Chapter 2A Fateful Meeting of Two Outsiders
"Nonomi, suppressive fire on those girls on the right dune! Serika, Shiroko, flank to the right! Use those buildings for cover! We'll keep them busy!"
"Yes, Sensei!" "Nn" "Alright Sensei!"
A pale blonde-haired girl climbs to the top of an old, wrecked car. Her halo, a green circle with a smaller circle inside and 2 ear-like flaps on its front, bobs up and down as she hefts a rather large minigun with a white chassis emblazoned with the symbol of Abydos High School.
"Here comes Nonomi!"
The roar of her minigun echoes among the sands of Abydos Desert, nearly drowning out the various gunshots and explosions as it lays down a rain of lead onto the heads of the unfortunate contract-slaved students serving Kaiser. Only a few shots of the torrential bullet storm land a clean hit, but its ferocity is enough to force the haloed girls to duck for cover.
"Nonomi, reduce fire to sporadic bursts! Keep them down!"
The girl with dark navy-blue hair with prominent cat ears sprints around the broken-down home to the right of the dune. Alongside her, a grey-haired girl with wolf ears scans the surrounding, her slitted pupils widening in an attempt to find potential ambushers in the half-buried ruins of the once mighty Abydos District.
The two students clear the buildings, emerging to the back of the dune where the Kaiser girls hide from the intermittent fire of Nonomi's minigun. They quickly fire upon the unsuspecting girls, knocking them out with rapid, precise fire from their rifles.
"Sensei, we've cleared the dune!"
"Good work girls, now go over to the dune on your left. There should be-"
Suddenly a voice speaks through Maria's earpiece, the slight crackle unable to hide the urgency in the voice, "Sensei! We have 2 tanks coming from the left road!"
"Copy Ayane, thanks for the heads up. Prepare a first-aid drone just in case."
Maria, Sensei of Schale, stands on a tall dune, with an appreciable distance from the firefight she's currently directing. A glint of light catches her eye, reflecting from the silver hair of a girl running towards her. The twin tails of the girl's hair flutter in the wind, her dark-complexioned skin glistening with sweat in the hot desert sun. Maria-Sensei quickly buries the urge to lick Iori's sweat, and glances at the Gehenna student's bright red eyes, wide with concern.
"Sensei! You're exposed here, you need to come with me now!"
"Alright, Iori, thanks." Maria-Sensei quickly follows the field captain of Gehenna Prefect Team's assault corps. She reaches for the headset nestled in her ear, firing quick instructions to her students.
"Serika, Shiroko, belay that last order. Fall back now and rejoin with the Prefect Team, we have tanks incoming."
"Faust, we have 2 Kaiser tanks incoming, left road. Can you take care of them?"
"O-okay Sensei! You got it!"
A rather ordinary-looking girl with a paper bag over head, holes cut for eyes and a 5 written cleanly on the forehead with marker ink, looks through her binoculars at the 2 tanks rumbling down the sand-covered road leading to the ruins of a large school. She quickly notes down the coordinates of the tanks as they slowed to a stop.
Ajitani Hifumi, Trinity student and (unwillingly) the secret criminal mastermind Faust, desperately tries to remember the artillery lessons from the blu-ray disc lent to her by her friend. She can't fail this now, not with her friends so desperately fighting to rescue Hoshino-san
She sends the coordinates through her Peroro-themed phone. Some distance away, the Filius faction's Artillery unit receives Hifumi's text.
The roar of Trinity Academy's famed L118 Light Guns shakes the sands of Abydos. The howitzers sending their shells screaming down onto the Kaiser tanks.
As Hifumi peers through the holes of her paper bag mask, she spots black shapes arcing in the sky, which quickly falls upon the 2 Kaiser tanks.
KABOOOM
Hifumi winces as the blast tears apart the heavy armor of the tanks, reducing them to guttered flaming wrecks.
"The tanks have been taken care of Sensei"
"Great work Faust. You can take it easy for now."
