A kilometer down from Hu-5's and Pa-5's location, there was an irregularity in the southern stretch's defensive infrastructure. Or rather, a lack of it. Instead of the familiar sight of dozens of wall-grade emplacements jutting out of their uncovered slots, there was an empty span of space along the top.
No emplacements, depots, or any other defensive infrastructure was present. Neither were there any auxiliary personnel in sight; they had long retreated to the complex network of compartments and balconies of the walls' inner face.
There was one sole object of note: a massive, mechanical feline. Its body stretched from one end of its allotted space to the other, and it paced back and forth along the outer edge before coming to rest on its haunches.
The main body was so large the servicemen on both sides of the Titan couldn't see its glowing eyes, angled downward to stare into the still-rising Aud army. The Jackal had patrolled the unsteady and crater-ridden lands of the east around Fort Rhea before its retreat during the fort's downfall.
And not only it, but its crew, burned for vengeance against the foe that had caught them unawares in their last encounter. Somewhere within the chest cavity, the sitesman of the feline Titan stared down at the servicemen hard at work within the command compartment.
"Good sirs, I dare say it's time we earn back our dues from those walking nightmares! No one could have predicted what befell Rhea, but the fact stands that it was us there, and us who abandoned a lost cause. Do I blame us? No, and you should not blame yourselves. But what we could've done, is claim more Aud lives for the good of humanity!"
He lifted a fist, and servicemen mirrored it on every platform. Outside in other compartments, servicemen stood rapt at attention to not miss a single one of He-6's words. "So we are here today to do what we could not do then! To your stations!"
At his booming commands, techs settled before their consoles, and engineers ran around into their positions. Even Ancients older than He-6 were not immune to his charismatic effects. The Titan leaned forward like how the netting cannons had done, careful to avoid toppling off the edge of the Titan perch.
Then again, felines were the Jackal's inspiration, one of the most balanced biological organisms to ever evolve. It had next to no trouble staying latched to the walls even as the entirety of its breast turned suspended over open air. "Activate our emplacements. Hold nothing in reserve, because they are sure not to!"
Though less impactful on an individual basis, a Titan carried beneath the surface of its body more emplacements than an equal span of the walls ever could. Hatches opened to allow electrics, sonics, and cylinders free. Before most cleared their safety procedures they were already firing down at the Aud, burning and blasting and raking death through the plentiful and colorful masses.
The bursts of light thrown from the overhead screens painted the command center in flickering shadows as if drowned in torchlight. He-6's aide turned to him, exasperated. "Sir, the techs are performing below standard due to the increased brightness of the overhead screens."
"And? It isn't to the point of a notable decrease in performance, yes?"
"No."
"Then liven yourself! We should enjoy ourselves in these trying times, and some cinematic lighting feels proper."
Aside from filing a complaint that wouldn't reach Directory Control back at the center of the Last Light due to the ever-increasing backlog of pending data for the spotlight network, there was little else she could do. His aide grunted and swiped through new data on a handheld screen. "Then have a look at this, sir."
"Oh, ho! That's the densest cluster yet. Which way are they headed up?" The fur scanners of the Titan had been running in a perpetual cycle since the defense began. More than any other Titan's crew, those piloting and staffing the Jackal knew what allowing the Aud to get the drop entailed. There had been self-imposed stricter regulations, as well as doubling efforts from every serviceman onboard.
The Jackal's sitesman hadn't needed to put in place any of the changes himself; humanity's soldiers were nothing if not driven to improve. And now they had registered a group of a hundred signatures that were climbing each other more than the walls to reach the top.
He-6 transferred the data to a three-dimensional projection and zoomed in, eyes tracking theibgt5fv4r progress up the vertical face with a predator's keenness. "Wait until they're in range, then…let's swipe at them."
Out of all the possible retaliatory measures the Jackal could've employed, that was the last his aide considered. No, it likely hadn't crossed her thoughts at all, which made its suggestion all the worse of a first impression.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, overcome by a very explicable yearning that she had never applied for such a prestigious position. Funny how foresight readjusted one's desires and priorities. "I assume there's sound reasoning behind this, to be frank, stupid course of action, sir?"
"Ha!" He roped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Only you could speak so brazenly to me. That's why I keep you around!"
Yes, and to the point that he'd contested her prior submissions for transfer orders to another post to keep her by his side. Who knew chewing out her superior and delivering rude, scathing remarks on the regular would net her a position of permanence, she lamented? But that was a woe to contemplate another, less preoccupied time. "Answer my inquiry," she stressed.
"There are too many Aud for our armaments to have the same effectiveness as the wall-grade emplacements. Regardless of how long we choose to stay from a closer confrontation, it is inevitable that the Aud will reach the top. And with no emplacements or servicemen on this part of the walls, because the Jackal–not to mention the others, demand so much space, we'd be hard-pressed to keep them from advancing off the inner edge of the walls into the city proper with the single massive construct we direct now. Better to start knocking most of them off while we still hold the high ground, gravity works on our side, and we have the range advantage."
"And if a few latch onto the Jackal's paws instead of getting battered off the walls?"
"You can leave that issue to me," he reassured her, "though I'll need you to cover for me."