forward and distract the Ganglion as best it can, but it's heavy plating can only take so much before it gets melted away by repeated plasma blasts. Preparing to shoot down the remaining four Skells the Ganglion are suddenly blindsided by a Wrothian team, losing four machines in the blink of an eye. Taking the opportunity for some payback the Human Skells join in the fight, and machines start to burn.

A heavily damaged Lailah is trying to keep an unresponsive Urban afloat when a Seidr suddenly appears behind them. Unwilling to drop it's partner the Lailah deploys a shield that the Seidr smashes aside and with a casual motion uses its concealed plasma blade to slice the two machines in half. Preparing to jet towards the next fight it's suddenly rammed into full force by the Vasara. Not wasting any movements Ga Jiarg quickly uses the Vasara's superior strength to physically rip the Seidr in two, letting the two halves fall in a display of raw force.

Utter madness.

The ocean is actually starting to boil, great swathes of steam rising into the air from all the missed plasma and laser fire, as well as burning hulks impacting on it's surface. Mixing with the rolling cloud of noxious smoke from all the destroyed machinery, the disgusting mixture is slowly starting to blot out the sun, giving the entire area a washed out and hazy look. With the dueling Skells and light scatter from all the varied weaponry as well as the horrendous noise, it could be a perfect representation of some primitive religions idea of Hell.

I'm suddenly made aware that I have a splitting headache by a lance of pain through my skull and realize that I've been grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw the entire time I've been watching.

Watching.

I'm never going to get used to being on the sidelines. In every other battle I've been in I was either in the thick of it, or could at least be doing something productive. Having to just sit back and let others do the heavy lifting, all while slowly taking loss after loss, is sheer torture.

Goddammit, shouldn't Nahum have done something by now?

As if in answer to my question a mirror bright lance of energy flies out and impales a Mastema, causing it to explode in a violent shower of shrapnel.

H.B.'s voice immediately comes over my comm with, "That's your cue Cross! Engage Nardacyon and destroy it! We'll cover you!"

"Roger that! Let's move guys!"

I hit the afterburners and rocket towards the battle, my teammates flanking me on either side.

No more waiting and no more useless stressing. Time to do what I do best.

Chaser squad quickly slides up alongside us and Wolf shouts, "Don't worry about us rookie! We'll keep those shitheads off of yah!"

"Counting on it!"

And then we're in the middle of the whole battle. My tac screen is going berserk as it tries to keep up with all the information being gathered by the sensors, but it's a lost cause. There's simply too much energy scatter, target seeking missiles and darting Skells to make sense of anything. I go to shout a warning when I see two Galdrs backed up by a Seidr suddenly take up firing positions on our group but my escort is already a step ahead of me.

Wolf and the rest of Chaser quickly scatter and move to engage the two Galdrs while my group tackles the Seidr. The two smaller mechs open fire with a barrage of missiles that are intercepted by Wolf, who uses a heathorn to melt the things before they manage to hit home. Finding their initial barrage quickly stymied they start to back off, but aren't quick enough. A Verus whips out a T-Claw and quickly jams it through the Galdr's midsection, tearing apart it's innards and crippling the machine. The other Galdr is slightly luckier, managing to catch one of the Urbans with a salvo from it's arm cannons and blow of an arm and an engine, putting it out of the fight. Wolf takes advantage of that though and quickly pulls out two beam sabers and proceeds to literally disarm the machine, followed up by a quick spinning slash that wrecks it's engines, causing it to spiral madly downward.

The Seidr my squad faces off against is one of the Grav Raptor series, it's two shoulder mounts quickly shifting to open fire as it keeps it's distance. My allies are too good for such a simple tactic. Mia and Julun quickly launches a barrage of M-missiles to keep it occupied as Celica and Vi close in. Having to redirect it's fire to keep the missiles from destroying it the Seidr is left completely unprepared for just how fast Vi and Celica are. No sooner does it shoot down the last warhead with it's Night-Cage self-defense system than the two of them are right in it's face. Dodging a reactive swing of the machines arm blade Celica flips behind it and fires a volley of gatling fire into it's back, destroying it's engine. Vi then takes advantage of it's brief loss of control to ram his spear through the pilot's compartment, putting an end to the brief skirmish.