Hifumi sighs as she sinks down on the balcony of the ruined house she's currently hiding in. She wonders yet again on how an ordinary girl like her ended up in this crazy situation. Her face immediately cringes as she remembers on how she successfully "led" a heist on Stygian Bank, and how her unwanted reputation as Faust, criminal mastermind, first started.
Far above the sky, a figure clad in a faded dark hooded cloak looks down on the furious battle happening below him. The Primeval Scholar, wearing his mask [Barrier to Society], scans the battlefield. The sensor-suite spells embedded in the ceramic of the mask are functioning well enough to identify all the participants of this rescue operation. However, the deep-scanning functions dependent on more complicated aetheric parts remain unresponsive.
A small scowl spreads across the Primeval Scholar's face. The mysterious suppression continues to stifle his efforts. It is quite an annoying feeling, not being able to use the best of your arsenal. No matter, there are still plenty of functioning [Projects] to use. The Scholar will have to make do.
His eyes are drawn to the objective of Sensei and her students. The old ruins of the main campus of Abydos High School, now repurposed and reinforced as a Kaiser base. The old walls bordering the campus have been torn down and replaced with tall, reinforced concrete. Two watchtowers border the large metal gate that serves as the only entrance to the campus-turned-base.
To think that Black Suit managed to "convince" the Kaiser PMC Director to spend this much money and effort for his experiments. The Scholar wonders how tight a grip Black Suit's has on the Kaiser Board of Directors. Conventional logic dictates it to be substantial, paranoia dictates it to be near complete. Neither are particularly enjoyable to consider.
Hm, perhaps it's time to unleash HER.
The suppression was not the only reason the Scholar was unable to use most of his arsenal. Being part of Gematria curbed most of his desire to use the more powerful and outlandish [Projects] embedded within his corporeal body and incorporeal soul. The Scholar also loathed to use the many smaller relic [Projects] stored in his personal storage, [Vault of Eternity].
It's best not to reveal your hand to those you do not trust. And in the Scholar's 2 millennia long life, his full trust has only been given to a select few people.
But the Primeval Scholar is no longer part of Gematria. And so, one less chain holds down the Scholar's enthusiasm. The Scholar smiles. Yes, now is the time to start playing my cards.
AUTHORIZATION: PRIMEVAL SCHOLAR.
Administrator orders to [MAGNA]:
Cancel standing Hibernation order.
Activate all higher cognitive functionalities.
Perform rapid diagnostics
Full scan of immediate local area: 100-meter radius.
Summarize all Reports
...…...…...
[ - Multipurpose Analytical General Neural Assistant - ]
{Authorization Acknowledged}
{Hibernation ended. Awakening higher cognitive faculties}
{Higher cognitive faculties successfully activated. No errors detected}
{Ousiai sustain you, Maker. It has been a while}
Welcome back Magna. It truly has been too long.
{Hmhmm, you flatter me, Maker}
{Rapid Diagnostics has finished}
{Unknown suppressive phenomena detected across all systems}
{Estimates: 40% Unusable, 20% Partial Usability, 40% Usable. Specifics unavailable}
{I am afraid you will have to test them each for proper evaluation, Maker}
That's alright, Magna. There are too many unknowns in this world. We will take them one step at a time.
{Very well. Proceeding to Full Scan}
{Warning: Partial Sensor-suite suppression. Full Scan unavailable}
{I'm sure you already knew this, Maker. Why did you bother ordering it?}
Haha, apologies. Just wanted to be sure.
{I am thankful you built patience into my systems, Maker}
Is that sarcasm?
{ . . . }
{Activating [Blind Eyes]}
Within the fluid of the Scholar's eyes, a host of micro-sensors unfurl their folded arrays. Arranged in layers within the eyes, they form multiple "artificial retinas" with each layer specializing in a particular electromagnetic wavelength. The original retina itself darkens with a special pigment that makes it sensitive to aetheric emissions. As a consequence, the Scholar's eyes darken to the deep black of a moonless night.
