“Is everything prepared?” asked Kelling.
“Just as you had ordered, sir,” Sorpin said, twitching his nose nervously.
“Good. Then we should have no problems. Correct?” said Kelling challengingly.
“I suppose not, sir. It was your plan,” replied Sorpin.
“Yes, and my plan was flawless. If anything goes wrong, I’ll have your head, my good doctor. Understand?” said Kelling with a sneer.
Sorpin immediately stood at attention and nodded. He gulped loudly and decided that he needed to check over the mechs once more.
Kelling turned away and swung his cloak over his shoulder. Dr. Sorpin turned to a small console a few feet away and walked towards it. He then examined the mechs conditions. They were state of the art. He saw no need to bring them out for a few fleeing prisoners. And there was certainly no need to waste his time. Kelling was the boss, however, and Sorpin went over the weapon detail again. The twin lasers, rocket cannons, sub machinegun turrets… they were all in checking order as he read them off one by one. He then stopped at the last weapon. This weapon, by Kelling’s own creation, was especially damaging. Sorpin had to admit that the Commander was ingenious. He could run this entire operation single handedly if there were clones of him. The weapon was of mass destruction. Its design was to obliterate any material that stood in its way. Sorpin could not help but stare at the statistics. They were astronomical.
Sorpin shook his head. Whoever pissed off the Commander was in for hell this time.
“Okay! We’re on our way! So far so good!” shouted Matt encouragingly.
The team had finished climbing out of the vent and had sufficiently rested in the cool air. They were now running down a dark corridor. The group had their night vision option switched to on in their helmets. It seemed isolated and haunting in the pale green glow. The friends walked softly toward a pair of double doors.
If Matt’s recollection didn’t fail him, all they needed to do was run past these doors and down a small shaft that emptied into the lake. It was a long dive, but luckily, their suits were equipped with small aeroboosters, giving them unlimited oxygen access as long as their suits remained on.
Peering into the cracks of the doors, Matt saw only darkness. That was good. It was most likely empty then. He stopped, his hands pressed against the cool metal, and he turned his head to the others. They were all present and accounted for. Matt nodded to them, and they nodded back. Slowly, Matt pressed against the door, and it opened silently.
One by one the team passed into the room and surveyed their surroundings. Matt’s eyes narrowed as he caught his first glimpse of the room. Something was wrong. All of the machinery was on in the room. It was the garage. Small blinking lights were dotted on the consoles for the multiple platforms. It was against standard procedure to leave equipment functioning without supervision. Something was definitely wrong.
As if reading his mind, the bright halogen lights snapped on in the room, momentarily blinding the group. They struggled to switch their vision to normal mode. Once Matt finally had his equipment under control, it took a few moments in order for his vision to clear. At first, he saw only colored splotches on his screen. Moments passed, and the spots began to form some dark figures. The dark figures eventually turned to form into General Roth, Commander Kelling, and some soldier he didn’t recognize. Roth had a small smile on his face, whereas Kelling wore a huge grin. The soldier simply stared at Matt intently. They were standing in front of what seemed to be a large shipping container. The box was enormous, about three times the size of Commander Kelling. It was opened in the front, but Matt was unable to discern what it was that was inside. It was constructed of a gray metal.
“Ohhh… crap,” said Josh, somewhere from behind.
Matt turned about quickly and saw his friends frozen in place, shocked. He continued to survey the area. Hardly any cover was apparent. There were a few more metal shipping boxes were scattered around the room, and some transport vehicles. Matt considered hijacking a vehicle, but he knew that they were far too slow. Kelling and his watchdogs would be on them in a second.
Kelling abruptly began to clap. The reason for his applause was unclear to everyone around him, but he continued anyway.
“Oh my. Matthew, Matthew, Matthew… Did you actually think that you could leave? Please, do not think a fool of me,” Kelling said. His voice brought chills down Matt’s spine. Kelling’s smile twisted into a sneer. “How dare you!”
“Well, I’m sorry, pal. I know it was rude, but you really need to learn some proper host etiquette. Hell, half the time, I felt like a prisoner,” Matt replied evenly.
Roth cringed.
Kelling smiled after a moment.
“I like you, boy. I really do. Why couldn’t you take my proposition seriously? Really, I think that it would be fortuitous for both of us if I did not have to kill you. But Captain Sheffield here,” Kelling motioned over to the soldier. “He disagrees. I don’t think anything would please him more than to see you dead. You see, you happened to murder his comrade in cold blood.”
Comrade? Probably the captain that they had disposed of earlier. As if Matt didn’t feel bad enough already about that, he has to come face to face with a friend of the late guard.
“It was self-defense,” called Matt.
“Oh, sure,” said Kelling. “But if you had just accepted our contract, then no one would have had to die. So really, any tragic event that takes place today was because of your own brick wall for a head.”
Matt glared at the man. So, this guy wanted to play games?
“Oh sure,” replied Matt. “Yet if you weren’t a controlling, corrupted jackass in political office, then our group would never have come together to see your downfall. So, any tragic event that took place for the past ten years could be because of that stick up your ass.”
Kelling raised an eyebrow. The kid was smarter than he looked. Probably stronger too. He was still no match for what he had in store for them.
“Last chance, Matthew. Cease and return to your quarters. We will discuss this matter in the morning, and you will be let off if you cooperate fully. It is a very generous offer,” Kelling reasoned.