At this point I've pulled even with my escorts as they swing around to my flanks.

"Ok rook, looks like you're in the clear, show that upstart who's-"

Wolf never manages to finish as that same mirror bright beam punches right through his Skell and leaves only rapidly disintegrating metal in it's wake.

There's a moment of stunned silence before I feel a surge of anger crawl up my spine and peel my lips back from my teeth in a snarl.

"All units disengage! That Bitch is mine. Keep the rest of the grunts away!"

Several voices containing differing amounts of rage tersely answer, "Yes sir!" and then seven Skells peel off to engage other approaching Ganglion.

Narrowing my eyes at Nardacyon, still hovering about three kilometers away, I make a slight detour to where a Qmoeva is busily firing away at my squad. Disengaging my blaster I make two precise shots that disintegrate it's arms and leave it mostly defenseless. I slam the Ares' shoulder into it's midsection and hit my thrusters, using the mech as an improvised shield.

There's a lot of ground to cover between me and Nardacyon, having a meat shield will be extra handy, plus Nahum might not be so thrilled at killing her own-

My thoughts are interrupted as a salvo of laser fire connects with the Qmoeva and practically melts the whole machine in one go. I resist the temptation to roll my eyes at myself as I push loose the molten mess.

As if a Milsaadi would care about friendly fire as long as it gets the mission accomplished. I dunno what the Hell I was thinking.

My shield destroyed I fly through a storm of magnetically guided plasma beams, relying on desperate evasive maneuvers to eat up the distance between us. Christ that thing is accurate. I'm pulling every move I can think of, as well as a few I just thought up, and I'm barely avoiding the shots by scant centimeters.

All of a sudden the barrage lets up and I see Nardacyon turn tail and fly away, thrusters flaring in my face.

What the Hell?

Recovering from my surprise at the sudden departure, I hit the afterburners and start to close in on the machine. Wary of any traps my sensors suddenly figure out where the Skell is headed. There's a small island up ahead, maybe four kilometers square, that Nardacyon seems to be headed to. Suddenly killing it's thrust the Ganglion Skell gently lands on a small rise in the middle of the place and simply stares at me as I approach.

Pulling up well short of the island I narrow my eyes in suspicion. Engaging every sensor I have I do a thorough scan of the place and don't find any hidden weapons or anything else like that at all. All the while Nardacyon just continues to stare at me. I idly consider just opening fire…and discard that idea. I'm already being watched like a hawk, and any move I make will be instantly spotted. A 'surprise' attack would be pointless. Instead I match Nardacyon's position and land about a hundred meters away.

The Ares suddenly chimes at me, signaling I have an incoming message from the opposing mech. Scowling I make sure every electronic counter-intrusion package I have is running at peak efficiency then open the channel.

"I'll admit that I'm surprised you kept your aggressive impulses in check and bothered to talk to me. You vermin tend to be very emotional in your responses."

I scowl as I actually hear Nahum's voice for the first time. Despite the mechanical warble it manages to be both authoritative and condescending.

"So did you open this channel just to shit-talk? If so I'm just gonna go with my 'aggressive impulses' and start the killing."

Instead of responding she's quiet for a moment before slowly saying, "That voice…you're the one from Oblivia. The one who killed several of my subordinates during the Caravan operation…"

I frown in confusion before it clicks.

"You're the Milsaadi from the canyon…well color me surprised."

She actually laughs.

"I think your phrase is, 'small world' yes? If I was anything other than pragmatic I would say there is almost a connection, a relationship between us."

"A connection?" I snort as a memory of Milly laying dead on the ground flashes through my mind.

"The only, 'relationship' we have is that killing you is now one of those happy little moments where I get to mix business and pleasure."

There's a snarl of black electricity that crawls up my spine and a predatory grin a Grex would recognize appears on my face.

"We're done talking."

I snap the Agni Gatlings to their ready position with a clang and activate the Overdrive, and with a deafening howl the Skell starts to actually glow as a storm of escaping energy lights up the landscape around me as a massive energy halo appears behind me, the frame unable to contain all of the excess power being generated.

I'm going to really, really, really enjoy tearing this motherfucker apart.