{Aether sensors at 41.89% effectiveness}
A sigh escapes the Scholar's mouth. The systems most affected by the suppression have mostly been the more sensitive and delicate aether-dependent mechanisms. Unfortunately, most of the more potent [Projects] depend on those. Is it because they're composed of materials not native to Kivotos? A study for another time.
The [Blind Eyes] work in tandem with [Barrier to Society], allowing the Scholar to identify even the smaller details of the combatants fighting far below him. He was about to cast his gaze to the base when Magna cuts him off.
{Caution: Obfuscated Encrypted Psionic Signal detected}
{Approximate Source: Sensei of Schale}
Shock spreads across the Scholar's face. Psionics? Sensei? Was she not a normal mortal woman?
He quickly looks to Maria-Sensei, the full attention of [Blind Eyes] and [Barrier to Society] trained on this mysterious adult woman.
No aether emissions, brain not overheated, sweat amount expected in desert conditions, muscle tension expected in combat conditions, no anomalous electromagnetic radiation. Is she truly the sour-
No, the tablet. It's overheating slightly. Of course, The Shittim Chest! How could I forget?
The Shittim Chest. Shittim apparently being an ancient term of acacia trees. The Scholar remembers Shittim being an important term in some legends from one of the allied realities of the [Aleph Null Nexus].
Terra.
An average low-aether, pure technological world. Until it was invaded by extraplanar entities, forcing them to unite into a single world government. After defeating their invaders, the Terra Union began research on alternate realities. This led to the meeting between the [Nexus] and the Bureau of Extraplanar Affairs, and an alliance swiftly formed.
The Scholar had visited the reality of Terra, fascinated by its lack of aetheric magic. Unfortunately, his stay was rather short.
Now the Scholar is regretting not staying longer in Terra. Kivotos shares more similarities with Terra than it does with Ousiai. Perhaps if he stayed longer, he would have more clues concerning the Shittim Chest, and Kivotos as a whole.
Returning his train of thought to the Shittim Chest, the Scholar notes that Maria-Sensei is talking to the tablet. But no reply seems to come from the tablet. Audible reply that is. Perhaps this encrypted psionic call is how the Shittim Chest communicates with Sensei?
Intriguing. Most intriguing.
"Arona, how are the girls holding up?"
"They're doing great! No serious injuries so far. You're really good at this Maria-Sensei!"
Maria rubs her finger on the head of Arona, the display of the small girl with blue-pink hair giggling as she feels Sensei's headpats through the Chest's screen.
"Thanks, Arona. Please keep an eye on them."
Maria-Sensei looks to the large metal gate before them. The last obstacle before they arrive at the Kaiser Base, and the location of her precious, lost pink-haired student.
Hold on, Hoshino, we're coming to get you home.
The members of the Foreclosure Task Force gather around Maria-Sensei, readying themselves for the final push to rescue their senpai.
"So this is the place? The nerve of those Kaiser to build something this big in our district!"
"I do hope Hoshino-senpai is okay."
"Don't worry Nonomi, we'll get to her soon."
"Nn, Sensei is with us. Kaiser doesn't stand a chance."
Rikuhachima Aru and the rest of Problem Solvers 68 approach as well, eager to pay back their debt of gratitude to Sensei and prove once and for all they (just Aru) are true hard-boiled outlaws.
"H-how are we going to get past that gate?"
"Hm, that's a reinforced armored gate. Must have cost a lot of yen."
"Haha, don't worry boss! I still have enough explosives to make that thing go BOOM!"
"I-I also have explosives Lady Aru! I will help blowing them up!"
Shiromi Iori and her contingent from Gehenna's Prefect Team remain behind the group, ready to help Sensei with their massed, disciplined fire.
"Hey! Hold the bombs, you troublemakers! Wait for Sensei's word before blowing stuff up!"
