??? POV
" Damn, why did I get stuck on the night shift? It's freezing."
Stuart snickered at my pain, clapping my back. " You should be happy. It just means that you won't be assigned to the battles."
I nodded, taking solace in that fact. " Yeah, I guess. I just…how do the guys deal with it? Killing kids, I mean. I know they are space rats and all, but as a martian, it's just.."
Stuart patted my back again." Look Devin, do what I do. Just don't think about it. It's not your job to think; it's to act, and all you need to do at the moment is freeze your balls off. "
I let out a humourless chuckle. " That probably isn't healthy."
" Well, worrying about things not in your control is worse. "
" Touche."
A silence fell over us, the only sound being our soft breathing and boots hitting the concrete, before Stuart broke the silence. " So, how's the wife and sinister six?"
An involuntary smile came over my lips at the thought of my family. " Millisa is well. I spoke to her just yesterday. The farm is doing quite well. The eldest is performing well in military school, the second eldest is not far behind and the third one just entered and was enthusiastic, according to Milissa. Wish I could have been there. The twins are well too, both still crushing on the old bat nextdoor's twin granddaughters. Finally, my precious angel, Aoi, just took her first steps."
I let out a weary sigh, feeling the pain of not being there to see it." At least, once this thing is over, I can cash in my vacation days, so I'll get to go back to see them all."
" I feel you man. I haven't been laid in like, forever."
A bark of laughter escaped me at the bald man's words, Stuart following suit. Wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes, I was overjoyed that I had my best friend as a patrol partner, or else I would probably die of boredom or depression.
" Coming in, routine check, all teams respond, over." Stuart's walkie-talkie went off.
" Team one here, over."
" Team two here, over."
" Team three here, over."
" Team fo-"
Unexpectedly, the radio crackled, any possible words lost on me. " Is this thing busted or something?" Stuart asked, giving the walkie-talkie a few good hits to no avail. That was when all the lights around suddenly switched off.
" The he-"
A huge explosion rang out, covering up any of Stuart's words. More explosions rang out, all coming from the blockade ahead. Both of us began running back to the blockade. "Enemy attack?"
There was no point in answering when the answers would be revealed soon enough. When we arrived, I saw the blockade in ruins, men running away from…one of our suits? Why was one of our suits here anyway? Weren't they forbidden from being used near the city?
That was when one of the three suits in the blockade jumped up and landed on a group of soldiers, then raised a hand, shooting soldiers down by the dozen. That was when realisation hit.
Those were not friendlies.
That was when one of the other suits ran to one of the escape paths of the soldiers, destroying all vehicles and workers along the way.
"-vin!"
I was suddenly tackled to the ground, causing the wind to be knocked out of me, but that helped my mind go on full swing.
Looking at who tackled me, I was confused when I saw Stuart lying motionless over me. A better look revealed that his bottom half was missing. I felt my eyes tear up at the sight but my body moved on its own.
Now wasn't the time.
I couldn't let Stuart's sacrifice be in vei-"
********
Andre POV:
" Oh baby, a triple." I muttered to myself as I stomped on three people.
" Don't you think this is, I don't know, too easy?" Norba's voice rang out throughout the explosions of the battlefield.
" What did you expect? Mechs versus a bunch of soldiers and mobile workers is like a coughing baby versus a hydrogen bomb."
" What?"
Sighing, I continued to lament the loss of old meme culture. This era just couldn't match up. "Nothing. We've dealt with most of the forces here. I'll be sending out the flare now."
Raising my mech's hand, I shot two flares up and watched as they streaked in the sky. A few moments later, a herd of mobile workers crossed the bridge, crashing into what was left of the blockade and blocking the path of anyone not lucky enough to have escaped yet.
Gjallarhorn troops were either mowed down or captured in droves at this point.
" I can't believe this plan worked this well. Almost too well." Norba said, the mech he was controlling looking around for any more enemies.
" Could you not say that? You'll be cursing us." I grumbled, taking the time to stretch after a slaughter session.
" Think Makanai and the rest got through?" the resident yapper asked to which I sighed.
" Mika and Amida are their protection and floaties. I'd be more surprised if they didn't."
" Are we sure this amplifier isn't affecting the city too?" Norba continued to question as he began walking towards the moat edge.
" Apparently so. Something about being able to calculate the range of the amplifier and making it just about hit the edge of the city. "
That idiot Robby could be smart when he wanted to be. If I could trust him with anything, it would be engineering, math, science, whatever this was.
" Shut it. Our jobs aren't done yet. Let's head out." Akihiro ordered, beginning to run back to base, the two of us following in silence.
I can't wait to get pizza when all of this is over. Ooo, I could even make it a date with Misami. No, what are you thinking? A refined woman of her calibre would never go for such greasy, albeit delicious slop.
I could break out my savings on something a bit more to her level. Its not like I'm spending it on much anyway. There must be a Michelin-starred restaurant somewhere around this city. Then again, this is a Canadian city.
I'd be lucky to find anything that isn't covered in syrup or Tim Hortons.
I'm kinda interested in how much those Canadian facts changed with time.