Back at Alpha Base's main C&C room Nagi and a small group of support staff intensively watched a single holographic display showing several images caught by dozens of independent satellites that were high enough in Mira's atmosphere that the Ganglion hadn't detected them. Right now every eye was trained on a single screen that showed two Skells facing off, one glowing with a halo of released energy, while the other suddenly was engulfed in a current of electricity that snapped and snarled, setting fire to patches of grass around the machine.

"We're counting on you Cross. Godspeed." thought Nagi.

Overdrives are kind of touchy, even on Skells we Humans have been working on for decades. On something so advanced and experimental like the Ares, there was some debate as to whether putting in an overdrive system was a good idea. I won out in the end though, saying the it was better to be safe than it was to be dead.

That said, the Overdrive for the Ares will only last twenty-eight seconds before the entire Skell shuts down due to reactor degradation. Twenty-eight seconds to end this fight. And apparently Nardacyon has it's own version of an Overdrive, if the elevated power readings are to be believed, as well as the lightning dancing around it's frame in ragged arcs.

I so don't care. Let's fight.

Sending the Ares forward in a burst of speed that nearly causes me to black out, I ready my first plan of action. In the split second that it takes me to reach Nardacyon I deploy the Avataras on my back…but don't release them. Gently using the gravity repellers I slew around Nardacyon as it tries to adjust to my speed and slice directly through the tail cannon with the Avataras, depriving it of that damn beam weapon that took out Wolf. Not content with just that I flip the Ares around and make the engines put out as much thrust as they possibly can. The violent shift in direction causes something in my chest to crack and a lance of pain flares through my upper body, but I barely even notice.

My sudden momentum change catches Nardacyon off guard and I slam into the larger machine, driving it to the ground with a spray of displaced topsoil. Moving quickly before the Skell can recover I grab it's head and proceed to use the Ares' deceptively strong limb strength to just rip the damn thing off in a cascade of sparks and twisting fiber optics. Tossing it aside I jump into a thruster assisted backflip…not quite dodging Nahum's retaliatory strike.

One of the weapons pods on it's flanks managed to fire a beam that, despite the Ares heat resistant heavy armor, manages to burn off a leg and the M-Blaster that was attached to it.

Twenty-four seconds left.

Not even bothering to land with only one leg I snap the Agnis up and open fire on the Ganglion mech. Nardacyon's Ether coating flares sun-bright as the two opposing Ether energies meet in a mad covalent light show. Scowling I disengage the Avataras and launch them at the machine, planning to overwhelm it with simultaneous attacks.

Instead of losing her head, Nahum calmly ignores the Agnis, which don't seem to be accomplishing jack-shit aside from creating a spectacular kaleidoscope of colors, and focuses on deflecting the Avataras. As the four drones close in both of it's arms sprout plasma blades and start windmilling around it's body at incredible velocities. While the Avataras burn insanely hot, the opposing blades produce just enough heat that they aren't overwhelmed, and the conflicting magnetic fields force the drones away from more vulnerable parts of the body.

I take the distraction this provides to prepare the Aghasura Cannons to fire…and have to suddenly dodge as Nardacyon fires a barrage of guided plasma fire in my direction. How the hell is Nahum managing to do three things at once in this short a time-frame? Regardless I slip by the shots…only to find that they weren't targeting the frame, but the receivers for the Avataras. All four take direct hits and three of the four drones suddenly engage their safeties and fall harmlessly to the ground.

The fourth doesn't manage that as perfectly. For something like a hundredth of a second the magnetic field shuts off, but the heat generator doesn't. In that hundredth of a second, a miniature sun burns on the surface of Mira, and the atmosphere for more than two kilometers around catches on fire, engulfing us in a sea of flame and blinding our sensors.

Nineteen seconds left.

Taking advantage of the wave of flames to sneak around the side of Nardacyon I finish preparing the Aghasuras, emerging from the dying flames with them prepared to fire. The sudden conflagration must have surprised Nahum, because her Skell is still in the same spot, staring at where I was a second ago.

Smirking I line up the reticle and pull the trigger, unleashing an Overdrive enhanced blast. Whereas the original beam was an unwavering laser straight line of energy, this is one is downright chaotic. A purple-white oscillating stream of Ether bursts out of the cannons and streaks towards Nardacyon, and I assume that this battle is over.

Me and my big mouth.