Ajitani Hifumi remains hidden in a nearby building, scared but ready to provide the help of Trinity's artillery barrage should Sensei ask.
A united front of students, once enemies, now allies for a common cause. The Foreclosure Task Force and Problem Solvers 68, who were fighting each other not long ago. Even Gehenna and Trinity are cooperating in this fight, the deep-seated rivalry of these two old academies temporarily set aside.
It took a lot of effort to bring these students together. A lot of fighting, a lot of talking, even some (enjoyable) licking of the chocolate legs of a certain silver-haired field captain demoness.
Now they stand together, united for a worthy and admirable goal. Maria-Sensei could not be more proud of her students.
"Director, the invaders are at the gates! All outside forces defeated! What do we do?"
"Damn Abydos rats! Why won't they give up that sand-infested school of theirs? Keep the gates closed! We'll force them to waste ordinance trying to break that down."
"Yes sir!"
"Why don't we give Sensei a little help?"
The Scholar flicks his hand, throwing a steel needle with a bulbous head towards Kaiser's control tower. The needle begins to accelerate on its own, closing the distance. It then pierces the glass and imbeds itself deep into the control console.
"Take it away, Magna"
{Beginning Systems Infiltration . . . }
{Initiating Digital Penetration Protocols . . . }
{Infiltration Successful. All perimeter defenses neutralized}
{Opening main gate}
{I must say, Maker. That was rather disappointing. I expected more resistance}
They're a short-sighted mega-corporation. The higher ups probably embezzled the systems security funds to buy their 10th overpriced sports car or something.
{How sad}
Different reality, same old tale of greed.
"Sir, we lost control of the perimeter control tower! All our outer turrets are dead! Th-the gate! It's opening!"
"What the hell is going on! SysSec, status report!"
"Something infiltrated our network. It breezed past the firewalls like they were nothing. We managed to stop it before it reached the main facility by cutting the physical lines."
"How did you let this happen! What do I pay you for?!"
" . . . you cut our budget sir"
"Shut the fuck up! You dare talk back to me?! I will have words with you once this is all over!"
"Not before I quit you fat fuck."
"Sensei! Look! The gate is opening!"
Suspicion flares within Maria-Sensei's mind. Why would Kaiser just open the gates?
"Ayane, what's going on? Can you tell if something's happening in Kaiser? Even evidence of encrypted calls will do."
The voice of Okusora Ayane goes through Maria's earpiece, clearer than it has ever been since the start of this rescue operation.
"Sensei, it seems everything on the walls and a bit past it have shutdown. Wireless communications are all down too. Even the jammers they had are dead."
What is going on? Is someone else helping us? Maybe someone from Millenium?
Confusion races through Maria's mind, but one thing remains clear. They can't waste an opportunity like this.
"Everyone let's go! Advance forward, steady pace! And keep your heads on a swivel, this might be a trap."
The Scholar watches with satisfaction as Sensei and her forces advance deeper into the Kaiser base. The Scholar angles his [Gale Wing] boots, moving him forward and following the advance of the students far above the sky
In a hidden facility somewhere else in the desert, Black Suit watches the events through his tablet. The many backdoors he sneaked into Kaiser's networks working to send him live footage from the many security cameras dotting the base.
Black Suit is amused to find that his hypothesis on what the Primeval Scholar would do next proved to be true. He is also annoyed at how much the Scholar is interfering with his plans, and how quickly Sensei is advancing towards the Mystic of Horus.
"Very well, Scholar. If you wish to cheat like that, then I presume you don't mind if I cheat a little as well."
The battle quickly recommences as Kaiser mobilizes its forces against Sensei and her students. But the sudden shutdown of all outer assets served to confuse the Kaiser squad leaders and cut off access to the outer drone hubs. And with no outer turrets to harass the invaders, the students remain fresh and ready to assault the forces of Kaiser. It was quickly becoming a one-sided beatdown.
