Might of the Steel

From the safer distance,

Shadx13 had noticed the Turncoat's incoming until their departure. He also noticed the sought unit Zero0x was still intact. The Phantom Shadow judged the situation as tight; one unit was unable to accomplish the task. The best option was to track them, while relaying report to the Commander. Luckily, nobody had detected it yet.

Late afternoon,

Zephyrus' team had arrived very late; they had scoured the ruined Command ship and found nobody. Yet, Brood had discovered something interesting,

"Sir, I have found tracks toward the East! It seems a group of people was gathered here. They just left 8 hours ago…" Novem added,

"More to the east was the Turncoat-infested area. I am sure the last radio contact wasn't come from them." The Wizard interjected,

"If it is the trap, then why didn't they appear now…it seems they have what they wanted." Not for long, Vernitz came out from the ship,

"Ma'am, I've found something inside the ship. Someone had survived…the supply was stacked neatly. It might more than one survivor…" Zephyr glanced to the East,

"Perhaps the Turncoats had taken them before us…" The Mental Smith asked,

"What shall we do now, Zephyr?" The veteran Spiritualist thought deeply until he called,

"Brood, come here!" The Hidden Soldier came,

"Yes, Sir!" Zephyr held the young soldier's shoulders and said,

"I want you to track those trails by foot. Once you've found their place, contact us immediately!"

"Yes, Sir!" Brood immediately disappeared from view. At that time, the Wizard turned to the rest and said,

"Let's hide the MAUs somewhere else…" To this, Vernitz protested,

"Then how will we go to track those survivors? What if we have to fight?"

"We'll go by foot!" Zephyr remarked sternly, "As for fighting, I hope driving the MAU don't make you forget your training!" Nobody talked back, except Vernitz who gone sighing.

On the way,

Gungnir's team was still on the move until they entered a meandering path into the rocky canyon. Without them aware, several lurking eyes had watched them.

Before the Accretians managed to leave the canyon, the incoming blast came from nowhere. To this, Exvion warned,

UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:

Analyzing situation…

DANGER!

Download combat procedures…

"Leader!" Following the warning, Gungnir gave his command,

"Scatter!" Simultaneously, the cyborgs scattered. The blast hit the rock walls into rubbles, and blocked their way out. After the dust settled, they came out. Gungnir and Invictus immediately inspected the way. Not for long, the Dementer asked,

"Leader, shall I use my Launcher to clear our path?" the Accretian warrior stopped him,

"Wait!" then he scanned its surrounding, before commanded, "We were not alone! Accretians, prepare your weapons!" Everyone pulled their armaments as commanded. Invictus pulled a steel mace, while Gruud held a large Redeemer. In other hand, Exvion produced the Grenade Launcher. Gungnir itself pulled the Elastick. The Warrior buzzed,

"Come out wherever you are!"Not for long, something came out from the caverns. They were the bipedal, huge reptilian creatures. They brought various kinds of weapons such as sabres,axes, mortars and double swords. From the gleam of their eyes, it was clear that they were hostile. The Accretians watched their foes impassively. Then the commander asked,

"Vafers, who speaks for you here?" The armored Vafer moved forward,

"I am, the King Vafer! Tin can!" he hissed, "Your kinds aren't welcome here! We will reduce you into scraps and then sold it to the Cartellans!" Gungnir commented,

"Then it is useless to parlay with you…we must fight our way here!"

The King Vafer laughed, "Fight? You were outnumbered one-to-fifty!"

"Do not underestimate the Imperial Army's might! Attack!!"

"Crush them all! Charge!" The Vafers shouted their battle cries, before jumped into battle. Instantly, the Accretian Rangers began to form the defensive line behind their fellow warriors. Tri-Edge and Gruud immediately unleashed their destructive projectiles. Explosion boomed everywhere. Gungnir moved forward and cut swath through the enemy rank with its spear. The cyborg shouted,

"Thrust!" The closest Viper Nipper were impaled through its abdomen, and ripped apart when the Accretian pulled the weapon through the sides. Behind it, Invictus were busy bashing the enemy skull with its trusty mace. The Warrior quickly charged its Wild Rage in order to add the strength. The axe-wielding Vafer Barbar charged toward him, and tried to chop it. However, Invictus blocked its attack with a shield and then sent a powerful Blow that scatter the Vafer's brain everywhere.