“Sorry, I think I’ll pass,” said Matt, his eyes narrowing. Matt was in trouble now, and he knew it. Kelling would not come down here to simply see his prisoners scamper off. There was going to be a big fight. It was inevitable. The only question was, who was holding the trump card?
Kelling raised one hand smoothly into the air. He flicked his wrist casually in the air. On cue, Roth and Sheffield disappeared into the box behind them.
Matt watched intently. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He hoped that the others were ready for what was about to happen. Twisting his head around, he saw that the others were all visibly stirred, but ready to fight all the same. He nodded reassuringly to them. They nodded back.
A gentle mechanical whirring began to fill the room. A few small lights could be seen inside the box, but otherwise, Matt was still confused as to what Kelling had in store for them.
“These are my special toys, Matthew. Make sure to play nice,” the Commander said with a grin.
That is when they emerged. Matt gasped when he saw them. They were unlike anything he had ever seen before. They were two large bipedal machines as large as the box. A cannon was integrated onto each of the four arms for each mech. An ominous tone of onyx black covered their metal bodies. Matt saw that there were two booster packs attached to their backsides allowing them flight. In the gigantic head area was the location of the cockpit. Both Roth and the Sheffield could be seen easily through a thick blue glass-like shell.
Matt said a silent prayer as he waited for Kelling to make the next move.
Roth could feel the power of this incredible machine and he loved it. It was as though he were unstoppable. There were four small controls for each arm and a dial for leg movement. When testing the machine beforehand, he found that it had amazing agility. The general smiled.
Through the screen, he could see all five of the targets and had already locked onto them with his rocket cannons. Waiting for the signal, he sat back, relaxed.
It took every ounce of energy to keep himself from pressing the fire button. Hatred burned within Jon. With this machine, he would be able to smash the little smart-ass into oblivion. Jon had set all of his lasers to max power and targeted who seemed to be the leader of the group. His finger was itching to pull on the trigger.
He was surprised when he heard that the Orion Mechs were operational. He was under the impression that they were still under development. Now that he was in one, he was going to have a hard time getting out. The options were incredible. He could wreak havoc upon anything and stay within the unit in total comfort. He fiddled a small while with the air conditioning, then trained his eyes back on the kids. They were all going to die by his hand.
“Ron, buddy. This is for you,” Jon murmured to himself.
He glanced down to the Commander and waited the order.
Matt wasn’t stupid. He knew that both menacing machines had their guns aimed at him. They would have to act quickly. He closed the microphone to the outside and quickly switched on a small com link between his friends’ armored suits and his.
“You see, Matthew? I told you it was impossible. You can’t escape me. You should see by now that you joining me is for the greater good. You can understand that, can’t you? Everyone here gets the best of treatment. There is…” Kelling droned on.
“Group? Can you read?” whispered Matt into the com link.
“Loud and clear,” replied Clyde.
“Do you see the size of those things?” Josh’s voice called through.
“Yeah, I see it. Clyde, what do you think? You’re the electronics expert,” said Matt.
“I have no idea. I’ve never faced anything like that before. They look pretty damn strong,” said Clyde wistfully.
“Well gee, thank you, Clyde, for that enlightening statement. Anyone else?” asked Matt. Matt didn’t have time to deal with humor at the moment. They were in a real crisis.
“We could try lightning attacks, Matt. That usually works against machines,” offered Karen.
That’s right. Now that Karen mentioned it, electricity usually did well against most electronic devices. The team could probably use that to their advantage.
“True, true,” said Clyde.
“And if any portion of that walking tank looks breakable, it’s the cockpit,” said Becky.
“All right. You heard it. Use lightning attacks and center it around the cockpit,” said Matt. “Stay alert, guys. They have their weapons locked onto us right now. Get ready to dodge, alright?”
“Right,” said Karen.
“Gotcha,” called Becky.
“Ready,” said Clyde.
“Setting my Spectra Axe to lightning,” said Josh.
“Good. Matt, out.” Matt said quickly before switching off the com link and turning on his microphone.
“…the greater good. I honestly can’t fathom it,” Kelling continued with a sigh. “Well, I have some important work to do, so I’ll have my Orion Mechs deal with you quickly. I’ll simply watch your bodies crumble to the ground from the comfort of my quarters.”
With that, the Commander turned on his heels, throwing his long cloak over his shoulder and walked toward the exit. On the way, he casually raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
The room was suddenly filled with gunfire.
Matt saw the attack coming. With a loud yell, he ran forward ducking, and slid forward. Timing his slide correctly, he ended up directly under the salvo of missiles and laser beams. The other members of the group chose their own methods of escape, ranging from somersaults to tucking and rolling to the side. The path that Matt chose, however, gave him a perfect shot against the two mechs since he was only about three feet away from their armored feet.
Not allowing the machines to recover, Matt hopped forward and slashed his blade downward. It was not the strike that Matt had hoped for. In fact, he didn’t even touch the metal exterior. He was stopped cold as he sliced into an invisible energy shield that hissed and turned bright blue for a moment at the area that Matt attacked. Stunned, Matt stared horrified at the machine.
Seeing the enemy left wide open to attack, the mech on the right slammed one of his heavy arms into Matt, lifting his body off the ground and flinging him across the room where he crashed into a stationary box. As Matt gasped for breath, the machines continued their attack and launched another wave of missiles at him.
