Chapter 31 - Entrapment
BITIL - ABOARD THE TYRANT KING
Bitil surveyed the coast of Chile from the observation deck of his flagship, the Tyrant King. The news he had received was not good - of the legions he commanded, and those that participated in the battle for South America, three out of every four soldiers was currently trapped on the far side of the continent. And worst of all - he had nobody to blame but himself for this, for it was he who had given the order to march into the enemy territory.
Additionally, all of the Marshalls under his control had elected to push into the enemy territory along with their troops, as would be the standard procedure for any Marshall. This would not be an issue were it not for the fact that the Marshalls too were now trapped behind enemy lines, and beyond any capacity to contact. They were outside the range of Bitil's teleportation powers or an Oroha's psionic link. As such, three of his Marshalls were entirely cut off, and to make matters worse, the fourth had just recently been killed, leaving a scattered ten-thousand up and down the length of the continent.
But Bitil couldn't tell Icarax any of this. It would be tantamount to career suicide - or perhaps literal suicide - to reveal to the Master of Shadows that he had fallen for such a blatant trap. Much as Bitil would argue that it was not his fault, and that he could not have foreseen the events unfolding as they did, he suspected Icarax would not see the matter the same. Bitil had to solve this problem on his own - and that meant he had to use only the assets already at his disposal to do so.
Of those, he had ten thousand beings under his command. It was a substantial fighting force by the standards of the universes he had conquered thus far, but it was paltry compared to the sorts of territorial gains he would need to make in this reality. The 65th, 66th, and 67th Skakdi Lances each contributed two thousand skilled Skakdi fighters each, plus honor guards. Unfortunately, they were too disparate, engaged in too many skirmishes across the terrain to be withdrawn and consolidated into a single fighting force.
Additionally, the 2nd and 3rd Utility Lances were hard at work fortifying several landing sights along the sea, equipping them with crude forcefields to protect against bombardment from land and sky. They would be of no use in a major conflict, as they were mostly military engineers and logisticians ensuring that ammunition, rations, and other supplies were distributed appropriately.
Bitil had a Long Patrol Lance to his name as well. The Atureas scouts would theoretically be capable of advancing despite the terrain, and providing extra numbers to break out the encircled legions. But the Atureas were lightly armored and meant for observation and skirmishing - their specialty lay in hit-and-run tactics rather than siege-breaking. And even if they were able to join the trapped legions, there would be little difference between thirty thousand and thirty-two thousand soldiers. The issue was the terrain and the chokepoint at either end of the canyon, not a lack of manpower.
There also sat a mixed Lance of yet another two thousand assorted Oropi. They were a detached group mostly consisting of small squadrons of unique species, mainly used to contain overflows of numbers from other, more segregated legions. Bitil had specifically requested them on account of them being untested new recruits - a means to demonstrate that he could win battles even with raw, unseasoned troops.
Lastly there were two Xian Armored Lances. Smaller than any other Lances, each was a column of two hundred tanks and particularly devastating assault vehicles with which he could form a spearhead - along with any engineers and support staff necessary to maintain the vehicles. Bitil stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Around him stood several of the various Undermarshalls of each group, barring some who were forced to remain in the combat zone. Each was prepared to advise Bitil as necessary, but remained silently waiting for orders.
"What is the status of the 66th Skakdi Drakes?" he finally asked, and a portly red Skakdi stepped forward.
"Hunting down dissidents in the territory designated as Colombia, sir. Several city holdouts are giving us minor trouble, as urban conflict is wont to do, but we should be through -"
"That's easy enough work. 1st Overflow Lance -"
As Bitil spoke, a Vhisotai representative from the 2nd Overflow snapped to attention.
"- disengage from coastal defense duties. 2nd and 3rd Utility Lances will be buttressed by 7th Long Patrol Lance."
"Sir, begging your permission to speak, sir!" barked Karaar, Atureas Undermarshal of the 7th Long Patrol. Bitil nodded.
"The Long Patrol is ill-suited to defensive deployments, and may find reinforcing coastal landing sites to be difficult -"
"Irrelevant. You'll only be there as a last resort - the 65th and 67th are busy cleaning up any legitimate enemy threats in the region."
"Sir, understood, sir."
"Now, where was I…" mused Bitil, looking over his map of the region. "66th Drakes, yes… 1st Overflow will be repositioning to Colombia, they'll be taking over the urban fighting for you. Should sharpen up the rookies. 66th will then follow 8th and 9th Xian Armor as reinforcements," Bitil's finger snaked along the map, "supporting their push towards the mouth of the canyon. There, the three Lances will disrupt the enemy blockade at its east side, freeing our trapped units."
Bitil squinted over the map of the region. It would not be a quick journey - his encircled army would need to survive for a few weeks on their own before help could arrive.
