by Aer-ki Jyr
They sunk in so deep Esna started shaking a bit out of the horror of it, then the Hjar’at twisted its body violently with the spines still sunk in and tipped the mech over on its side while ripping out half its chest. The Hjar’at fell as well, but got its footing and ran a short circle to orient itself properly while the neo tried to drag itself onto its feet with its one intact mechanical arm, but it wasn’t going to make it in time, for the Hjar’at charged again…only to get hit in the flank by a wave of smoke.
Esna glanced away from it, seeing one of the backwards legged mechs firing across a large distance and sending smoke trails from its two boxes above its shoulders. It took her a moment to realize they were missiles, but the Hjar’at didn’t stop. It wobbled on approach, then did another dive/flip that caused its body to wrap up in a circle and roll across the damaged neo, then dump itself half to the side on the clear ground beyond as its moment wasn’t quite enough to pull it through a full rotation. When it’s spines came out of the mech, the neo was all but cut in half and no longer moving but the smoke trail was as more missiles tracked the Hjar’at until a trio of Tavi’lo flew in and perched on top of the missile boxes and started firing down into the shields covering them.
The mech ignored them with its main weaponry while a couple of small anti-air weapons on top fired at them, but the Tavi’lo weathered the shots trying to knock out the missile launchers as the Hjar’at’s armor was getting torn up. The mech, which Rammak called a ‘madcat,’ was almost through to making flesh hits when the Hjar’at turned towards it and started running…but at a side angle that kept its damaged right side out of the missile fire.
At least until the mechwarrior reprogramed some of them and they started to fly up and over, then circle back around and hammer the Hjar’at while energy blasts from the madcat’s two big arms were hitting the Hjar’at’s head and spines…the latter of which weren’t being damaged. They were still glowing and sparking with energy, and as the Hjar’at continued to get closer while swinging to the side she knew it was going to ram again.
One of the missile boxes blew apart and the Tavi’lo flew off, two of which were visibly bleeding through holes in their armor, just before the badly damaged Hjar’at got up to a dizzying sprint speed and rammed the mech as it held position and kept firing as fast as it could.
Esna couldn’t watch, turning his head away at the last moment and prompting a friendly hand from the Calavari on her shoulder.
“The pilots have a chance. They’re inside an armored cocoon within the mechs. Often times we’re able to pick them up afterwards even if their mech is destroyed…if we win,” he added.
“How do you stop the Hjar’at? They’re so powerful…”
“Watch,” Rammak said, pointing to the back of the battlefield in the direction of the base where Esna saw other dots rapidly approaching. They were moving too fast to be mechs, but they didn’t look like the aerial icons.”
“What are those?”
“Those are about to make the Hjar’at wish they weren’t here,” Rammak said, pulling a small datapad out of the seatback in front of him and handing it to her after he keyed it into the main battlemap and enlarged a particular feed that showed blocky flying craft in formation heading up to the battle and landing just shy of it…only they didn’t touch down. They hovered in place and began to change shape, then the different craft began touching one another, five to a group, and before long they suddenly transformed into huge mechs that finally did touch the ground with their thick feet.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“They’re called ‘Voltrons’ after a legendary machine from Human lore. I don’t know what it was, but these are a special Mark 2 mech that doesn’t have a smaller counterpart. They can break into pieces and fly where they need to go, but here is the best part,” he said, pointing to where there were now 6 different Voltrons assembled and running towards the Hjar’at section of the battlefield. As they did so they reached an arm over their shoulder to their back as a piece of it popped out, grabbing it and hauling it forward.
It was a littler smaller than their chests, but then it also began to transform and expanded out into a huge physical shield that they awkwardly carried in front of them as they continued to run. Then they reached back with their other huge mechanical hand and pulled a short stick off their backs that also extended out into what she guessed was a weapon.
“They outmass the Hjar’at and can absorb a lot of damage, and those physical shields can be discarded when useless. If they try to ram them, the Voltrons will catch and hold them in place with the shields, then batter them with their swords.”
“Why didn’t they come out with the other mechs at the beginning?”
“They’re somewhat vulnerable in the air, but once assembled on the ground they’re very tough against a single opponent. The Viks have to circle around and flank them from the sides to have a chance…which is why those thors are moving in to assist them.”
Esna saw smaller mechs, the stiff kind but with normal knees, running up behind the Voltrons and firing ahead but letting the bigger mechs lead as they also fired weaponry from their shoulders and even a couple of points on their legs, but not their arms that were carrying the big sword and shield.
Apparently the Hjar’at were aware of the counter they posed, for they immediately redirected and tried to go after the thors or other mechs closer to them. They were not going to waste time on the Voltrons, but the big Star Force mechs didn’t intend to be left out of the fight as they ran out in front of a group of madcats and others, with one of the Voltrons even clapping its sword against its shield in front of one of the Hjar’at…who turned and charged it.
“The Hjar’at are easy to taunt,” Rammak said, “but they’re not stupid.”