Matt ducked down, but it was too late. He was struck hard, and the resulting explosions flung him across the room once more. This time, he didn’t get up.
“Matt!” shouted Clyde. He had seen his friend get hit. Just as he was about to retrieve him, another salvo of laser beams cut through the box he was hiding under, barely missing his head. “Crap!”
Clyde struggled to regain his composure. He needed to figure out just how powerful these things were. Hesitantly, he peeked around the corner in order to scan one of them. As his helmet processed the structural information of one of the mechs, he began to perspire. A small bar was moving across the edge of his screen with the words scanning imprinted on them. It was moving slower than normal, and Clyde cursed under his breath. He then saw another wave of missiles stretch out toward him.
“C’mon…. C’mon!” barked Clyde, sharply. Almost there.
The missiles edged their way across, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. There were only a few seconds more required, but the bar never quite seemed to grow large enough.
“Dammit!” shouted Clyde. He swiftly returned to the cover of the box he was hiding behind. He didn’t get the scan.
“Clyde? Hey, Clyde, good work! Nice job with the distraction!” Josh’s voice came through in Clyde’s helmet.
“Huh?” Clyde whispered, puzzled.
“Yeah, I got a good scan of the mech, and I couldn’t have done it without that little distraction of yours,” remarked Josh, proudly.
“Oh… Uh, yeah. Well, you know me. Always thinking ahead,” Clyde replied after clearing his throat.
“Yeah, but I’m afraid I don’t have good news,” said Josh wistfully. “I’ll transfer the structural info I got to you and the others.”
It seemed like an eternity before the information was downloaded. Once it was, Clyde gasped.
“Holy… shit!” was all Clyde could say after a moment.
The armored fiends were not only decked out with high tech weaponry as was currently being displayed, but they were made of an extremely durable alloy that was going to be tough to penetrate. At the moment, they were sporting an energy shield that would deflect all types of physical damage. They were impenetrable.
“Clyde! We need to help Matt,” Karen’s voice boomed inside of his helmet.
“Did you see these stats?” asked Clyde, wide-eyed.
“Yes, I saw them. Lightning attacks, remember? If we hit them with a strong enough blast, we can take out their shields. At least in theory,” stated Karen.
“In theory?” said Clyde, taken aback.
“Look, it’s the best shot we’ve got. You have a better idea?” Karen shot back.
Clyde confirmed that he did not.
“Good. I’ve contacted everyone else. So just please. On my signal, I want you to conjure up your strongest electric attack. Alright?” pleaded Karen.
“Deal,” replied Clyde.
Clyde looked over to the other members of the team. Karen was currently huddled behind a transport vehicle near Matt who was sprawled on the ground. Josh and Becky were safely behind another metal box.
“Ready? Go!” Karen’s voice crackled through.
On cue, Clyde began to summon his strongest electric type elemental blast. Waves of yellowish-white energy circled his feet as he concentrated his power into a strong attack. His face, twisted into a hard sneer, was masked by his helmet as Clyde slowly motioned his arms through the air. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Becky and Josh do the same. He continued the motion, again and again, until he was sure of his control and discipline.
Josh was the first to unleash his attack. With a loud cry, he thrust his arms toward the two mechs. The ground suddenly began to shake beneath the two machines. Small branches of electricity began to wildly swing in the air. Lightning unexpectedly erupted from the ground, covering the enemy in large flashes of light.
While the spell was going, Becky thrust her own hands forward out in order to add to the damage. A large whirlwind of electricity picked up the two mechs from the ground and slowly rotated them in circles. Sparks flew from the two mechs. They attempted to retaliate by firing off their machine guns, rockets, and beams, but they completely missed their targets due to their suspension in the air. The rockets even exploded in their faces when they hit the electricity surrounding them, causing loud amounts of cursing to be heard.
“Time to do my worst,” Clyde said to himself with a smirk. “Yaaah!” he yelled as he motioned his hands forward. A small pulsating ball of concentrated energy left his hands and floated leisurely over to the two helpless enemies. Once it floated directly between the two machines, Clyde clenched his fist fiercely and the ball expanded. Sucking the machines into it, it forced high voltage into the bodies of the mechs and the vacuum of the energy smashed the machines into each other over and over again.
Inside the mechs, Jon and Roth struggled to regain control of their vehicles.
Karen grabbed the opportunity. She ran forward and pulled Matt and herself out of harm’s way and limped toward Clyde, lurching with the addition of Matt’s weight.
The machines were currently settling down as the last few electrical surges passed through the bodies of the mechs. The machines collapsed on one another as they lost power.
Sheffield cursed as he slammed his hand down upon the console. He knew these damn machines wouldn’t work. If you wanted something done right, you did it yourself. Machines can’t be relied upon. Jon looked at the dials, levers, and switches before him. Some were burnt black from short-circuiting. Others looked as though they were in working order, but looks could be deceiving.
“General?” Jon spoke weakly into his microphone.
“I’m here, Jon,” Roth replied.
“What now, sir?” asked Jon, awaiting an order.
“I want you to stay put. They think our mechs are out of order. When they come out of hiding, I want you to hit the red button on your upper left quadrant, got it?” said Roth, carefully.
Jon swiveled in his chair to find the device. After a few moments, he successfully located a small square button. “Yes, sir, I understand. What exactly will happen when I press this button?”
“It will turn on your backup power,” Roth stated plainly.