"65th will remain in Panama, keep the land bridge clear and sweep to the South; I don't want any more enemy reinforcements hiding there. The last thing we need is them ambushing the Xians from behind."
"Sir, yes sir," replied the 65th Undermarshall.
"You all have your orders. I want this to work. Damn you all, I want this to work," Bitil spat, leaving the consequences for failure unspoken.
ONUKARI - COLOMBIA
With a crashing sound, the leg of the X2 War Walker came down upon the treeline of the Colombian jungle. Onukari clung tightly to the railing of the fire-deck as the vehicle rocked underneath her. The machine was titanic, and lumbered slowly; the reactor powering the creation was easily twice the size of the average Lhomanu, but even it strained to power the walker's six powerful legs. On the lower deck, the engineer scurried about, carefully investigating and manipulating the controls of the machine's power source. Alongside them, the communicator huddled in the small sheltered alcove between the War Walker's armored pilot and the body of the vehicle. Their fingers danced across a console, activating whisperstones and running lights to send messages to the rest of the armored column - itself made up of a dozen X2 War Walkers, several dozen up-gunned Civil Protection Peacewalkers, and a hundred Atmos suits of varying specification, from the A1 Chariot to the A3 Empress, all carried within the hull of the Bahrag-class supercarrier. The Bahrag was a marvel of engineering, like a naval destroyer with legs. It called for more than a hundred Xian engineers, bridge crew, and gunners to populate it. It walked on eight legs, and its main deck featured two staggered monolith lightstone cannon batteries of the same type attached to each X2 War Walker, along with a hundred point-defense weapons and Cordak missile batteries. Emerging from its center was a tall post strung with wires, and a small basket at its top, inside of which stood a Xian spotter, who surveyed the surrounding terrain and relayed running-light communications to the rest of the lance.
At the rear, in a loose lineup, were Dermis-shell Troop carriers, which shuttled much of 66th Skakdi Drakes into combat. The rest walked alongside the vehicles at a slow pace, scanning for hostiles - and eager to find them.
"Heads on a swivel, we're approaching the enemy perimeter," came a bark from the X2's commander, Talehu. She stood alongside Onukari, eyes fixed upon the treeline ahead. The blast shield of the Monolith cannon would protect against small arms fire from whichever direction the turret pointed in, but it also made a large obstacle for the commander to see past, so the commander of each X2 would need to lean over the railing to see past it - or rely on the intuition of the War Walker's pilot. At the front of each walker, strapped into a massive harness, was an X1 Protosteel Kahu, itself a smaller bipedal walker with a single Xian strapped into its control seat. They were relatively exposed, but protected by a small personal Hau shield that projected around the X1. In emergency situations, the X1 could completely detach from the X2, and was equipped with a set of shoulder-mounted direct-fire plasma rockets along with high-frequency resonating claws. The X1 and X2 were an unbeatable force, and a masterful example of the power of Xian engineering.
Another crash came from ahead, as the X2's front leg swept away an entire swath of trees, crushing them underfoot. The entire column's speed was limited by the terrain - the three legions that had already come through the territory had done so on foot, and not made room for massive armored war machines in their wake.
A series of distant cracks rang out from somewhere in the mountains. It was the sound of artillery - Onukari knew it well. A moment later, lights began to flash on the supercarrier's crow's nest. From below, the X2's communicator intercepted the message.
"Enemy artillery, plumes at 46 degrees starboard, distance estimated 20 to 21 Kio. Command is making ranging shots now."
"Brace for impact!" barked Talehu, and Onukari clutched the railing once more and tucked her head between her shoulders. A moment later the artillery shots landed nearby, causing massive explosions and sending debris and dirt flying. Onukari felt a shard of bark strike her cheek, and she winced.
"Damage report?" shouted Talehu.
"Clean across the board, ma'am!" replied the engineer from below.
"Understood; Gunner, 46 degrees starboard, estimate 20 to 21 Kio, wait for ranging shots. Pilot, maintain current course. Loader, prepare next rounds -"
Talehu barely had to say the word "loader" before Onukari sprung into action. Removing a floor plate from the fire-deck, she exposed the racks of lightstone ammunition beneath. Each was a massively powerful explosive, and needed to be loaded by hand into the Monolith cannon.
Behind her, the tail-gunner of the X2 prepared his machine-microkanoka, loading a belt of the tiny disks into the weapon.
"Alright! Bring it!" he yelled eagerly, cocking the weapon's charging handle.
A moment later, the ranging shots from the Bahrag supercarrier split the sky with a thunderous cacophony. Each triple-barrel Monolith Cannon was enough to level a building, and it had just fired two of them. The entire mountainside lit up with devastation as the lightstone shells hit their targets, sending searing bolts of lightning throughout the area, all while their detonation ripped trees and boulders free from the ground. More light-signals came from the Bahrag's observer.