As Esna watched the Hjar’at ran forward, firing a lighting-like blast off its spines and into the big physical shield…which also seemed to have an energy shield covering it, for the blast did no visible damage, but when the Hjar’at got close enough to look like he was going to ram, the quadruped suddenly diverted to the side, bypassing the Voltron and heading for a thor that gave it a wave of missiles from its own tiny launcher as it backpedaled, trying to delay the impact to come.
Then out of nowhere the Voltron’s sword emerged, flying through the air and hitting the Hjar’at in the side of the neck. It didn’t cut through the shields and armor, but that much mass couldn’t be ignored, especially on the run, with the Hjar’at being twisted around and tumbling to the ground with its spines rolling over and down into the ice. They melted through it so easily there was little drag to slow the Hjar’at and it cut a long scar across the landscape with a huge plume of steam rising up to completely cover the Vik, but the battlemap still had its outline in place thanks to sensors that could see through the steam.
The thor continued to step backwards, firing everything it had at the Hjar’at while a single skeet flew by on a strafing run and added a few shots of its own, then as the Vik tried to flip over and stand up the Voltron ran up to it and smashed its physical shield down on the Hjar’at’s neck, pinning it to the ground even as the spines melted through and cut grooves in the underside…but there was so much mass there it didn’t matter. The Hjar’at struggled to lift its neck, but with the Voltron hanging on and pushing down with its weight the Hjar’at couldn’t raise it, so while the Voltron shot it with all its available energy weapons and the thor did likewise, the Vik tried to wiggled left and right to make bigger cuts in the shield so it could slip out, but it was no use.
It was pinned and its armor was failing. It fired off a few large lightning-like shots into the Voltron standing directly above it but the big mech was too heavily armored to care. It took a little armor damage from them as it held the Hjar’at in place until its golden armor burned through and the pair of mechs were able to make flesh hits, burning/exploding its internal organs until the glowing spines returned to their normal clear, glass-like appearance.
The Voltr
on lifted its shield up and returned it to a one handed grip, then walked over and retrieved its sword as the thor ran off to start shooting something else.
Meanwhile there were other fights going on nearby with each V’kit’no’sat racial column engaging separately. The Wass’mat were holding out the best, but all were seeing casualties as plenty of smoking mech corpses were joining them on the frigid landscape, especially around the few Mark 2s that were focusing on the Wass’mat and Deo’mat, the two most heavily armored races here. The Wass’mat had more mass, but the Deo’mat had almost their entire upper body covered with a biological armor that was then covered over by mechanical armor and shields, making them damage sponges and something the Voltrons would not be so good against, for their ball-like tails could swing around with such force to move the Voltron shield…and if they managed to land a good swing against a leg, they could knock one down with a single blow.
That meant the Voltrons were more of an even fight for them, for the Deo’mat didn’t have biological weaponry like the Wass’mat or Hjar’at did, but the Mark 2 madcats were laying out damage on the Deo’mat almost with impunity and running around on their chick-like legs in such a manner that the Viks’ dangerous tails could never get near the mechs. That didn’t mean the Deo’mat armored suits didn’t have ranged weapons in them, but it did mean that the much larger mechs had more, not only because of their size but because their amount of biological matter was just a tiny pilot compared to the huge body of the Deo’mat.
So while the Voltrons kept the Hjar’at busy, most of the Mark 2 mechs in the battle chipped away at the Deo’mat and Wass’mat, though the latter were continually firing blasts off their tusks that the larger mechs were trying to soak up, because they would do considerable damage to the smaller versions if they took a hit. That said, the Mark 2s were owning the battlefield, especially the madcats that didn’t hold back on their missiles and were spraying damage out to anything and everything within range. When they ran out of ammo they’d be less deadly, having to rely on their energy weapons, but until that happened they were the focus of battle and providing a lot of cover for the smaller mechs to move in and make kills.
As Rammak had said, as messy as it looked Star Force was winning and that didn’t change for a long time later, but when the null field finally made its way up the incline and got onto the upper plain where the battlefield had drifted a considerable ways in from the edge and past the now dead turrets, the camouflaging field dissipated and a ripple of shock and anger spread across the amphitheater as they saw what was inside. Even Rammak slammed a fist down onto his leg, and Esna could see rage in his eyes.
She didn’t want to ask, so she looked back at the main battlemap and tried to figure out what was going on. There were a lot of floating vehicles in there, probably with big guns to help attack the base? Or were they carrying Zen’zat? Esna couldn’t know, but there was only one visible Vik inside that rear formation and it was a Deo’mat, but what was getting to everyone else she didn’t…
Then the size finally sunk in as they passed one of the dead turrets. The vehicles were a lot bigger than she thought because she’d been comparing them to the Deo’mat, so that was bad, but she didn’t know how bad.
“It’s an Ultra,” Rammak finally said.
“Those vehicles?”
“No, the Deo’mat in the center.”
“What’s so special about it? Other than being bigger?”
Rammak looked at her like she’d said the stupidest thing ever. “The bigger they are, the more armor they can carry. That means more shields, more weapons, and in this case a much bigger tail weight. There are very few Ultras within the V’kit’no’sat empire and they save them for special heavy assaults. This one shouldn’t be here.”
“How much trouble…”
“A lot. We’re not going to be able to stop it, let alone kill it.”