Jon nodded silently. So, these machines were more reliable than he had originally thought.
“Careful, Jon. I’ve checked our current status. Our shields are out of working order, but our hulls are in prime condition. We should be fine. Just don’t let the little brats get too close,” Roth warned.
“Yes, sir,” Jon said with a small nod.
“Did we get them?” squeaked Josh, excitedly.
“Hmmm… not sure.” murmured Karen as she carefully watched the two motionless contraptions. “Either way, first thing’s first.” Waving her arms in the air in gentle, fluid movements, she began to heal Matt, who was now on the ground. His breath was ragged and inconsistent, and his wounds were serious. The others watched as small diamonds of intense blue light floated their way from Karen to Matt’s body. After a few moments, Matt’s eyes opened and he groggily moaned as he propped himself up on his elbows.
“Rise and shine,” laughed Karen, poking him in the stomach.
“Mmmm… Thanks. I felt like I just crashed into a brick wall,” grunted Matt.
“It seems that your attacks had little effect, pal,” sighed Clyde as he helped Matt to his feet.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” nodded Matt, trying to clear the cobwebs in his head.
“We did, however, realize that lightning attacks were incredibly effective at doing damage,” piped up Josh. “At the moment, it seems that their shields and defenses are down. That’s from what I can gather, anyway.”
Matt stretched his arms slightly before glancing in the direction of the two fallen machines. The smell of burnt metal and smoke filled his nostrils.
“Whatever you hit them with seemed to knock them out of commission,” said Matt. “We need to get the hell out of here. Let’s move, before they wake up.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we should make sure those machines are out,” said Clyde, concerned.
“Look, we need to move out fast,” Matt reasoned. “Once Kelling realizes that his damned lapdog, Roth, hasn’t checked in and confirmed our deaths, he’ll be sending out more brainless soldiers after us.”
“I guess so,” Clyde replied, still unsure.
Matt quickly began summoning a powerful fire spell, his hand outstretched and curled into a claw. His target was a severely weakened wall off to the left of the two crippled mechs. Some of the stray missiles must have found that wall as their target. Severe cracks stretched their way from the top to the bottom of it. With a small grunt, he shot off a large fireball. The crimson globe sped towards the crack and erupted on contact, breaking apart the plaster and metal. Debris flew in all directions and large puffs of dust clouded up.
“Here’s our chance. Let’s move, team,” ordered Matt.
Everyone nodded and they sprinted across the room toward their exit. Their boots making unreasonably loud sounds as they trekked their way to freedom. With only a few more yards to go, Matt’s vision was blurred slightly from the dust that had yet to clear. Straining his neck forward, he squinted to see his way through. Suddenly, Matt heard a mechanical whir off to his right. He turned to face the sound, when he gasped.
The mechs that were just moments ago crippled on the ground now seemed fully functional and in full pursuit of them with guns trained.
“Run! Run! Run!” shouted Matt, as he stumbled forward with newfound energy. He could hear his friends picking up speed as well, trying to outrun the metal monsters following close behind.
The mechs flipped on their jetpack ignitions, and were quickly uplifted off of the ground. Matt and the crew were now outside, racing forward while stepping through an obstacle course of pipes that had been laid out on this backside of the main building. Hopping from one large pipe to another, Matt glanced upward to find that the vehicle that was supposed to be large and cumbersome was now flying five stories in the air, their spotlights piercing the night sky. Gunfire filled the normally quiet area, and Matt ducked for cover. Looking forward, Matt spied the team’s ticket to freedom. A large, thick forest lay ahead. If he could get in there, the mechs would never be able to find him or his friends.
Knowing that the mechs would reach the team before the team reached the woods, Matt turned around the face the flying tanks.
“Clyde! Karen! Becky! Josh! We need to take these machines out one more time if we’re going to make it!” shouted Matt.
Hearing the order, the team quickly entered a battle stance, ready to face the monstrosities headed their way. From their scanner, Matt knew that the shields were down on the enemy. Baring his teeth, Matt launched himself upward flying up into the night sky. With one smooth motion, he unsheathed his powerful sword and sliced deeply into the jetpack of one of the mechs. Twisting himself in the air, he quickly grabbed hold of the other mech’s leg. He watched as the crippled tank plummeted toward the ground. Not wanting to give any time to react, Matt spun quickly in the air several times, blade outstretched. The sharp edge cut its way into the tough metal. The mech made several futile attempts to grab the nagging fly pestering him, but instead received a sharp blow, severing the hand at the wrist. Climbing up onto the machine, Matt peered through the ocean blue glass shielding of the mech to see the pilot.
It was none other than General Roth. Matt could see the intensity strewn across his face as he tried to maneuver his machine into destroying this pestering enemy.
Machine guns blazing, the mech on the ground had taken several strong blows to the torso area. He had also been struck by a small lightning spell. Now, however, the mech was on its feet, firing its weapons as quickly as it could, pumping out attack after attack. Karen and Becky had taken cover under a horizontal three-foot wide pipe on the ground. They needed to heal up before reentering the battle. Becky had suffered several gunshot wounds on her back, and Karen’s leg was severely burned from a rocket that got a little too close for comfort. Josh was currently running around in circles, dodging the lasers when they came too close and firing off a small lightning spell once in a while. Clyde was the current potential danger to the mech. He was skillfully jumping and dodging any attacks that came near, and looked for an opening to attack.