"Range set at 20.7 Kio; wind is coming against us, so aim high!" translated the communicator.
"Understood; keep it steady, gunner! Verify range for 20.7!"
"20.7 verified, ma'am!"
"Fire!"
"On the way!"
The entire vehicle shook, and a blinding light filled the air as the recoil dampeners kicked in. The monolith cannon let out a massive kashunk as the lightstone left its barrel and the empty shell ejected out of the cannon's side, clattering against the hull and rolling down into the underbrush below.
Onukari kept her ears covered as all of the X2s in the column let out their shots. The air itself rippled with heat and energy, and despite her attempts to protect her hearing, she still could feel her ears ring.
Where the initial enemy artillery barrage had came from, there was now a complete absence. The entire hillside had been carved away and replaced with a craterous void.
"That ought to have done the trick," said Talehu smugly, a moment before another series of explosions filled the air.
"The Karzahni was that - ?" asked Talehu, before being drowned out by the sound of the crashes. Onukari watched as the Bahrag rocked back and forth uncertainly, its entire hull lit up with the glowing protection of its Hau shielding. Elsewhere, at least two Peacewalkers had fallen to the ground, smoldering and beyond recovery. Half a dozen had lost a limb, or a weapon module, or were otherwise badly damaged from the attack. Through the smoke came the blinking light of the Bahrag's communications tower.
"Signal from the Bahrag - enemy airships, twenty or more -"
"I see them!" shot back the tail-gunner, Radox, pointing towards the mountain range to their north. Several distant hovering shapes could be seen, retreating back into the cover of the mountain range.
"The artillery was a diversion - the airships are the enemy's anti-armor!" said Talehu through gritted teeth.
"Orders from the Bahrag, watch for enemy anti-armor airships. Likely multiple fleets hidden throughout the mountains."
"Understood," shot back Talehu.
Meanwhile, Onukari heaved the second round out of its housing in the floor and lifted it onto the massive breach of the Monolith cannon. Cranking a wheel, the round was pushed into the cannon, and the breach shut behind it.
"Main cannon is loaded, ma'am!" hollered Onukari.
"Understood. Pilot, Tail, you see anything in the air, you shoot it down!"
"Yes, ma'am!", replied the two crewmembers. The sound of servo's actuating filled the air as the shoulder-mounted missiles of the X1 sprung to life, ready to be fired on demand.
But so too did the sound of a sudden plink ring out - the sound of metal on metal. And with it, a distant crack. Talehu looked around confused.
"What was that?" she asked, before more cracks filled the air. Each came from ahead, and a moment later, the Vortixx crew began to understand.
"Enemy infantry are on the ground! Communicator, signal to Bahrag -"
"Signal from Bahrag!" interrupted the communicator. "Atmos units are free!"
From deep within the hull of the Bahrag supercarrier, a Vortixx barked orders into a crowded hangar.
"Suit teams, go go go!"
The gates underneath the Atmos suits opened up, revealing the trees underneath. Pilots, still entering their suits, stepped into the massively oversized armored leggings. Above them, the upper half of each suit was lowered down and secured at the waist to the legs, entombing the pilot within. Each Atmos was environmentally-sealed, making the suits entirely amphibious, and even - thanks to the jump-packs on their backs and legs - capable of operating in the vacuum of the void beyond the Matoran Universe.
There were more Atmos variants than could easily be counted - but the Brotherhood leant on four in particular. Of those, one was a construction variant, typically used for underwater and underground work. The other three, however, were the A1 Tower, the A2 Chariot, and the A3 Empress. The Chariot was a lightly-armored variant of the Atmos, equipped with a Ronin tracker cannon which fired a spray of flechette darts. Its main function was to scout forward and perform skirmishes at the front lines. The Tower was heavier and equipped with a powerful set of vertical boosters allowing it to climb nearly any terrain, from which it could rain high-powered destruction in the form of its Viper plasma railgun. Lastly, the A3 was a cleaner, through-and-through, with a massive rotary chaingun that shredded through infantry at an unsurpassed rate of fire. Each was a dangerous foe to fight - and the Bahrag carried more than thirty of each.
Crashing to the ground, the Atmos suits charged into the jungle, cutting trees apart with volleys of fire and their arm-mounted carbon drills. Meanwhile, aboard the X2, Onukari kept her eyes on the horizon, searching for yet more enemy airships.
As she did so, her eyes met with distant dots far above - they looked like the single-seater fighter craft she had seen the naval fleets use, but there was no way of gauging their scale.
"Enemy fighters above!" she relayed, as the crew looked upwards towards them.