At the behind, Tri-Edge had used its Siege Mode to increase the destructiveness of its Launcher. Exvion aided the Ranger by throwing Acid Grenade and Acid Shower. The attack was heavily disabled the most of the Vafers. Suddenly Gruud threw off its Launcher and took a large Beam Axe; without regards to its security, the Ranger charged to the enemy. The unlucky Vafer Mortar were become its wrath. Gruud immediately cleaved the reptilian creature into two with its axe; afterward it mowed the enemy. The Scientist dropped its Grenade Launcher and pulled the Soul Returnee Bazooka that sent the rest into oblivion.

Seeing Gruudx 76's amok, Gungnir commented,

"What a reckless action!" Yet, the King Vafer had stood before the cyborg and brandished the huge sword. The creature snorted,

"Bastard, you won't escape after slaying my tribesmen! I will kill you personally!" Without any hint of humor or fear, Gungnir answered,

"Your logic is faulty since beginning. You have underestimated us…and now you make another mistake by challenging me. Probably death would end your miserable existence,"

The large Vafer shouted aloud, sending Blow toward the Accretian commander. Yet, Gungnir blocked the attack with Soul Elastick. They circled each other, watching, and then began to cross steel. The King Vafer had used its brute strength fully, but failed to bring the cyborg into submission. Feinting the opportunity, Gungnir swung its weapon, sending a shockwave toward the foe. Startled, the reptilian creature braced the impact. The Accretian lunged in from behind, with a spear attack that impaled its target. The Vafer howled in pain and anger, unable to control its attack. However, Gungnir pulled its spear and thrust vertically through the creature's neck. The creature gargled in its blood; its movement turned limp. The Destroyer dropped the dead body to the ground, while seeing the rest. It glanced to the dead Vafer for the last time,

"You have been warned…never underestimate the Imperial Army's might! Now you have paid the price!" Few hours later, the Vafers had been routed completely.

At the same time inside the Turncoat Bellato compound,

Contrast with Titania, Maeve's quarter looks like a mechanic shack. Every corner was filled with cranks, nooks and gears. Ranskye was fascinated, while Maya didn't look impressed. The female Turncoat Bellato explained,

"During my heyday, I was a Driver and a Chandra…until my comrades abandoned me during the Chip War. I might be ended dead if these Turncoats didn't come to help me…" The female officer rebuked,

"You should be ashamed! The good Bellato would rather die than betraying the Federation…" Maeve snickered upon the comment,

"Your Federation didn't do anything to look for me; they simply left me to die…as a matter of fact, you might be abandoned as well…" To her surprise, the ranger shouted,

"No, they don't! I believe they would send a team to retrieve us…" The Turncoat merely sighed,

"Well, it is lucky for you then…do you want to see what I've got for this life?" Muttering a strange spell, Maeve produced a dark orb on her right hand. Maya immediately cursed,

"Dark Force! How far you've fallen?" The Turncoat stopped Exertion, and turned to her captives,

"I call that it is necessity…now both of you will tell me about the explosion, which we detected!" Ranskye and Maya were stunned to hear that, unable to answer,

Back to the canyon,

Gungnir inspected the battlefields; there were no survivors among the Vafers. Those brute creatures were hard-headed like the other critters…even reminded the cyborg to their sworn enemies, the Bellato and the Corites! He wondered what makes those creatures fight to the point of death.

UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:

Analyzing situation…

Recalling the log record at 00.00

ExvionE47 voice pattern: "Something called 'Heart' and 'Soul'

As the Warrior pondered, the Engineer remarked, "Still wondering about last night?"

Gungnir replied, "That's nonsense…our steel is stronger than the so-called 'heart' and 'soul'!"