Somehow Nahum twists her machine into a near impossible maneuver that slips her machine largely out of the way, sacrificing her left arm and weapons pod to the ravening energy. No amount of Ether coating could protect against that blast.

I grimace in frustration and move to pan the cannons over, only to watch the three devices overload and disintegrate into nothingness.

Reason number two strikes again. Well I guess thats what I deserve for forcing the things way beyond their operational limits.

Fifteen seconds to go.

Nardacyon manages to right itself and I decide to take advantage of it's missing limb. Charging right into melee range I draw the Vajra flail and settle into an Arnis stance, before moving to strike at Nardacyon. Whatever weapon Nahum was expecting me to deploy it clearly wasn't a hyper-advanced nunchaku, if the haphazard and messy reaction is any indicator. Every three-fourths of a second I land a strike, and each strike shatters the hull of Nardacyon, sending pieces flying and causing massive dents if not outright chasms to appear on the machine.

Seeming to finally get her act together, Nahum makes a quick slash at the Kusari, obviously hoping to cut the weapon at the weak connecting link, but I merely shift the Kontoh into the blades path, blowing both weapons away due to the conflicting force. Spinning around with my newfound momentum I strike at Nardacyon's knee, shattering the appendage and briefly unbalancing the Skell. Grinning I move to strike the main body and finish this fight, only to find the flail and my right arm blown to pieces by the one remaining weapon pod.

Goddammit again. When I hit it's knee Nardacyon stumbled forward, clearing the pod to fire at my machine and saving Nahum from a killing blow.

Eight seconds to go.

Taking advantage of the exposed pod and the brief lull in the fight I engage my one remaining Agni and fire at the exposed appendage. With the Ether coating long since expended, the rounds chew through the metal and wreck the innards, rendering it dead weight.

Obviously not one to let an opportunity pass her by Nahum quickly jets Nardacyon forward and swipes her blade in a horizontal arc, burning through the Agni's barrels before I can retract the weapon. Quickly grabbing the M-Blade and catching Nardacyon's approaching swing we lock swords that send a shower of sparks flying in crazed arcs as we both try to shove the others blade against them, all finesse forgotten and relying on brute force.

In the midst of the contest I suddenly cough and blue fluid splashes on the inside of my helmet, and the sharp pain in my chest and other limbs no longer becomes ignorable. Too many violent maneuvers in such a short time are catching up with me, artificial body or not. At which point a rather salient fact keeps pounding in my head.

I just. Don't. Have it. I'm not going to win.

I can make excuses of course. I can argue that only if my Overdrive had lasted longer, or perhaps if I'd had more time to train with the Ares, I could have pulled off a win. Put bluntly, that's bullshit. The plain and simple fact is that Nahum is better than me.

Admitting that hurts worse than any other wound I've taken, probably worse than any I'll ever take. It hurts because I'd always been confident that, if things ever came down to an even, one-on-one fight, I could beat anyone. Sure, there are people I greatly respect, and consider far more knowledgable about certain fighting styles, but all modesty aside I'd never really believed that I could be beaten.

How could I? I was quite literally handcrafted to be the baddest, toughest and meanest soldier Humanity had at it's disposal. Whatever my other failings, no matter how little I could contribute to the people I love off of a battlefield, I always had that.

And now that one certainty is shattered.

A sudden push from Nardacyon separates us and we both stagger for a moment trying to regain our balance with the crippled machines.

Two seconds left.

I guess this could be considered my defining moment. Battered and bruised, my body slowly shutting down and coughing up fluids that really shouldn't be coughed up, each breathe feeling like someone shoved broken glass into my ribs.

My confidence and self-identity shattered, maybe so thoroughly that I'll never be able to fully piece them back together.

My Skell heavily damaged and missing half it's limbs and almost all of it's weapons, only seconds away from shutting down.

My opponent, taking the worst I can throw at her and responding in kind, with no signs of going down before I do.

But I don't give up. I can't, because there's people out there that I love who can one day make something of their lives, and right now I'm in a position to give them that opportunity.

At the end, all I can say about myself is this.

Willing to die.

Not willing to quit.

I make one last beeline for Nardacyon and let my sword hang loosely by my side. I have one shot at this, one chance to make the most of my all too likely death. That might seem overly dramatic, since I'll just be pulled out of the Lifehold when all is said and done…or at least I'd like to think so.