"Understood - Communicator, relay to all, enemy fighters above, watch for strafing runs!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
The X2 lurched ever-forward, and as it did so, the Atmos suits surged past it underfoot. They seemed slow and lumbering, even moreso than the X2, yet somehow they surpassed the six-legged platform and vanished into the jungle ahead. Onukari watched the last visible one - an Empress - disappear, obscured by the undergrowth and the jungle canopy.
"Signal from the Bahrag - they're calling for a staggered line!"
"Understood. Pilot, shift to port!"
"Aye, ma'am!" replied the pilot, as the vehicle suddenly stopped in its tracks before scuttling to its left like a crab. The staggered line was the reasonable choice in this instance - without any fighters of their own, the enemy's aircraft would likely perform strafing runs on the ground targets, and the exposed crew of the X2 were vulnerable. By randomizing their formation, an enemy pilot could never attack more than two walkers at once while flying in a straight line. This would force them to make more frequent attack runs, which would put them in the tail gun and X1 magnetic missiles more often.
A moment later, however, the ground was showered with fire and debris where the X2 had been a moment prior. Onukari shrieked, clinging to the railing as the entire right side of the vehicle lifted into the air briefly. The rest of the crew was thrown to the floor, and Onukari could hear the sound of something breaking.
"Damage report!" cried Talehu, climbing upright. From below, smoke poured out of the reactor compartment.
"Starboard cooling turbines tripped, temperature rising!" said the engineer below,
"Port fans to 110%, open tertiary floodgate to recycle the feedwater!" shot back Talehu.
"Working as fast as I can, ma'am," said the engineer, clearly struggling as the reactor embedded in the center of the walker's hull nearly went critical.
"What was that?" asked Radox, coughing through the smoke.
"They must be dropping bombs of some sort -" began Onukari, before yet another explosion rocked the entire vehicle. The crew of Vortixx engineers cried out in surprise before identifying the source. Another X2 nearby in the formation must have been less fortunate in maintaining its reactor, and the resulting heat buildup had detonated the storage of Lightstone shells.
"Pilot, increase speed, get us moving!" hollered Talehu. Onukari felt a chill in her veins - she was far more concerned by the enemy presence than she had expected. They seemed to have a plan, and much to her horror, it seemed to be working so far. She looked around, trying to spy more of the enemy vehicles, but instead, her eyes met only smoke.
The explosion had begun lighting the trees on fire, and, not helping the situation, several Peacewalkers armed with flamethrowers had followed the Atmos suits to the front line. Although it was a good plan to flush the enemy out of the forest, as the Atmos operators were well insulated against the heat and flame, it also meant that the fire was spreading, and with it came smoke.
Keeping her eyes skyward, Onukari tried to identify where the next enemy attack would come from, but instead she saw only pillars of ash and the rippling of heated air. As she did, however, she suddenly felt a disconcerting sensation - the lack of movement. Talehu heard it too as she called out again.
"Pilot! Increase speed!"
There came no response. Instead, the communicator, glancing over towards the X1 at the front of the craft, was the one to speak.
"He's hurt! I think the last hit knocked him out!"
Talehu sucked air through her teeth.
"Communicator, get him out of there. Loader, get down there, replace him."
"Yes, ma'am," shot back Onukari, as she scurried down the ladder to the engineering deck. Squeezing past the engineer, she could see the communicator pulling the pilot out of the harness at the front of the vehicle.
"You know how to strap yourself in?" she asked Onukari, who nodded in return. "Good. I've got my hands full as it is."
Onukari, squeezing between the communicator and the railing of the engineering deck's catwalk, hoisted herself onto the bright yellow shoulder of the X1. The padded seat, with its arm-mounted controls, was free for her taking. As the vehicle's loader, she was trained to pilot it under emergency situations - during which, the main gunner and tail gunner would take over loading responsibilities. However, she had never had to pilot the vehicle in a combat setting before.
Careful not to step on the missiles, she swung down onto the X1's torso, and leaned into the padded seat. Her legs dangled, swinging, beneath her, while she adjusted the arm controls to match her own. Her hands wrapped around the intricate grips that controlled the vehicle and she breathed out a long sigh. She could do this.
Squeezing the right grip, the arm of the X1 flexed. Its bright red VT-7 High-Frequency claws buzzed audibly, and flickered in front of her eyes. She knew that they were vibrating at an incredible speed that allowed them to shred through most materials with ease. Easing on the grip, she instead pressed the red button on each thumb that synced the X1 with the X2 Walker it was attached to. The same gripping action from before now raised the massive clawed leg at the front of the vehicle, which she then slammed back to the ground. With uneasy steps, she began pushing forward into the trees.
