An Enemy Emerges
A smoky crater lied on the hillside where the transport shuttle lied. Wreckage was sprawled across the hillside. The nodu grazing nearby has retracted back in the tall grass upon hearing the loud explosion. Manic took a defensive posture and scanned the area for enemy combatants. They were on a plateau overlooking the city, the crackling of the embers coming off the flaming wreckage were all they could hear.
"Madam Iona, this areas too wide open we have to get to a location that can provide adequate cover." Manic announced calmly.
Iona nodded still visibly shaken. She wondered if her brother and Halcie were still okay.
"How are we going to get out of here with the pod ruined." she asked.
"Best course of action is to rally with the remainder of our party. I was able to detect them near the entrance of the city, roughly 1 kilar ( equivalent to 1.3 miles or 2.1 km) away and rapidly decreasing. They may be in danger."
Iona and Manic moved down the hillside, trying to keep a low profile in the knee high grass. They traversed to the bottom of the hillside, until they were in view of the wreckage. Manic motioned Iona to move closer and activated a stealth field that rendered them invisible. He beckoned her to advanced as they slowly moved past the wreckage.
"Stay low and keep quiet." Manic insisted. "The field only reflects our surroundings and doesn't render us completely invisible they will still see our movements if we take this too fast."
The crackling of the blazing wreckage intensified as they moved past it. They closed in on a toppled building on the edge of Ril district. Which was once a the distribution hub for supplies entering and exiting the city. Manic sent a sonar pulse to detect enemies in the area, he could still only see the movement of Keonu and Halcie.
"This wa--" Manic went to say before his defense systems detected an incoming object. Manic had no time to react he pushed Iona with enough force to send her flying. Her body hit the ground with a thud then continued to skim across the grass until it stopped at the edge of the transport shuttle crater, where she laid unresponsive.
"System Analysis: left arm immobilized, cauterization complete." Manic's system reported.
Manic's left arm had been completely blown off by the blast as it was stretched out to push Iona away. Fragments of his skeletal structure were mangled by the sudden jolt of the rail plunging through his upper bicep. Manic staggered back from the force but was unphased by his damage as he traced the location of the blast to the top of the fallen structure bordering the town.
"Hu hu hu, little ma-chi-na, you're probably wondering how I evaded your sonar? Let's just say I didn't. I simply created a radar shadow by emitting a energy shield. You saw the wall of my shield but not my silhouette. Sonar only works if the pulse can move unobstructed yes? " Azeri smugly lectured.
"I'm surprised you were able to evade my railgun strike, I guess I'll have to adjust the output in the future to evade detection. Hmmm...I've never seen one of your type before, I wonder who's pet you are, Halcie? or maybe Thezad? Let's see what you're capable of."
Azeri was accompanied by 10 henchmen who began to emerge from the interior of the toppled building. Azeri sat atop of the building no longer paying any mind to Manic below and began to fidget with the weapon he was holding.
Manic scanned the enemies weapons to determine the best course of action. The majority of them were armed with ranged weapons.
"Increasing hydraulic output to maximum, turbines active, weapon engaged." Manic's system reported.
Manic's outer forearm split to release a curved blade that expanded up past his pinky and down past his elbow. The blade began to heat up and emit a golden glow. A meticulous circuitry design could be seen through the glow.
Azeri looked down with a face full of amusement. under breath whispering "This is different."
Manic bolted forward, moving so fast he appeared as a blur to the men engaging him.
"Engage" one of the henchman spouted.
Manic began evasive maneuvers as he quickly moved to close the gap. The bullets whizzing past him as continually advanced with his turbines whirring in a shrill tone. He managed to reach their right flank where he isolated their ability to engage through line of sight, the nearest gunman momentarily froze before shifting to engage. The blast from his arc cannon graze Manic left cheek as Manic ducked to evade. His nanobots immediately began to repair the damage. He came jolting up and thrust the plasma blade forward. The henchman winced in pain as the blade seared through his shoulder.