Seeing the mech take a few seconds to recharge one of its laser cannons, Clyde rolled forward, making sure to avoid gunfire and any missiles. The lasers were the hardest attacks to avoid. They were strong and paralyzing, and came out lightning fast. The beam would trace its way to its target making dodging very difficult. Finding himself next to the mammoth machine, Clyde slammed his strong scythe upward, severing one of the machine gun cannons. He then quickly hopped to the side, barely evading a large fist cramming into the dirt where he was standing. Leaping high into the air, his eyes locked onto a large barrel protruding off of one of the mechs left limbs. Clyde came down quickly, creating almost a tight vacuum as his scythe sliced through the cool night air and smashed into the barrel of the gun, causing several small explosions to erupt from the damaged area.
Clyde turned quickly to strike again, but he wasn’t quick enough. He large tank had drawn a new weapon that he had never seen before. The large magenta hued blade was thick and long. The weapon itself was almost as large as the mech. It hummed in the air, glowing brightly. The handle had four rectangular openings on it, each filled with one hand for better control and strength. The mech swung sideways. Not expecting the attack, Clyde attempted to deflect the blade with his weapon. The energy sword smashed his scythe away, sending it flying through the air. Clyde was sent sprawling back. As he tried to hop back to his feet, the blade came down upon him, searing into his flesh. Clyde screamed in pain as he stumbled backward. With unreal speed, the mech swung the blade upward. It caught Clyde at the torso and sent him up into the air. Pain was the only thing on Clyde’s mind. His brain was no longer functioning properly. All he could feel was the pain. All he could see was red. As his body descended, the mech positioned itself like a batter in a baseball game, attempting to crush his blade into Clyde’s already mangled body.
An electrical surge coursed through the mech of the body, causing it to flinch and lower its sword as Clyde came down and dropped into the dirt ground, unconscious. The mech turned to see Josh summoning another electrical strike. Lurching forward, the machine pounced towards Josh as he released the spell. It struck the ground where the mech was moments before, missing the target completely. With the enemy within range, the mech whipped his sword in the air and sliced into Josh, sending him flying into the air.
Josh landed awkwardly on a pipe, the wind knocked out of him. He had suffered serious damage from only being nicked by that blade. He had no idea of Clyde’s condition. He didn’t even know if Clyde was alive. The damage to his armored suit was extensive, and kept him from reading Clyde’s vital statistics. This was definitely not good, Josh thought to himself as he saw the mech slowly approach him, its weapon held close to its torso. Josh pressed the small button on his Spectra Axe again to re-ignite it’s electrical element and prayed for a miracle.
Back in the sky, Matt was having his own troubles with Roth. The general was using his jet pack boosters to use evasive maneuvers. The lumbering machine was surprisingly agile and managed to avoid or block Matt’s skilled cuts. Keeping himself aloft took a lot of energy on Matt’s behalf. He had only learned the spell recently and was not very experienced with it. Seeing an opening, Matt managed to plunge his blade deep into the torso of the body, and hung onto the handle in a desperate attempt to stay near the enemy. A large metal claw reached out and clutched around Matt, pulling him away from his weapon, which was currently lodged inside the thick metal body. Matt struggled in the grasp of the tight fingers of the hand. Roth slowly increased the gripping pressure crushing Matt’s body with each passing second.
Matt was in a panic. His body was being pushed to the limit. His muscles turned to putty as he was being crushed alive. He felt his bones cracking under the extreme strain, Roth’s maniacal laughter could be heard around him. If he could just get a hold of his weapon, then he would be able to put the bastard in his place. Knowing it was his only chance, Matt began conjuring up a spell. He needed something fast and efficient, and he knew just that thing that would make it work.
A small crackling sound filled the air, and a slow mist spread its way around the trapped hero. Clenching his teeth, he released his concentrated energy. A river of ice crawled its way around the hand of the mech and up its arm stopping at the elbow joint. The entire limb was now encased in light blue ice. With the arm immobilized, Matt finished off the attack, setting off a small fire spell. The ice crackled and shattered, taking the arm with it. A brilliant shower of crystal exploded into the air. Confused, the mech waved his stump for an arm in the air as Matt reached forward, grasping the handle of his blade.
Looking up, his eyes met with Roth’s. The general’s eyes were filled with fear, anger, and hatred. Everything moved in slow motion. Roth was glaring at his enemy, trying to think of another way to crush him. Matt turned his head and propped his feet onto one of the mech’s outstretched cannons. Using it as leverage, he summoned all of the strength he had left.
“Ahhh!” shouted Matt, his voice echoing into the distance.
“No!” Roth screamed.
Matt lunged upward, his sword blazing with electricity. The blade sliced through the tough metal exoskeleton of the mech and cracked the glass shield. Sparks flew in all directions as Matt’s weapon broke free from its imprisonment in the shell of the flying tank. The body of the mech jerked and writhed in the air as electricity flowed through its circuits. Roth made a futile attempt to shield himself, raising his arms in front of his face. With the mech incapacitated, Matt continued his sequence of attacks. Swinging downward, the sharp edge of the sword was now set aflame and cut through the three limbs on one side of the machine. The fire melted through the metal easily, and the intense heat singed the torso area. Spinning sideways, Matt used his elemental power to send ice energy through his sword. As his weapon crushed through the front of the torso, ice spreading from the wound and reaching a good two feet radius from the area where he initially hit. With his sword still embedded in the chest area, Matt decided to finish it off. His face twisted in concentration, Matt propelled himself upward as a human missile, sword stretched out in front of him. An enormous bluish flame surrounded him as he launched forward. The force cracked through the entire hull of the mech. Shrapnel flew in all directions as Matt continued to plummet through. He smashed through the inner circuitry in the torso and fired out through the back and jetpack of the mech, sending bits and pieces of engine everywhere. Tubes flailed in the air while spewing forth oil.