"Pilot, get us on the other side of the smoke; we can't see zyga right now!"
"Understood, ma'am!" replied Onukari, kicking the vehicle into its fastest speed. It was no longer carefully uprooting the trees in its path, but rather barreling through them face-first - at great discomfort to its pilot, who was strapped to the front of the vehicle.
"Atmos team is reporting losses," said the communicator, calling out to the vehicle commander. Neither Onukari nor Talehu commented, but Onukari did wonder internally how such a thing was possible.
"Why haven't they ordered infantry out of the Dermis shells yet?" wondered the engineer out loud, still trying to tame the vehicle's reactor.
"Pilot, keep your eyes low! I don't want you stepping on the Atmos suits," barked Talehu, and Onukari confirmed the order. There was still not much to see, beyond fire and smoke.
A moment later, however, the smoke began to clear as the walker emerged from the swathe of burning foliage. Ahead, they could see multiple enemy airships flying overhead. They had emerged yet again from their mountain hiding-place, and were now swooping across the battlefield, firing rockets with precision.
"Pilot! 10 degrees port! Tail, eyes up, hostiles in the air!"
"Let's go!" shouted Radox, swiveling his gun in preparation. With an eager cry, he began to spray Microkanoka fire into the air, the small disks glinting in the firelight. However, the enemy was too far forward, and the X2's turn too slow to actually hit anything. It did ultimately draw the enemy's attention, which made Onukari begin to grit her teeth nervously.
"Keep her steady, Pilot. Increase rear lift! Gunner, flat to hull!" said Talehu. Correspondingly, the Monolith cannon swiveled downwards towards the battlefield rather than the mountains in the distance. Onukari performed a series of motions with the controls, and almost immediately, the vehicle's back legs began to extend out of their armored shells, tilting the entire craft forwards. It was virtually impossible to walk in such a manner, but it allowed the vehicle to depress the Monolith cannon in order to fire on ground targets within close range.
"Low power, fire!"
The Monolith cannon rang out once more, sending trees flying as the shot destroyed yet another patch of jungle. This shot was weaker than the last, but it was not meant to destroy, merely suppress. Without any clear idea of where the enemy ground teams were, it was the best the X2 could do to punch some holes in the treeline and keep the Primitives' heads down.
"Gunner, reload!"
As the gunner scurried out of their seat and loaded the next shell, Onukari kept her eyes upwards, looking for approaching enemy airships. Indeed, the first cluster was already on its way - and with the Monolith still in its reloading cycle, the enemy had a clean opportunity to skim along the vehicle's front flank.
"Commander, enemy airships coming about, dead ahead!" shouted Onukari.
"Understood! Missile rack one, open fire!"
Onukari flipped a switch, and the air filled with white clouds of smoke as the magnetic cluster missiles ripped free of the housing near her left shoulder, streaming toward the enemy. Their glowing green tips automatically homed towards the enemy craft, and within moments the enemy airships began to realize that the X2 was better-armed than they had thought.
The first of the aircraft went down in flames before they could even see what hit them. The second saw the threat and sprayed a series of bright lights from its hull, as if in a panic. Onukari watched the streaming lights fill the air with colored smoke. Flares? She wondered. It did the enemy no good, as the missile accurately struck them dead-center. The third was also struck with a glancing blow that sent it careening, but ultimately did not pull it out of the sky, instead leaving a large blackened streak across one side and visibly disabling some of its ordnance pods.
"Alright!" hollered Radox, excitedly, focusing his fire on the remaining airship, though again hitting little.
Onukari breathed a sigh of relief, and mixed feelings flooded her body. They had shot down two enemy craft already, but there were likely dozens more in the area, and they would know not to attack from the front any more.
This relief was short-lived, however. The damaged airship was still skyworthy - and Onukari watched with dread as a rocket detached from its hull and streaked towards the X2.
"Enemy rocket inc-" began the gunner, pointing towards the sky, before Onukari felt herself being flung into the sky. The X2's back half was engulfed in a concussive wave of death, with fire racing along the vehicle's hull. Onukari saw warning lights begin to flash across the length of the vehicle and on the screens mounted in the X1's cockpit.
"Commander!" shouted Onukari with concern. She tried to look over her shoulder, which sent a wave of pain across her body - but even if she could twist to look behind her, the X1's shoulders blocked any sort of visibility. The entire vehicle was leaning, its back legs shaken apart by the damage, and the X1 had a better view of the sky than it did the jungle in front of it. In it, she could see the damaged airship finishing its strafing run.
"Engineer, Commander, anyone, sign off!" cried Onukari, gravely worried. Was she the only one left?
Suddenly, her concern grew worse, as she recognized the imminent danger she was in. The rear of the vehicle contained the lightstone shells - and they were currently on fire.