Manic wasted no time and pulled the blade from the man's chest and followed up with the kick that reverberated through the man's body as the impact caused him to immediately hemorrhage and fly back into a group of his comrades. His limp body hurling through the air collided with another henchman knocking him out cold. The men faltered as they looked at they glanced at their fallen comrades.
Manic continued his onslaught, cutting his way through the enemy ranks until they began to disperse. He slashed the final adversary and glanced up at Azeri sitting on the ledge.
Azeri glanced down without getting up and said "I suppose it's my turn"
Manic leapt with all his might towards the top of the toppled building. As he sped towards Azeri, Azeri stood and took a step back.
Manic glared at Azeri with a emotionless expression and readied his weapon, Azeri already had his railgun pointed at Manic.
"It looks like the stage is set" Azeri said.
The whirring of the turbines in Manic's leg could be heard as he prepared to lung.
"Aren't you forgetting something little mach-in-a." Azeri's eyes fixed on Iona lying in the distance and he fired a shot towards her.
Manic's eyes watched as the rail spike whizzed past his face. It appeared to be moving in slow motion as adrenaline had been pumped into his system. He managed to disrupt the projectile with his plasma blade but the force of the impact at point blank range was enough to knock him off the building.
Manic twisted through the air the force of the blast still spinning his body he began to use the turbines exhaust from his feet to regain stability for a safe landing. He hit the ground with a deep groan as the shocks struggled to absorb the impact.
Azeri prepared to take another shot at Iona as Manic regained himself on the ground. Manic glanced up to see Azeri on the ledge charging his rifle. Manic dashed to intercept just before Azeri took the shot.
Manic planned to deflect the shot with his plasma blade once again. He only needed to buy time until Halcie and Keonu would arrive to support him.
Manic reached Iona milliseconds before the round would reach his defensive zone. He postured his plasma blade to absorb the brunt of the impact so he could deflect it.
The round struck his plasma blade but continued with forward momentum crumpling his blade into his forearm.
"Critical error, defenses breached analyzing damage" his system reported.
"Critical damage to right arm, and right torso, sealing wounds to reduce fluid loss." the system continued.
Manic's forearm was a mangled heap dangling from his arm. The nanobots couldn't repair this type of extensive damage. The rail passed clean through the ribs on his right side through his back just right of his spine. Fortunately Manic most important components were compressed near his charge crystal.
"You're probably confused once again, little machina, well this round was chromium tipped. Meaning it's heat resistant that blade of yours didn't stand a chance." Azeri said while pacing.
Azeri jumped from the toppled building and began to advance towards Manic and Manic struggled to his feet prepared to sacrifice his body to protect Iona.
"The cycle continues, Tolvor advanced their weapons to combat the weapons of old. Then Balyion advanced their weapons to combat Tolvor's weapons, Iona (kingdom of Iona, Iona was named after) advanced their weapons to combat Balyion's weapons. Then Hyylion and now me, but I serve no banner. I'm just here to preserve the balance."
Manic's face remained blank as he wasn't capable of caring of such things. Azeri loaded another rail as he neared Manic. Manic's senses were hazy and his system was choppy.
"Alert..*static sounds*..evas...req..." Manic's system reported.
"Your system is so flimsy, I'm surprised the nations failed to capitalize on this." Azeri stated.
Azeri had infiltrated Manic's digital assistance module bringing it offline.
Another round came barreling towards Manic he wasn't going to be able to completely dodge he could only mitigate as much damage as possible. Manic lifted his mangled arm the best he could to absorb the impact as the rail approach it splintered into many shards.
The impact hit Manic like a gatling gun. Ridling his body with holes. The barrage of impacts took his turbines offline. but failed to breach his breastplate where his charge crystal lied. Manic collapsed on the ground a few feet from Iona.
Azeri approached and looked down at Manic smugly before stating "Well it's been interesting Machina, I hope Perian and Halcie bring me more toys in the future."
Just as Azeri was about to finish him off, Manic's eyes began to glow. A projection began to form just above his head.
"Hello big brother...I see you haven't changed." Perian said as he glared at Azeri.