Matt’s ball of energy dissipated and he lost velocity. The machine plunged toward the ground and Matt fell soon after. He was completely drained after those strong elemental attacks. Summoning one quickly after another had taken a lot out of him. Barely conscious, he came flying down.
Josh calmed himself down and stared at the target in front of him. Breathing deeply, he managed to regain some of his composure. Lately, he had been itching for more challenging battles in order to gain some knowledge of fighting. Josh had been reduced to all lowly monsters that he simply blew away with some small magic spell. This fight was a little more than he asked for. Aiming carefully, he flung his weapon at the mechanical beast. The mech watched at the small electrical weapon swung towards him. With one deft motion, the mech swatted the axe away with his sword. The sharp edge plunged into the ground twenty feet away. Inside the cockpit, Jon Sheffield laughed heartily.
“Please do not tell me that was the best you could do,” Jon scoffed on the intercom.
Josh stared timidly at the monster and gulped. Beads of sweat dripped their way down his face. His mouth ran dry, and he knew that his chances of winning this battle were slim to none. He glanced over at his fallen weapon anxiously. He slowly edged his way towards it. Another laugh boomed over the intercom.
“Go ahead. I won’t stop you,” said Jon, mockingly. “Pick it up. Let’s see what you can do with your little toy.”
Josh’s cheeks burned with humiliation. He glared beneath his mask at his adversary. It made him furious that there wasn’t anything he could do to destroy it. He needed far more training. He simply did not have enough experience. He considered going after his weapon, but he was unsure if it was a trap or not.
“Time’s up!” shouted Jon.
Josh turned to see the mech bring its blade above its head, ready to swing down. By instinctive response, Josh flung his arms out in front of him, shutting his eyes tightly. Josh held his breath, waiting for the blow.
“What the hell?!” Josh heard a loud yell over the intercom, and a loud crash soon followed.
Opening his eyes cautiously, Josh looked up at the blanket of dirt and dust that swept toward him. He wouldn’t be able to see his own hands through the brown fog. Straining his eyesight, he managed to make out a rather large jumbled heap on the ground. After a few moments, the dirt began to clear, and Josh saw the threatening mech now crushed into the ground by the other mech that was previously flying in the air. Confused for a moment, he stared in disbelief. The one that obviously fell from the sky had a large hole through its middle and Roth could be easily seen through a rather gaping crack in the glass shield for the cockpit. Over to the side, Josh could see Matt a few yards away, unconscious. On the other side of the mess of mechs, Josh spied Clyde several yards away, also unconscious.
A large sudden flash of light and a low rumbling sound interrupted Josh’s mulling. He saw the two mechs covered in a shower of sparks. He turned to see Becky reaching forward with her hands, sending sparks of electricity flying towards the enemy. Karen soon stood up after and followed suit, using the same spell. Each spark struck the target and erupted in a large electrical charge. The combined force of all the sparks was impressive to a regular target, but to a machine, it should be devastating. Standing up, Josh jumped for joy and ran towards the two girls excitedly. Once he was next to his friends, he began summoning another lightning spell to accompany them.
Inside the mech, Jon was cursing heavily. He had almost had the little brat! If only that idiot, Roth, could do a half-decent job at anything, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Jon, of course, would never voice his opinions to his superior. In fact, he respected General Roth to a degree. He was ruthless. But in the heat of the moment and this critical battle, the oaf had to fall on him. The damage to his hull was not impressive. It could easily be repaired, but at the moment, he was struggling to his feet with the added weight of General Roth's dilapidated mech.
Another electrical surge coursed through his body. Jon winced and grabbed the handlebar, trying to control his pain. The kids were beating him while he was down, and it hurt... a lot. He would need to retaliate somehow. After pressing a few buttons on the controls, he raised the mech’s arm and targeted the group of three with one of his arm cannons. Patiently, he held down the button as he charged the shot. The blast should be able to take them out for at least a little while. A small status bar on the console slowly rose as the charge became more and more powerful.
The arm suddenly exploded in Jon’s face and he screamed as he was blinded by the light. When his vision returned, he saw Matt standing in front of him, twirling his sword in the air casually and whistling a tune.
“What are you two idiots doing out there? I told you to get rid of them!” an angry voice entered the intercom of the mech. Jon shuddered as he heard Commander Kelling’s voice sound in his ears. “I’ve already sent for reinforcements. They should be there within a few minutes. Just try not to die, alright? Accomplish this one task at least.”
Jon cringed. He was in an enormous amount of trouble once he returned to his superior.
Matt glanced at Clyde every few moments in order to make sure that he was safe. Clyde’s unmoving body was an alarming distance to the downed mechs. He was currently too far away from Matt in order for Matt to attempt a rescue, especially with the mech pulling out several more arms to fire upon him. Another few arms grabbed at the sword that it had dropped. Dashing backward, Matt confronted Becky, Karen, and Josh.