Without a moment's hesitation, she toggled the controls to just the X1, and lifted the harness free from the bipedal mech. The massive metallic arms clattered against the X2's hull, and she slammed the emergency disconnect button. Several small explosive bolts jettisoned, and compressed air screamed as it pushed the X1 free of the X2's wreckage. Staggering onto the jungle floor, Onukari's X1 dropped to one knee. Like a new being taking its first steps, she slowly wobbled upright, and turned to glance back towards the X2.
The craft was damaged beyond any hope of repair - merely a ball of fire and broken metal. It was barely fit for salvaging at this point. Hissing through her teeth, Onukari turned back towards the jungle and began to run, putting as much distance between herself and the X2 as possible.
The decision came not a moment too soon, as the lightstone shells within the hull of the X2 finally gave way to the heat around them, and with an ear-splitting crash, the inferno throughout the jungle grew even larger. Onukari's X1 was nearly thrown to the ground from the blast, but she managed to catch her footing.
Looking around, she could barely see anything - now on the jungle floor, the X1 was shorter than the trees around it, and the sky above was filled with smoke once more. Infantry fire plinked against armor from all around her, but she could barely tell from which direction it came. Instead, her eyes remained peeled on the sky, as she wandered towards a clearing - or rather, a crater, caused by the crash of one of the enemy airships.
"Alright - come on, where are you…" she said, heaving breaths. She felt sick - she suspected she might have suffered some damage to her brain crystal from all of the repeated blasts.
A moment later, she saw what she was looking for. The airship, with its distinct char. She was the last member of her team alive, and she was cut off from the Brotherhood and injured - but she was not out of commission yet.
"Come here, show me what you've got," she said, gritting her teeth. Looking around, she sighted the crashed enemy airship. It was a strangely-shaped thing, like a long winged needle. But the wings were far too small to provide lift, like that of a Skyfighter's - instead, the vehicle had some sort of thrusters keeping it afloat. Giant spinning blades - like the ones she had heard of some Toa using to fly - seemed to keep it afloat. But that was in its prime, and this specimen was anything but. The giant blades instead were scattered across the ground, some cracked in half, and others smoldering.
Just one hit to the propellers, and I can bring you down, she thought. But she only had one missile rack left - if she missed, she would have no way of taking down the enemy ship.
She watched the airship fly overhead, still oblivious to her presence. Activating the second missile rack, the sound of servos again filled the air. Just need to line it up…just need one good shot…
Smoke filled the air, and the missiles were freed from their housing. Streaming through the sky, the enemy airship suddenly turned, attempting to evade the incoming rockets. Onukari's mouth dropped open in shock, as the enemy had no way of knowing the attack was incoming, yet they seemed entirely prepared to dodge it - like a sixth sense had warned them of the attack.
Chills ran up her spine as she realized she was now without a weapon, and she had given away her position. The airship skimmed across the surface of the trees while the missiles gave chase, ultimately crashing against the foliage and detonating early.
Damn.
The airship began to turn, coming about to face Onukari. She could hear it approaching; the hum of its engine, the feel of the wind streaming away from its spinning blades. And suddenly, she felt an idea come to her.
THOMAS HOPE - COLOMBIA
Thomas deftly avoided the incoming missiles, the active radar aboard his Bell AH-1Z Viper relaying to him their position. He was an experienced pilot, but had never fought aliens before. Still, he had seen one of his squadmates attempt to divert an enemy missile with flares, and he had also seen how unsuccessful that had been. Their wreckage lay in the crater behind him as proof. Instead, he would need to use his helicopter's maneuverability to avoid the incoming shots.
This was, luckily, his area of expertise, as he remained so low to the treetops that he could nearly reach a hand out of the cockpit to touch them. Lifting away from the trees, he heard the rockets strike against the treetops and detonate, turning some unfortunate plant into a ball of fire.
"Easy-peasy," he murmured to himself, despite the sweat forming on his brow. Bringing the gunship about, he looked for whatever had launched the rockets; whatever it was had come from the nearby crater. A second later he saw it - a massive yellow machine, easily thirty feet tall or more, with an alien strapped into its chest. It was the same thing he had seen piloting the gun platform earlier, and the same thing that had nearly shot him down.
"Oh, I'm gonna go walking in the moonlight with you," he said slyly, as he tilted his nose down and began to accelerate toward it. He still had a payload of Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, and he was about to use them.
The enemy machine seemed panicked, as it looked around for an escape - but Thomas was too close. He smiled, knowing that at least one alien bastard was feeling afraid before it would die.
Then the alien did something he didn't expect. It ran towards the crashed Viper, and began clawing at the wreckage.
That ain't gonna save you, Thomas thought. The wreckage was no real decent cover anymore - did it think it could hide from the missile inside it?