It never escaped my attention that there is apparently no record of me ever existing on the White Whale, nothing at all. While that may just imply that it's my records that don't exist…I'm of the opinion that my genetic code wasn't included in the final roster for the Whale. Why would a weapon need a normal flesh and blood body?

I can't help but feel that this death might be for a very long time, if not permanent. I'm going through with it anyway.

Ten meters from Nardacyon I use the maneuvering jets on one side of the Ares to send it into a spin that adds extra momentum to the sword, aimed right at Nardacyon's cockpit. I see an answering Plasma blade heading right towards my seat, and I have one last thought.

I'm sorry Celica. And thank you.

Nahum had to still her shaking before making any further moves. The fast and brutal battle, the Human's last charge in particular, had left her with an adrenaline high that was simply unbelievable. That had easily been the most close run battle of her life. Her only regret, and a trifling one at that, was that they had not been able to conclude their duel from Oblivia face-to-face.

A very trifling regret compared to their bout just now. She spared a glance at the fallen Skell that had housed her rival, and took stock of it's condition. Missing an arm and leg, with several neatly severed weapons housings and one large gash in it's side where it had taken Nahum's blade during it's final attack.

Looking at it now you would never think it such a fearsome weapon.

Turning her attention away she opened a damage report on Nardacyon…and immediately gave it up as a bad job. It would be far easier to list all the systems that weren't damaged, if not outright destroyed. All she had left was the one arm with it's integrated weaponry, and the plasma projectors on Nardacyon's back.

The major handicap was the reactor damage though. The Human's last move had missed her person, but the sword had instead cut some of the reactors coolant lines. She could draw only eleven percent power before the reactor would begin to overheat, hardly ideal for combat, even if Nardacyon hadn't been so thoroughly damaged.

She gave a small hum of amusement at that thought. As if she planned to survive this.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her proximity sensors chimed a warning. Quickly turning around she saw four machines quickly heading her way. It was quite the mix. A repurposed Galdr that was missing one of it's arms, a Wrothian Calador that had one of it's legs blown off, and two Human Skells to round off the group. Backup for the machine she had been facing off against?

Whatever their reason Nahum quickly fired off a round of plasma that streaked towards the quartet of mechs. The Calador and lightly armored Skell dodged, while the two larger machines took hits that threw them off course, likely putting them out of the fight for a few seconds. The Calador charged with it's spear aimed to skewer her, necessitating a burst of her jets to push her out of the way.

However mid-jump Nardacyon suddenly shuddered as the two engines failed, leaving her not quite out of range of the oncoming Skell. Instead snapping out her arm blade she made a swift slash that removed the tip of the Calador's spear, reducing the threat somewhat.

Not quite enough though. Quickly spinning and using the blunt end of the pole to precisely cripple her remaining leg joint the Calador then jumped back out of range of the lethal blade, leaving the Human Skell to continue charging in. With Nardacyon crippled and unable to dodge, Nahum did the only thing she could, and make a blindingly fast, yet painfully telegraphed swing at he machine. For a split second it seemed as if the blow would connect…before the Human's mech snapped up it's arm and ignited a shield that stopped the blade cold.

The other arm came up holding a knife, poised to cut through one of the many gaps in Nardacyon's armor. Unable to dodge or defend, Nahum simply relaxed inside of her ensconced pilot's compartment and took a moment to simply appreciate how thrilling of a campaign this one had ended up being.

Dying in a pitched battle, surrounded on all sides by enemies? There are worse ways to go. A lot of them.

Then the knife struck home and Nahum died with the Milsaadi equivalent of a smile.

I don't spare the slowly toppling Nardacyon a second glance and bound towards the Ares.

"Cross! Respond, CROSS!"

Jetting towards the fallen machine my breath catches in my throat at the damage seemingly done. My mind was already trying to come to terms with the idea that Cross actually might have lost against someone, and now this?

Mia's voice comes over the radio sounding composed, but I can hear the slight tremor to it.

"We have the area on lockdown Celica, go and…go and make sure Cross is still there."

It's a worrying sign of how frightened Mia is that she didn't refer to him as 'Chief'.