"Enough! Deploy all remaining base assets! We will stop them here now!"
"E-everything, Director?"
"EVERYTHING"
The fighting lulls to a quiet pause as the Kaiser forces quickly fall back to the main building. Maria-Sensei and her students take this time to rest for a bit and check their weapons.
As Nonomi reloads her minigun, she notices the ruins scattered within the Kaiser base.
"What is this place?"
"It looks like, a school", Serika remarks.
Shiroko approaches a broken stone slab, the symbol of Abydos High School faded but still visible on its sand-blasted face.
"A school in the middle of a desert. This has to be . . ."
"Correct. You're standing before what was once the main building of Abydos High School."
It was the Kaiser PMC Director. Every remaining Kaiser force in the base was gathered around him, and they quickly point their guns at the students.
But this time, the PMC Director looked different. For now, he stands before them while inside a massive mech suit, colored with the black and red of Kaiser.
"What is that!" ". . . nn" "YOU!"
"So you've finally arrived, Abydos Foreclosure Task Force." The Director could not help but gloat once more, confident of his army and his new Goliath mech suit. "Here stand the ruins of Abydos, abandoned due to desertification. This was once the heart of the entire Abydos district"
"Whether you're aware of its history or not, buried under this sand was once the largest and most influential academy in Kivotos. And it just so happens to be where Gematria requested we set up a lab"
Ayane becomes confused. "A lab? Why here?!" In the old campus? Why?
"And where is Hoshino?!", Nonomi demands. She begins spinning up her minigun.
"The vice president is in the building behind us. I would suspect the experiment has already begun by now."
"...!" Cold rage fills the wolf girl, her expression stiffening.
"If you intend to take her back, you'll have to go throu-AAAGGHHH!"
The Goliath mech suit suddenly begins to overload. Large arcs of electricity erupt from its chassis, electrocuting the PMC Director.
"Wha-" "Director!" "Woah, why is the fat robot sparking?"
Shock and fear begin to chill Maria-Sensei's veins. Something is wrong. Very wrong.
"Arona! What's going on?"
The Primeval Scholar watches as the fat robot Director {How did a robot get fat anyways?} as he gloats at the Foreclosure Task Force. The Scholar pays the Director's words little attention, his gaze focused more on his mech suit.
A prototype mech suit based on the Goliath model. That's Black Suit's prototype, if I remember right. Pilotable, with enhanced defenses and offenses. It would be a true upgrade if Black Suit took production and repairs into account. It costs quite a lot of money and resources to build, let alone maintain. Especially that energy cannon at the back. The rotor cannons are nice tho-
{WARNING: Unknown high bandwidth data transmission detected}
{Source: Unknown. Target: Prototype Goliath Mech Suit}
The Director's screams are loud enough that the Scholar could hear it all the way up in the sky. Time seems to slow down, as the Scholar notes that the rotor cannons on its arms quickly begin to spool up and aim towards Maria-Sensei.
Black Suit you piece of shit
"Sensei! Move!"
Arona's warnings fall on Maria's ears, but she could not move fast enough. The massive guns on the Goliath's arms, overclocked with a sudden overload of its reactors, move far faster than normal for a mech of that size.
Before Maria could react, the ground below the Goliath suddenly shifted upwards. Its footing lost, the Goliath's bullets whizzed past Maria's head. She could feel her hair shift from the bullet's proximity to her head.
As the shock of the last few seconds froze everyone in place, something suddenly came down from the sky like a meteor. Before it touched the ground, it slowed down, its long robes fluttering before gently touching down to the ground.
It was a man. An adult man. An adult man without a halo.
He stood between the Goliath and Maria-Sensei. Facing the mech, the man raised his hand and made a sharp upward motion, his palm facing up.
Suddenly the ground in front of him rose up, forming a long, thick wall of sandstone between the Kaiser forces and the students of Sensei.
He then turns around, facing Maria-Sensei, and quickly bows.