Instead, the enemy found what it was looking for as it lifted an entire blade of the helicopter's propeller free from the crash. Thomas, confused, began to realize it had some sort of plan - and he didn't want to find out what it was.
Activating the chin-mounted chaingun, a stream of shots ripped across the jungle towards the enemy mech. It seemed entirely unfazed, however, even as he saw one of the bullets strike the driver in center mass.
Hoisting the helicopter blade, the mech seemed to line it up, and Thomas realized with panic what they were doing.
"Oh shi-" he began to say before the mech threw the blade like a fastball. It streamed through the air faster than he could react, and even as he yanked back on the controls of his Viper, it was too late. The blade crashed straight through the glass cockpit, through Thomas, through his copilot, and through the other side of the vehicle.
ONUKARI - COLOMBIA
Onukari watched the projectile pass through the airship, and breathed a sigh of relief. The guns went silent, and the entire ship jerked violently, passing harmlessly over her head and crashing into the trees on the far side of the crater.
As she breathed deeply, however, she felt a sudden pain. Looking down, she could see a deep gash in her armor, right on her chest. Lifting a finger to it, she touched the wound - and her fingers came back covered in blood and lubricant.
Confused, she suddenly felt incredibly weak. She let go of the X1's controls, and the vehicle fell to its knees. Onukari coughed, and blood poured from her mouth.
I just…need to rest for a moment. Then I'll activate a distress beacon. They'll come find me…they'll…find me…
Her thoughts grew quieter, and her eyelights dimmed for the last time as she succumbed to her wounds.
BITIL - ABOARD THE TYRANT KING
"Failed!?" Bitil cried, furiously. He wanted to destroy something. He needed to destroy something - and he was compelled to take out this rage on his messenger. Through extreme force of will, he stayed his hand as the quaking Matoran nodded.
"I'm sorry sir, I cannot - I - express how sorry - the Xian Armored Lance -"
"Damn. Damn!" Bitil said, kicking the wall in anger. His plan had not worked. The enemy had been far more prepared to deal with armored units than he was expecting - and his armored units had been far less prepared to deal with the jungle terrain than he had hoped.
Collapsing to the floor, Bitil's head sunk into his hands. He gritted his teeth and dug his claws into his hands. He could try again, perhaps with a new strategy - use the Long Patrol, or the Skakdi.
But he knew he couldn't. The Xian tanks had been his best bet, and they had ultimately retreated after several hours of combat after taking severe losses, primarily from air-to-ground bombing runs. It boggled his mind that the enemy had even conceived of using such a strategy; the Brotherhood had only ever employed fighters as interceptors to counter the enemy's own fighters. But he was witnessing something new - something that he was beyond his depth to deal with.
Dread filled Bitil's core as he realized what he had to do.
"Get me the captain. Tell him we're sailing back to Target Main."
Teridax preserve me, Bitil thought. I need to ask for Icarax's help.
KRIKA - ABOARD THE SPECTRE
Krika felt very strange. He had long-since ascended to the evolved form of antidermic gas. He was beyond any form of organic need, and any tendencies he still expressed were performative rather than necessary. Despite this, Krika felt immensely tired.
Every day it felt like more requests piled onto his shoulders. Kabei demanded materials and machinery and manpower. Icarax demanded progress. The various members of Krika's military entourage demanded his attention with reports and analysis. Life was already more difficult than the Makuta needed it to be - and now he was keeping secrets. In particular, the type of secret that would get him in an inordinate amount of trouble with Icarax, one of the only beings who truly terrified Krika.
The other, of course, was Gorast.
"What are you doing here?" Krika asked, startled, as he emerged into his quarters. Before him was Gorast, staring intently at a large mosaic retrieved from a ruined Akiamu settlement. The mosaic depicted a famous axe-wielding warlord felling scores of foes, and it was one of Krika's more prized possessions.
"Krika. I've been looking for you," Gorast replied, still staring at the mosaic. One set of her arms was folded at her chest, supporting her chin, while the other was placed squarely at her hip. An idle finger traced the linework of the piece, much to Krika's annoyance.
That mosaic is worth more than the finger you're touching it with, he thought, grimacing. Krika remained silent, which Gorast seemed to take as an invitation to continue speaking.
"This is an interesting piece," she said in a tone of faux admiration. "When did you acquire it?"
Krika sighed, shutting the door behind him, and moving into the room with her.
"Two years ago. It depicts -"
"I can see what it depicts."
Gorast's quick interruption silenced Krika. She smirked, and gave a quick scoff.
"I understand the…value it must have to you," she said, ponderously. "And why you would keep it so close. It's the last remnant of a dead civilization, and it's a nice reminder of what happens to those who stand against us."