Not even waiting for my Skell to kneel I open the cockpit and jump to the ground, rolling to absorb some of the impact. I'm immediately assaulted with an almost physical blast of heat, and in no time at all I feel myself startwing to sweat and gasp for breath. Ignoring my own discomfort I bound up the side of the Ares and bite back a curse I learned from Yelv upon seeing the pilot's compartment. It's half melted and distended, with some of the extremities still smoking with leftover heat.

Ignoring the sharp edges I frantically search for Cross among the wreckage, and immediately stiffen as I find him. Half crushed by the collapsed plating and not moving I immediately sprint to his side and try to pull him loose, not getting far as he's still being pinned by the collapsed metal. I snarl and move to peel back the plates.

I grunt and slowly start to bend the metal away from my boyfriend's body, surprising even myself with my desperate strength. With a slight slump he breaks free from the pressure and I pull him onto a more level part of the machine. Hooking up my comm device to a data port on his flight suit in order to get a medical reading I then take a closer look at his body and feel my face pale.

His right arm and leg are crushed beyond the elbow and knee, likely where the cockpit collapsed, and his left side has a ragged hole in it that's charred around the edges, as if some massive plasma sword just barely missed a direct hit. Which is almost certainly what happened if I think about it.

Quickly removing his helmet I clench my jaw as I see the inside of the helm caked with the blue-white fluid their artificial bodies use as blood, and his mouth is spattered with the stuff as well. Fearing the worst I put my ear to his mouth…and hear very faint breathing, although it sounds erratic and wet.

Opening a channel to the rest of the team I shout, "He's still alive, call for an extraction!"

"We already did, they're fifteen minutes out!"

Unable to do anything more on that front I take a look at the med data being displayed and feel my stomach sink. Massive contusions all over his body, likely caused by extremely harsh maneuvers, and most worryingly there's an actual crack on the chest portion of his body, which is where the fluid is leaking in through. The diagnosis is estimating that he has twelve minutes before he stops being able to breathe properly. Dammit…

Unable to do much except tilt his head back and wait for the medical corps to arrive I simply sit beside him and keep watch.

…I finally find someone I love aside from Rock and now it looks like he's on death's door, while I can only watch like some helpless 'damsel in distress' Lin references to sometimes.

"You'd better pull through this, I don't like the idea of waiting for them to pull you out of your damn Lifehold." I quietly whisper to myself.

Sighing I gently hold his hand and take a look around at the newly created wasteland. It looks like the Ganglion were either routed or finally retreated, the sounds of battle are all but gone by now.

As if on cue H.B.'s voice rings out over the public channel, although it's almost entirely devoid of his usual haughty confidence. Instead he sounds almost…tired.

"The Ganglion are falling back. Squads Howlrunner, Outback and Estoc you are to pursue and harry their forces. All other squads focus on rescue and retrieval. Victory belongs to us today."

Instead of a cheer of victory, there's only a few exhausted, 'Yes Sir's that sounds more like a defeated army than a victorious one. Not that I blame them. Of the One hundred forty two Skells that were part of the assault, only seventy are still airborne, and of those almost twenty are heavily damaged, more concerned with keeping themselves afloat than they are with looking for survivors.

The scenery doesn't help much either. The ocean is still churning at some spots, throwing up huge clouds of steam that mix with the noxious smoke from destroyed reactors and melted hull composites. In fact there's so much smog in the air that the sun is completely blocked out, giving everything a sickly brown and fuzzy look.

Fighting back the tears that suddenly want to escape from my eyes I can't help but feel a wave of bitterness as I look at the plumes of smoke that might be acquaintances or friends that didn't make it, or stare at the man who's always fought for all our sakes and never his own slowly choke to death.

Bitterness, because you can't call this tragedy a 'Victory'.

Another chapter down...and only one more to go! Next chapter will be the final one of this story, and due to the size of it I'm pushing it's release schedule a little further down the road. I'm honestly not sure when exactly it'll be ready, but I guarantee it won't take any longer than one month exactly.

Looking back at this chapter I think half the fun of writing this particular chapter was imagining how things like the Superweapons actually work (A consequence of me just beginning to get into physics), as well as how a large scale battle between Skells would actually appear.

So that about wraps things up for now, next chapter is the finale!

(Random comments about giving reviews and whatnot)