"My greetings to the Sensei of Schale and her students. I wish we could have met at a better time, but a certain suited man seems to be forcing all our hands today."
Even ignoring his lack of halo, the man was a very strange one. He wore a simple dark hooded robe, faded with use. It had thick, wide leather shoulder guards, with small dents and scratches across it. The hood covered his head, and his face was covered too with a white mask with a symbol of two concentric circles with a line down the middle. Dark hair surrounds the mask, as if trying to escape its confines.
He wore a plain loose-fitting dark navy-blue shirt and pants, both also faded. He also wore plain dark leather boots, scratched and molded with long use. On his side connected to his belt is a large-ish leather pouch. His only decoration is a large brass symbol similar to the one on his mask, but with extra horizontal lines on the circles and the line beneath it.
In his right hand, he held a cane made from the branch of a tree. Unlike a usual cane, it was not smooth, shaped, or processed in any way. It looked like he just took it off a tree. The only thing that separated it from a simple branch was the large, rough, uncut crystal below the handle, gleaming weakly
in the desert sun.
All in all, he looked like a wandering traveler straight out of one those magical fantasy novels.
The man moved to remove his mask, and as if breaking out of a trance, every single student raised their guns and pointed at the strange man. The man ignored them and removed his mask, hanging it off his belt.
His face looked young. But in his even neutral look everyone felt like he was far older than he looked. A certain tiredness permeated his entire face, like the look of an old dog who has seen everything.
"I apologize for the suddenness of all of this, but we do not have time. That Goliath mech suit has been overcharged past its limits. And it is specifically targeting Maria-Sensei."
The man raises his hand to cut off any remark and continues.
"I am not here to stop you. I am here to help. Whether you believe me or not right now is irrelevant. What is important is that Ms. Takanashi Hoshino is trapped in the main facility behind the Kaiser forces. I will make a safe path for you to go there. Do not worry about Kaiser and the mech, I will take care of them."
"Why should we believe anything you say?"
"You're just another adult like those that hurt Hoshino"
"What are you after?"
The man ignored the girls' accusation and raised his hand again, this time pointing towards the Kaiser base. The girls immediately pointed their guns at him, cautious of this sudden halo-less adult.
The man makes another upward motion with his hand, and another wall of sandstone forces itself from the ground. It looped around the Kaiser forces and led a curved path towards the main facility doors.
"Go take that route. The stone wall will hold against the bullets long enough for you to get there."
Maria, Sensei of Schale, steps forward and addresses the strange man.
"Why are you helping us?"
The old, tired eyes of the odd young man look at Maria, and a small smile bends his lips.
"Because I do not approve of Black Suit's methods. And I approve of your methods, Sensei Maria."
A short pause happens between the two adults, shorter than a moment, but longer than a thought.
Maria nods and begins addressing her students.
"Iori, you and the Prefect Team stay here and support this man. Foreclosure and Problem Solvers, with me. We're getting Hoshino back"
"Sensei!", Serika protests, "Do you really trust this adult?"
"No, but we don't have a lot of options right now. If we don't take this opportunity, we might never get the chance to rescue Hoshino again."
The students slowly nodded, realizing the urgency of the whole situation, and trusting in the instinct of their Sensei.
Before they left, Maria whispers to Iori, "Keep an eye on him. Don't let him surprise you with an attack"
Iori nods, "Okay Sensei, you can count on us. We'll keep these Kaiser bastards off you, and we'll stop this adult if he does anything funny."
Maria smiles, and ruffles Iori's head. With a last look at the Prefect Team and the strange man, she joins Foreclosure Task Force and the Problem Solvers. They begin to move towards the facility, using the stone wall as cover.
The Goliath mech, with the passed-out PMC Director still inside, began firing its guns at the wall. Exactly at the spot where Maria-Sensei is on the other side.
The man notices this, and begins looking around, stopping at the facility 2nd floor balcony.