“Guys! Take cover!” shouted Matt as he tackled his three friends behind the pipe. Fire and smoke erupted at the spot where they had been standing.
“You all right?” Matt asked the team.
“Fine,” replied Becky.
“Never been better,” said Josh, clutching a wound on his arm.
“I’m ok,” said Karen.
Matt peeked his head over the side of the pipe to assess the amount of time it would take to grab Clyde.
“Becky and Josh. I want you two to provide distraction since you are the quickest. Just get the enemy fire away from me. I’ll get Clyde,” ordered Matt.
Becky and Josh replied with nods.
“Karen, I need you to stay back and cast spells to help me out. You can use Shields or Cure spells. Maybe an offensive lightning bolt in order to keep the mech on its toes, ok?” said Matt, turning to Karen.
“Got it,” said Karen.
Matt took one final peek around the corner to find the perfect opportunity to launch his plan.
“Ready? Go!”
Becky and Josh each shot out from the side of the pipe, dashing and dodging any attacks from the mech. The machine fired round after round at them, but Becky almost playfully jumped to the side. Josh ran as quickly as he could, his adrenaline pumping through his veins. Matt took this chance to run out from the other side of the pipe, propelling himself toward Clyde’s fallen form.
Matt gasped as he crawled and rolled his way across the battlefield. So far, Becky and Josh were doing a fair job of averting Jon’s attention. He raced forward without looking back. When he was within several feet of Clyde, he reached forward with his hand, stretching it out to drag him away from danger as quickly as possible. To his surprise, Matt’s hand was stopped by another hand. Not a mech’s hand, but a flesh and bone hand had intercepted his grab. Confused, Matt looked up to see General Roth, now out of the glass shell of the mech and holding his arm. Before Matt could react, Roth booted him in the face. Matt stumbled backward, clutching his now apparently broken nose.
“You little bastard! How dare you make a fool of me!” sneered Roth, advancing toward Matt.
Matt had his eyes closed and was not expecting the blow to the stomach. Roth grabbed Matt’s head by the hair and slammed his face into the general’s knee. Roth then delivered a series of blows to Matt in his fallen state. Matt turned and grabbed Roth’s leg. He then pulled on the limb, knocking the soldier off his feet.
Matt turned and ran back to Clyde, tying to save his friend. Just when he was within arm’s reach, Roth came up behind him and gripped onto Matt’s cloak. Pulling hard, he threw Matt backward a good distance.
“Dammit!” Matt coughed as he struggled to his feet. He needed to get past Roth. That was the only way he was going to help Clyde. “Get the hell away from me, you son of a bitch!”
Matt cracked his knuckles over Roth’s jaw. The strike knocked Roth off of his feet. Matt then raced ahead, trying to get to his friend.
Becky was casually flipping about, and dodging the projectile attacks aimed at her. She turned to look at Josh. He seemed to be all right. He flailed his arms wildly as he scrambled around in circles, miraculously evading the gunfire. Trying to show off, Becky then leapt into the air, performing a quadruple somersault and landed gracefully on her feet. She turned to the mechanical monster, only to find that it was now ignoring her. Its attention was now trained on Matt as he headed toward Clyde. Matt evidently did not see as the mech aimed a chain gun cannon at him.
Becky’s eyes widened as she debated what to do. She yelled a warning to her friend, but to no avail. She sighed in exasperation. She was about to summon a lightning spell when she realized that she had used up about all the magic ability she had until she rested or used a booster drink. She cursed and raced forward. Becky thought that her gauntlets were the perfect weapons. She loved close combat, but there was more to her weapons that met the eye. Quickly, she pressed a small hidden button on the side of each glove. Immediately, four long blades unsheathed themselves from the knuckle portion of her gloves. The blades gave her fist a claw-like look. Becky typically liked to have her hidden weapons sheathed in battle. She did not enjoy pulling out her blades, even in the most dire of predicaments. The truth was, the blunt force of her fist was far more damaging than with the claws. The claws, however, proved extremely useful in some situations. They extended her reach, and improved her defense when blocking an attack. The claws could absorb damage well, although they hindered her speed. Right now, however, Becky was using the claws for their serrated edges. There was no way that Becky was going to be able to break through one of the mech’s cannons without some sort of sharp edge. She had been practicing with the claws for quite some time, but they still felt slightly awkward.
Leaping into the air, Becky glided down, fist first. The blades sawed through the arm of the mech quickly and easily, leaving the useless limb on the ground, unmoving.
With its one last functioning arm, the mech heaved its gigantic blade through the air, smashing into Becky at the abdomen, knocking her into the sky. Becky grunted as she slammed into the ground about twenty-five feet away.
“Dammit!” she cried. Pain spread throughout her entire body as she lay there. The hurt overwhelmed her senses. Her body convulsed and shook from shock and she lay still a moment, incapacitated. When she tried to stand, she felt a sharp poking at her side. She let out a small cry of agony. At least two of her ribs were broken. Her only solution was to lie still for a bit. Moving would only cause her more pain, or worse, puncture a lung. She prayed silently that the others would be all right.
Matt continued forward, only aware that his best friend was seconds away from him. Everything was happening so quickly and Matt gasped as a massive blade sharply slammed down in front of him, cutting off his route. He looked up to see the sword attached to one arm of the mech. Jon glared at the boy trying to rescue his friend. With surprising speed, Jon sliced sideways, cutting deep into Matt’s skin. Matt’s crippled body was flung into the air, sailing near Becky. He crashed into the ground.