"In that case, can Commander explain how the Vafers fight? They might not be so cultured like the Bellateans and the Corites, yet they were similar to one another. If Commander isn't convinced, try to fight the Bellato or Cora warriors." After saying that, Exvion left Gungnir alone. Then Invictus came,

"Leader, there is something you must know…Shadx13 reported the survivors were taken by the Turncoats. It also tracked them to their lair…" The cyborg glanced with even level; the ordinary humans might be surprised or shocked to hear the news. Instead, he asked,

"Where do Shadx13 waits?" Invictus answered,

"Coordinate 78, 32 East!" Gungnir nodded, and then ordered,

"Tri-Edge! Gruddx!" Clear our path with the Launchers!" Both rangers nodded,

"Yes, Leader!" They instantly transformed into Siege Mode and blasted the rubbles into smithereens. Gungnir declared,

"Nothing will stop the Accretian Empire, except disasters!"

At the Turncoat Accretian compound,

Zero0x still inert, as the rogue Accretia still tried to hack into its database. The whole process had left the cyborg almost drained. It could spot Nobuseri around, while Smiley was nowhere to be seen.

UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:

Analyzing situation…

Primary Subject: Nobuseri…

Secondary Subject: unknown Turncoat…

WARNING! Database had been hacked…

First firewall…down

Second firewall…down

Third firewall…9%

Nobuseri turned to the Scientist, "Well?"

The Turncoat Scientist answered, "Master, it seems we had a hard time to enter this unit's database…we need more time…" The Turncoat leader buzzed,

"We don't have much time! Then how can the midget hack into his mainframe?"

"The Bellato simply tinkered with the basic commands, not the storage data. How he did that…we lacked the data…" Nobuseri mused,

"I guess I have to ask him by myself…Contact Maeve! I want to talk!"

At midnight,

Overlooking the lights of the Turncoat's settlement, Shadx13 waited behind the darkness of night. Not for long, its comrades arrived one by one. Gungnir asked,

"Report!" The Phantom Shadow spoke,

"The Turncoats utilize the stealth technology; infiltration was good only for a single unit. The captives were taken by their respective races," The cyborg commander picked up,

"Including the surviving unit…" Shadx13 nodded, and then the Destroyer turned to its squad. This time, Gruudx76 and ExvionE47 were silent. Judging the situation, they had to utilize the element of surprise,

"Tri-Edge, contact Brutez66…we might need its assistance…"

At the vast, dark space,

The Accretian cruiser floated smoothly on the space; it carried 50 Accretian warriors and 30 rangers. Yet, they were obeyed the command of the most feared fighter of the Empire. The red-white armored cyborg sat on the captain's deck. Its eyes watched the drones around. The Bellato nicknamed it 'the Red Devil', while the Cora mocked 'the Accursed One', but the Accretia called it 'the Immortal'

Brutez66, the Mercenary type cyborg watched the navigational panel without any interest. What interested it was the fight. It looked for a challenge; nobody could be its worth. Then another cyborg called,

"Commander, we detected the encoded transmission from Novus…shall I translate it for you," The mercenary dismissed it. Few moments later, the drone returned,

"The transmission comes from Centurion GungnirTII. It requested assistance for …a specified mission. Shall I reject it for you, Commander?" Suddenly, the cyborg's eyes flared up.

"No, connect me to him!" The drone obeyed and an image of Gungnir was displayed on the huge monitor,

"Hail to the Empire, Phalanx Brutez66!" The mercenary cut it,

"Direct to the point, Centurion! Formalities are not accepted here!"

"I need for your assistance! Our objectives were taken by the Turncoats, and it was imperative to the Empire!" Brutez nodded,

"I see! What assistance that I can offer to you then?" Not for long, both of them were conversed. After the conversation, Brutez ordered,

"Turn the ship to Novus! I have something important to do there!"

Author's Note: Actually this chapter was intended to be a bonus, that's why this is shorter. We have seen the Accretians in action! I put the Vafers as their foes. I already added another character, Brutez66. They had arrived first, before the other races do. What plan Gungnir have? What will happen with our main characters? Find out at the next chapter 'Blitzkrieg!'