"Miss Iori, the Goliath is using the security cameras to pinpoint Sensei's location. Destroy them!", shouts the man as he points to the camera hanging off the 2nd floor, which is looking directly at Maria-Sensei.
Iori doesn't trust this adult in the slightest, but she realizes he's right this time. Crouching down, she aims Crack Shot at the camera and fires. The bullet turns the camera into scrap.
"Another camera, bearing 40, 2nd floor."
BANG, and another camera breaks.
"Building to the left, bearing 290"
BANG
"Another one, on a pole, directly east"
BANG
The Goliath stops firing towards Maria-Sensei and begins aiming at the wall protecting the strange man and the Prefect Team. Maria and her team takes this chance and enters the facility, searching for Takanashi Hoshino.
BRRRRRRTTT
Bullets begin to pepper the sandstone wall protecting the Prefect Team, carving holes into its surface. Though holding for now, it's clear that sandstone isn't strong enough to resist bullets. If it wasn't for the thickness of the wall, it would have broken by now.
Tsk, clicks the strange man's tongue. He looks to Iori
"Miss Iori, does the Prefect Team have anything to dent that mech?"
Iori growls in frustration, not liking how this stranger found the Prefect Team wanting. "No, we don't. I can target the joints with my rifle while my team distracts it with concentrated fire."
"No, please don't. That would put the Prefect Team in too much danger"
The man reaches into his pouch and pulls out a stone tablet shaped like a smartphone. It had glowing blue lines across it, and a button in the middle. The man pushes the button, waits a couple of seconds, and speaks into the stone tablet.
"Miss Faust, I know you are scared right now, but we need artillery support. Where are the howitzers?"
To Iori's shock, the voice of that paper-bag mask Trinity student speaks through the stone tablet. She vaguely notices the lines glow brighter as Faust speaks.
"Who is this?! Oh, uh I mean. I-I'm sorry mister, but the artillery unit fell behind. They're out of range."
The man sighs, "That is alright, Miss Faust. Stay there, and inform us once the L118s get in range"
He puts away the odd stone tablet, and starts muttering to himself
"Alright, Suit. So that's how you're gonna play. Fine, I'll play your stupid game."
Again he reaches in his pouch, and this time he pulls out a palm-sized sandstone disc with hieroglyph symbol of a cat.
"What's that, another weird phone?"
"No Miss Iori, it is our weapon. Please call over the Prefect Team and have them ready themselves near the wall. We are about to change the balance of this battle."
Before Iori could question the insanity of this man, he clenches his hand around the sandstone disc.
"With this precious treasure of the desert, I summon the vengeful blade of the sands."
He then crushes the disc with his hand and throws it over the wall towards the Goliath.
To Iori and the Prefect Team's shock, the crushed disc becomes a ball of swirling sand as it sailed across the wall. It fell to the ground, and the sand fell as well, leaving behind an automaton.
It was unlike any automaton Iori has ever seen. It looked closer to those dolls the young girls like to play with. It was sleek, with smooth lines, and looked closer to a human than the boxy automatons of Kaiser.
It had long, thick double-jointed legs, like those of the many humanoid animals that call Kivotos home. It also had a long, segmented tail that ended with sharp spike. It had a narrow abdomen that had a decidedly feminine shape.
It had four arms with four weapons, to Iori's shock. The upper arms held two massive curved great swords, while the lower arms held two oversized light machine guns similar to those used by larger Kaiser assault automatons. On its back is an ammo case, with 2 ammo belts leading to the LMGs.
Its head was like that of a cat, with a short snout and long pointed ears. Its face only had 2 eyes and no other features, which glowed with a light of their own. Its entire body was made from smooth shaped metal, painted light brown, with darker shades of brown on the inner parts.
And it was tall, more than 2 meters tall. Not taller than the Goliath, but well above Sensei, or the Kaiser troops.
The man shouts beside her, shaking Iori out her trance.
"[USHABTI]! TAKE THAT MECH DOWN!"