My musings were halted when I spotted around fifteen enemy suits approaching the base ahead. Seems we all arrived at the same time. The three of us stopped a few paces away, knowing what lay ahead.
At that moment, the first five enemy suits proved our caution right as they exploded. Now even mines meant for literal tanks could not destroy an entire suit, but it could trip one up or, in the best-case scenario, remove a leg or two, especially if there were more than one.
That's why, when the dust settled and the five suits came into view, I wasn't surprised that the five were on their asses, some legs missing in the pile. I was the first to take aim and make swiss cheese of them, my companions doing the same. That, would you know it, alerted the rest of the enemies to our presence.
Out of the ten, five split off and came for us while the others began cautiously approaching the base. Smart, if they were going up against some normies. That was when two of the five suits going for the base fell with a loud bang, two holes right in their pilot cabins.
Did they honestly think we would leave the base without any protection?
I had no time to revel in the enemy's downfall as the five going after us closed the distance, two going for me, two for Akihiro and one for Norba. Worse, one of them seemed to be more than fodder, considering the non-bog-standard suit.
Now, I would say I wasn't nervous, and normally, I wouldn't be, but this wasn't my suit. It was a standard issue, which, while excellent against squishy humans, was nothing special against its own kind.
That didn't stop my smile from widening with excitement.
Rushing forward at the three, I surprised the lead pilot with my aggressive approach, my fist crashing into the mech's face, stunning them enough for me to throw them into an attack one of the two on Akihiro was throwing from behind.
With that one temporarily out, I parried a slash from my other knife wielding opponent, then got into their comfort zone, placing a robotic leg behind its own and pushing the enemy suit down. Not giving it time to get up, I jumped high, my mech's entire weight landing on and crushing the pilot cabin.
" Jerry!"
Turning to a fast-approaching mech that thankfully announced its approach, I waited for the right moment, the right distance where the clearly enraged pilot would make a fatal mistake, which came quickly.
A sloppy, choreographed punch.
Jumping forward, my mech's leg shot out and crashed into the chest of the quickly approaching enemy. With the force of my kick and the enemy's kinetic energy, my foot did an amazing job denting the cockpit of the enemy.
The enemy stumbled back and I closed in, grabbing the mech's head and kneeing it in the face, causing it to stumble back and fall to their knees. With another sparta kick, that indent became a cave-in, crushing the pilot.
Akihiro finished one of his two assailants, but he was too slow, because I decided to take his second one on a dance.
The commander.
The commander closed what little distance was between us as he sprayed bullets at me. I picked up one of the downed mechs and used it as cover, waiting for the commander to get close. Thankfully, he dropped his gun and planned to take out his sword. An act I didn't allow, as I dove at him, feigning a sucker punch to his face.
A feint he fell for, releasing his hold on his handle and getting into a fighting stance. Closing the remaining distance, I speared the commander. Impressive enough, he didn't immediately fall, managing to plant his feet firmly and take the hit, then deliver a move straight out of a WWE event.
He picked me up, my legs momentarily sitting on his shoulders, then slammed me into the ground.
He fucking power bombed me.
" Fuck me!" I coughed out as I slammed into the ground.
Despite the near back-breaking attack, I managed to knock his blade a ways away during the spear manoeuvre, making this a fair fight.
I was luckily coherent enough to roll out of the way of a wild stomp aimed at my head. I managed to stop and get into a kneeling position only to be kicked in the chest. My mech skidded across the battlefield, and I damn near got a concussion from how many times I hit my head.
"Fuck! Well, I can see why this guy's a commander."
I instinctively rolled again, dodging another kick. I raised my arms in an 'X', just in case he tried that sparta kick again, but he simply whacked my hand away, then punched my suit's head, disorienting me for a moment. A moment too long as the commander straddled me and began beating the ever-living shit out of me.
Despite getting jostled around, I managed to wrap my legs around the commander's waist. With all the suit's effort, I pulled the commander forward, causing him to lose balance, placing their hands on the ground and giving me the opportunity to grab his wrist and put him into a kimura arm lock.
Putting as much pressure as I could, I began to hear metallic groans and, soon enough, metal tearing as I snapped something in the suit, the arm no longer resisting. In that time, the commander was punching my side, but it was ineffective.
With one arm down, it was easier to roll us so that I was on top. I reversed the situation, landing a few punches, then reached down and pried the cockpit open. One punch turned the commander into strawberry paste.
" Fuck me." I mutter, letting go of the controls and slumping into my seat. Touching the back of my head, I felt a large wet patch. I love mech unarmed combat, but it does have its disadvantages. " Damn, Misami is going to kill me."
Taking a look toward Norba, I found tweedle dumb having just finished his opponent, causing me to grin in smug pride. " Still took longer with less. This is why I'm the best. Well, second, besides that monster in white."
That earned me a middle finger.
Slowly standing up, I began making my way to the base. Our job wasn't done after all and I couldn't allow myself to be the weaker link. Looking briefly toward the city, I allowed a toothy grin before turning back to the base.
Better not die Darius.
With a large breath, I turned to my squad. "Stop slacking off, you two. There may be more coming at any moment, and we need to check up on the other five that went ahead."