Matt tried to cry out in pain, but made only a gurgle. His abdomen was sliced heavily, and he was losing blood at an astronomical rate. Fearfully, he looked up and saw Karen in the distance. Matt made a futile attempt to apply pressure to the wound, but he simply bled more. Matt was starting to panic. His hands were covered in his own blood. He noticed Karen summoning a spell in the distance.
“K-Karen,” Matt croaked into the microphone of his helmet. “Karen, use a Cure…”
“Matt, just hold on! I’m doing the best I can, but I’m running out of magic energy! Oh God…” Karen was almost hysterical. Every member of the team was running out of magical energy at this point. She panicked more when she saw more fluid ooze its way out of Matt’s wound. She was trying to conjure a good curing spell, but she simply did not have the resources, and she was running out of time. Perspiration ran its way down her face and matted her hair against her forehead.
She finally let her spell go, the specks of blue light enveloping Becky and Matt. They flashed brightly for a brief amount of time before diffusing into the air. It seemed to have very little effect. Out of the corner of her eye, Karen spied a large group of soldiers headed their way. Obviously, the mechs had thought ahead and called for backup. Karen was in a state of frenzy. Matt usually told her what to do in stressful situations like these, but Matt was now seriously hurt and there was nothing that she could do about it. Shaking her head violently, she knew that she needed to get a grip.
Concentrating the last bit of energy she had left, Karen cast one final cure spell on Matt and focused it on him. She waited hopefully as the spell began to work its magic. There was still very little effect. Matt’s wound did seem to settle slightly, and that gave Karen a little hope.
Karen watched, mortified, as she saw Jon’s mech slowly pick itself up off of the ground. She dropped off of her pipe and raced across the way toward Matt. Trying to protect him, she took a fighting stance, trident in hands. A squad of approximately twenty men assembled behind the tank. Karen took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Moments passed. Karen was at a serious disadvantage and she knew it. She was already incredibly worn from the previous battles and had no more spell casting abilities.
She ran forward, slicing deftly with her weapon at the incoming soldiers. She was blind with fear and rage. Matt meant too much to her for her allow him to be killed here and now. One slice sideways, another slice upward. She destroyed about five of the men before she was struck over the head with a very large club. Karen collapsed onto the ground, her mind numb from the blow. She felt herself pulled to her feet by her arms. One soldier gripped each of her arms ferociously.
Karen was half-conscious when she felt her helmet pulled off of her. The soldiers had surrounded her, holding her in place. The mech was waiting from afar. Her trident was pulled away from her and one trooper kicked her in the stomach. Karen was dizzy and disoriented.
Karen looked over to see Josh in the same position as she, the soldiers beating him over the head repeatedly. Evidently, they had caught him and now every member of their team was either captured or mortally wounded.
“What a fox… damn! It’s too bad we’ll have to mess you up,” said one soldier before slapping her across the face.
“Hey, we can always have some fun with her before we do the deed,” piped up another voice.
All of the soldiers laughed together.
“No…” stammered Karen, her legs still wavering.
“No?” asked a soldier politely, pressing his nose against hers. His breath smelled of rotting bread and was disgusting. His eyes were black as coal. He placed a hand lightly upon her inner thigh and traced a finger up her leg. “I think you like it,” he remarked crudely.
“M-Matt…” Karen managed to whisper hoarsely.
“Matt? Is that the name of Casanova over there?” said the soldier, pointing to Matt’s fallen body. “Sorry, sweetie, but it looks like he’s taking a nap.”
A burst of laughter followed the comment.
Karen’s mind was swimming. She was confused by everything that was happening around her. From the soldier’s impudent comments to the noise all around her, her brain was in a blender. Her thoughts kept drifting to Matt. Occasionally someone beat her over the head or struck her stomach and back.
“How do you like it?” the soldier snickered evilly.
She felt humiliated, disgusted, and degraded. Karen slowly picked up her head from its drooped position and stared dreamily at the grunt before smiling.
“Go to hell,” she stated with absolute confidence.
Karen’s foot rose at lightning speed and slammed into the soldier’s crotch. A scream of torment resounded through the night. She then kicked behind her and slammed her heel into the mouth of another enemy. The two soldiers fell to the ground, rolling in agony.
“Matt! Matt! Hold on!” screamed Karen at the top of her lungs.
“We told you,” sneered another soldier, coming behind her and holding her tight. “That he’s down for the count.”
Tears streamed down Karen’s face as she attempted to flip out of the bear hug. Suddenly, she broke loose. Not expecting herself to break free, she fell to the dirt ground, shocked. She was about to run away when she noticed that the soldier that had been holding her was now gasping for air, a large sword imbedded into his chest.
Karen’s eyes snapped up to see Matt run forward and kick three of the soldiers away with one sweep. What was more alarming to Karen was that blood was running down Matt’s uniform. It was a scary sight to see him fighting in such a dangerous state. Matt then raced forward, and grabbed hold of the mech in the back, ignoring any other enemies.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Matt reached into one of his belt compartments and removed a small box. He then slapped the object into a small crevice on the machine. Without hesitation, Matt flicked a switch on the black box.
Karen heard Matt’s voice in the speaker on her helmet.
“Take cover,” Matt stated calmly to the members of the team.
That was the last thing Karen remembered before everything went black.