“Then…”
“They’re going to get to the base eventually and send their Zen’zat inside.”
“Get me armor,” she all but pleaded.
Rammak didn’t say anything. He just stood up and pulled her by the arm to follow him out of the amphitheater as everyone else watched the battle unfolding and units continuing to go down on both sides as the Ultra continued to walk forward and started firing a few shots from range.
5
Rammak didn’t run, but he walked through the base corridors fast enough that Esna had to jog to keep up. It took nearly 10 minutes to get to where they were going, then he pulled her inside a room she’d never been in before…a tall room with racks and stacks of boxes, weapons, and a variety of armored suits. She knew it was an armory, but it was way bigger and fuller than what she’d seen on Forso…then again, everything Rammak had there had been scavenged after the destruction of the planet.
What she was seeing now was crisp, smooth, and not a spec of dirt anywhere as Rammak headed around a corner and Esna scrambled to follow him. No one else seemed to be here, probably already fully loaded and stationed at defensive points in the base or waiting and watching the holo displays until the Viks got closer, but thankfully Rammak wasn’t with either of them. He was with her and she intended to stick with him as long as possible.
“Here,” he said, pulling out what looked like a cube of white material from a shelf and setting it on the ground.
“What’s that?”
“Armor,” he said, pressing a button somewhere in the mess of components. The rough square moved, growing up and out like a tree until she saw the basic outline of a Human, but with pieces peeled everywhere. It took her eyes a moment to realize that it was the inside of an armored suit all connected together rather than the individual pieces she’d worn before…but then again, that armor had been 800 years old.
“How do I put it on?”
“Turn around and put your feet in the boots.”
“My shoes?”
“They’ll fit. I suggest you wear them.”
Esna spun around on her heels then carefully stepped backward, dipping the toe of her right shoe into a narrow gap over the boot that looked like it had exploded outward with grenade damage, but as soon as her toe encountered resistance the pieces moved on their own, widening the gap and allowing her to slip her foot all the way in.
When she did the entire boot changed shape, matching her foot exactly. Trying not to fall over, she stepped into the other one and it repeated the process as she awkwardly perched with the mass of the suit a few inches behind her.
“What now?”
“Arms, then it will autoseal.”
Esna looked to her right then reached her bare hand out and slid it in the open arm piece, feeling her fingers get wrapped up in the auto adjusting armored glove, then she was able to wrench it forward enough to stretch her left arm back and do the same. When her wrist there was sealed in, every other part of the armor suddenly came to life and wrapped around her in a very hard cocoon that cut her off from the air completely, but the inside of which had a gel layer that was familiar to her skin, for she’d lived inside of another for weeks while they’d run from the Zen’zat on Forso.
Esna took a few steps and an experimental swing of her arm, feeling much better now that she had some protection, but knowing that it wouldn’t be enough should even one Zen’zat get to her. With allies and enemies both hundreds, if not thousands of years old, what little experience she’d gained with Rammak was next to meaningless, making her little more than walking cargo that could shoot a gun and offer a little fire support if not targeted herself. If she was all Esna could do was run, for if the enemy got to hand to hand range she wouldn’t last a second against the Zen’zat that were Rammak’s size, though they only had 2 arms.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
“Yeah. HUD is about the same, but there are a few changes. I’ll figure it out. Why are these suits in cubes and those aren’t?” she asked, pointing to more traditional ones hanging/standing up in wall slots.
“They o
ffer heavier protection, and because of that they can’t condense down like yours can. They also mass a lot more. You could barely move in those without augmentation.”
“What about you?” she asked, looking around and seeing only Human armor.
“Other side,” he said, walking off with Esna perkily following while she went through a few shadow punches getting the feel for the armor. It was a lot like her older version, but it was definitely an upgrade. She couldn’t even feel any grinding of the parts as she moved, making it more of an extension of her body than a machine.
As far as the machines went, the other armor suits got weirder as they walked. The ones for the Bsidd were totally unrecognizable, looking like a pile of hoses while there were armors so tiny they barely amounted to the size of her boot. Fortunately there was Calavari armor here, both in Clan colors and Commando dull white, but no orange.
“Why isn’t there any orange?” she asked when Rammak grabbed a larger cube the same color of Esna’s and unfurled it with a single button press.
“Orange is for the Calavari faction and this is a Clan base,” he said as he stepped into the large, almost circular boots that matched his pedestal-like feet. “A few Calavari are part of mainline and maintain the same standards as Human Commandos. They wear this color armor, but it’s also the generic and that’s what these suits are.”
“You’re not taking one of the…hard ones?”
“Not in good enough shape for those, plus I don’t want to take them from guys that are. There are plenty of standard units, so we aren’t depriving someone else.”
“Am I going to get in trouble for this?”
“No. Unless we can stop that Ultra this base is going to be destroyed or captured along with all the extra suits. Better that you put one to use.”
“I can live with that,” she said, knowing that Commandos had to earn their armor and she was almost an insult in one.
“That’s the idea,” Rammak said sarcastically as his four-armed suit fully formed and his face was replaced with a helmet almost identical to Esna’s, save it was much bigger. “Weapons.”