Krika raised a brow, and Gorast continued, pointing towards the Akiamu bearing the axe.
"The strong fell the weak. They wield power, and have the will to utilize it for the mastery of their fellow beings. It is a message I can identify with…"
Krika did not tell her that the meaning of the mosaic was much the opposite of her rambling. The axe-wielding warrior had laid down their weapon after some centuries of conflict, and the mosaic was part of a pair, depicting his turn towards a life of peace. The latter had been lost to history.
"But this piece didn't come from our conquest… Two years ago, we did not fight any Akiamu. You didn't collect this because it was a trophy of a fallen foe, did you?"
Krika shook his head in the negative.
"I did not."
"No…you collected it because for some strange reason, you feel right at home -" she said, digging her sharp claw into the mosaic, and plucking the tiles off of the piece one at a time to emphasize her words.
"Right here," she said, pointing at the hordes of dead and dying. "Among the damned."
Krika tried to gauge her meaning, and what she was implying. At the same time, he felt sickness in his core at the sight of her defacing such an item.
"Please, Gorast, you must stop that. I insist," Krika said, with a forceful tone. Gorast stopped with a look of surprise, before smiling at the white-armored Makuta and closing her fist, digging the grout out from under her nails.
"I don't like you, Krika. In fact, you could even say I despise you. You've never been one of us - ever since the Convocation. You're too…"
Gorast stepped forward, raising her fist and dropping her collected tiles on the floor in front of Krika.
"...soft," she said, smiling viciously.
"Makuta Teridax assigned me to this task, just as he did you. Perhaps he sees something in me that you do not," replied Krika, putting on an unfazed front.
"Hmph. Perhaps he does. But I see something in you that he does not."
Slowly and deliberately, Gorast retrieved from her person a dataslate, and handed it over to Krika. On the screen was a very clear image, taken from the construction site of Metru Nuva. It showed the Primitives sitting around a campfire. There were no chains or whips in sight. It could have been mistaken for a group of Primitives enjoying a vacation, were it not for their somewhat tattered clothes and a tiredness behind their eyes.
"This - this is -" Krika stammered, trying to rationalize an explanation, but if Gorast knew so much already, there was likely nothing he could say that would ameliorate the situation. "How did you find out?" he said, finally settling on a quiet and hopeless question. Gorast simply smirked in response.
"You think Vamprah is the only Makuta with an inquisitive eye? I see things happen - and I don't like what I see. I see slaves being treated like citizens. I see them relaxing rather than working. I see things that would make Icarax very…shall we say, upset?"
Krika gritted his teeth defiantly.
"What do you want, sister?"
Gorast cocked a brow, prompting Krika to continue.
"You come to me aboard my vessel, you investigate my affairs and you flash them in my face. If you wanted me killed or sent back to Teridax in a Toa Seal you would have just told Icarax. But you came to me. You want something from me."
Gorast smiled, turning away from Krika and facing the mosaic once more.
"Very astute. Indeed, I do despise you. But just this once, I need something from you. Your loyalty."
"My loyalty?"
"Indeed. Icarax is not the leader the Brotherhood of Makuta deserves, nor the one best-suited for the position. His arrogance and his weakness have degraded us all. We all share a part of the blame for letting this happen. But one day, sooner or later, there will be a change in leadership. When it happens, all of you will have to pick a side."
Gorast raised a hand towards the mosaic.
"His…" her finger pointed at the image of the crowd of fleeing Akiamu.
"Or mine," she turned towards the warlord.
Krika shivered internally. His options were narrow - he could either report Gorast to Icarax. She would certainly expose him in response, and the trouble with being at the top of any hierarchy is that there is never room above to be rewarded for one's successes, but there is always room beneath to be punished for failure. Conversely, he could join with Icarax when the time came to do so, but if Gorast's game was successful, she would certainly have him killed - and almost certainly in a more painful way than Icarax would. On one hand he faced annihilation - and on the other hand, he faced the prospect of aligning his loyalties with a hateful and dangerously feral Kavinika.
Krika sat at the nearby table, holding his hands underneath his chin, lost in thought.
"I will need time to contemplate your request," Krika said, after a long moment's deliberation.
"I'm sure. But I encourage you not to contemplate for too long," Gorast said, turning towards the icy Makuta. Behind her, an arm stretched out towards the mosaic, and dug its claws into the stone. Pulling a fist-sized chunk from it, she crushed it in her palm, and let the debris and dust fall to the ground. "I am not a patient Makuta."
A moment later, the air filled with a black void as she vanished, teleporting off to somewhere Krika did not know. His head swam, and he buried his face with his hands, feeling a mixture of fear, stress, and anger run through his body.
He really hated Gorast.