A chuckle could be heard from the four-armed automaton. "With pleasure", it spoke with a noticeably feminine voice.
Ushabti immediately began to run towards the Goliath, raising her two light machine guns and firing on the Goliath. The Goliath responds in kind, firing its massive rotor cannons.
BBRRRRRRTTTTT
BBRRRRRRRTTTT
While the Goliath shrugged off the bullets, Ushabti danced and dodged away from the fire, all the while closing the distance. The Goliath quickly shifts its aim, firing to the left and right of Ushabti. She is forced into the narrow corridor between the stream of bullets. Right where the Goliath wanted her to be.
The energy cannon quickly powers up, ignoring all safety restrictions to reach firing levels as fast as possible. With a bright light, the cannon fires, and a blinding red plasma travels between the corridor of bullets, straight to Ushabti.
Before the plasma could strike, Ushabti bends her knees and crouches low, the angry red plasma fire missing her head and striking the ground behind her. Now crouched and bent forward, Ushabti flexes the artificial muscles, hydraulics and servos within her legs, storing energy for the next step.
With a flash, Ushabti leaps forward and strikes the Goliath like a crashing car. Her two curved great swords impaling themselves on the Goliath's frame. Unbalanced by the sudden attack of the strange automaton, the Goliath falls over flat on the ground.
Without missing a beat, Ushabti aims her two LMGs at the joints of the Goliaths arms and pulls the trigger. As hot lead rains down onto the vulnerable joints, Ushabti pulls out her great swords, and plunges them back into the Goliath. And she does this, again, and again, and again.
BBRRRRRRRRRTTTTT
STAB STAB STAB STAB
BBRRRRRRRRRTTTTT
STAB STAB STAB STAB
BBRRRRRRRRRTTTTT
STAB STAB STAB STAB
BBRRRRRRR-click-click-click-click-click
The LMGs ran dry, their barrels glowing red hot. The arms of the Goliath fell off its body, the joints utterly destroyed by point-blank fire. With one final pull, Ushabti rips out her two great swords and leaps backward off the prone Goliath, landing lightly on her feet. Miraculously, the PMC Director remained unharmed, besides the electrocution.
This entire sequence of events, from the emergence of the cat-like automaton to the defeat of Goliath, took less than 30 seconds.
Deathly silence reigned over the battlefield, as both Kaiser and Prefect Team were absolutely dumbstruck at the quick and brutal show of force between the Goliath and the strange four-armed automaton cat that came out of nowhere.
The Kaiser forces haven't even fired a single shot. They were shocked when they saw the PMC Director get fried by electricity. They were shocked when a sandstone wall suddenly erupted from the ground like magic. They were paralyzed with indecision when their commanding officer was taken out and paraded around by a now autonomous Goliath. And they were shocked beyond what their processors could comprehend at how quickly the powerful Goliath was turned into scrap.
Ushabti is the first to move, raising her two great swords at the paralyzed Kaiser forces before her. A sibilant voice emerged from her, filled with assured violence.
"This is your one and only chance. Lay down your arms, or rust forever in the grip of the desert sands."
One by one, the Kaiser forces threw down their guns and kneeled, hands on their heads. The unthinking mass-produced machines were shut down by their operators, lest they draw the ire of this machine goddess of violence. Soon, all the Kaiser forces had surrendered to Ushabti, and the once assured victory for Kaiser became a one-sided defeat.
Iori and the Prefect Team remain rooted to the spot, reacting only when the sandstone walls collapsed. The man, the Primeval Scholar, walked to the automaton he summoned and playfully thumped his hand on her back.
"Well done, Ushabti, well done! I am glad your time in stasis didn't rust your skills."
The cat-like automaton turned her attention to her summoner, her creator, and she giggled to herself. Her sibilant voice had a hint of affection to it.
"Of course, Maker. I am the blade of the desert sand. So long as you'll have me, my skills will never fade."
